Simon Payne has over 20 years’ experience in both VFX and Games industries. Simon brings together lead level experience in multiple disciplines, to the benefit of his primary specialisation in the field of Character Rigging. Simon has worked for many of the top VFX facilities and others of contrasting sizes, as well as EA’s Criterion Games, and Sega’s Creative Assembly, where he is currently Principal Technical Artist. Simon has also authored top-selling online video tutorials for CMI VFX, and provided workshops and guest lectures for Bournemouth University over the past 7 years.

Creative Assembly is one of Europe’s leading games development studios, founded in 1987 and located in West Sussex, UK and in Sofia, Bulgaria. With a heritage of award-winning AAA titles, including the multi-million selling Total War™ series, Creative Assembly continues to build an impressive portfolio of games and world-renowned partnerships; working with Games Workshop on Total War™: WARHAMMER®, Twentieth Century Fox on Alien: Isolation, plus 343 Industries and Microsoft on Halo Wars 2. Creative Assembly has, with their exceptionally talented team of over 500, amassed a wealth of awards, including multiple Best Place to Work awards and recent accolades from BAFTA, Music+Sound and Develop’s Industry Excellence awards. www.creative-assembly.com

Bilateral Careers in VFX and Games

• A Dual Career – a walk through Simon’s own career
• What Games And Film VFX Can Learn From Each Other
• The Professional’s Future – Tech, Workflow, Expectations
• Career Anxieties, First experiences, Specialisations, Mental Health, Self-Judgement, Diversity