SYNOPSIS
From video games to films, motion capture (MoCap) technology has helped creators enhance their artistic visions and has ushered in new levels of creative collaboration. The technology makes it possible to capture the performances of actors (PCap) and the combination continues to push the boundaries of imaginitive content.
Knowledge is power, so considering the expanding opportunities for actors in video games, VR, animation and other visual mediums, understanding the process of performance capture from various perspectives (training, performance, casting, animation, directing, etc.) is essential to your knowledge base.
Join us for this special talk featuring TJ Storm, Andi Norris, Rosanna Sun, Kristen Sych and Eji Yared.
Moderated by Zeke Alton, Member of SAG-AFTRA LA Local Board and the National Performance Capture Committee
PANELIST BIOS
TJ Storm
With a quarter-century of performance capture experience, TJ Storm is one of Hollywood’s most expert character creators working in Film, TV, and Video Games. TJ has studied, designed, and created action for every kind of character: aliens and monsters, titans and gods, robots, kaiju, superheroes and supervillains; for projects ranging from Godzilla, Avengers: Infinity War, and Guardians of the Galaxy to Call of Duty, Deadpool, Avatar, and God of War.
A seven-time International Martial Arts Hall of Fame Recipient, TJ’s experience in teaching for over 30 years is invaluable when it comes to movement and performance. Not only does he have a vast knowledge base from his own work experience, but he is able to efficiently impart that knowledge, inspire, and train other performers to understand how to use their own body and imagination to develop a character inside and outside of the classroom.
A lifetime of study in the martial arts, film and tv acting, dance, and intense study with some of the world’s best instructors have given TJ Storm an amazing career as an actor and top performance capture artist, as well as an unparalleled edge in teaching the new generations of actors, action actors, and stunt performers the wonderful and dynamic art of action acting and performance capture.
Andi Norris
Actor, creature performer, and stunt performer Andi Norris is a veteran of theater, tv and film with over 20 years of hard won experience and she has carved out a niche in motion capture that allows her to use it all.
Andi has worked on over 40 tv, film, and video game titles including Resident Evil: Village, Predator: Hunting Grounds, Obi Wan Kenobi, Vader Immortal, and American Horror Story.
Andi believes it important to give back to the performance community by dedicating energy and skill-sharing through training other performers for motion capture and creature performance work through Mind’s Eye Tribe: Action Actor’s Academy.
Rosanna Sun
Throughout her 20+ year professional career, Rosanna Sun has made the impossible – possible. Step in. Step up. Step forward. Usually with high constraints, high pressure and with the highest expected quality output, Rosanna has learned to problem solve quickly and creatively for the betterment of any project.
Rosanna started her ever-evolving career in entertainment as a professional member of San Francisco Ballet Company. This foundational experience crafted a knowledge of movement, storytelling and direction that would follow her throughout her career. Her acting experience continued as a side interest through her early life including studying Shakespeare at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego, and studying acting at Sarah Lawrence College. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she tested the waters in the public sector doing foundation grant writing and paralegal work until she ventured into the world of feature films.
Rosanna assumed the position of Director of Development for Roland Joffe’s production company, Lightmotive, later to become Nomad Productions. During this early time in her film career, Rosanna was lucky enough to mentor under the renowned casting director, Elisabeth Leustig. She taught Rosanna about discovering new talent, getting the most from actors in auditions and what it takes to make a character into a person. This knowledge would be continually put to task over the next 20+ years, as Rosanna was directly involved in casting and contracting some of the largest movie film actors for projects like The Thin Red Line, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions and Enter the Matrix. Subsequently, she started helping to find cast on any project she was working on and has more recently been responsible for finding the cast for dozens of highly successful film, TV and Video Game projects. Some of those projects include 1979, LA Noire, Tribe, Resident Evil: Biohazard, Resident Evil: Village, The Barbie Vlogs and many more.
In early 2018, Rosanna and her husband, Dennis “DJ” Hauck, a well-known industry expert in the performance capture arena, joined forces and formed a boutique family owned consulting business, The Werk Howse, Inc. This new company combined their complementary skills and interests. TWH was immediately asked to work on two very different VR projects for the innovative Brooklyn based studio, iNK Stories. Rosanna served as Casting Director and Creative Producer on these two projects, a VR/Mixed Reality installation entitled Hero and a immersive narrative Google VR episodic show called Fire Escape. Both premiered in 2018 at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals, respectively, and received numerous accolades and awards world-wide. TWH continues to have a collaborative working relationship with iNK Stories and will be part of their future work as well.
Under The Werk Howse banner, since 2018, Rosanna and Dennis have worked on half a dozen AAA video game titles, each unique in the form of their involvement. Rosanna’s work has also expanded into Television. First as the US producer for the 2nd season of a critically acclaimed Australian TV show called Squinters. Next, as the Senior Producer on the 1st US based season of the highly acclaimed Netflix show Love on the Spectrum. Rosanna was also the Casting Director on three unannounced AAA projects, Creative Producer on an animated feature film in production, in-house Director on a number of high profile motion capture cinematics projects, and Consultant for a number of rapid content streaming projects. TWH team remains small and lean, but both DJ and Rosanna bring the same level of commitment to each and every project no matter the size, scope or final output: Making the impossible possible with little cost and even less complication.
Throughout her career, Rosanna has produced and maintained a solid knowledge of physical production, casting, performance capture technology, video game technology, rapid production content, animation and all live action production. First and foremost, Rosanna approaches every project on the premise that entertainment can always exist at the highest form, regardless of the hardware or venue. Armed with knowledge in both storytelling and technology, Rosanna is most interested in working towards a true collaboration between and among all forces, allowing for the creative strengths in any area to converge and move us into new and better forms of entertainment for everyone.
Kristen Sych
Kristen Sych began his career animating in 2D for commercials, television shows and movies such as Curious George and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He made the transition into 3D animation working on the Spiderman 3 video game, and then shortly after moved onto the Call of Duty: Black Ops animation team. Staying with the series, his skills grew and he rose through the ranks, moving to specialize in cinematic work for the franchise, eventually becoming the Cinematic Lead Animator for Black Ops 4 and 5.
Over the course of his career Kristen has directed innumerable actors in motion capture, both in stunt and performance work, and enjoys the back and forth of the creative process on the set.
Eji Yared
Eji Yared is a Lead Cinematic Animator, who has been working in animation in the games industry for over a decade. Having worked on countless AAA titles, she has extensive experience in crafting narrative moments in videogames, from pre-production and planning, layout and cinematography, directing mocap shoots and actors, to full animation.
She knows how to effectively guide her actors to get the best performances for video games.
Zeke Alton
Zeke is a screen, stage, and performance capture actor. He is a member of the SAG-AFTRA LA Local Board and the National Performance Capture Committee. Zeke is a military veteran of 20+ years, a firearms expert, and a certified EMT. His video game credits include Call of Duty: Black OPS Cold War, Warzone, and Vanguard, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
REQUIREMENTS
Participants must be present for the entire program, which is from approximately 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (PDT) / 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT).
