Advisory Panel

Anoop AK  is an Animation/VFX Technologist, with over a decade of experience in the industry. He currently serves as the Pipeline Supervisor at Tau Films where he is responsible for architecting Tau's globally distributed pipeline, and manages a team of Pipeline TDs and Developers across different studio locations in Asia and North America. Before joining Tau Films, he was associated with Dreamworks Dedicated Unit and Rhythm & Hues Studios, where he contributed to their production pipeline development.

Anoop received the Autodesk Shotgun "Pipeline Shotty Award," at the the 6th Annual Shotgun Pipeline Awards, SIGGRAPH 2019. The Shotty Award is given to developers of top pipeline tools in development, engineering, integration, or day-to-day use. He is also an avid technology enthusiast, with a profound interest in XR and real-time technologies.

Dariush Derakhshani is a VFX and CG Supervisor in Los Angeles  and an award-winning CG Generalist-Lighter.  Dariush was the Visual Effects Supervisor for the 2019 film 1982, which won the Netpac Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere, at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Dariush is a pipeline, lighting, and production consultant and has  been an animator and supervisor on commercials and feature films for companies such as Digital Domain, Pixomondo, Zoic Studios, Radium|ReelFX, Café FX, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Sight Effects, and South Park. He is the author of several 3D Max and Maya books, including the best-selling series Introducing Maya—with over 13 editions since 2002 and translated into more than a dozen languages.

Dariush received his  M.F.A. from the Division of Animation and Digital Arts, School of Cinematic Arts (SCA), University of Southern California (USC). His B.A. is from Lehigh University in Architecture and Theatre. He is an active member of the Visual Effects Society and has won a London Advertising Award for commercial effects, is a multiple recipient of the Telly and Addy Awards, has won the Bronze Plaque from the Columbus Film Festival, and is a VES Awards nominee. 

Keith Goldfarb is the Chief Software Architect/Co-Founder of Blackthorn Media and an Academy Award winning artist. He was a co-founder of Rhythm & Hues Studios where, for 26 years, he was the chief architect for its proprietary software. His pioneering visual effects were honored with dozens of awards including Oscars, Baftas and Cleos. 

Keith has a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and an M.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

Pauline Ts’o is an author, illustrator, and photographer. Her first book, Whispers of the Wolf,  received multiple awards and recognition, including the 2016 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award, and a starred Booklist Review.  

A computer programmer by training, Pauline started her artistic training by rummaging through her mother's art book collection as a child. Her technical training got her a job as a software designer at  Robert Abel and Associates , a pioneer in the computer animation industry. From there, Pauline and  a few co-workers decided to form Rhythm & Hues Studios  in 1987, a computer animation and visual effects company, which won multiple Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects (Life of Pi, Babe, and The Golden Compass). Pauline wore many hats at R&H for 26 years, including programmer, digital artist, and art director. She worked on projects such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Disney's theme park attraction It's Tough to be a Bug, and the first Coco-Cola Polar Bear commercial, Northern Lights.     

Pauline has  a B.A. in Computer Science/Math from Cornell University and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). 

Bill Westenhofer is the Visual Effects Supervisor for  Gemini Man (2019). He also served as the Visual Effects Supervisor for Wonder Woman (2017), which received the Empire and Dragon Awards for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy film and the Critics Choice Award for Best Action Movie.

Bill served as the Visual Effects Supervisor at Rhythm & Hues Studios for over 18 years. During his time at R&H, he supervised a team of 400 digital artists on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. A few years later, he won both BAFTA and Academy Awards in the Best Visual Effects categories for The Golden Compass (2007) and Life of Pi (2012). His work on Life of Pi was also recognized by the London Critics Circle Film Awards (Technical Achievement of the Year) and the Visual Effects Society (Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture).

Bill earned his B.S. in Engineering (BSEG)/Computer Engineering from Bucknell University, and his M.S. in Computer Science  at George Washington University, where he studied the use of dynamics in physically-based animation. He was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

Mike Yang is the Founder and Studio Director of Artlord Studio. Leading an international team of artists, Artlord Studio has been creating high quality live-action visual effects and animation for film and television, themed  entertainment, and special venues since 2014. Fluent in English and Chinese, Mike's twenty-plus years’ background experience in the entertainment industry includes positions as a post-production producer, project manager, and visual effects and motion control operator-supervisor.  He later joined Rhythm & Hues Studios as Employee #1  for their Taiwan studio, where he was responsible for set-up, as well as leading and managing Taiwan’s on-site post production team for the academy award-winning film, Life of Pi.