The Academy’s Adds 8 Members to Tech Council

Related: The Academy Awards, The Oscars

Doug Cooper, Paul Debevec, Ray Feeney, Josh Pines, David Stump, Steve Sullivan, Bill Taylor and Beverly Wood have accepted invitations to join the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, bringing the Council's 2012–2013 membership roster to 25. Doug Cooper is a visual effects supervisor at Dreamworks Animation whose credits include "Shrek Forever After," "Bee Movie" and "Shark Tale." He has been a member of the Academy's Short Films and Feature Animation Branch since 2008.

Paul Debevec is currently the associate director for graphics research at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies, a research professor at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Computer Science, and the chief scientific consultant at Light Stage, LLC. In 2009 he received a Scientific and Engineering Award for the Light Stage capture devices and the image-based rendering system for character relighting. Debevec, whose work has been seen in such films as "Avatar" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 2010.

As president and founder of RFX Inc., Ray Feeney helped pioneer leading-edge scientific and engineering solutions, many of which have become industry standard techniques. He has received the Academy's John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, and four Scientific and Engineering Awards for his technological contributions in such areas as motion control, image recording and compositing. A founding co-chair of the Council, Feeney has been a member of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch since 1990.

Joshua Pines is currently the vice president of imaging research and development at Technicolor Digital Intermediates. In 2006 he earned a Technical Achievement Award for the TDI process for creating archival separations from digital image data. Pines currently serves on the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee and the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee. He has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 1999.

David Stump is the founder of Motion Control Rental Services, with extensive experience in high-definition film and video photography, CGI and visual effects production. He was the visual effects director of photography for such films as "Flightplan," "X2? and "X-Men." In 2000 Stump received a Technical Achievement Award for the design and development of data capture systems for composite imagery. He has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 1990.

Steve Sullivan is currently a partner architect at Microsoft, working on new products with Xbox and Lync/Skype. He was previously a senior technology officer at Lucasfilm, where he led research and development for all the Lucas companies and created advanced artist technology for film, games, animation and television. Sullivan earned a Technical Achievement Award for the Imocap on-set performance capture system in 2009, a Scientific and Engineering Award for the ILM Image-Based Modeling System in 2006 and a Technical Achievement Award for the ILM Motion and Structure Recovery System (MARS) in 2001. He has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 2010.

Bill Taylor is the co-founder of Illusion Arts, where he worked on the visual effects of more than 200 films. His visual effects supervisor credits include "Lawless," "Public Enemies," "Milk" and "Bruce Almighty." In 1981 Taylor earned a Technical Achievement Award for the concept and specifications for a Two-Format, Rotating Head, Aerial Image Printer. He is a founding co-chair, with Ray Feeney, of the Science and Technology Council, and has served for a number for years on the Academy's Board of Governors. He has been a member of the Visual Effects Branch since 1986.

Beverly Wood is the executive vice president of technical services and client relationships at Deluxe Laboratories and EFILM, where she oversees the chemical and quality controls at the facilities and helps guide filmmakers through the technical processes that affect the "look" of their films. She has worked on numerous films in the lab, including "The Tree of Life," "True Grit," "There Will Be Blood" and "American Beauty." Wood has been an Academy member-at-large since 2011.

The 2012–2013 Council co-chairs are Academy governor Bill Kroyer (Short Films and Feature Animation Branch) and digital media technology executive George Joblove (Visual Effects Branch).

The Council's other 15 members are Peter Anderson, Lisa Churgin, Denny Clairmont, Elizabeth Cohen, David Gray, John Hora, Jim Houston, Randal Kleiser, Daryn Okada, Rick Sayre, Milt Shefter, Garrett Smith, 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.