Future Media Concepts calls on epic storyteller Stephen Rivkin to chronicle his stereoscopic journey through Pandora at Europe's largest broadcast exhibition

LONDON, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- IBC announced today that Oscar®-nominated Avatar editor, Stephen Rivkin, will be the keynote speaker at the first-ever IBC Digital Media Training Workshops, held from Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 September. Rivkin's feature editing career began in 1979 with the low budget romantic comedy The Personals. Soon thereafter, he worked on a variety of TV movies and a mixture of comedy and action films, including Robin Hood: Men in Tights for director Mel Brooks, four films for director Norman Jewison, including: The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington; the action-thriller Swordfish with John Travolta, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry; and Michael Mann's bio pic Ali, starring Will Smith. Rivkin achieved monumental success editing the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise from 2003-2007, including two Eddie Award nominations and a win. His career culminated in 2009 with BAFTA and Oscar nominations alongside James Cameron and John Refoua for his revolutionary work on Avatar, the highest-grossing motion picture of all time. Rivkin will discuss the 2 1/2-year challenge he faced while editing Avatar, and present various clips that touch on Performance Capture, Virtual Cameras, 3D, and the stages of shot development and finishing that brought this film to life.

"From start to finish, Avatar was the biggest creative challenge I've ever faced - but it opened my eyes to the limitless possibilities of filmmaking. Its groundbreaking techniques continue to revolutionize the industry and the FMC Digital Media Training Workshops gives me a fantastic opportunity to share my experiences with industry peers. I look forward to demonstrating the evolution of Avatar with attendees, and am excited to be part of this world-class international event," says Rivkin.

"We are excited to present post-professionals with the new Digital Media Training Workshops," comments Ben Kozuch, co-founder, president and workshop chair, FMC. "As always, we wanted to provide our attendees with a keynote speaker that had a deep understanding of the industry's latest innovations. As the 3D trend continues to grow and infiltrate new mediums, we felt it would make sense to find someone familiar with stereoscopic filmmaking. Stephen is the 'best of the best'… he worked alongside one of the greatest minds in the industry, James Cameron, to edit what has now revolutionized moviemaking. We are thrilled to welcome him to our newest training event."

Rivkin's keynote address, titled: "Editing Avatar: The Creative Challenges," will be delivered on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at the RAI, Amsterdam in the Emerald Room. It is scheduled to begin promptly at 10:30AM and conclude at 11:30AM. For additional speaker information, please visit: http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/link=299.

Digital Media Training Workshops' Details

Working closely with IBC organizers, FMC is bringing their world-class training methodology to the industry's preeminent broadcasting event. Held at the RAI, Amsterdam; the 2-day training event will be lead by FMC's industry Certified Instructors, power users, authors and thought-leaders, offering advanced technical training for editors, producers and directors on today's most popular applications from Apple®, Avid® and Adobe®. Its session tracks span a vast range of current industry topics, including the advantages of digital editing, eye-popping motion graphics and 3D production techniques, HDSLR production technology. Invaluable certification opportunities are also available for interested participants.

For more information about FMC's Digital Media Training Workshops, including a full-schedule and registration details, please visit: http://www.ibc.org/training.

To book a private press appointment with FMC at the Digital Media Training Workshops event, please contact Cara Zambri (cara@zazilmediagroup.com) or Kathleen Langlois (kathleen@zazilmediagroup.com).

About Stephen Rivkin

Stephen Rivkin A.C.E. has been an editor in the motion picture industry for over twenty-five years.  He has worked for some of Hollywood's top directors, including:  James Cameron, Gore Verbinski, Michael Mann, Norman Jewison, Rob Cohen, Mel Brooks, Wolfgang Peterson, Chris Columbus and Diane Keaton. He was also an Associate Producer on two of the films he edited.

Rivkin was recently nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and an ACE Eddie for his work on the mega-blockbuster Avatar which he co-edited.

He also co-edited the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski. All three films were nominated for ACE Eddie awards, with a win for the original summer hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

About Future Media Concepts

In 1994, Jeff Rothberg and Ben Kozuch launched Future Media Concepts as the world's first Avid Authorized Training Center. Over the years, FMC expanded its curriculum to become the nation's premier digital media training organization, representing the leading software manufacturers, including Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Boris FX, Digidesign®, NewTek® and Softimage®. In addition, FMC is a leading producer of educational-rich conferences and expositions for the production and postproduction industries including the NAB Post|Production World Conference in Vegas.

FMC has established state-of-the-art training centers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Orlando, Chicago and Dubai, with onsite training worldwide and online courses available to users anywhere. For more information regarding classes and upcoming events please visit http://www.FMCtraining.com.

SOURCE IBC

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