About the Makers Series
Showcasing the outstanding work and personal stories of creative industry professionals, SAE’s Maker Series of live events provides a platform for creatives to share their inspirational journeys and industry insights.
Featuring in-depth presentations and Q&A sessions with industry experts from a wide range of creative, media and technical practices, each event will explore a particular discipline of study.
Throughout these events, we’ll explore the complex creative journey – from idea to execution – by inviting ‘makers’ to showcase their work and share insights from celebrated projects.
Past events
The Makers Series_: The Art of Live Looping brought together students, alumni and music enthusiasts for an inspiring exploration of live music. Held at SAE Brisbane, the session featured globally recognised independent artist Dub FX, offering attendees a rare behind-the-scenes look at a truly unique performance style.
Dub FX took audiences through his live creative process, demonstrating how voice, looping technology and effects combine to build rich, real-time compositions. Drawing on his journey from street performances to global stages, he highlighted the creativity, technical skill and experimentation behind his ‘one-man band’ approach, and how technology can be used as a powerful tool for artistic expression.
The session also explored independent career pathways in the music industry, with insights into building an audience, performing without a traditional label, and sustaining a global career through authenticity and innovation.
The Maker Series: Elvis VFX Deep Dive welcomed students, alumni and industry enthusiasts to an inspiring behind-the-scenes look at one of Australia’s most iconic recent films. Held at SAE Brisbane and streamed live via Zoom, the event featured Will Gammon, Executive Creative Director at FIN VFX, who shared his journey and deep industry insight with attendees.
Will took audiences inside the visual effects process behind Elvis, unpacking how FIN VFX transformed bold creative concepts into cinematic reality. Through iconic scenes and real-world examples, he highlighted the collaboration, innovation and technical precision required to bring Baz Luhrmann’s vision to life.
The session also explored career pathways in VFX and the evolving Australian screen industry, reinforcing SAE’s commitment to connecting emerging creatives with experienced professionals and real-world industry practice.
The Maker Series: Creating Characters for Screen & Games brought together students and creatives for an exclusive online session with Hollywood-based Concept Artist and Character FX Designer, Ehsan Bigloo. The event offered a rare insight into the creative processes behind some of film, television and gaming’s most memorable characters and worlds.
Drawing on his extensive experience across major productions including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, IT Chapter Two and AAA game titles for EA BioWare, Ehsan unpacked the role of concept art and creature design in the entertainment pipeline. He shared his personal career journey, creative influences and practical advice for emerging artists looking to break into the industry.
In SAE University College’s second instalment of The Makers Series, Reel Talk on Film Production, award-winning film and television producer Nicole O’Donohue inspired students across the country with valuable insights from her work on Australian and international productions.
Award-winning Film & TV Producer, Nicole O’Donohue
Nicole O’Donohue is an award-winning Sydney-based film and TV producer with over 20 years of experience bringing stories to life on screen. Her diverse body of work spans feature films, television series and documentaries, earning accolades both in Australia and internationally.
SAE Film Lecturer, Dr. Robbie Studsor
Robbie Studsor is an award-winning Australian independent director/producer and film lecturer. He has worked across various independent feature length and short productions for over a decade and in 2018, his feature film debut as director was sold internationally.
How did Martin Kwok help build the sonic world of one of the biggest films of the year?
That’s what he sat down with the ABC’s The Art Of… host Namila Benson to discuss as part of SAE’s first instalment of The Maker Series in Sydney on Wednesday 27 November. In the first of SAE’s The Makers Series, Emmy-winning sound creative Martin Kwok gave students an inside look at the making of Dune II.
Martin is a sound and dialogue editor working out of Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post in Wellington New Zealand. His impressive resume includes work on The Beatles: Get Back, The Lord of the Rings franchise and King Kong.
SAE students attended the event in person and online, getting an inside look at Martin’s creative journey and the opportunity to ask questions. From a teenager throwing warehouse parties, Martin described almost “falling in” to working with Peter Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh on their incredible catalogue of films.
“I am so incredibly fortunate that I am surrounded by people [like Peter and Fran] who gave me a lot of their time to actually teach me when I was starting out, and so speaking at The Makers Series is my turn to give back, which is great,” he said of the event.
The highlight was Martin’s deep dive into the detailed behind-the-scenes work that went into his “most challenging project to date”, Dune II.
WATCH EVENT RECAP
