Former NASA engineer turned visual effects expert Steve MacPherson will be sharing his trade secrets with African filmmakers at the Durban FilmMart 2012, set to take place in just two weeks.
MacPherson, who developed complex computer systems for NASA and is now the Global Chief Technology Officer for awarding-winning visual effects company Framestore, will be a part of the Durban FilmMart’s world-class line-up.
His visit is facilitated through a new partnership between the Durban FilmMart; an annual finance and coproduction market for the African film industry and COA, a South African IT and digital content creation solution specialist with strong ties in international companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, AxizWorkgroup, HP, Intel, Microsoft and Nokia.
“Durban FilmMart strives to be at the forefront of cutting-edge technology and the development of African Cinema, and this means aligning ourselves with key partners and leading experts such as Steve MacPherson who boasts impressive credentials and noteworthy contributions to the industry,’ said Durban Film Office Head Toni Monty.
The 3rd edition of Durban FilmMart, which takes place from 20 to 23 July 2012, was created as a joint programme of the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival and provides filmmakers from across Africa a valued opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors, sales agents and potential co-producers, and participate in meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on latest industry trends.
The event will be held in three phases; the development platform Finance Forum which is open to selected documentary and feature film projects and the Master-classes and Africa in Focus range of panel discussions and seminars which are both open to all delegates of the event.
Macpherson will participate in two sessions specialising in digital focus during the event; The Digital Media Frontier: Straight Talk on Defining the Digital Media Opportunities in Africa and Pre-visualisation to Virtual Production: Technologies Revolutionising the Way Films Get Made.
MacPherson’s experience in science and technology over the last two decades has taken him from the California research labs of NASA Ames and Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL) to London and the leading film and advertising visual effects powerhouse Framestore. With a wealth of knowledge and experience, he has also held the senior film technology role for three of London’s top facilities; twice at MPC, as a founder member of Double Negative Visual Effects and for the past two years at Framestore. In his current position as Global CTO for the Framestore group, his specialties are: digital film workflows, film pre-visualization, VFX pipeline optimization, digital intermediate / colour management, technology planning and implementation.
The Durban FilmMart’s association with COA will also showcase the very latest technologies at the forefront of film-making: Autodesk’s 2013 Media & Entertainment Creation Suites, Adobe’s revolutionary CS6 Production Premium Suite, HP’s market-leading mobile and all-in-one workstations, Microsoft’s up-coming Windows 8 Operating System and COA’s truly game-changing Workstations and Render Farms.
Delegate and media registration for the Durban FilmMart is now open. Early-Bird delegate Registration closes on Friday 6 July at 17h00.
For more information on the registration process visit the official website, http:// www.durbanfilmmart.com/
