Women’s Day Special VFX Interview – Herbie Han, Executive Producer, Pixomondo Beijing

Women’s Day Special VFX Interview – Herbie Han, Executive Producer, Pixomondo Beijing

March 3, 2020 – March 8 marks International Women’s Day (IWD). This day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911. The day is not country, group or organization specific – and belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. It encourages everyone around the world to make International Women’s Day their day and do what they can to truly make a positive difference for women.

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. For more info visit at www.internationalwomensday.com

Herbie Han majored in multi-media and photography at Renmin University back in 2010 and joined Pixomondo Beijing three years later.For the past seven years Herbie has produced and coordinated multiple feature film projects at Pixomondo, including Zhang Yimou’s award-winning Shadow, Jian Weng’s Gone with the Bullet, Skiptrace starring Jackie Chan,Alibaba Pictures’ Once Upon a Time, Xu Wei’s Lost in White and more. In 2018 she also began to lead the commercial and design team.Additionally, Herbie studied manga and character design in Tokyo. She continues her exploration of her beloved animation industry.

Today, Herbie Han talks to VFX Online about her experience as a woman working in the VFX and Animation industry.

// From Herbie Han, Executive Producer, Pixomondo Beijing

How do you describe yourself professionally?

I’m one of executive producers in Pixomondo Beijing. I’ve been working in the VFX industry for several years in multiple media genres including feature films,commercials, animation and themed entertainment. They’re all very exciting to work on.

How did you enter this industry？

I was recommended for an internship at Pixomondo Beijing in my final year of university. I was majoring in journalism photography and was more into documentaries back then, which means I didn’t really watch a lot of VFX-filled movies. At that point, VFX was nothing but a beautiful, mysterious concept for me. However, on the second day of my internship I was called to a movie set for on-set translation and VFX data-wrangling. I went home at 4 am that day and had to get up at 6:30 am, but I felt super excited. That’s the moment I started to be curious about visual effects and really eager to learn.

What does the idea of empowerment mean to you?

I think in a professional context, empowerment means trust. That is to say, when a company is willing to decentralize under a common principle and willing to shift more power towards its employees, it means the company is giving enough trust to its employees, and believes that those employees are capable of taking on big responsibilities themselves.

Which is your favorite film in VFX and Animation and why?

Kubo and the Two Strings, directed by Travis Knight, produced by Laika Studios. It’s my all-time favorite. The art direction kills!

Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse by Sony. Best film of 2019. The super smart integration of 2D and 3dis elegant and creative. Hats off to all the artists who contributed.

What will be your ‘dream project’ to work on?

I interviewed Kubo filmmaker Travis Knight back when he was promoting (20018’s) Bumblebee. I was really impressed by his vision and think it would be super cool to work with him on a stop-motion project someday.

Which influential woman do you admire the most?

The first one that comes to mind is Harry Potter author J.K.Rowling. She managed to overcome depression and focused on expanding her own universe. She also sketches out all the characters she creates, so for me, she is a talented visual artist first, then a writer.

What is the current state for women in the industry?

I can say with confidence that all the women I know in this industry shine just as bright as their male counterparts. These women are also very focused at what they do and rarely complain about anything.

What is it like to be a professional, working woman in your line of work?

It’s always challenging no matter which industry you’re in.It’s important to maintain certain goals in regard to life-work balance.When I put pressure on myself, it means I’m striving to be better. It’s important to understand that nobody is able to handle 100 things at the same time without the ball being dropped somewhere at some point. So breathe. ‘Une petite pause’ should always be an option.

How has your experience been working at Pixomondo?

Great! I’ve been here for 7 years and there is no itch yet. Pixomondo has a culture of sharing, so I had the pleasure of being able to learn from top people in this industry just through my daily work. This has been more helpful than any school or paid workshop because you are exposed to real problem-solving situations, with real deadlines, involving real people who are both smart and talented. New lessons come everyday.

We would like to thank Herbie Han for the great interview, and if you like to know more about her, check out her .