Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts will hold a cinema roundtable on “Animation, Art and Careers for UGA Students” Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m. in room 148 of the Miller Learning Center. The discussion will be moderated by Richard Neupert, Wheatley Professor of the Arts and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Theatre and Film Studies in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The roundtable will feature Mike Hussey, associate professor of theatre and film studies, and a panel of former UGA students who now work professionally in the fields of animation and/or digital effects. The panelists will discuss the challenges and rewards of creative careers in animation and cable TV.
Among the guests will be Chris Wells, computer graphics supervisor for the digital effects company Hydraulx on films including “Avatar,” “Battle: Los Angeles” and “Take Shelter;” Valentina Tapia, who works in program development at the Adult Swim network; and Neal Holman, a producer and art director on FX Network’s “Archer.” Current animation students will join the conversation, and the audience will be asked to participate in a question-and-answer session.
“The creative overlap between cinema, computer animation and TV within the entertainment industries is one of the most exciting areas in media today,” Neupert said. “Happily, UGA has been way out front in digital technologies. I am thrilled that this panel can bring together several important people who can comment on both the animation business and the ways our courses and research connect with that field.”
UGA Willson Center for Humanities and Arts
The Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts is a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Research at UGA. In the service of its mission to promote research and creativity in the humanities and arts, the Willson Center sponsors and participates in numerous public events on and off the UGA campus throughout the academic year. It supports faculty through research grants, lectures, symposia, publications, visiting scholars, visiting artists, collaborative instruction, public conferences, exhibitions and performances. For more information on the Willson Center, see http://willson.uga.edu/.