Another heavyweight speaker has been confirmed for the Training Ground. We are pleased to announce that Garry Maddison, one of today’s top VFX colorists, will be attending as guest speaker in this year’s edition.

With more than 60 feature films on his credits, Maddison has worked in films such as "Interstellar", "Ex Machina", "Trascendence", "Bourne Legacy" and "007: Skyfall" and collaborated with directors such as Ron Howard, Mike Leigh, Edgar Wright e Stephen Frears, among many others – Maddison began his path by studying Performative Arts and Media.

While studying, and unlike most of his peers, he would often try to integrate audiovisuals into activities such as playwriting. Progressively becoming closer to post-production, his first contact with grading equipment happened with film, rather then digital.

Maddison perfected his technique with extensive work in TV and archive footage and he quickly moved into cinema, namely with Joe Wright’s "Channel" – starring Keira Knightley – which was shot in film.
It was this experience with film (as opposed to digital) that opened the door to a collaboration with Christopher Nolan.

2016 will see the premiere of several films in which Maddison has worked and that are a clear example of the type of mastery that VFX coloring requires: "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children" (directed by Tim Burton), "Alice Through the Looking Glass" (produced by Tim Burton), "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (following the Harry Potter saga), DC’s "Wonder Woman" and Marvel’s "Captain America: Civil War".

This is without question a unique opportunity to learn with a top professional about the nuances of an ever-expanding area of film and, through Maddison’s own background (including his experience as a runner and a freelancer), how to build a career in VFX coloring.