Category Archives: Events

Taking a quick second to thank everyone for coming out and making our Job Mixer 2 such a great night.  Was great to see and check in with everyone;  I sincerely hope the connections made result in great work all around.  There is a great energy in Portland, and I hope we can all find new ways to harness it.

Special thanks to OMPA first and foremost, for loads of planning and event support.  Since the displaced included stop motion production folks (animators, puppet fab, etc), it was so great to have OMPA, who is considered the organization for the production side folks, involved. As I hear more about their mission and master plan, I realize they have some great resources for us “post” types, too.  Definitely check them out!

VFX/PDX was created to break down studio boundaries and get everyone together under one roof, but it’s often easier said than done – and so rare that we pull an event off of this magnitude.  Big thanks go out to all of the participating studios for taking time out of their day and busy production schedule to meet with everyone and support an event like this.

The Art Institute made for a nice central venue and with the recent (sad) closure news, it was an unexpected “swan song” visit for some of us who taught or attended classes there.  That being the case, this might make for a nice final memory.  Regardless, thanks to them for hosting and we wish them all the best.

Also stepping up to support this event were our local food+beverage sponsors.  Show them some love by supporting them back when you can:

• Hot Lips Pizza (Pearl District location): Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Brew Dr. Kombucha: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Viso (energy drinks): Website | Instagram

Last but not least, thanks to photographer Danny Rawson for taking some great photos of everyone, including those you see here.

Thanks for a great night!

Hard to believe that it’s been over a year since our last job mixer, held as Grimm came to a close.  Time to wind things up again as an equally large group finishes up – this time out at LAIKA on their current production, Missing Link.  This puts a sizable contingent from our ranks, all top tier talent, out on the streets and available for hire.  Our goal is connect you all with other studios/companies/productions on the rise – ladies and gentlemen, I give you Job Mixer 2!

Confirmed studios/companies attending:

Not quite what I meant when I said “stop-mo resume…” 😉

HouseSpecial
ShadowMachine
Nike
Bent Image Lab
Hinge
Deep Sky/Giant Astronaut
Sockeye
Sprocketship
Refuge VFX
The Other House
Mode Adjust
Joint Editorial
Kamp Grizzly
Funnelbox
SuperGenius
Laundry Service
9ifx
MPC (Canada opportunities)
and more to come…

Update that resume and dust off the ol’ demo reel, because this event is coming fast!  The details:

Monday, July 9th
from 5-7pm*
Art Institute of Portland
1122 NW Davis St
3rd Floor/Student Commons loft

Parking:  the “Brewery Blocks” garage directly beneath the Art Institute (under Whole Foods) is probably your best bet.  There is another (brick) garage across the street that could be a 2nd option.

LAIKA may be the catalyst, but this event is open to all – from student to supervisor.  *Important note:  After the public event, individual companies can opt to schedule private interviews with candidates that they’d like to go a bit more in-depth with.  These interviews will happen in offices down the hall from the main event from 7-9pm later that night, so you might want keep that time available in case you’re contacted or tagged for one (or more) private interviews.  Pencil in some extra time and don’t make any plans or let that babysitter go quite so early, whatever your case may be.  This facet of the event offers real job prospects and hiring potential, ratcheting up from a mere meet and greet to a serious job event!

Please help us track numbers by RSVP’ing for this event – grab your free ticket over at Eventbrite now:   https://bit.ly/2xFiqQR

LAIKA artists being rolled off – get in touch with LAIKA HR about how best to take advantage of the reverse recruting efforts and the links to submit your materials.  In addition to the above Portland based companies, there are several studios from Vancouver BC (including Sony Imageworks, Double Negative, Method, Animal Logic + others) who will be remotely recruiting the LAIKA artists who express interest.  MPC is making the trip down to recruit directly, and others may as well.

We’ll see you at the event!  Special thanks to the Art Institute for the space, and huge thanks to collaborator OMPA for overall event support and especially for helping to fold in our brothers + sisters from the stop-mo/production side who are equally impacted.  Food and beverage sponsors so far include Brew Dr. and Viso, so a big thanks to them for supporting our event.  Let’s make Portland work!

Note – if you are a studio/agency/production company who would like to participate, get in touch here.

The requisite shot of the sellout crowd filtering in ahead of the event…

Thanks to Pixar artists Keith Klohn and Michael O’Brien for making the quick trip up from the bay and wowing us with all things Coco.  I’m told this was one of those “landmark” presentations that will keep we Portlanders reeling for months…  years!  So much incredible artwork, characters, and the usual airtight Pixar story that we’ve almost come to expect by this stage – Coco is one to take time out and appreciate.  I was SO glad we could arrange this visit.  Of the many emails I received following the event, one very excited young FX artist exclaimed that “it was so great to see such complex Houdini networks and such intricate animation work on that level.”   Inspiration!

Keith Klohn starts the talk

The Other House shares the Emmys package on the legendary Empirical screen

A big thanks is also due to Chris Roth of The Other House and his associates Michael Miller and Brian Smith for showing off their work on the package for the Emmys Awards show, in all it’s glittery glory.  This was a great project that put part of the brain trust of Portland to work, and it was great to see it detailed.  Thanks to the team for donating the time to the cause!

This event was made possible largely due to sponsorship from SideFX, who’s excellent Houdini software helped create many of the FX you saw within Coco.

Another thank you is due to Melony Beaird of OMSI for covering for me while I was out of town, assisting with arrangements, MC duties and the Q&A.

Last but not least, thanks to YOU for coming out and being a part of the sellout crowd!  I’m told there was not an open seat in the house, and for a theater the size of the Empirical Theater at OMSI, that’s saying something!  The interest, energy, and support present in droves is what makes larger scale events like this possible and we will most definitely do it again.  And soon.  Until next time!