The Hollywood Section of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has launched a new webinar series aimed at young people interested in behind-the-scenes careers in the entertainment industry. Titled Ask a Hollywood Expert, the series features successful, young professionals, across a range of technical disciplines including post production, visual effects and editorial, talking about how they got their start and what they learned as they advanced in their careers.
Hosted by SMPTE Hollywood manager Kylee Peña, the series’ first session premiered May 28 and featured Brady Woods-D’Avolio, Vice President, Global Account Management for Streaming Services at Technicolor. Additional weekly installments are scheduled through the end of June and may continue indefinitely.
“With summer coming, many young people are looking to make the transition from school to the professional arena,” says Peña. “Ask a Hollywood Expert is designed to help people get started by providing insights from dynamic pros who’ve done it themselves.”
In the series debut, Woods-D’Avolio described how she got her start as an intern at Paramount Pictures and worked her way up to her current role managing global client relations for Technicolor. She answered questions from participants about career opportunities, how to land that first job and networking with industry colleagues.
Future sessions will feature cinematographer, VFX producer and Visual Effects Society board member Kathryn Brillhart (June 11), Adobe software quality engineer Matt Christensen (June 18), Emmy Award-nominated editor and EIPMA board member Molly Shock (June 25), and Netflix cloud engineer RaGene Nomolos-Dixon (July 2). All the featured guests are professionals in their 30s or 40s whose stories will resonate with those just entering the job market.
“This series is part of SMPTE Hollywood’s mission to be a resource to professionals at the beginning of their careers,” Peña explains. “I wish a series like this had been available when I was starting out.”
Ask a Hollywood Expert is free to join, but registration is required. Use the links below to register for individual sessions. Past sessions can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fm_v37_qCo
June 11, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Ask a Hollywood Expert Webinar Series: Kathryn Brillhart
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ask-a-hollywood-expert-webinar-series-kathr...
June 18, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Ask a Hollywood Expert Webinar Series: Matt Christensen
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ask-a-hollywood-expert-webinar-series-matt-...
June 25, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Ask a Hollywood Expert Webinar Series: Molly Shock
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ask-a-hollywood-expert-webinar-series-molly...
July 2, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Ask a Hollywood Expert Webinar Series: RaGene Nomolos-Dixon
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ask-a-hollywood-expert-webinar-series-ragen...
The Hollywood Section of SMPTE www.smpte.org/hollywood