Lucasfilm Singapore ramping up for feature project







 

 

     





By AMRITA VALECHA

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4 June, 2010 - 16:25




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Lucasfilm Singapore had recently been to India and the                        good news is that they are working on a top secret CGI feature                        film project. And the buck does not stop here there is more,                        Lucasfilm Singapore is hiring extensively from all over                        the world! Animation Xpress Asia Pacific's Amrita                        Valecha caught up with Heather Brown, Recruiter,                        Lucasfilm Singapore to know more about the                        global talent Lucasfilm Singapore is looking for. 
 
 What is the kind of talent are you looking for and what                        is the response you have got at this expo?
 Given our expansion plans for the next couple of years we                        are really covering all kind of talent. We are recruiting                        for a very big project and recruiting up in the order of                        the production cycle starting with modelers, textures, riggers                        and moving on to animators, lighting and compositing artists. 		
 











Right now we are hiring extensively  in modeling and rigging and texturing and once those departments are  filled, we will move on to the next department. The response has been  crazy.If you speak to 500 people and you find 5, it is totally worth it.  Finding amazing talent is always such a joy. We have seen some artists  already whose work we are very happy sharing with our team back in  Singapore. 

 Lucas has always hired                  from India, how has your response been and which other regions                  are you looking at?
 India is a great source of talent for us. Indian industry                  is matured as compared to other industries in other regions.                  Also what is fantastic about Indian artists is their command                  of English language, so in terms of their integration in                  the studio it is always a very positive experience. We do                  have a lot of Malaysians in the studio as well and quite                  a few Koreans. That is the best thing about Singapore; it                  is such a great mix of talent of all over the world. The                  studio has got over 40 nationalities, that's one of the                  exciting things for an Indian artist that you are going                  to come to an international environment where your learning                  from people from different backgrounds, cultures, you wont                  just learn more about the world, but you would learn more                  about yourself on how you work best with different cultures                  and also the energy and the excitement that all the different                  cultures bring to the work place. 
 
 It is really very hard to                  describe how fantastic the Lucasfilm Singapore environment                  is. Singapore is such an exciting place to work. We are                  working on new international projects all the time. For                  a long time people thought that Lucasfilm Singapore is just                  the Clone War studio but it is more,at Industrial Light                  and Magic we did nearly 200 shots on Iron Man too and to                  have that kind of caliber to do work for such a project                  is such a privilege and a great opportunity for an artist                to work in Singapore. 		


















 




Could you give us a brief                  on your background?
 I have been in Lucasfilm Singapore for over a year now.                  I come from a fine art background and worked as a designer                  for a number of years. I have been blessed with a really                  good eye for talent and artistic skills. 
 
It's really exiting for me                    to come to India and meet artists face to face. There have                    been some people I have met during the course of this trip                    whom I have spoken to on the phone so it's nice to put faces                    to the voices. 
 
I would go as far as to say                    that it is my dream job. I still wake up each morning and                    pinch myself that I work for Lucas Film and I feel everybody                    who comes to work for this company there is such a passion                    since it is such a big name in this industry. When I hire                    artists, I always say welcome to the Lucasfilm family because                    it is like a family and we all look out for each other.                    There are a lot of things that we do which makes it an incredible                    place to work at. We get to go for two free movies a month,                    there are a lot of parties and it's such a privilege to                    work for a cultural phenomenon and to help people to take                    their first step to the journey of their career. 
 
 It is very instinctive and                    you see that sometimes the artists just get it. I think                    with any kind of artistic discipline natural talent can                    me moulded and what I am constantly looking for more than                    anything is the enthusiasm and the passion and a real desire                    to do better and to take your own skills to another level.                    Interestingly enough the ones that I always tend to see                    are the people who love and breathe what they do. Some of                    the best modelers that I have spoken to, they model all                    day and then they go home at night and model at night. It                    is really that the artists working in Lucasfilm are obsessive                    of what they do and those are the artists who tend to be                    really successful. 
 
