Three talented artists from the Academy award-winning team at Sony Pictures Imageworks (US) and Sony Pictures Animation will be anchoring the Australian Effects & Animation Festival Sydney. They will be providing an inside view of three of the year’s biggest cinema events: Superman Returns, Monster House and Open Season.
Day One sees Imageworks’ animation supervisor Troy Saliba deliver the opening presentation on the animated feature film Monster House, which utilizes the proprietary Imagemotion performance-capture technology developed by Imageworks. Saliba has worked in the animation industry for more than 17 years with wide ranging experience in both traditional and CG character animation.
In 2003, Saliba wrapped production as animation supervisor on Disney’s The Haunted Mansion working with visual effects supervisor Jay Redd. He also completed work for the Academy Award® winning blockbuster sequel Spider-Man 2.
Since joining Sony Pictures Imageworks in 2001, Saliba has worked on Stuart Little 2, winner of the VES Award (Visual Effects Society) in 2003 for Best Character Animation in an Animated Motion Picture, as well as the company’s first CG short film The ChubbChubbs, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
In 2001, Saliba was supervising animator on Nickelodeon’s Academy Award® nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, one of the first animated features to ever be nominated for an Oscar. In 1995, Saliba was at Fox Animation in Phoenix, Arizona where he served as directing animator on the feature films Anastasia and Titan A.E.
Prior to his work at Fox Animation, Saliba was in Sydney, Australia at Walt Disney Television Animation where he worked on numerous television shows and direct-to-video features as both a character animator and animation supervisor.
Saliba began his career in Dublin, Ireland, working for Don Bluth Animation on animated features including Rock-A Doodle and Thumbelina. While in Dublin, Saliba also taught animation at Ballyfermot College in a program based upon the curriculum of the animation program at Sheridan College.
Superman Returns CG Supervisor John Monos will be presenting at 11.00am on Day 2 of AEAF. As CG supervisor he oversaw the development of the digital character of Superman and other characters in the feature film.
Monos is currently working on I Am Legend and recent work includes Spider-Man 2 as the Doc Ock look development lead, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle as a shader writer, and The Matrix Reloaded, Men in Black II, and Spider-Man as senior color and lighting artist.
Before joining Imageworks in June of 2001, Monos worked on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within for Square USA. On Final Fantasy, Monos worked as a lead lighting artist, responsible for lighting several sequences. Prior to moving to Hawaii to work with Square USA, Monos freelanced as a CG artist in New York where he worked with director Steve Katz on the independent short film, Protest.
Monos began his career at Curious Pictures in New York City as a CG generalist where he focused on lighting and rendering.

The forthcoming 3d animated feature Open Season will be profiled on Day 3 of AEAF at 11.00am by Max Bruce, CG supervisor, who oversaw lighting and compositing pipeline development, character look development as well as technically and aesthetically supervising a team of lighters working on shots for the feature film.
Bruce is currently working on Hotel Transylvania for Sony Pictures Animation. While at Imageworks, Bruce has contributed to over 15 films including Big Fish, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix: Reloaded, Stuart Little 2, Godzilla and Starship Troopers. He joined Imageworks in 1997 as technical director for lighting and compositing on the film Contact.