Lindy DeQuattro

VFX Supervisor
Industrial Light & Magic

What is your current role in vfx? How did you decide which discipline to focus in?
When I interviewed at ILM, they asked me if I wanted to be an animator or a technical director. I said "I want to do both." Well, it doesn't really work that way - you kind of have to pick one or the other. And so I said "Alright, well, which one gets to be a visual effects supervisor?" They said technical director, and I said, "Okay, I'll be a technical director."

How do you feel about the current state of the VFX industry or Hollywood and its inclusion of women and diversity?
The visual effects industry is definitely male dominated particularly in the supervisor ranks. There are a lot of female producers and there are a lot certainly female artists and the number of female artists are growing but we need more supervisors in every discipline and at all levels.

Were there ever times where you felt like being a woman may have impacted your career, or have you ever felt professionally excluded because of it?
There's definitely been projects that I was turned down for that then went to men that had less experience than me. It is really hard to be able to pinpoint with 100% certainty that it was because I was female but I certainly seen a pattern that has led me to believe that being a woman in this industry has cost me some jobs.

There's the argument that people say we need to hit a quota of 50/50 men and women. But there are also people who say you should just hire the best person for the job. What are your thoughts and feelings about that?
I think you have to start with some kind of quota to get women in those roles so people get used to seeing them in those positions and once that happens - you know, you sort of take the fear out of giving those jobs to women.

Any words of advice you have for future generations of women interested in VFX?
My advice to future generations would be that you need to really love what you are doing and you need to be prepared that you might face some setbacks. If you're not prepared to be in it for a long haul and take those hits when they come then this might not be the industry for you because I don't think it's going to change overnight.

What was your favorite project?
I think my favorite project that I ever worked on was a little movie called Magnolia that was directed by PT Anderson. And what I loved about it was that it was really unlike the types of movies we normally work on. It was just a really cool, quirky, character piece about some really interesting people. And the effects were important to the story but it wasn't a film about effects and so I thought that was a really cool project.

Learn More About Lindy!

Years in Visual Effects: 24
Education: USC School of Engineering - MS, Computer Science
USC School of Cinematic Arts - MFA, Film, Video, & Computer Animation
Hometown: Los Altos Hills, California
Favorite project: Magnolia