Vine FX talent celebrates International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Vine FX is highlighting the eleven female professionals currently working for the studio. According to a survey conducted by UK Screen Alliance in 2017, women in the Visual Effects Industry were underrepresented – making up just 27% of the overall workforce. However, the same report revealed one department bucking the trends – with Production Departments composed of 60% women! Whilst Vine FX respect and celebrate all genders, today’s article shares a little more about the female employees working for Vine FX.

Laura Usaite has worked as Vine FX’s Head of Production for three years, with credits on a variety of projects including Patrick Melrose, War of the Worlds, Black Mirror, and Deadwater Fell. “I remember being the first and only female in the company for quite a while before seeing other female applications come through at Vine FX”. As the studio continues to grow they have been able to offer more opportunities in this highly competitive segment of the entertainment industry, helping to counter-weigh gender imbalance. 

Kaitlyn Beattie, our VFX Line Producer is the most recently promoted at Vine FX. She has a strong media and communication background with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, focused on film production. Working closely alongside VFX Supervisors, Kaitlyn has successfully managed shows such as The Serpent, Soulmates, Viewpoint, and The One. 

A recent addition to the production team is VFX Coordinator, Gabi Kaziukonyte. She gained work experience with Vine FX as a Production Assistant during the final year of her degree in Film and TV Production. Her hard work and dedication to tasks shone through and Vine FX recruited Gabi as VFX coordinator late last year. 

At the end of 2020, Vine FX’s editorial department expanded to include VFX Editor, Katie Dose. Katie has vast experience working vendor-side on projects such as Avenue 5, Giri/Haji and The Watch, after a move from the client-side where she worked in editorial departments for almost 10 years. Another recent recruit, albeit not specifically working on the VFX side of the business, is Office Manager, Leah Chapman, “I am inspired by the work Vine FX achieve with a supportive and collaborative spirit”. 

The 2D and 3D departments have experienced growth since Vine FX relocated to Cambridge from London and Compositor, Alesja Surubkina and Geri Margules have been collaborating with Vine FX for almost 3 years. Their work tracks back to projects such as Summer of Rockets, Beecham House and the RTS nominated War of the Worlds. Recently they were joined by Laura Sanchez Acosta, who herself has four years of international experience in 2D compositing and is currently working with Vine FX on the TV mini-series, Viewpoint. 

The 3D department experienced natural expansion based on numerous visual effects requirements for War of the Worlds season 2. CG Generalist, Amanda Bone was inspired to work in the industry after watching Jurassic Park, “I knew I wanted to either dig up dinosaurs or bring them back to life.” She has a degree in Special Effects Engineering and Design and her favorite projects are ones that involve creating monsters. Another of Vine FX’s CG Generalists, Eidy Knowles, took a module in OpenGL whilst studying a degree in Computer Science – opening her eyes to the world of CG. This led Eidy to take a year out from her previous studies to focus on learning 3D, before landing her first job at Figment Productions. The animation team is joined by Emily Lim, an Escape Studios graduate with past experience on projects such as The Call of the Wild and Artemis Fowl. She is currently animating the alien robots on War Of The Worlds Season 2.

Vine FX congratulates every woman and their achievements in the VFX industry.

Happy International Women’s Day!