This career development-focused webinar is FREE and exclusive for Film Production Students & recent Grads!

FREE for all Film Production Students & Recent Grads

Join us for a talk with Post industry professionals as we discuss what opportunities await after graduation and how you can prepare yourself to enter the workforce. Don’t miss this chance to learn from and connect with some of BC’s finest Post Production talent!

Registration is open to both Members and Non-Members of the VPA.

#VPAStudentTalks

VALERIE BIGGIN

Valerie Biggin is a Music Business veteran with over 30 years’ experience in recording, orchestral score coordination, music supervision and licensing. Still very active in the local Music community you will find her either at the studio or in a club listening to the newest, latest, greatest – Music is her passion!

Valerie started her career as an aspiring recording engineer but ended up as the President/Studio Manager for Mushroom Studios in Vancouver for over 13 years. With additional stints at SOCAN, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS and Business Instructor (Sound Design Dept.) at the Vancouver Film School, Valerie’s passion and knowledge of Music and its business was firmly established and respected.

In late 2009, Valerie opened The Song Rep…. a music placement agency who, in a very short time, placed music in MTV, MTV Canada, FOX Sports and Slice Networks, Hallmark, A&E, and even independent films. Along with orchestral co ordination while at Mushroom for major film and TV projects, it was only a matter of time before the natural progression to Music Supervision became the focus of The Song Rep.

Valerie believes that great film and TV projects, advertising campaigns and video games all have one basic thing in common, the surreal emotional experience their audience feels with a well-placed song.

TARYN FOSTER

Taryn Foster is a third-year Film Production and Creative Writing student at UBC. She started working at Barnstorm VFX in July of this year as a Co-Op student and was asked to continue into the school year to train to become a Production Coordinator after graduation. Taryn is working towards eventually becoming a writer/director, but is also interested in editing, sound design, and visual effects! 

JOHN GAJDECKI

I remember watching the British Sci Fi show Space 1999 as a kid when it hit me hard: ” Hey, those aren’t spaceships on my TV, those are models!   I build models, I take pictures, I can do this !

In highschool everyone thought I was wasting my time on an animated film, but my teachers must have liked what I was doing because they invited me back to do grade twelve again.  That Animated film was good enough to get me into York University, where I studied film production for four years, and a year after graduating I was working as a Visual Effects Supervisor on Friday the 13th the series for Paramount Pictures.  I was 27 years old when I got my first Emmy nomination.

In 1991 I set up Canada’s first Artist Driven VFX Studio, did a ton of work all around the world, won a bunch of awards and had the pleasure of going bankrupt in 2003. If you ever hear me say the VFX business is a great big ponzi scheme I’m only mostly joking.

These days I work directly for production with vendors and my in-house artists, my goal is to avoid the problems we all see coming and deal with the ones we didn’t. While something may not have started as my problem I always make it my responsibility. 

I am technically very competent, but I prefer the artistic side.  The best thing about VFX is it’s both  –  my shots don’t just look real, they look photographically real.  We add the same camera artifacts as the main unit’s photography, with the same framing you’d expect from the operator and the same timing we’d see in each director.   I try to figure out the production designer to match their style.  This informs everything I do.

MAY GUIMARAES

May Guimarães is a re-recording mixer based in Vancouver. She’s been working with sound for film for over ten years, and has been in post production since 2015.

RED HEARTBREAKER

Red Heartbreaker has a split musical personality. A classically-trained mezzo-soprano and flautist, her perform-ance and composing work refuses to be pigeonholed. Composing everything from choral to orchestral, rock to electronic, she’s thirsty to keep it fresh.

Red was deeply honoured to accept Leo Award nominations for Best Original Score in a Motion Picture for her work in ‘White Raven’ (Directed by Andrew Moxham – White Buffalo Films) and for ‘Charlotte’s Song’ (starring Iwan Rheon & Katelyn Majer – Done Four Productions) culminating in a win for the latter picture – along with her music team colleague Maya Saxell, they were the first female composers ever to win a Leo award in that category. She has additionally been recognized with a Best Music gong at the 2017 Seattle Web Fest for her work in the 2016 webseries Telegraph Cove. Recently Red was selected as the panel favourite at the 2017 Whistler Film Festival’s inaugural blind composition challenge, featuring such esteemed panelists as Janine Scalise Boyd (VF Music, Starz Entertainment) Tony Scudellari (SVP TV Music, Sony TV) and Julie Weitz (EP/President, Carol Mendelsohn Productions/Sony Pictures Television).

Red’s film ‘Brother, I Cry’ directed by Jessie Anthony has made a strong showing at film festivals worldwide and has won 5 awards and 8 nominations. She is currently scoring for both Lifetime and Hallmark. 

Nothing is off the table.

SABRINA PITRE

A native of Toronto, Sabrina moved out to Vancouver to attend UBC’s film production program. After earning her BFA, she landed her first job in the industry working in Post Production back in 2006 and has since risen to become an established, award-winning Picture Editor within the film community.

When she’s not glued to her computer, she sidelines as a voice actor for cartoons as well!

DAVE ROMAN

Dave Roman is the owner and colourist/online editor at The Colour Closet, a boutique post production facility located in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. 

Before starting his own post house, Dave worked as a camera operator, 1st AC and DIT on TV drama, features, concert tours, music videos, Warren Millers ski films and documentaries around the globe. His clients projects are a wonderful mix of independent features, socially relevant documentaries, and the occasional scripted drama series.

In his spare time Dave enjoys skiing, cycling, travels and most music but mostly Steely Dan. 

SCOTT WATSON

With over 25 years of experience in the feature film industry, Scott Watson stands for excellence in post production. From his earliest days in the business, the potent combination of technology, creativity, entertainment and constant change proved to be an enticing draw that continues to resonate with him today. Scott’s experience in facility management, distribution, post supervision and producing have led him to work with a number of Hollywood studios including Disney, Fox, Sony, Universal and Netflix. As a founding member of the VPA, Scott is a believer in the value and strength of bringing the post community together. He’s a passionate evangelist of high quality entertainment and looks forward to assisting the next generation of filmmakers navigate this fascinating and rewarding industry.

KERI YOUNG

A native Canadian with an early interest in television, Keri began her career as a PA on the sets of productions shooting in Vancouver. Connecting with Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation led to a focus in animation, and a move to Los Angeles, where she landed on the pilot of The Simpsons and began a diverse career in producing and supervising post production and visual effects. With over 200 hours of network and cable television credits, career highlights include four seasons of Ugly Betty, The Outer Limits, 12 Monkeys, The Crossing, and more recently Ted Lasso and Big Sky.

Keri has developed many relationships working both on the creative and technical side of production and post, and is happiest when connecting talented people with others who share her passion for storytelling. She recently settled back home in Vancouver with her daughter Emelia, and joined the exceptional team of artists at Barnstorm Visual Effects.
Keri is proud member of the Vancouver Post Alliance Board, Women in Animation, The Producers Guild of America, The Leo Awards Board, The Visual Effects Society and the Animation and VFX Alliance of BC.

Thank you to our generous sponsors