Wendy Aylsworth, Rob Bredow, Douglas Greenfield, Rob Hummel and Bev Pasterczyk have accepted invitations to join the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, bringing the Council's 2013–2014 membership roster to 25.
Wendy Aylsworth is senior vice president of technology for Warner Brothers Technical Operations, where she oversees the establishment of new technologies for Warner Bros. production divisions. She formerly was a member of the Walt Disney feature animation department. In October 2012, Aylsworth was elected the first female president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). She became an Academy member-at-large in 2012.
Rob Bredow is chief technology officer and visual effects supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Animation, Colorworks and Post Production. As CTO, Bredow created the studios open source initiative which recently released Open Shading Language, Alembic and others to the open source community. Bredow's most recent visual effects credits include "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "Surf's Up," "The Polar Express," and many other films dating back to "Independence Day" in 1996. He has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 2011.
Douglas Greenfield has been at the forefront of innovations in cinema sound for more than 30 years. During his career at Dolby Laboratories, Greenfield had contributed to many notable engineering projects and is currently senior director of content services. An active Academy member, Greenfield served as a Sound Branch governor for six years, and in 2003, he earned the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation for outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy. He is a returning member of the Council, having served previously for nine years beginning in 2003.
Rob Hummel began his career at Technicolor Laboratories and joined Douglas Trumbull's visual effects company during the making of "Blade Runner" (1982), a Visual Effects Oscar® nominee. Hummel has served as senior vice president of production technology at Warner Bros., worked in post-production, animation and Imagineering at Walt Disney Studios, headed animation technology at DreamWorks, and helped launch digital cinema units at Technicolor and Sony. Hummel is currently president of the digital media company Group 47, LLC. A returning member of the Council, Hummel previously served for nine years beginning in 2004.
Beverly Pasterczyk began her career with Kodak as a developmental engineer specializing in process technologies. She has held engineering/technical support positions in New York and Los Angeles, and currently is the regional technical director for the Americas region for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Division. A SMPTE Fellow, Pasterczyk has been involved in SMPTE over the years as an author, section manager/officer and as a governor representing the Hollywood region. She has served on the Scientific and Technical Academy Awards Committee and became an Academy member-at-large in 2011.
The 2013–2014 Council co-chairs are Academy governor Bill Kroyer (Short Films and Feature Animation Branch) and visual effects pioneer Ray Feeney (Visual Effects Branch).
The Council's other 18 members are Lisa Zeno Churgin, Elizabeth Cohen, Doug Cooper, Paul Debevec, John Hora, Jim Houston, Randal Kleiser, Josh Pines, Rick Sayre, Milt Shefter, Garrett Smith, Dave Stump, Steve Sullivan, Bill Taylor, Beverly Wood and Academy governors Craig Barron, Richard Edlund and Don Hall.
Established in 2003 by the Academy's Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of science and technology of motion pictures.
