Charleston, SC Economic Development

Clemson digital production arts graduates help win Oscar

Apr. 18, 2008
Swamp Fox
CLEMSON – Graduates of Clemson University’s digital production arts program (DPA) are part of a team that won the Oscar for visual effects for the movie “The Golden Compass.”

The digital artists who graduated from Clemson and worked on the movie are: Rachel Drews, ’06; Marc Bryant, ’99; Wil Whaley, ’99; Josh Tomlinson, ’02; and student Mikki Rose.

Clemson digital artists worked on the movie with Rhythm and Hues’ visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer, who received the 2008 Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects for “The Golden Compass.”

"It is a great honor to be a part of the team that won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for ‘The Golden Compass,'" Drews said. "I am only one of many, many visual effects artists who worked on the film from Rhythm and Hues, and I am pleased to already be working with the best in the industry. My degree in digital production arts at Clemson gave me the technical and production knowledge base, as well as the connection to the people in the VFX industry."

Several other Clemson alumni also work for Rhythm and Hues in Los Angeles.

Clemson’s digital production arts program is housed in McAdams Hall. With its $3 million in computer equipment and infrastructure, it is much like many Hollywood facilities.

The Master of Fine Arts in Digital Production Arts (DPA) at Clemson University is a professional degree program aimed at producing technically savvy, artistically talented graduates who are sought after by the growing electronic arts industry, particularly by those companies engaged in special effects within the entertainment and commercial video, film and gaming industries.

Digital Production Arts comprises approximately 30 graduate students and faculty from multiple disciplines in the university. Graduate students in the program are often offered major motion picture animation jobs in places across the country, including New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and Hollywood and in such studios as Rhythm and Hues, among others.
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