Cinema Roundtable to Focus on Careers in Animation

The Willson Center will hold a Cinema Roundtable entitled “Animation, Art, and Careers for UGA Students” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, September 28 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 UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

The roundtable will feature Mike Hussey, Associate Professor in 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 AvatarBattle: 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.”

The Willson Center Cinema Roundtable meets to discuss topics of film history, criticism and theory. Neupert, the coordinator of UGA film studies, moderates the roundtables.