 What are the latest developments                    at Lucasfilm Singapore?
 What I can tell you is that the Clone War team is working                    on season 3, and season 2 recently got aired in the US and                    is hugely successful and is the number one watched show                    on Cartoon Network. I don't know any 9 year old boy who                    doesn't love the Clone war and they are working really hard                    on season 3 at this moment. It gets bigger, better and crazier                    and more insane for a TV show. ILM is starting work on a                    new project. Well if it's the next summer blockbuster it's                    probably from Industrial Lights and Magic. ILM generally                    works on multiple projects. LucasArts Singapore is working                    on a project in conjunction with the US. They will release                    Monkey Island 2 for the iPhone on 7 July. Our other project                    is definitely our secret and it's our biggest project and                    that is what we are recruiting for. It is going to be very                    interesting and different and also make a lot of people                    really proud to work there. 
 
 What is the current team                    size in Lucasfilm Singapore?
 The studiois around 400 which are split between Lucasfilm                    Animation Singapore, ILM Singapore, LucasArts Singapore.                    We are looking at hiring extensively this year. 
 
We are looking for hiring                    in Asia Pacific, might be going to Australia and would definitely                    be at Siggraph Asia and CG Overdrive as well. 
 
 How easy was it to move                    to Singapore and live there?
 I have been in Singapore since 5 years now so it has been                    a while.. It is an amazing place to live and so easy to                    integrate there and as soon as I landed in Singapore, I                    actually felt settled. It is such a multi cultured society                    and there is something here for any kind of nationality.                    Singapore has got so much potential and opportunities, you                    can go there and take your career to another level and in                    Lucas specifically as we are working on International projects                    it's a balance between doing incredible work and your personal                    work. 
 
The Singapore government                    is really supportive and we love working with Contact Singapore.                    They help us with people who want to join Lucasfilm with                    the cost of living between their country and Singapore.                    The Ministry of Manpower runs so efficiently in Singapore,                    getting a work visa is really easy, it's a very clear and                    straight forward process. The government really encourages                    this industry. Also the infrastructure is so strong. When                    I talk to all the people who are coming from oversees, I                    tell them about me because I have been in my home town and                    then moved and it is the most exciting thing that you have                    ever done. You just want to take up the opportunity and                    not wake up after a couple of years and regret not doing                it.		




 












 




Could you tell us about                  the Jedi Master?
 The Jedi Program is our entry level program. It is a 6 month                  program, 3 months it is the intensive training by the industry                  specialist. So if you go in to compositing, you would be                  trained by the best ILM compositors. The other 3 months                  is spent working on production, where you can get one to                  one mentorship with experienced artists. In some cases you                  have just graduated from a university and 3 months later                  you are working on shots which are going to be used in Iron                  Man 2. We take 12 artists for every track and they go through                  intensive training and if you successfully complete the                  program, you might be offered a full time position at Lucas                  Film Singapore. It is a paid internship and you get a salary                  every month. 
 
This program has a very high                    success rate, because we have invested money and time in                    these artists. To choose the 12 best artists, they have                    to go through a test. We are just about to start the organic                    modeling test, you are given an orchid to model, the source                    material of orchid and then you have to model it and submit                    the file back to us. From there we identify people who have                    raw talent who will be able to do the program. After that                    there is also an interview to know your skills and your                    previous work. Then the decision will be made keeping in                    mind all those factors. We have these training programs                    through out the year so one can check out www.lasjedi.com                    to know the latest programs. It is an incredible opportunity                    for upcoming artists and my advice to them is that start                    looking for the upcoming programs and preparing for it and                    put it in your portfolio. So it is the training that the                    money can't buy. 
 
We try to tell people to                    keep their demo reels small around 2 minutes. We don't have                    the time to watch 8 minutes particularly for Jedi Master                    which is for graduates or artists with 1-2 years of experience. 
 
The Jedi Masters Program                    is the most extensive training program ever offered by Lucasfilm.                    Its goal is to identify talented young artists and train                    them under the mentorship of instructors from Industrial                    Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Animation and LucasArts. 
 
The Jedi Masters Program                    closes the gap between instruction offered by traditional                    digital media schools and the rigorous requirements of the                    video game, visual effects and animation industries.Trainees                    who complete the program and demonstrate an appropriate                    skill level will be eligible for positions at Lucasfilm                    Singapore. 
 
How does one apply at                    Lucas Film?
 All of our jobs are advertised on our website and they can                    upload their resume and profile. They get their user name                    and password so they can constantly log on and update their                    information on a regular basis. Keep a reminder of the user                    name and password of Lucasfilm so that you can update your                    information as and when and it is not outdated and make                    sure you have given the right contact details. Our web link                    is jobs.lucasfilm.com