The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has added seven new members to its Science and Technology Council: Linda Borgeson, Lois Burwell, Teri E. Dorman, Greg Hedgepath, Ujwal Nirgudkar, Helen Packer and Amy Vincent have all accepted their invitations, bringing the Council’s 2020 – 2021 roster to 25 people.
Borgeson is the Senior Vice President of Feature Post-Production at Disney Live Action and has been an Academy Member-at-Large since 2018. With more than 30 years working in film, she has spent most of her career at Miramax Films and The Walt Disney Studios, working on a diverse slate of films including Jungle Cruise, Mulan, Dumbo, Tomorrowland, Kill Bill, the first three “Spy Kids” films and Scary Movie. Borgeson has a strong knowledge base in new technologies, digital cameras, dailies workflows, visual effects, 3D, large screen projection, color pipelines/ACES, DCinema, immersive sound formats, remote solutions, High Frame Rate (HFR) and HDR/EDR.
Burwell won an Oscar® for her makeup work on Braveheart and earned a nomination for Saving Private Ryan. She’s been a member of the Academy since 1997, serving her third year of her second term as governor of the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch and fourth year as first Vice President of the Academy’s Board of Governors. Burwell’s other feature credits include Ready Player One, Lincoln, War Horse, and The Princess Bride.
A member of the Academy since 1988 and a governor representing the Sound Branch since 2017, Dorman is a Sound Editor who has worked on more than 140 films, including La La Land, Foxcatcher, The Amazing Spider-Man, Moneyball, Unstoppable, Man on Fire, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Spy Game, Pearl Harbor, The Prince of Tides, Lethal Weapon 2, Bird, Top Gun and The Deer Hunter.
Hedgepath is a Supervising Sound Editor who has worked in film and television for more than 20 years and a member of the Academy’s Sound Branch since 2014, as well as an Academy Member-at-Large since 2017. A two-time Golden Reel Award winner, his career highlights include designing sound effects for Twister and Starship Troopers. Additional credits include Coming 2 America, Queen & Slim, Straight Outta Compton, Selma, Footloose and The Incredible Hulk. He began his career in film at Lucasfilm and later worked at Sony, Soundelux, Formosa Group and Warner Bros. Nirgudkar has worked in the Indian film industry for the past 39 years. He initiated and coordinated the project to translate the Academy’s landmark digital preservation research reports, The Digital Dilemma and The Digital Dilemma 2, into the Marathi and Hindi languages. In 2011, he established, and is currently chairing, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) India Section. Nirgudkar earned a chemical engineering degree from U.D.C.T. Mumbai University (now called ICT).
Packer is currently Senior Vice President and General Manager of Content Production for the Silicon Valley and Shanghai-based DGene Technology. Her work includes the development of future technology for visual effects with a focus on AI and virtual production. Packer has supervised visual effects on dozens of feature films, episodic TV series, commercials and music videos. She has served on the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Diversity Subcommittee as chair, the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee and the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee.
With a 30-year career as a cinematographer, Vincent’s feature credits include Footloose, The Experiment, Black Snake Moan, Hustle & Flow, for which she won a Cinematography award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Eve’s Bayou. She received the Women in Film Kodak Vision award in 2001. Vincent participates in mentorship, training and education through the International Cinematographers Guild. She has been a member of the Academy since 2004 and currently serves as first Vice President of the American Society of Cinematographers, where she co-chairs the ASC Future Practices committee.
The Council co-chairs for 2020–2021 are Visual Effects Branch governor Craig Barron and Member-at-Large Annie Chang. The other returning members of the council are Bill Baggelaar, Brooke Breton, Bill Corso, Theo Gluck, Buzz Hays, Leslie Iwerks, Andrea Kalas, Academy Governor John Knoll, Colette Mullenhoff, Cary Phillips, Arjun Ramamurthy, Rachel Rose, David Schuelle, Leon Silverman, Jeffrey E. Taylor and Steve Yedlin.
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 the science and technology of motion pictures.
