News | 26.03.2025

A Treasure Trove of Creativity:
Aardman, Captain America and glimpses into the Crystal Ball

HEY EVERYONE,

 

Recommendations for FMX 2025? We've got you covered, pointing out some of the many conference highlights! 🎯 Like every year, the program is extensive, offering the latest and greatest in VFX, animation and digital media. 👌

 

There is camera work đŸŽ„ in the digital age, VFX creativity in HBO's "The Penguin" and Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Brave New World", 🩖 animation secrets of Aardman's "Wallace & Gromit" and Pixar's "Win or Lose", expanded realities - and, of course, Artificial Intelligence and how to deal with it. 🩄

 

The Forum has been filling up nicely. A warm welcome to our Premium Partners Adobe, Esri and Maxon, who are going to enrich FMX with workshops and presentations.

 

Get your FMX tickets here!

 

Ashley Barron and one of her camera angles in "Dangerous Liaisons". © Playground Television/Lions Gate Television

VFX for Episodic: VFX from a Cinematographer's Perspective

 

Ashley Barron, award-winning Director of Photography (“How to Get to Heaven from Belfast”, “Dr Who”, “Dangerous Liaisons” S1), will address the production planning process, lighting design, lens and camera choices as storytelling tools in a discussion with Jordan Thistlewood from Cooke Optics.

 
VFX Supervisor Dan Cox and the Red Hulk in "Captain America: Brave New World" © Marvel/Disney

VFX for Features: "Captain America: Brave New World"

 

Wētā FX was tasked with transforming Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross into the formidable Red Hulk. VFX Supervisor Dan Cox will take you behind the scenes and discuss the challenges of creating Red Hulk and building up the FX heavy action sequences.

 
Production Designer and Art Director Noah Klocek and a glimpse into the world of "Win or Lose". © Pixar/Disney

Animated Series: Designing Pixar's "Win or Lose"

 

"Win or Lose", Pixar's first original episodic long-form project, premiered on Disney+ in early 2025 to rave reviews. Noah Klocek ("Wall-E", "Inside Out"), Production Designer and Art Director at Pixar Animation, will give the audience a glimpse at how the look, world, and characters were conceived and designed through form, color, collaboration, and storytelling.

 
XR specialist Chris O'Reilly (l.) and GenAI expert Jim Geduldick © Nexus Studios/Spaceboy Labs

VR/AR/MR: New Creative Landscapes

 

Christopher O’Reilly is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Nexus Studios, combining artistry and technology to produce multi-platform content, immersive events, and real-time and AI-driven experiences. Recent Nexus Studios highlights include the groundbreaking films created for the Las Vegas Sphere, and Cannes Grand Prix-winning Adoptable campaign. Other notable projects include the Gold Cannes Lions winning project, “Gorillaz Presents”, an Emmy-award-winning special for Netflix, Emmy-nominated XR experiences for Google and Marvel.

 

GenAi is Growing Up: Where do we go next?

 

Generative AI has the potential to be a massively disruptive force which will no doubt force many to pivot in their chosen careers. Jim Geduldick ("The Martian"), Visual Effects Supervisor, Virtual Production Supervisor and Cinematographer, will address both the opportunities and the challenges presented by GenAI, examining how it can be harnessed as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement. He also will discuss the whole issue on the AI panel with Jason Zada, Rajesh Sharma and Andy Cochrane, the curator of the FMX track GenAI is growing up.

 
In "Cassandra", a robot is taking over a family's life. © Netflix

Virtual Production: Bringing "Cassandra" to Life

 

"Cassandra" follows a family who moves into an old smart home, encountering a robotic housekeeper with dark intentions. VFX Executive Christine Resch (Netflix, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “The Empress”),  VFX Supervisor Frank Schlegel, (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and On-Set & Virtual-Production Supervisor Rouven Dombrowski, (Accenture Song, "Lost in Space", Shadow and Bone") will unveil their groundbreaking method for integrating a stylized 3D character on set in real-time, alongside collaborating with an animatronic robot and incorporating CG elements during post-production to craft a genuine character.

