Member Profile: Ian Failes
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I’m the editor-in-chief of befores & afters (beforesandafters.com), a visual effects and animation publication I started in 2019. befores & afters is a print magazine, online site and a podcast covering the industry, going behind the scenes of big films and shows and the tech and art of VFX and animation.
Previously, I worked as a legislative drafter.
2. What was your first job?
My first job was a law clerk at a firm of solicitors (I got a LOT of coffees and lunches for the partners…).
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
At the University of Wollongong, in Australia. There, I did an IT and law degree.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
I started attending SIGGRAPH conferences in 2009, and then was the Special Projects Lead for SIGGRAPH 2021 (sadly, a year impacted with COVID which meant the conference was only virtual, but the team still managed to pull off an incredible event).
I’m part of a team that just started a Sydney ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter. And this year for SIGGRAPH Vancouver, I’m the Computer Animation Festival Film Event Lead.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
There was one year when I was hosting a production session, and afterwards, animator and director Chris Landreth came up to me from the audience to say hi in person. We’d done an interview by phone previously, but never met before. He was a huge influence on me in terms of VFX and animation with his short films like ‘Bingo’ and ‘Ryan’, made in Maya, and it was an absolute thrill that he would think to come and say hi. SIGGRAPH is, of course, like that—you really get to meet your heroes on the floor.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
I’m currently in the middle of writing a new series of books on visual effects, and making an accompanying video series. The videos are way outside my comfort zone, but it’s been a great learning curve to see what works in this age of short-form video on the internet.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
Stanley Kubrick: I need to know what made him tick.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I collect memorabilia from the movie ‘Speed’ and I have a ridiculous amount.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
My partner. She has this perfect mix of humility, confidence, empathy, common-sense and humour. I try to copy it every day.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
There are two people I have been able to observe in their SIGGRAPH roles, and who I now both call friends. They are Pol Jeremias Vila and Mark Elendt. I really respect the way they interact with the SIGGRAPH community, give back, while also holding down busy jobs.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
I launched a print magazine during the COVID lockdown. It was a crazy time to do it, but I realised that I’d always been obsessed with print publications that cover VFX/animation, and to now be publishing such a thing every month still blows my mind.