Member Profile: Patricia Beckmann
1. What do you do, and how long have you been doing it?
I direct films and have done so for a long time. I am also a college professor and author. I sculpt, raise bees and goats and fruit, and daydream when I don’t need to earn money.
2. What was your first job?
Paper route.
3. Where did you complete your formal education?
I earned a doctorate from the University of Southern California.
4. How did you first get involved with ACM SIGGRAPH?
My first volunteer role was to Chair the educator’s committee when James Mohler was conference chair.
5. What is your favorite memory of a SIGGRAPH conference?
Fjorg! I pitched and ran this 32 hour animation, marathon run by a clan of Vikings from 2005-2011. We got away with kidnapping a Roman soldier from the Apple booth (? Or was it Carnegie Mellon?) and holding him captive at the marathon. Fjorg! was created to fill a gap between students and employment in the industry. Every one of those students, and even several student volunteers, found a role in the industry.
6. Describe a project that you would like to share with the ACM SIGGRAPH community.
‘Mombomb’ is a feminist horror film I am working on about a mother and daughter who fight a pair of serial killers, and it is based on an event from my childhood. The first five minutes have been featured at Slamdance 2025 Film Festival and won several major festivals around the world. I am making the entire film by myself using a mix of software, virtual production and artificial intelligence. Pan’s Labyrinth meets Ultraman meets Everything everywhere all at Once.
If women won’t be fairly represented in the film industry, I will just make my own by myself and set the world on fire. If you want to help me with financing or production then come on over to my studios.
7. If you could have dinner with one living or non-living person, who would it be and why?
I want a long dinner with my sixteen year old self. (That qualifies as both non living and living.) She needed a mentor.
8. What is something most people don’t know about you?
I stumbled into this life. I wanted to be a stone mason creating gargoyles for cathedrals.
9. From which single individual have you learned the most in your life? What did they teach you?
With each person I meet I learn and unlearn.
10. Is there someone in particular who has influenced your decision to work with ACM SIGGRAPH?
Everyone is lovely. Because they are so lovely I keep coming back.
11. What can you point to in your career as your proudest moment?
The release date of my book ‘Face it! A visual reference for multi ethnic modeling’. I originally wrote it so that my adopted son who is multi ethnic might be able to see himself in more media. I did not expect it to be so influential. The book brought me as a speaker to Pixar DreamWorks, Disney, and as a consultant to the Epic games meta human project. This book was a big risk and nobody had done anything like it before but we had a wonderful partnership with Bone Clones and their forensic researchers. The second edition is coming out with a new chapter this fall.