"The Voice in the Hollow" Screening & Q&A with Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma

Miguel is a Colombian Film Director, creature designer, and cinematographer with over 15 years of experience working in some of the industry's most awarded VFX studios including Digital Domain, Phil Tippett Studios, and Rhythm & Hues. Miguel has brought to life characters and creatures in many Hollywood blockbusters including Thor, The Mist, Underworld, A Night at the Museum, Godzilla 2, and Krampus. Working with his partner Tran Ma, he had his own "Home Made" directorial debut with the wondrous Short film “The Green Ruby Pumpkin.” His follow-up Short The Ningyo has won over 35 international film festival awards and has been picked up by Thunder Road Films for development as a feature film. When he is not filming Miguel is a professor at Gnomon School of VFX in Hollywood California.

For the past decade, Tran has worked as a designer, character artist, and environment artist on various films such as Transformers: Dark Moon, Alice in Wonderland, and Krampus. She has developed extensive skills in organic sculpting, hard surface modeling, texturing, look development, matte painting, and lighting. But this is only the beginning for Tran who in partnership with Miguel Ortega co-created The Ningyo, where she has fulfilled roles as VFX Supervisor, Writer, Producer, and Production Designer. Tran and Miguel have been described by Scott Begs, Film writer for Vanity Fair as being at the forefront of Indie CGI with their “wondrous short film spectacle” The Green Ruby Pumpkin, and their Faustian tale of exploration, mythical creature hunting, and moral conundrums … The Ningyo. When she is not creating, Tran is a professor at Gnomon School of VFX in Hollywood California.