*CILECT (North America), Sheridan College and TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) joined forces to organize and sponsor a two day pre-visualization conference. Leading off on Friday, February 13th at Toronto’s Bell Lightbox, the event featured guest Chris Edwards, the CEO and Founder of Hollywood’s leading pre-visualization studio “The Third Floor.” He described how filmmakers increasingly rely on digital storyboards, concept artwork and physical models to help them plan their visions.
Edwards featured Alfonso Cuarón’s Academy Award winning film Gravity as a case study to display how far “pre-vis” techniques have come in the film industry. The presentation concluded with a panel discussion featuring Edwards, director of SIRT (Screen Industries and Training Centre) John Helliker and Wes Sewell Visual Effects supervisor at SPIN FX, as well as a Q&A session with the audience.
The second day of the conference was a hands-on workshop that took place at SIRT, located in the heart of Toronto’s film and television studio district at Pinewood Toronto Studios.
Helliker noted:
“It truly was a unique event both in terms of the mixed academic and industry participation from the Toronto region and internationally, and the collaboration involved in the organization and presentations. Thank you to Sheridan, TIFF, and CILECT for the event itself and for getting SIRT involved. I look forward to building on the new and renewed relationships and the energy generated by the discussions.”
Bruce Sheridan, president of North American chapter of CILECT, noted:
“I am extremely impressed by the TIFF Lightbox facility and what Keith has going on there. That along with what has unfolded at SIRT affirm the essential contributions of both Sheridan College and the Toronto International Film Festival to your city’s status as a leading nexus for education, industry, technology, and public discourse around screen culture and practice.”
Sheridan College is a member of *CILECT, which represents over 160 audio-visual educational institutions from 60 countries on all continents with more than 9,000 teachers and staff who annually train more than 55,000 students and communicate with an alumni network of more than 1,330,000. More than 65% of the world’s highest box-office film and television creators are graduates of *CILECT member schools.
