
TVBEurope catches up with ACCESS:VFXs founder Simon Devereux and new European chapter lead Chris Kiser to talk about the need for a European-wide organisation aiming to promote diversity and mentoring within the visual effects industry
By Jenny Priestley
Published: January 26, 2023
TVBEurope catches up with ACCESS:VFX's founder Simon Devereux and new European chapter lead Chris Kiser to talk about the need for a European-wide organisation aiming to promote diversity and mentoring within the visual effects industry
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
In late 2022, non-profit visual effects coalition ACCESS:VFX announced plans to launch a new European chapter that will build on its mission to promote diversity within the VFX industry.
The new chapter is led by Glassworks' chief operating officer, Chris Kiser, with the support of ACCESS:VFX founder and director, Simon Devereux,
TVBEurope caught up with them both to talk about their plans for the European chapter, the need for mentoring in the visual effects industry, and how Netflix came on board to sponsor the new chapter.
Access:VFX originally launched in 2017. How has it been going? Simon Deveraux: I always say we started by accident. It was never the plan to launch a global movement. It started as an event in London off the back of the work that I'd done at The Mill, London, where we did a National Inclusion Week 2016, and we created this conversation that had never happened before about inclusion. After we delivered that event, the following year in 2017, UK Screen did a diversity survey, and we got into this whole conversation around inclusion and diversity. I just said, look, we could do this as an industry, let's do an industry inclusion week and that's what we did. We got a small group of studios together, planned an event and long story short we delivered the event.
Since then, we've been running loads of events. Not long after we launched Access:VFX UK, New York got interested, and then the West Coast came along and Chicago got involved. Now we have chapters in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Chris and I have been talking about Europe for a long time. It's taken a while for it to get off the ground. It just felt like a natural move to do some good in Europe.
Chris, you were obviously already aware of Access:VFX, and now you're getting very much involved in launching it into Europe. Why do you think Access:VFX needs a European chapter? Chris Kiser: It was a logical next step in many ways. I suppose you can't go without acknowledging a Brexit factor in terms of suddenly the UK having more of a separation from mainland Europe as it relates to organisations and some of the logistics around what happens with what Access:VFX does in terms of activities and outreach and support. Glassworks joined as a member company as our headquarters is based in the UK, but since we have offices both in Amsterdam and Barcelona I started speaking to Simon pretty early on about what else we could do and what would we need to do to make it official and to plant the Access:VFX flag on the European side of things.
We kind of understood that there were legal requirements particular to the mentorship platform that meant we needed to spend some resources on laying the groundwork to make the platform available in what we identified as eight specific countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden. With those eight countries, we can officially accept mentees from 18 and up and the platform can support them and do the identity verification and things required for this mentor-and-mentee relationship to begin. There's an amazing community of VFX artists and creators in Europe that branches across various countries, and so we want to make both studios and individuals that are in the industry aware of Access:VFX as a group and organisation looking to support and grow diversity in the next generation of people entering the industry.
What are your aims for Access:VFX Europe, and how might they differ from the other chapters that we've already talked about?
Simon: Chris touched on community earlier. I've worked for a number of creative sectors over the years. I'm always so taken by the community that exists within visual effects, animation and games. I would challenge any other industry to set up an organisation like Access:VFX. Try and do it in advertising and it just wouldn't happen because it's so adversarial. Look at any big TV show, or a piece of episodic content, and there's always so many different studios working on the same show on different shots. So that's the nature of the beast, we're all working towards the same goal.
With Access:VFX Europe, the mentees won't just get connected to European mentors from European studios. They can get connected to anybody from any of the chapters, because it's e-mentoring. So the way we designed the programme back in the day was you don't necessarily have to actually speak to your mentor. You share your work and you respond to it in your own time and whatever time zone you're in. I don't think the aims differ globally. It's just another addition to what is a really rich, creative community.
Chris: I agree. The only additional thing that I think is sort of unique now and differs from existing chapters is the language barrier and removing that and giving people who may not speak English or have limited abilities to speak English access to industry veterans that speak their native tongue. That is such a unique situation that I'm really excited about. There could be a mentor or a mentee out there somewhere that has been waiting to have that level of connection with someone and suddenly this creates that opportunity.
There's an
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/06/2025
Star Studded Ensemble Cast Are Joined by Richard Rankin as Filming Begins on the Second Season
[June 12, 2025 - Boston, MA]: The Forsytes, Debbie Horsfield...
30/06/2025
The Artemis II Space Launch System core stage is integrated with the solid rocket boosters inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy S...
30/06/2025
RALEIGH, N.C. Capitol Broadcasting Co. has named Heather Gray vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV here....
30/06/2025
The Virginia Association of Broadcasters has recognized Bill Sewell, Director of Engineering at WTKR & WGNT in Norfolk, Va. as the recipient of the 2025 J.J. Fr...
30/06/2025
The Society of Broadcast Engineers said its annual member drive resulted in the recruitment of 49 individual members....
30/06/2025
BURLINGTON, Mass. Avid today released its fully integrated news platform, uniting MediaCentral and Wolftech News in a single newsroom solution, and will demonst...
30/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communication's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a Consent Decree with Sinclair Broadcast Group to resolve a variety o...
30/06/2025
Eurorack sequencer module reimagined
California-based modular synth innovators Qu-Bit have announced the launch of a new module that offers a fresh new take...
30/06/2025
Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics to Host 40th Anniversary Concert The celebration will be held on July 10 in Perugia, Italy.
