Special Effects Student Finds Special Career

Trevor Cawood graduated from the The Art Institute’s Visual Effects Program.

Most students obsess over their resume as their “in” or greatest asset to landing that first great job. But if you’re in visual effects or animation, you obsess over your demo reel.

Trevor Cawood of The Art Institute of Vancouver’s Visual Effects Program knew this, so he got a head start. He constantly tweaked and added to his demo reel, well before he even graduated. He knew that it would be the foot that kicks that first door open.

And his work paid off as he landed a position with The Rainmaker Entertainment Group in Vancouver. “It was the only thing they knew about me,” said Cawood of his reel.

“Once they knew my qualifications and saw what I could do, the interview was just to see how I would interact with people.”

In working at Rainmaker, Cawood was a part of Western Canada’s leading post production and visual effects company. He also earned some hardware along the way by winning a Leo Award for working on the TV series, Smallville; and also received an Emmy nomination for working in James Cameron’s television series, Dark Angel. He also received an Emmy nomination working on Jerry Bruckheimer’s made-for-television movie, Max Q.

10 years after graduating, Cawood is now the co-owner of a production company called JTF in Vancouver. He also helped to launch The Embassy VFX and has worked with massive companies like Electronic Arts, CNN and Nike.