Inside the Arts Humanities and Technology building at the UTD campus, students buzzed with excitement during the Industry Giants conference on Oct. 4, as they anticipated talks from renowned artists and animators, figure drawing sessions and portfolio reviews.
The Industry Giants conference began in 2002 when a group of Collin College faculty members and short filmmakers started the non-profit organization A Bunch of Short Guys. The Industry Giants conference brought the organization to life.
“I’m always honored to be around amazing people I meet when I do this,” said Vince Sidwell, the chair and co-founder of Industry Giants. “I get to be able to hang out with the people [who] do the work that inspires me. And then I also know that I’m being able to contribute to young people who are going to end up inspiring me. It makes life better for everyone.”
Over the course of 20 years, hundreds of people had the chance to meet at the conference and learn valuable information related to working in the animation, special effects and gaming industry.
“It’s about getting out and meeting people,” Sidwell said. “You have to be able to promote yourself. In an event like this, you can be seen, you can show your work, you can talk to people.” He adds that when professionals are in a work situation crunch, they can call on people whose work they admire and that they like to hang out with.
Sidwell pointed out that simply using social media to promote oneself is not enough to get a job in the industry.
“They want to know the person,” he said. “It’s almost as important as the work itself. The work is going to get you in there, but you’ve got to make that connection, otherwise it’s not going to happen.”
Among the speakers at the conference were Animation Supervisor Kathy Zielinski who spent 43 years working with Disney studios and Visual Effects Supervisor, Clara Chan who began her career with Sony Pictures.
Zielinski discussed her specialization of creating animated villains such as Jafar, Ursula and Frollo for Disney. She explained where she found inspiration for different scenes her independent work after she left Disney.
Chan discussed her career in visual effects after beginning her career as a software engineer. She worked with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the day and took animation classes at night. She faced many rejections in promoting her animated short film, “Have I Swallowed Your Dreams,” before finally receiving recognition in film festivals and through various awards. Her advice to young professionals looking to make a break in the industry is to take an entry level job, even if it’s not their passion, or work in a related area even if they have to work extra hours learning software or mining their craft. “Say ‘yes’ first. Panic later,” she said.
Chan also discussed her work on the Netflix animated feature “KPop Demon Hunters,” which became the most-watched film in Netflix history. According to Chan, creating the wardrobe was a big part of the project. There were 20 outfits for each main character and 75 variations, along with hair and makeup.
During the conference, students also had the opportunity to peruse numerous tables with information about different programs related to art, animation and games. One table advertised the Animation Guild at UTD, which is also open to Dallas College students. Animation Guild allows students to gain experience in animation as they work in a team to create a short, animated film. In addition, the Student Game Developer Association was on the lookout for students interested in focusing on games.
Artist’s Alley featured the work of animators through commissions, art books, prints and stickers. Artists including Joy Hua, Alana Fletcher and Emerson Tung offered their work for sale.