Last modified: Monday, August 13, 2007
Three top-line animators join IUPUI VisionFest roster
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS -- The roster for the Indiana University School of Informatics' VisionFest 2007 has been completed with the addition of three top-line animation industry professionals. Conrad Montgomery of Walt Disney Television Animation, Rich McKain of Blue Sky Studios, and Dave Dorman, an independent artist, will join Industrial Light Magic-Lucasfilms' Rick O'Connor, who was announced as keynote speaker last month.
VisionFest 2007, a juried computer animation contest for college and high school students, is scheduled for August 16-18, on the campus of IUPUI. All speaker sessions will be in Room 152 in the Informatics and Communication Technology Complex, and are free and open to the public.
Digital art submissions to VisionFest are received from around the world, and each entry is given a written critique from a panel of animation experts who serve as judges. The festival was created in 2005 by the IU Informatics New Media Program.
Conrad Montgomery, the recruitment coordinator for Walt Disney Television Animation, will present "Walt Disney Television Animation 101," Friday, August 17, 9:00 p.m. His professional work includes Disney's Kim Possible, Emperor's New School, American Dragon and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Montgomery currently is responsible for training artistic talent and serves as a liaison to the Disney Channel as well as to the division's video shorts program -- more popularly known as Shorty McShorts' Shorts. Montgomery freelanced as an associate segment producer for Good Morning America until graduation from California State University Northridge with a degree in cinema and television arts. He now focuses on discovering artistic and creative talent for Disney's animated television unit.
Rich McKain of Blue Sky Studios, is a return speaker to VisionFest. His last feature animation project was Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, and he currently is working on Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who. He will speak on "Interactive Media," Saturday, August 18, 2:00 p.m. He previously was senior animator at Oddworld Inhabitants Studio, whose award-winning animation includes Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee.
Dave Dorman, whose presentation "Sequential Art" is scheduled for Friday, August 17, 4 p.m., is an Eisner Award-winning illustrator who has worked as a professional artist since 1979. He is best known for his photo-realistic renderings of action and fantasy subjects. He has done artwork for comic, book, and game publishers, including The Batman for DC Comics and the Indiana Jones and Star Wars series for Dark Horse Comics. Additionally, he has done a wide range of book and magazine covers, including those of the Aliens, Lone Wolf, and Surfing Samurai Robots paperback series. Dorman's current projects include the Young Jedi Knights and Han Solo series of paperbacks, as well as a toy design for the movie Aliens 4: Resurrection.
Rick O'Connor was announced earlier as VisionFest 2007's keynote speaker. He recently completed work on The Spiderwick Chronicles, due for release next year. Most recently he was lead animator on the movie Transformers. O'Connor's keynote address is Thursday, August 16, 7:30 p.m. For additional information on O'Connor, go to: https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/6060.html
Several undergraduate and graduate students in IU's New Media Program have received top awards in past VisionFests for animated entries in categories including 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Sequential Art and Integrated Media. Winners receive a cash award and other prizes.
This year's corporate sponsors for VisionFest 2007 are Mediasauce, Bright House Networks, and Peachpit Press.
