Former Student Clara Chan Receives Visual Effects Society Award For Her Animation Work on ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

Clarification: Please note that Clara Chan’s appearance on Saturday will be virtual, not in-person. This story has been updated to reflect that.

Clara Chan, a former student in the Texas A&M Visualization program, was recently honored for her animation work on “KPop Demon Hunters” at the 24th annual Visual Effects Society Awards.

She will make a virtual appearance at MSC Aggie Cinema’s Howdywood Film Festival on Saturday to discuss her career and her experiences in leading visual effects teams. She will also show her animated short “Have I Swallowed Your Dreams.”

Chan graduated from the program in 2000 with a Master of Science in Visualization Sciences. She has worked as a computer graphics supervisor for Sony Pictures Imageworks for the last 25 years.

The highly regarded Visual Effects Society awards are given for movies, television, commercials and video games. Chan was honored alongside Sony teammates Joshua Beveridge, Jacky Priddle and Benjamin Hendricks for Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature on Feb. 25 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

“It is an incredibly surreal feeling, and I am full of joy and gratitude,” she said. “There were more than 500 crew members who contributed to this movie. We couldn’t have won the award without every single one of them, who put their hearts and souls and talents together, creating the beautiful animation and visual effects for this groundbreaking movie.”

Chan was co-visual effects supervisor on the movie with Hendricks. The pair worked with the directors and production designer from Sony Pictures Animation and completed multiple visual tests to find the right look for the movie, Chan said.

“We led the teams at Imageworks that created the 3D assets, generated the effects simulation, did the layout and cameras, and lit and composited the final frames on screen,” she said. “We had to ensure the tools and pipeline were in place to tackle the unique challenges of the movie and guide the teams throughout the production, while trying to deliver it on time and on budget.”

Seeing their hard work come to fruition on screen left Chan with “immense satisfaction, gratitude and pride,” she said. “KPop Demon Hunters” was a major Netflix hit, and earned two honors at Sunday’s Academy Awards, including best animated feature.

“I just feel so lucky to be part of this cultural phenomenon,” she said. “This is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Looking back at her days on campus, Chan recalled the connections she formed and experiences she had, including putting comedic skits together for the annual Viz-a-GoGo screening and showcase of creative works.

She credits the program in preparing for a career, including the opportunity to create short films. That gave her an edge during her job search, she said, with a portfolio of original work.

“Working on group projects was great because we learned how to collaborate, which is what filmmaking is all about,” she said.

Chan’s virtual appearance is at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Rudder Forum for the Howdywood Film Festival. Day passes are available for $25 at the festival website.

“I am super excited to present at Howdywood, because this is the first event I will participate in at A&M since I graduated in 2000,” she said. “Looking forward to connecting with the students and hope to inspire a new generation of filmmakers.”