Join us for a conversation with Ashley Bernes, the Emmy-nominated VFX supervisor known for Severance—and much more!

This event is a part of the CCAM Film Advisor Office Hours series, open to the Yale community. Students, staff, and faculty are invited to join us for these unique discussions between Susan Youssef (CCAM Film Advisor) and invited leaders from the world of film, television, and streaming content. Ask questions about everything from your creative practice as a filmmaker to getting your work out into the world.

CCAM is pleased to be partnering with Ezra Stiles College, which will present a College Tea with Ashley just before the CCAM event. The tea will take place on Monday, September 29 from 4–5pm at the Stiles Head of College House, 9 Tower Parkway. This event is open to the Yale community.

Ashley Bernes is an Emmy-nominated VFX supervisor, 20-year VFX veteran, and a Television Academy VFX peer group and Visual Effects Society voting member. Ashley built a 15-year career at Technicolor’s VFX flagship Moving Picture Company, where he worked as a multi-talented director, creative director and award-winning VFX supervisor in London and LA. He was also instrumental in launching and then establishing MPC’s New York City office in 2011.

Later, having left his vendor role to oversee productions on the client side, his long-form work includes overall VFX Supervisor on Mark Romanek’s collaboration with Fox 21 Television Studios and 6th & Idaho’s “Tales from the Loop” for Amazon Prime Video, which earned Ashley an Emmy nomination for best visual effects. Other episodic work includes PabloLarraín’s “Lisey’s Story” in collaboration with Bad Robot and Apple+, as well as Ben Stiller’s “Severance” in collaboration with Redhour, Apple+, and Endeavor Content, where Ashley served as both VFX Producer and VFX Supervisor. Ashley’s feature experience includes “12Strong,” directed by Nicolai Fuglsig in collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and a development consulting role on Ben Stiller’s “Bag Man.”

Ashley’s collaboration with Apple+ continued as overall VFX Supervisor on the futuristic Scott Burns anthology series “Extrapolations” in collaboration with Media Res, where he delivered 1600 VFX shots across its eight episodes. Most recently, he has finished up delivering 1000+ VFX shots as overall VFX Supervisor on the eagerly awaited Season 2 of the Apple+ hit “Pachinko,” once again with Media Res.

In advertising, Ashley has collaborated with top-tier directors such as Jonathan Glazer, Noam Murro, John Hillcoat, Shawn Levy, Lance Acord, Joe Pytka, Speck Gordon, Baillie Walsh, and Phil Joanou. He has been Visual Effects Supervisor and Creative Director on some of the most high-profile VFX advertising projects over the last two decades globally, partnering with Bruno Aveillan for Samsung’s “Billion Colors” film, and multiple films as part of Tiffany & Co.’s ‘Believe in Dreams’ campaign alongside notable directors Francis Lawrence and Mark Romanek. Other projects in his portfolio include work for Mercedes, Playstation, Gillette, IBM, Macy’s, and Sony’s “Paint,” which won a Gold Lion at Cannes in 2006. He has also directed live-action advertising campaigns including Air Wick’s ‘Pure Colors,’ Interactive Brokers’ ‘Corrosive,’ Estee Lauder’s ‘Supreme Bright,’ and a film for US Navy’s ‘Sleep Tight’ campaign.”

Create, discover, and explore—and be part of the CCAM community! CCAM Wednesday Wisdom workshops explore dynamic intersections of the arts and technology, and are designed and taught by our team, along with collaborators from on and off campus.

This workshop, taught by Susan Yousssef (CCAM Film Advisor) and Grammy award-winning guest artist Tom Efinger (Red Hook Post, Brooklyn) is devoted to sound in filmmaking.

After attending Phillips Academy Andover and the University of Vermont, Tom started his sound for film career, in NYC, in the 1990s. He has worked with many notable directors over the years, including Sydney Pollock, Mike Myers, Mark Ruffalo, Ramin Bahrani, and Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, and more recently with Mike Birbiglia, Mira Nair, Larry Fessenden, and Ti West. He now has over 300 credits for sound design, sound supervision, and mixing. Tom works in both documentary and narrative film, video art, TV drama, and music, and is the owner of Red Hook Post Inc. in Brooklyn, New York. Tom is a two-time Emmy nominee and a Grammy winner.

There are more events in the CCAM Wednesday Wisdom series. Come to CCAM on select Wednesday evenings between September and May for creativity, conversation, and a shared dinner. For more information, visit the Calendar page on the CCAM website.