Board of Advisors
Debra Bean
Debra Bean is a dedicated leader in higher education with a focus on supporting and empowering life long learners and reentry students. As President of John F. Kennedy University, she championed initiatives to enhance the student experience, including securing $5 million in grants for new centers supporting Hispanic and veteran students. Her commitment to educational excellence continued as Vice President of Academic Initiatives at Sanford SEL/Inspire SEL, where she advanced social-emotional learning programs reaching over 11 million students nationwide.
She also co-founded Good Humans Learning Lab to create innovative learning models incorporating social-emotional learning in professional environments. Her extensive experience includes roles in media and strategic marketing with major clients and service on nonprofit boards. Debra holds an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Camille Eden
Camille Eden has been the Vice President of Recruitment, Talent Development, and Outreach at Nickelodeon Animation, where she led efforts to recruit and place top talent for the studio's expanding slate of series and features.
Before joining Nickelodeon in 2020, Eden spent nearly a decade at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where she played a key role in staffing projects like Frozen, Moana, and Big Hero 6 while championing diverse hiring practices. Eden continues to foster a recruitment culture that emphasizes diversity and talent growth, with her team staffing roles on major Nickelodeon productions, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Star Trek: Prodigy.
Matt Wallin
Matt Wallin, a California native and Cinema graduate from San Francisco State University, began his career in 1992 at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, working in computer graphics for nearly a decade. With over 25 years in the industry, he has contributed to top visual effects houses globally, with notable film credits including The Mummy, Star Wars: The Special Editions, and Matrix Reloaded.
From 1995 to 2007, Wallin was the Visual Effects Supervisor for Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle and Drawing Restraint 9. He is currently a senior full-time faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University, teaching 3D computer graphics, visual effects, and emerging digital technologies.
Lisa Cooke
Lisa Cooke is an Executive Producer at Tippett Studios, where she has produced visual effects for projects such as Alien: Romulus, Poker Face, and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Before joining Tippett, she founded a company specializing in scientific visualizations, working with prominent clients like DARPA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and SETI.
A long-standing member of the Visual Effects Society (VES), Cooke has served in leadership roles, including Chair of the VES Board of Directors. She is also Chair of the VES Roth Virtual Museum of VFX and the VES Women Who Lead Initiative.
Steve Wright
Steve Wright is a master trainer in Nuke visual effects compositing with over 20 years of experience in VFX for over 70 feature films and numerous broadcast commercials. He has authored two influential books, Digital Compositing for Film and Video (4th edition) and Compositing Visual Effects (2nd edition).
A Foundry certified Nuke trainer and winner of the 2014 SMPTE Education Award, Wright has conducted staff training at 30 VFX studios globally and trained over 1,000 visual effects artists. He runs FXEcademy, offering professional Nuke VFX compositing courses, including mentored training, webinars, and demo reel workshops.
Laurence Cymet
Laurence Cymet has over 20 years of experience in Computer Animation and Visual Effects, working on major films, animated shows, commercials, and more. He has a strong passion for connecting creators with technology and skills, and has dedicated his career to building effective CG teams and modern technology platforms.
From 2010 to 2019, Cymet served as a Product Manager and Designer at Autodesk, contributing to features in Autodesk Maya. As an educator for over 13 years, he has developed and taught Visual Effects and Computer Animation courses at Centennial College in Toronto, enjoying the success of his students on a global scale. Cymet holds a degree in Art History from the University of Toronto and diplomas in Fine Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects from Sheridan College.
John Shike
John Shike is a Key Account Manager at Advanced Systems Group LLC and serves as the Director of Educators and Educational Institutions for the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) membership committee.
With over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing, product management, and teaching professional media technology, Shike has been an active member, sponsor, and presenter with SMPTE. He is also involved with organizations like AMWA, VSF, and SBE, contributing to the development of new media technologies.