UNIT - Key Persons
Amy has been working in talent related roles within the visual effects industry for over fifteen years, in both the UK and Canada. In each role she has had responsibility for working with schools, colleges and universities to provide careers guidance and support educators with content. She is a non-executive Director of Access:VFX, an industry organisation working to improve the diversity of the visual effects industry. She is also part of the steering group of the Next Gen Skills Academy who, with industry, launched a Level 3 Diploma in Games, Animation and VFX Skills and she took responsibility for working with NextGen to launch the two VFX Trailblazer Apprenticeships. Recently Amy has been appointed as Chair of the T-Level panel for Media, Broadcast and Production. The panel will be responsible for providing an employer perspective on the post-16 education landscape.
Ann Hoang is Head of People & Culture in The Mill Los Angeles studio. With over a decade of industry experience in the post-production world, Ann manages recruitment of new hires, internal mobility and development of existing talent. Ann spearheads industry-defining initiatives and innovative charity partnerships highlighting access, opportunity, and community. She inspires an unrivalled studio culture, with equal parts creative vision, mentorship, and enthusiasm.
Anne has been producing for over a decade and brings experience in various areas of the creative industry from advertising, immersive content, now focusing on VFX in recent years. She is passionate about building strong relationships both with clients and her team, working to get the best out of everyone whilst serving wholeheartedly. Currently VFX Producer and TV Central Production Manager at DNEG, Anne believes in the power of storytelling and is a big advocate of inclusion in every level of the business and the creative process.
Colette Murray has worked with The Mill for 11years, she is currently the Talent and Operations Manager in the Chicago office. Her experience spans film sound editing and vfx working with companies in NYC and London.Colette's passion has always been working with the best and her most recent position means she is always looking for the best new talent to work with her teams in Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Company Director & VFX Producer
- Founder and Company Director of Carse & Waterman Productions
Daniel Waterman is Founder and Company Director of Carse & Waterman Productions, as well as a Regional Lead for Access VFX.Carse & Waterman Productions was created in 2009 & based in Stoke-on-Trent. The company's first project was ‘Warriors Dance', a music video for The Prodigy. They have since provided Visual Effects and Animation on a wide selection of films & TV shows such as ‘Keith and Paddy's Picture Show', ‘Inside No. 9', ‘Famalam' & Noel Clarke's ‘Brotherhood'. Working with Access VFX, Daniel is excited to introduce people from every walk of life & every corner of the UK to our industry. He wishes to show why he and so many others love working in VFX and Animation.
Job Titles:
- Talent and Recruitment Manager
- Union VFX As Their Talent and Recruitment Manager
Harriet recently joined Union VFX as their Talent and Recruitment Manager after 6 years at DNEG. She is looking forward to getting up to speed in her new role and contuning to be involved with Access: VFX, promoting diversity and inclusion in the VFX industry in the UK.
Job Titles:
- Recruitment Manager
- Recruitment Manager for Framestore 's US
Kathleen Ruffalo is the Recruitment Manager for Framestore's US offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. She joined Framestore in 2012 with years of live-action production experience and has since developed a deep understanding of the VFX industry, playing a key role in growing the creativity and culture within Framestore from the ground up. Through the years, Kathleen has been passionate about mentorship and inclusion, always aspiring to nurture and foster the next generation of diverse talent within the visual effects industry.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chief Executive of the UK Screen Alliance / Animation UK
Neil Hatton is Chief Executive of the UK Screen Alliance/Animation UK, the trade association representing in companies working in Visual Effects, Animation, Audio & Video Post-Production, Special Effects, and Freelance Editor Agencies as well as Film & TV production studios. Neil's role is primarily lobbying government and its agencies to improve and optimise the business environment for UK Screen's members. A particular focus is the skills pipeline and ensuring that we build a home-grown workforce in the most inclusive way by opening up awareness of the opportunities and the pathways to access them. Neil chairs the Creative Industries Council sub-group on apprenticeships and T-Levels. He participates in ScreenSkills' High-End TV Council, The BFC's National Advisory Board as well as BFI steering groups. For more than 20 years, he worked at MD/CEO or owner level within post production houses in Soho like Frontier Post and Azimuth.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Executive Creative and Art Director
Nene is an Executive Creative and Art Director having worked in the creative advertising industry for the past 15 years. She has worked brands such as Wall Street Journal, Disney, L'Oréal, HP, Warner Bros, Jaguar, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Visa, Samsung and Vodaphone amongst many others. Her experience crosses both agency and client side including Digitas, Dare, MC Saatchi, JWT, Wunderman, BBDO and Adam&EveDDB. Nene now runs VINE Creatives, a visual communication, brand strategy and investment agency; which works for and with scale-ups, entrepreneurs and businesses run by the Afro-Caribbean diaspora and with companies with an African focus. Projects include facilitating the entry of photographer Simon Fredrick's Black is the new Black series of portraits into the National Portrait Gallery. The first exhibition of its kind in the gallery's history. Building the creative team for the Black Panther "hero in us all" children's photoshoot which went viral reaching the film's director Ryan Coogler during his promotional visit to the BFI.
Job Titles:
- VFX Executive Producer / Montreal
Philipp is a VFX Executive Producer at DNEG Montreal with an impressive line of projects spanning over more than a decade in the industry. He has established relationships with numerous directors through his role as a VFX Producer, collaborating with Guy Ritchie on ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword', David Yates on ‘The Legend of Tarzan' and with Shane Black on 20th Century Fox's ‘The Predator'. After working on numerous shorts as a producer and winning a multitude of awards all over the globe, Philipp broke into the world of television, working on HBO's multi award-winning ‘Game of Thrones' series. He has since carried this role through to feature film, working on projects such as ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters'(2019), ‘Ghost in The Shell' (2017), ‘Furious 7' (2015) and ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings' (2015) to name a few.
After a 15+ year career in Television Production and Post, Ryan launched the ‘Made in NY' Post Production Training Program in 2017 as its first Director. Since then, the program has trained over 90 low-income and unemployed NYC residents, mostly people of color, for entry-level work in the Post Production industry for Film and Television. He is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all people, and as Co-Chair of the NYC Chapter of Access: VFX, hopes to connect educational organizations with non-profit and industry partners to help diversify and grow the VFX and Animation community in New York City.
Job Titles:
- Immigration Manager / Lawyer / Montreal
With over 17 years creative industry experience having previously worked as part of talent and learning teams in commercial radio, television, visual effects and games, Simon dedicates his time to both his current role at Framestore and as Founder and Director of ACCESS: VFX.