 

 
Animation Supervisor Dave Clayton and a simian Robbie Williams in a scene from "Better Man" © Wētā FX

VFX for Features: "Better Man"

 

Wētā FX reimagined Robbie Williams in simian form for the Oscar nominated musical biopic "Better Man". Animation Supervisor Dave Clayton will share how the team brought Robbie's extraordinary story to life through a fully CG character - exploring how they found the perfect balance between human and chimp, captured Robbie's signature expressions and mannerisms, fine-tuned the full spectrum of emotions across 2,000 shots.

 
Animator Will Becher and a stop-motion set of "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" © Aardman Animation

Feature Animation: "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"

 

Academy Award nominee Will Becher ("A Shaun the Sheep movie: Farmageddon") has had a career spanning 20 years working as a writer, director, and stop-motion lead animator. His most recent credit is Supervising Animator on Aardman’s critically acclaimed film “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”. Will is currently Stop Motion Lead at the studio’s training facility, the Aardman Academy.

 
"The Penguin": the man behind the mask is Colin Farrell. © HBO

VFX for Episodic: The VFX of "The Penguin"

 

The HBO original series "The Penguin" sets the stage for Oz Cobb to fill a power vacuum left in the dark world of Gotham City with over 3,000 VFX shots, from the breathtaking to the invisible. "The Penguin"'s Overall VFX Supervisor Johnny Han and Accenture Song VFX Supervisor Emanuel Fuchs will dive deep into the Batman universe and talk about exploding sea walls, unstoppable floods, ominous sweeping cityscapes, heightened shootouts with advanced interacting on-set lighting techniques, and more.  

 

 

There is great dynamic in the Forum: A lot of companies, studios and media schools from around the world have joined FMX to connect with creatives of all career levels, showcasing new products, sharing insights, exploring opportunities and initiating collaborations.

Silver Partner: Adobe

 

Changing the world through personalized digital experiences: Founded 40 years ago on the simple idea of creating innovative products that change the world, Adobe offers groundbreaking technology that empowers everyone, everywhere to imagine, create, and bring any digital experience to life.

 

Visit us at FMX at the Adobe Booth where we'll highlight the latest features in the Substance 3D apps, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects. Also join our 6 Adobe Masterclasses on May 6-7! Experience exciting live demos, use cases from the media and sporting world as well as inspiring conversations with industry experts. Discover how to bring your creative ideas to life with the latest Adobe tools and take your video projects to the next level.  

 

Find more Information on Adobe at FMX here.

 

Silver Partner: Esri

 

Esri is the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping. Since 1969, we have supported customers with geographic science and geospatial analytics, what we call The Science of Where.

 

We take a geographic approach to problem-solving, brought to life by modern, enterprise-grade GIS technology. We are committed to using science and technology to build a sustainable world.

 

At FMX 2025, Esri will host two workshops highlighting workflows and tools for advanced procedural city and world design. These workshops will demonstrate how these tools can be seamlessly integrated into pre- and post-production pipelines to enhance the efficiency of advanced procedural design processes in the realms of movies, television, and gaming industries.

 

Find more information on Esri at FMX here.

 

Silver Partner: Maxon

 

Maxon makes powerful software solutions for content creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, VFX, visualization and games.

 

Maxon’s product portfolio includes the Cinema 4D suite of 3D modeling, simulation and animation technology, the Forger mobile sculpting app, the diverse Red Giant lineup of revolutionary editing, motion design and filmmaking tools, the leading-edge, blazingly fast Redshift renderer and ZBrush, the industry-standard digital sculpting and painting solution.

 

Find more information on Maxon at FMX here.

 

More Forum Confirmations

 
FMX Ticket Options

 

This year, the FMX Ticketshop offers a wider variety than ever. The CONFERENCE PASS includes all of FMX On Site in Stuttgart and On Demand. The new BUSINESS PASS adds access to the new Business Lounge as well as priority access to all conference presentations. The COMBI PASS expands the Conference Pass with access to the International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS).

 

The DAY PASS is valid for one day of FMX, the newly created EXPERIENCE PASS for networkers allows access to the FMX exhibition areas for one day. With the ONLINE PASS you can enjoy most of the conference presentations On Demand from May 10 to June 10.

 

Reduced tickets are available for students, apprentices, trainees, pensioners and people with disabilities. Student groups are eligible for tickets with additional discount.

 

✹ See you in May! ✹