World VFX Day has confirmed its first speakers for this year’s programme.
The 2025 edition will feature a series of international roundtable discussions, bringing together leading professionals from across the VFX community.
With an emphasis on inclusivity, collaboration and industry-wide progress, World VFX Day aims to provide “dynamic conversations and actionable insights that drive meaningful change”, organisers have said.
The programme so far includes:
- VFX & Animation Supervisor Roundtable: with Denis Baudin, Genevieve Camilleri and Aidan Martin – WētāFX
- VFX: Hollywood’s Underdog – featuring Todd Vaziri – compositing supervisor at ILM and Valentina Sgro – production manager
- Leadership Fireside Chat – with David Li – founder at Dream Machine FX (ILP, FIN Design, Arc Creative, Zero VFX, Mavericks VFX) and William Sargent – co-founder at Framestore
- VFX Innovation – Michael Ralla – Warner Bros., Johnny Han – HBO, Christina Caspers – Trixter & Cinesite, Kevin Baillie – Eyeline Studios, Christine Resch – Adobe. In association with the Visual Effects Society (VES) & View Conference
- An Inside Look at the Future of VFX – with Alana Newell – CEO, Clare Cheetham – EP, Jonathan Cheetham – senior VFX supervisor and Jasper Kidd – head of studio at Crafty Apes (London)
- When 85 Artists Unite – with Delcio Gomes – head of department, generalist and environments at ILM – in association with Chaos Group
- 100 Years of Supporting the Film & TV Industry – with Marcus Ryder MBE, CEO of the Film and TV Charity
- Leadership Roundtable – with Laurens Ehrmann – founder at The Yard VFX, Brian Carbin – co-founder at Stone Dogs, Lucy Cooper – MD at Union VFX, and Vikas Gandhi – MD at Gelaro Grace
“I want to use World VFX Day as a platform not only to elevate our industry in the eyes of the wider world, but also to spark growth by encouraging new ideas and partnerships,” said founder Hayley Miller.
“Our focus is on bringing together as many global and diverse voices as possible to discuss the health and future of our industry, and to recognise the extraordinary talent that drives it.
“The conversations and initiatives we discuss here will continue throughout the year as we work to support, strengthen and future-proof our industry.”
The event will be live from London across 12 hours, with in-person and online guests, and is hosted by Important Looking Pirates, a VFX studio based in Shoreditch, London.
Additional speakers and programme details will be announced in the coming weeks, and more information is available on the World VFX Day website.