By
Colette Greenstein
June 30, 202...
30/06/2025
PremiumBeat Tips and Tricks
Brie Clayton June 30, 2025
0 Comments
When editing to impress, you'll need quality music, and if your studio happens t...
30/06/2025
Improved dynamic behaviour, improved audio quality & more
Techivation have announced the release of an upgraded edition of their very first premium plug-in,...
30/06/2025
Back to All News
Bel n Cuesta and Karra Elejalde Star in El ni o, the New Film ...
30/06/2025
Back to All News
A New Dangerous Troll Awakens: Netflix Unleashes Teaser for Troll 2Play Video
Play Video
Entertainment
30 June 2025
GlobalNorwayDenmarkSwe...
30/06/2025
The Focusrite Summer Sale is now on Don't miss unbeatable deals on Scarlett, Vocaster, and more.
Whether you're an artist, a producer, or a podcaste...
30/06/2025
All 8 episodes of Season 1 of 1923 will be available on RT Player from Tuesday ...
30/06/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
52% report AI security spending is displacing tr...
30/06/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Cannes, June 30th, 2025 - Thales Alenia Space, t...
29/06/2025
Handpan-inspired instrument announced
Roland have announced the launch of the Mood Pan, a unique electronic hand percussion instrument that has been designe...
29/06/2025
Back to All News
A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curs...
28/06/2025
Johannesburg, 27 June 2025 - As the nation commemorates Youth Month
2025, the N...
28/06/2025
WASHINGTON In a press conference following the Federal Communications Commission's May Open Meeting, Chair Brendan Carr promised the agency would move rapid...
28/06/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. Charter Communications has awarded $1.1 million in Spectrum Digital Education grants to 55 nonprofit organizations that work to expand access to...
28/06/2025
LAKE FOREST, Calif. June 19, 2025
What's New:
Sonnet Technologies today announced the certification of its Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock as an Engin...
28/06/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest and most reliable large file transfer platform for media professionals, has been named an IDC Innovator in the IDC Innovators: Me...
28/06/2025
Grass Valley today announced that TV SKYLINE GmbH, one of Europe's top mobile production providers, has expanded its camera inventory with 30 LDX 135 UHD/HD...
28/06/2025
AgileTV, a European leader in TV and video technology solutions, signed an agreement with Austrian telco LIWEST to develop and implement its TV service in Austr...
28/06/2025
Music theory plug-in updated
Three months on from the release of the latest version of their renowned music theory plug in, Scaler Music have launched an up...
28/06/2025
The 48th Annual Indian National Finals Rodeo Shot with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton June 27, 2025
0 Comments
Filmmaker Cameron Mackey relied on Bl...
28/06/2025
Social, Streaming Don't Compete, They Compliment
Andy Marken June 27, 2025
0 Comments
I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spir...
28/06/2025
Blackmagic Design Captures Filipino Rock Band Drama Singtala
Brie Clayton June 27, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K and DaVinci Resolve St...
28/06/2025
Enhance Videos Faster with Aiarty Video Enhancer - Offline, Sharp, and Natural
Brie Clayton June 27, 2025
0 Comments
If you've used AI video tools...
27/06/2025
By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Fest...
27/06/2025
K-Pop remains one of the biggest genres globally, and many fans just can't get enough of it. That's why Spotify has launched a new series of K-Pop perf...
27/06/2025
In our latest blog post, Rafael Rivera highlights the rising threat of online scams, and the important role cybersecurity plays in protecting families across ge...
27/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has set deadlines for comments to a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to codify certain foreign ownership re...
27/06/2025
WASHINGTON In a press conference following the Federal Communications Commission's May Open Meeting, Chair Brendan Carr promised the agency would move rapid...
27/06/2025
From grounded realism to bending, impossible geometries
Klevgrand have announced the release of a new algorithmic reverb plug-in which they say deconstruct...
27/06/2025
Learn to use REW for room analysis
Acoustic treatment is one of the most important factors in any studio, and with the extensive range of products available...
27/06/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. The HDMI Forum has released Version 2.2. of the HDMI Specification with 96Gbps bandwidth and next-gen HDMI Fixed Rate Link technology to provid...
27/06/2025
MONTREAL Grass Valley has announced that TV Skyline GmbH, one of Europe's top mobile production providers, has expanded its camera inventory with the acquis...
27/06/2025
NEW YORK & CHICAGO FuboTV Inc. and Weigel Broadcasting Co. have announced a multi-year agreement for distribution of seven networks including MeTV, H&I, Movies!...
27/06/2025
NEW YORK A national survey of U.S. consumers shows 66% of us watch TV all or most of the time and also multitask while doing it....
27/06/2025
MIAMI Sunbeam Television has reached a multiyear agreement with Findal Media & Technology Group to broadcast the new ABC Miami beginning Aug. 4....
27/06/2025
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. AccuWeather has announced a deal with Perplexity, a AI-powered search and answer engine, that will bring AccuWeathers weather data and severe...
27/06/2025
WASHINGTON After being sworn in on June 23 as the Federal Communications Commission's newest Commissioner, Olivia Trusty has hit the ground running with the...
27/06/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commissions has set deadlines for comments to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to codify certain foreign ownership r...
27/06/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP media probing, monitoring, visualization, and analytics, has announced a new collaboration with Gencom Techno...
27/06/2025
Pixel Power (A Rohde & Schwarz Company) has recently been working with France T l visions, the French national public TV broadcaster, on a number of projects fo...