A retrospective covering the 35 year history of ILM. Focusing on the various trends that have impacted the industry both creatively and technically, and how we can learn from these trends in looking towards the future.

The panel will discuss the global production initiatives of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic. The main themes of the discussion will include accessing top-notch global talent, fostering cutting edge creativity through long-range supervision and collaboration, all while providing a competitive value to the client. The panel will be comprised of Lucasfilm’s Director of Global External Production, an ILM Executive Producer, a key creative from Lucasfilm’s Singapore studio and the Owner/GM of one of Lucasfilm/ILM’s strategic partners. This is an unprecedented look at the inner workings of one of our industries premiere studios.

The worlds of animation, visual effects and post-production have changed dramatically over the last few years, driven by growing demand, as well as a new decentralized model for production, and a whole new palette of tools that allow filmmakers to draw upon global creative resources – often in “real time.” Now we find a world where the creative filmmaker is at the center of the universe - with an ability to call upon talent from around the world, almost without restrictions.

With more than 95 years of experience in entertainment innovation, Technicolor serves an international base of entertainment, software, and gaming customers. The company is a leading provider of production, postproduction, and distribution services to content creators and distributors. Technicolor is one of the world’s largest film processors; the largest independent manufacturer and distributor of DVDs (including Blu-ray Disc); and a leading global supplier of set-top boxes and gateways. The company also operates an Intellectual Property and Licensing business unit.

From visionary director Tim Burton, comes an epic 3D fantasy adventure “Alice in Wonderland” a magical and imaginative twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. The prospect of being able to put his own fresh spin on such a timeless classic as “Alice in Wonderland” was impossible for Tim Burton to resist. He turned to five-time Academy Award®-winner Ken Ralston and Sony Pictures Imageworks to create the magical world and characters of underland. Using a mixture of visual effects techniques, including actors shot against green screen, completely synthetic environments, all CGI characters, as well as stereo 3D, “Alice in Wonderland” showcases filmmaker Tim Burton’s vision in a unique, richly detailed way.

Join Ken Ralston and Imageworks’ animation director David Schaub as they take you through a remarkable odyssey from initial conversations with the director, through design and final production. Imageworks produced nearly 2000 shots in both 2D and stereoscopic 3D.

Ken Ralston serves as the creative leader at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Ralston’s title is senior visual effects supervisor, but that doesn’t even begin to capture his importance to Imageworks and the entire field of visual effects. His five Academy Awards® plus two additional Oscar® nominations attest to the respect Ralston has earned from peers and audiences alike for his unique insights into dramatic development and unparalleled mastery of visual effects technology. Ralston most recently served as the senior visual effects supervisor on director Tim Burton’s film, “Alice in Wonderland", for Disney. In this capacity he oversaw the extensive imagery and animation being produced at Imageworks. Ralston worked with senior visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen and director Robert Zemeckis on "Beowulf" and prior to that on "The Polar Express". For close to two decades previously, Ralston was visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. Ralston is renowned for his work as visual effects supervisor on "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

David Schaub, animation director at Sony Pictures Imageworks, has worked in the animation and visual effects industry for more than 15 years. Schaub most recently served as the animation supervisor on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland" for Disney. Prior to “Alice in Wonderland", Schaub served as the animation supervisor on "I am Legend". He received a VES nomination for his work in the film. In 2007 he completed production as the animation director on the Academy Award® nominated film for Best Animated Feature "Surf´s Up", Sony Pictures Animation’s second all-CG feature-length animated film. Since joining Imageworks in 1995, Schaub has served on a number of notable projects as the animation director, including the Academy Award® nominated film "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe".

Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is the Academy Award® winning, state-of-the-art visual effects and animation unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions. The Imageworks production environment supports live-action visual effects and character animation, all-CG animation, and Imageworks 3D stereoscopic. Imageworks’ most recently completed projects include “Alice in Wonderland”, "Cats and Dogs 2", " 2012", "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "G-Force", "Watchmen", "Valkyrie", "Body of Lies", "Eagle Eye", "Hancock", "Speed Racer", "Beowulf", and "I am Legend". The company is currently in production on "The Green Lantern", "Zookeeper", Aardman Animations "Arthur Christmas", Sony Pictures Animations "Hotel Transylvania", and the live-action/animation "Smurfs", in association with Columbia Pictures.