On December 10, the AD/UPM Council East hosted the seminar, Visual Effects: A Primer for the Production Team. Held in at the Guild’s New York boardroom, the morning featured a panel discussion with Brainstorm Digital VFX Producer Richard Friedlander (Boardwalk Empire, Julie & Julia), Independent VFX Producer Wendy Garfinkle (The Sitter, Kings), Independent VFX Supervisor Mark Russell (The Adjustment Bureau, Tower Heist), and Framestore VFX Supervisor Ivan Moran (Smurfs, Salt), moderated by UPM Ezra Swerdlow (Zombieland, Little Manhattan).

AD/UPM Council East Member Education Committee Co-Chair Michael Reichman welcomed the audience to the seminar. Then the panels dove into an introduction to the basic details of integrating visual effects into a production and provided information on the myriad top notch VFX studios, supervisors and producers who have set up shop in the area now that VFX are becoming increasingly more commonplace in Eastern region productions at all budget levels.