4/21/03 Fifth Annual Festival of Visual Effects Spotlights The Hulk, The Matrix Reloaded, X-Men 2 and Finding Nemo

The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced today the schedule and line-up for the 5th Annual VES 2003: A Festival of Visual Effects. Taking place at The Los Angeles Film School on Sunset Blvd. from June 27-29, 2003, the festival will be a discussion of the visual effects process through viewing certain segments of the works featured. For more information visit www.vesfestival.org.

"We are very excited about the all star line-up of visual effects product we have to show at the festival this year," says Tom Atkins, exec director of VES. "We give professionals in the effects business the chance to step back for a few days and discuss each portion of the storytelling process through visual effects. We will take a look at how these processes work together to help create the overall finished product. This event is truly unique in Hollywood, because it‚s the industry talking about their craft, which we believe is why this is sold out year after year."

The Festival line-up is set as follows:

Friday June 27
11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Shorts (Presented by Dan Sarto)
2:30-4:30 p.m.: X-Men 2 (Presented by VFX supervisor Michael Fink)
6:30-9:30 p.m.: Tron Retrospective (Moderated by Harrison Ellenshaw)

Saturday June 28
10 a.m.-12 p.m.: Titles (Presented by Kyle Cooper and Imaginary Forces)
2-4 p.m.: Finding Nemo (Presented by Pixar)
5-7 p.m.: The Hulk (Presented by ILM)
9-11 p.m.: The Hulk Screening

Sunday June 29
10 a.m.-12 p.m.: The Core (Presented by VFX Supervisor Greg McMurray)
1:30-3:30 PM: The Matrix Reloaded
4:30-6:30 PM: Music Videos

The Visual Effects Society, founded in 1997, is comprised of distinguished visual effects artists and technologists who are professionally committed to the specialized industry of visual effects. The society provides its members with a platform for communication, education, and recognition of the current and future state of the visual effects industry. Society headquarters are located in Santa Monica, CA with approximately 800 global members.

Tickets for the festival are now available and can be purchased through VES at (310) 315-6055 or via email at tickets@vesfestival.org.

Sponsors include Discreet, IBM, Softimage, EPG, Maya, Eyetronics, Daily Variety, nVIDIA, Expression, Film & Video, The Hollywood Reporter and Animation Magazine. VES will next take the festival to Frankfurt, Germany, in association with eDIT, a congress focusing on production and post-production, and the State of Hessen. In Germany, a similar line-up will be presented September 27-30, 2003.