Bejoy Arputhara, PhantomFX

Bejoy Arputharaj is the founder and CEO of PhantomFX, a leading visual effects studio based in India. PhantomFX recently acquired Tippett Studio. In 2010, he established PhantomFX with a team of just four artists; under his leadership, the company has grown to over 600 employees.

Bejoy's dedication and contributions to the animation and VFX industry were recognized in 2022 when he was awarded the "Outstanding Young Person of the Year in India" by the Junior Chamber International. His filmography includes work on more than 200 domestic and international feature films, such as "The Little Mermaid," "Vishwaroopam 2," and "Indru Netru Naalai."

Beyond his professional achievements, Bejoy is committed to fostering a supportive work culture at PhantomFX, emphasizing work-life balance and the well-being of his artists. He believes in empowering his team and providing opportunities for growth, reflecting his philosophy that every employee is a vital part of the company's success. 

Joseph Bell, Founder, Principal Consultant, HDRI Consulting

Joseph Bell is a unique voice in VFX and Animation, combining 20 years of hands-on experience at some of the most respected studios in the field – including Industrial Light & Magic, The Mill, and FuseFX – with a global view of industry trends and business dynamics.

In addition to leadership roles at studios, Joseph provides specialized management consulting services to investors looking into the industry, and VFX studios engaged in strategic growth. He is a two-time Emmy nominee, with over 70 feature film and television credits.

Christina Caspers-Roemer, Managing Director, TRIXTER GmbH

Christina works as General Manager at TRIXTER. TRIXTER is one of the leading VFX studios in Europe. With her team, Christina works primarily for international clients, as well as large scale streaming vendors. In her position, Christina is responsible for the day-to-day business across all ongoing and potential new productions from acquisition to final delivery. As technology in the film and especially post-production industry continues to evolve at an ever increasing speed, and audience watching habits change as well, the use of the most current technology is absolutely essential in order to be at the highest industry standard not only budget-wise but creatively as well. At TRIXTER, Christina and her team are evaluating these latest technologies and their tailored application to each project. 

Before coming back to TRIXTER, Christina was Managing Director at Dark Bay – Europe’s largest virtual production stage. In this role, she oversaw the daily productions and supported and consulted shows from the scriptwriting process to the final image in all virtual production-related topics. The volume, one of the world’s largest LED-installations, was used, among others, for the filming of the Netflix series “1899”.

With a background in VFX and XR, she previously also worked on movies like “The Marvels”, “I am Groot, “Family Plan”, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, “Black Widow”, “Loki Season 1 +2” and “Foundation S:2”, just to name a few.

In addition to her work at TRIXTER, Christina is co-founder of IIM (Institute of Immersive Media), an NGO that brings together the creative and technical departments of film shooting, pre- and post-production in workshops and at film festivals.

Chris Edwards, CEO, The Third Floor

For over two decades, Chris Edwards has promoted the adoption of efficient, real-time visualization technologies and workflows across film, television, games and immersive entertainment. In October 2004, he co-founded THE THIRD FLOOR (TTF), an artist-driven Visualization Studio which is known for supporting the visions of many of the world’s most ambitious directors and designers.  TTF has amassed thousands of screen credits – from HBO’s Game of Thrones, to Lucasfilm’s latest Star Wars series, to an array of current and forthcoming productions across the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

TTF Teams have also designed many prestigious video game cinematics, and helped realize popular immersive attractions, including Universal Studios' Super Nintendo World.  In the face of the pandemic, Chris championed the launch of TTF’s innovative Final Animation division, which is currently delivering a groundbreaking animated feature produced via Epic Games' Unreal Engine.

Chris was named EY’s 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year for Greater Los Angeles and was honored with the prestigious Paris Images Digital Summit - GENIE Visionary Award in 2020.  In his free time, Chris can be found speaking to students and professionals around the globe, inspiring the next generation of visionary creators.

Laurens Ehrmann, The Yard VFX

Laurens joined the industry in the 90’s, starting as a CG Artist on projects including Batman Begins and Matrix Revolution, later becoming VFX Supervisor at BUF Compagnie, before starting his own studio, The Yard VFX.With two established studios in France (Montpellier and Paris), The Yard recently opened their London studio. The Yard projects include WandaVision, John Wick: Chapter 4, All The Light We Cannot See and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Season 2). 

Hayley Miller, Founder, World VFX Day

Hayley Miller is the founder of World VFX Day, an initiative launched in 2023 to celebrate and recognize the contributions of the visual effects (VFX) and animation industry. With over a decade of experience in marketing and public relations across entertainment and technology. The last six years of her career has been dedicated to visual effects, working with companies like Pixomondo, MPC/Technicolor Studios, and Territory Studio. World VFX Day aims to raise the profile of the industry and the artistry and skills involved, to foster a greater appreciation across the wider industry and beyond.