On Monday, February 12 at 5:30pm (PST), the Think Tank Campus will be joined by eight expert panelists from a variety of backgrounds. Sharing their insights about portfolios, and why preparing for a specific role can benefit your career, these panelists will help those who are about to select their Specialization Path or start applying to a studio position.

The evening will also feature a keynote presentation by Senior 3D Instructor, Russell L. Smith, touching industry expectations, historical trends and  the advent of AI.

Each panel will feature a live Q&A portion, so be sure to get your questions ready. Refreshments and snacks will also be provided.

Meet the Panels

Games & Houdini Panel

Aleksandar is currently working as a 3D Environment Artist on an unannounced AAA project. He’s experienced with both Nanite and Traditional Architecture, Texturing, Asset Creation, Layout and World Building. My specialization lies in modular architecture pipelines with the help of utilizing layered materials to get the best results.


Vinicius is a Brazilian Character & Creature artist with over 10 years of experience working with CG for different companies around the world. More recently, Vinicius has debuted in the VFX Industry and since then has had the opportunity to sculpt a number of characters and creatures for a variety of Films and TV projects.

Alongside a broad Generalist skill-set for both animated and live action features (FX, Tracking, Comp, Texturing, Modeling, Lighting), Orion is adept in procedural techniques and various 3D packages, with Houdini, Nuke and Max as primaries. He received a VES nomination for Hawkeye and worked as a Sr. FX Artist at Sony Pictures Imageworks on Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

From childhood, Chris fell in love with video games. His journey in the industry began three decades ago as a junior game designer before founding his own studio. Having established multiple companies, Chris brings extensive experience in navigating the challenges and successes of independent game development.

Film & Television Panel

Alongside ILM, Karla has worked for Scanline VFX, MPC Vancouver, and has been featured on over 17 VFX projects such as Obi Wan Kenobi, Marvel’s Sang Chi, Justice League: Snyder’s Cut, Ad Astra, and Detective Pikachu. Karla also works as a freelance illustrator, and you can discover her work here.

Jacob has worked In the animation industry for 13 years across animated films, VFX, and Games. From working at EA to Method Studios and Digital Domain, he has had the opportunity to have  a very diverse career. Jacob is currently working as the Lead Animator at Digital Domain on an unannounced Netflix film.

As a true Generalist, Vitaliy has been working across disciplines, such as Unreal Environment Development, Texturing and Shading for Animation, Architectural Visualization and Rigging. At the end of the day, however, Environment Art is his passion and this is where he will be most helpful for interested students.

Vinicius Favero will also speaking in the Film & Television Panel

Keynote Presentation: You, Emerging Tech & The Digital Revolution

Russell joins the Think Tank team after several decades experience in VFX,  Animation and CG Education. Having held senior positions at studios such as Bron Studios, Disney Feature Animation and DreamWorks Animation, some of Russell’s credits include Dinosaur, Chicken Little, Shrek Forever After, Puss in Boots, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Snowpiercer, and Maze Runner. His talk will touch on the history of VFX and Animation, the importance of attitude when looking for- and maintaining- a studio role, as well as the advent of AI.

Refreshments and food will be served at 5:30pm with the first panel beginning at 6pm. If you have any questions about this event, please reach out to Think Tank’s Social Media and Events Manager, Deirdre, at deirdre@tttc.ca.