Amy Backwell, Emerging Talent Specialist, Industrial Light & Magic

Amy Backwell is ILM's Emerging Talent Specialist for the London studio. She joined ILM back in 2017 as London's Studio Coordinator before quickly moving into the Studio Talent Group. Amy manages all of London's emerging talent programmes including the Jedi Academy, work experience, apprenticeships and school outreach. She also has an invested interest in diversity and inclusion and is leading one of the London offices ERGs called ENABLED which aims to support the neurodiverse and people with disabilities community.

Back in 2015, Amy graduated from the Arts University Bournemouth with a Masters degree in Animation Production. She continues to work on her independent work outside of ILM, specialising in surrealist painting and sculpture. 

Simon Davies, Senior Recruiter, Industrial Light & Magic

Simon Davies has been recruiting in the VFX / Creative Tech sector for over 10 years and joined the ILM London team in 2015.  With experience across VFX and Games, Simon has helped studios build award winning, diverse,multi-disciplined teams and has most recently been recruiting for a range of projects including The Mandalorian, Jurassic World: Dominion, Midnight Sky, The Stand and Marvels' Eternals.

As well as working with studio leadership to help build amazing project teams, Simon also partners with ILM's Studio Talent Group to help drive ILM's Emerging Talent and Graduate Hiring agenda.  Simon is a regular speaker at industry and graduation events and is really looking forwrad to getting back to face to face gatherings and meeting the next generation of VFX professionals.

Industrial Light & Magic started a revolution in the world of filmmaking with the release of Star Wars in 1977. Since then, ILM has grown into a global company with studios in San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver and London, with a new studio opening in Sydney Australia in 2019. 

The ILM name has become synonymous with innovative visual effects work and the company continues to be a recognised leader in the field. We continue to provide filmmakers with the ability to tell stories in ways not previously possible, allowing only their imagination to limit what can be achieved.

For further information about ILM and all of our achievements, please visit ilm.com.

Leanne Loughran, Sr Recruiter, Industrial Light & Magic

Leanne is a Senior Recruiter for ILM London, previously at Outpost VFX and Aardman Animations. Having worked in the VFX, Animation and 3D Design industry for 15+ years as both a 3D artist and Recruiter; Leanne bridges her design background and recruiting experience to source global VFX talent for Film and Episodic TV. With a foundation of fine art and design training; it has given her the tools and knowledge to be able to spot talent at all stages of individual career progression. Understanding the artists and connecting candidates to the right roles is now her passion; and to do that for ILM is a dream force!
The artistry and cinematography principles used across VFX + Animation inspires Leanne and is a huge interest; constantly blown away by how ILM leads the industry in pushing boundaries to achieve perfection on the screen.
You can also find Leanne at regular industry events looking ahead to promote diversity and equality within the VFX + Animation work environment - core values close to her work ethic and ethos.
Based by the beach in Southbourne nr. Bournemouth Leanne balances work life with her small family, a golden retriever and the occasional venture back to illustration commissions.