Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, Santa Monica Tuesday, June 12th Digital Production World at Digital Hollywood 10:45 AM – Noon Session B: Digital Lifelike Environments: Inventing a 21st Century Genre for Feature Films, Video and Games Ron Brinkmann, Visual Effects Supervisor, “Valiant”; “Batman: Dead End”; “Contact”; “The Ghost and the Darkness”; “Die Hard: With a Vengeance” Maurice Patel, Director of Product Marketing, Autodesk Stephen Fedasz, Creative Director, Technicolor Interactive Services Peter Nofz, Digital Effects Supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks David Vegezzi, Creative Director, Schematic Suzanne Stefanac, Director, AFI Digital Content Lab, Moderator Peter Nofz, Digital Effects Supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks: Sony Pictures Imageworks Digital Effects Supervisor Peter Nofz recently completed work on Spider-Man™ 3 as digital effects supervisor. He had primary responsibility for many astonishing effects including the creation of the alien symbiote, both in its sinister goo form and when it takes shape as the terrifying Venom. Nofz previously served as a CG supervisor on the Academy Award®-winning film Spider-Man™ 2 (Best Achievement in Visual Effects, 2004) as well as the Academy Award®-nominated international hit Spider-Man™ (Best Achievement in Visual Effects, 2002). He joined Sony Pictures Imageworks in 1998 as a senior technical director on Stuart Little (1999) and Hollow Man (2000), both of which garnered Academy Award® nominations for Best Visual Effects. Following graduation from Technische Universität Munich, Germany, with the equivalent of a Masters Degree in Computer Science, Nofz began his entertainment career as a Production Assistant for Gesellschaft für Bildende Filme (GBF) in Munich, Germany. In 1989 Nofz moved to Sun Microsystems as a senior consultant and lecturer. He subsequently worked at Insight Pix, first as a technical director, then as a senior technical director/animator. His credits included such award-winning commercials as Sega Obsidian (Golden Clio: Visual FX) and McDonald’s Fish (New York Festival Gold). Nofz graduated from Northwestern University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Radio/TV/Film. While working toward that goal, Nofz was a member of the adjunct faculty for advanced 3D animation and video. Ron Brinkmann is the author of 'The Art and Science of Digital Compositing' and has supervised work on a number of films including 'Speed', 'James and the Giant Peach' and 'Contact'. He is the designer of the Shake compositing software from Apple Computer and co-host of the VFXShow podcast. Mr. Brinkmann has lectured on the topics of visual effects and digital filmmaking in Europe, China, Australia, Japan and India. Maurice Patel is the director of product marketing for Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment solutions. Maurice joined Autodesk in March 2001. He is responsible for all marketing aspects of the division’s 2D products (Lustre, Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire, Smoke), 3D products (Toxik, 3ds Max, VIZ, Maya, MotionBuilder, FBX, Cleaner, Combustion), infrastructure products and future technologies. A noted authority on media and entertainment trends, Maurice is a frequent public speaker. He is regularly called upon to share his expertise on topics ranging from digital cinema, digital intermediates and digital lifelike environments, to the future of visual effects and Bollywood’s growing footprint. Maurice has keynoted at FICCI FRAMES in Mumbai, and has presented at countless industry events, including The Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) Technology Retreat, Digital Hollywood, The Entertainment Technology Alliance Conference, The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Conference and The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention. A graduate of Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK, Maurice has worked in digital post production since 1995 when he joined Avid Technology as product specialist. He later became industry specialist for the company. Suzanne Stefanac, Director, AFI Digital Content Lab: Suzanne Stefanac is director of the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab. For nine years, the AFI DCL, in collaboration with a community of first-tier mentors, has served as the premiere incubator for innovative interactive solutions for producers of film, television, games, mobile applications, and more. Previously, Stefanac was co-founder and SVP creative/production for RespondTV, an interactive television infrastructure company based in San Francisco where she oversaw the build of more than 100 applications for clients such as Coca-Cola, Comedy Central, Ford, the Sci-Fi Channel, American Airlines, and PBS. With the launch of MSNBC in 1996, Stefanac was named an executive producer for The Site, an hour-long nightly news program and wesite. As founding editor of Macworld Online in 1994, Stefanac oversaw the creation of that organization’s award-winning website. For fifteen years prior to these ventures, Stefanac was a journalist covering technology issues for Wired, Salon, Macworld, PC World, New Media, Publish, San Francisco Chronicle, California Lawyer, and Rolling Stone, among others. Stefanac is author of Dispatches from Blogistan: A Travel Guide for the Modern Blogger," published by Peachpit/New Riders, as part of their Voices that Matter series.