Ale Esquerro, Product Manager - Nuke Timeline, Foundry

Ale Esquerro, with over two decades of experience in the film industry, currently serves as the Product Manager for Nuke Timeline. With most of her experience in post-production, she's dedicated to developing tools that elevate VFX workflows and helping users achieve their objectives swiftly and efficiently.

Hugo Guerra, Director & VFX Supervisor, Hugo's Desk

Hugo Guerra is an award-winning Director and VFX Supervisor. After finishing his Fine Arts degree, he worked in Portugal and Sweden before moving to the UK where he was a freelancer for several years.

In 2010 he joined The Mill London as a VFX Supervisor and as Head of the Nuke Department where he worked with clients like Audi, Adidas, Nike, IKEA, Panasonic, Discovery Channel, Sony, Activision, Ubisoft, etc. In 2014 Hugo joined Fire Without Smoke as a Director and Visual Effects Supervisor, working on trailers for game studios like CCP, Ubisoft, Deep Silver, Square Enix, Sony, Warhammer, etc.

Most recently Hugo worked as a VFX Supervisor for Sony Playstation, worked as a Film Director for Rebellion Studios directing the cinematic trailer for Sniper Elite 5 and Directed a commercial for Zeiss.

He is also very active as a teacher and lecturer of Visual Effects, making keynotes at festivals all over the world in partnership with BenQ, Foundry, and Ftrack. Hugo is also a content creator on YouTube with his channel Hugo's Desk and he’s the co-host of the VFX Notes Podcast with Ian Failes from Befores & Afters.

Charli Holt, Mari Product Manager, Foundry

Charli Holt is a professional with a diverse background in VFX as well as experience across Product, Quality, and Customer Engagement. As Product Manager, she currently serves as the leader of the roadmap and creative strategy for Mari, Foundry's industry-leading texturing package responsible for collaborating with both studio clients and development teams in order to create and deliver high-quality products, Charli’s primary focus is on building features for artists that prioritize the user's needs.   Charli is deeply committed to making Mari as artist-friendly as possible, and she works tirelessly to ensure that the voice of the artist is recognised throughout the development cycle. She is passionate about her work, industry and her development team; prioritizing support for a healthy work-life balance, mental health awareness, and creating an environment in which every voice can be heard and impact the future of Mari.   In addition to her professional work, Charli is a strong advocate for creating an inclusive and engaging community network of artists within the texturing space. She believes in encouraging new learners to join the VFX industry by promoting the importance of understanding texturing theory within the field. A true advocate for making space for the artists of the future, Charli's dedication to her work and her community is evident in everything she does.

Victor Perez, Film Director and VFX Supervisor

Award-winner Film Director and VFX Supervisor, considered a visual effects compositing master and NUKE™ guru, Victor Perez, has worked on a number of Hollywood blockbusters. Starting his career as a photographer and digital artist, today his films have earned him more than 27 awards world wide.

Krista Rowland, Katana Associate Product Manager, Foundry

Krista Rowland, former Compositor, now an Associate Product Manager for Katana at Foundry. Throughout her 8 year career in the media industry, Krista has worked on numerous feature-film, television and commercial projects, gained a deep understanding of 2D & 3D practices and developed into a multifaceted individual. As a former artist, Krista has used a variety of applications and understands the importance of artist-centric workflows. Her passion for VFX and value for artists, motivates her to continuously build and shape features that are liked by all users. 

Kirstyn Salehi, Education Industry Manager, Foundry

Kirstyn Salehi, Education Industry Marketing Manager at Foundry, holds a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas. With experience teaching students from preschool to graduate level, she brings valuable insights into diverse educational needs. Leveraging her background in both classroom teaching and higher education administration, Kirstyn actively collaborates with schools and studios to understand evolving educational needs within the VFX industry.

Chris Wetherly, Nuke Product Manager, Foundry

Chris Wetherly, Product Manager for Compositing & Finishing at Foundry, is a former VFX artist with work on titles such as Maleficent and Guardians of the Galaxy and has worked with the Nuke team now for over 8 years exploring how to build and develop tools for artists and future workflows.