Gonzalo Escudero

Gonzalo Escudero grew up in Madrid. He went to school for architecture and later landed a job doing motion graphics at a small local firm. He attended SIGGRAPH and wound up with a job offer to come work at ILM. After working as a Technical Director on a number of high profile projects Gonzalo left ILM to pursue a career as an actor in New York City. Gonzalo shares his story about taking risks, following your dreams, and giving yourself space to grow as a person. You might even say, “Change in plans…”

Natasha Devaud

Natasha Devaud was born and raised in Switzerland. As a little girl she learned how to knit before she knew how to write her own name. She earned a degree in Education and moved to Palo Alto in the US to work as a nanny and learn english. She returned to Switzerland to enroll in an accelerated program in fashion design. An intriguing and fateful visit to a lab at ECAL in Lausanne led to a Master's Degree in computer graphics. Natasha travelled to SIGGRAPH in Chicago to serve as a volunteer and went the following year to Anaheim where she was hired by Rhythm & Hues. She was later hired by ILM where she worked for the next 22 years. Her credits include several Star Wars, Transformers, Harry Potter and Marvel movies. Natasha was my office mate for several years at ILM in the 1990's. She's always been a great friend and her story of happy accidents, passion, drive, and luck is amazing.

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Chris White

R. Christopher White grew up in Dale City, Virginia and always had an interest in computers. After seeing some rigid body dynamics during a Summer program at George Washington University he was hooked. Chris earned his BFA in Computer Arts at Syracuse University. He went on to graduate school at University of Illinois’ Electronic Visualization Lab in Chicago and applied for the ILM internship for the fourth time and got in developing tools for Twister. He would up working at ILM for the next seven years. He later left, finished his graduate degree and soon headed for New Zealand where he’s been ever since.

Today, Chris is a Visual Effects Supervisor with over 25 years of industry experience. From feature films and streaming media to special venue projects, he has a passion for making engaging environments, creatures, and effects. His work has been recognized with multiple awards from the Visual Effects Society, along with Academy Award, BAFTA, and Emmy nominations.

Some of his more notable work includes Twister, Star Wars Episode I, Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, King Kong, Avatar, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, and The Umbrella Academy. He is currently working on the Avatar sequels at Weta Digital in New Zealand.

Enthusiastic about giving back to the next generation of artists, he enjoys guest lecturing at universities and conferences. As an active member of InclusionFX, Chris offers young people from traditionally underrepresented groups mentoring and career guidance in visual effects.

Mark Siegel

Mark Siegel grew up in Minneapolis loving science fiction and monster movies. He was an avid reader of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and the articles sparked his imagination. He earned a degree in Theatre from the University of Minnesota and attended the Ringing Bros. Clown College. His stage and circus experience taught him skills for working with prosthetics and make up. He landed a job at Universal Studios as part of a Verne Langdon monster makeup show for tourists. This eventually led to work as a sculptor and fx artist working on multiple films including Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Dune, Ghostbusters, and many others. He was later hired by ILM where he worked for decades on numerous projects in both traditional and digital formats. Today he is retired and living in the Bay Area. Mark is a great storyteller. He’s had an amazing career spanning many disciplines that all inform his work in fascinating and unexpected ways.

Scott Grenier

Scott Grenier grew up in Southern California. After high school and community college he got a job working at a computer repair shop. That job opened doors to other opportunities working in IT. With the help of a great mentor, Scott eventually found his way to ILM in the mid 1990's. Scott shares his awesome story of skill building on the job. From the soft skills of helping co-workers with tech issues, to enterprise system architecture, to sales, he's added new skills with each career move. It was a blast catching up with Scott and hearing about his journey.

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