Member in Focus:
Emine Soydanyavas

Visual effects are everywhere in modern cinema, but the people who coordinate them are rarely seen or celebrated. Emine Soydanyavas is one of those people. A Senior VFX Coordinator whose most recent credit is The Dog Stars - Ridley Scott's stunning post-apocalyptic survival thriller now in cinemas, starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley - Emine has spent her career building expertise in one of the most technically demanding and fast-moving disciplines in the industry. VFX Coordination requires equal parts precision, communication and adaptability — managing vendors, schedules, budgets and pipelines across productions that never stand still. It is a role that rarely gets the recognition it deserves. This week, we are putting that right. Emine sat down with us to talk about her journey into the world of VFX, what life on a Ridley Scott production really looks like behind the scenes, and why she believes her role is more essential - and more exciting - than most people realise.

The Dog Stars is Ridley Scott's latest film - a post-apocalyptic survival thriller with an extraordinary cast and a deeply human story at its heart. Now that it's in cinemas, how does it feel to see it reach audiences - and what drew you to the production in the first place?

It feels great that it’s finally out and people get to see it. And I really hope they enjoy it as much as I did. Honestly, what drew me to the project was that it was a Ridley Scott film. I was born in the 80’s so I am of that generation who grew up on his work, a chance to see him in action was not something I could turn down. The story, the cast and the talented crew were the cherry on top.

Can you tell us how you first got started in the industry, and what path led you to becoming a Senior VFX Coordinator?

With a bit of luck and determination I would say. I come from Istanbul and I studied Photography & Video at an Art Faculty. We had working DoP’s and commercial photographers coming in to teach us lighting and how the business works. In my final year one of them was attached to a film project with a foreign director and they needed someone who spoke English well and understood the filmmaking process. At the time I was working as a subtitle/dub translator to make money through out university, he offered me a job as the director’s assistant and point of contact for the Production Office. That project never got made but through it I met a Turkish Producer who worked internationally. A couple of months later, he got in touch with me asking if I would like to interview for a Production Coordinator role on a British/Turkish co-production shooting in Bursa & Istanbul. The local Line Producer, Alex Sutherland was British, and he needed someone fast with perfect English. I jumped on the opportunity, I told him that I had never Production Coordinated before, but I was a quick learner and was confident that I could do it. He hired me on a trial basis, and I ended up working with him for the next 7 years at AZ Celtic Films, the production service company he ran with his wife Zeynep. In 2016 I moved to the UK and started working in London. I managed to get work on big studio films and was very taken by the VFX work that was involved, so I decided to move into VFX.

Before The Dog Stars, you served as VFX Coordinator on The Amateur - a very different kind of production in tone and scale. How did that credit shape your approach to the Senior VFX Coordinator role, and what did moving from Coordinator to Senior Coordinator actually involve in practice?

The Amateur had its own challenges, and it was a good learning curve on how to tackle screen graphics. We had so many screen graphics going on, it was insane. It really taught me about the importance of getting things in camera and have a firm standing against “we’ll fix it in post” attitude. The VFX team was amazing, and everyone was very welcoming to any questions I had. I got to observe and learn how to handle VFX requirements across countries and plan efficiently for things like lidar scans and element shoots, what to look out for. Making sure we had enough people to split between units, gearing into post-production, how to prepare for that: setting up the server, VFX production pipeline, dealing with tech specs and communication between departments, vendors, getting the kit in for the supervisor and the in-house artists. By the time I came into The Dog Stars, I was able to manage all of that with confidence under the guidance of my producer. We had a very small team, and everyone had to pull their weight. My background in production meant that logistics, scheduling, budgeting, budget tracking and location work was already in my skillset. To sum up working as a VFX Coordinator allowed me to optimise my skills to serve VFX and I got to execute these as Sr. VFX Coordinator on The Dog Stars.

Working on a Ridley Scott production is a particular kind of experience - a filmmaker known for his extraordinary visual ambition and the demands he places on every department. What was it like working within that creative environment, and how did it shape the way you approached your work as Senior VFX Coordinator?

It was an amazing experience. It’s such a different world to work under a director who has the entire story in their head and already cutting it mentally. Yes, he is ambitious and demanding but at the same time very practical. The best way I can put it is, if an obstacle is truly unsolvable from a production standpoint, he would come up with a way to achieve what he needed without compromising. He is insanely knowledgeable, and very good at conveying his ideas so everyone is on the same page and there is no confusion on what is being requested. The other thing is, he surrounds himself with great people and trusts them to deliver. Working on The Dog Stars hasn’t just shaped the way I approach my work, it also contributed to my understanding of how one should navigate the circumstances to achieve one’s creative vision. To put it more simply, my biggest take away was, you need to understand the environment you are in and be smart enough to make it work for you.

The Dog Stars is a post-apocalyptic film with a distinctly intimate, human tone - far from the bombastic VFX spectacles that can define the genre. How does the nature of a film's visual language affect the way VFX coordination works, and what were the specific challenges of serving a story like this one?

Such a great question, the film’s visual language dictates what the bane of your existence is going to be throughout your time on the show. On The Dog Stars it was the animals and aerial shots i.e. environments. In our post-apocalyptic world, the animals make a big comeback everywhere. I had to organise a reference shoot with North American bisons at one of the zoos. And that was challenging as you need to make sure both the animals and the crew are safe, whilst getting what we need. The Cessna is like a character in the film and there is a lot of flying. Working out the story routes and converting them into a schedule with the restrictions of an aerial shoot, constantly communicating with other departments to make sure all requirements are met on the day, dealing with weather changes was a steep learning curve. I loved it. 

Your title is Senior VFX Coordinator - a grade that reflects real progression within the VFX department. Can you tell us about the journey that took you to this level, and what the step up to Senior has meant for you professionally?

In my case, everybody has their own way of coming to it, I took the long way around. In 2015 Turkey took a political dive and things got a bit heated in the country with bombs going off everywhere. Insurance became a huge problem and jobs stopped coming to the country. After almost a year of no work, I decided that if the jobs weren’t coming to me, I would go to the jobs. There was a treaty between the UK & Turkey at the time, I applied, got my visa and moved. Through contacts I made, people who I am in touch still today, I landed a role as SFX Coordinator to cover for someone who had to leave the job early. My next job was in Art Department, again I was covering for someone who couldn’t start the job due to some other commitments. I loved working in the Art Department, especially on big projects with big builds, it is an amazing place to be. So I stuck with it for a while. Everything I learned throughout my time in Art Department has served me so well, it is also where I got the bug for VFX. However, there wasn’t really any room for me to move up.And I didn’t want to get back into Production because I wanted to stay closer to the artistic side. VFX ticked both boxes, I love what the technology offers to filmmakers, I love what you can achieve with it, whether it be invisible VFX or a CG spectacle. I remember watching the launch for Unreal Engine 4.0, it blew my mind. I also find it to be a vast sea and there are way more opportunities compared to the Art Department as VFX is forever evolving in the way it’s done and that creates demand for different types of skill sets. Becoming a Sr. VFX Coordinator confirmed I’m where I want to be and I want to carry on down this path.

The VFX industry is changing rapidly - AI-assisted tools, virtual production, real-time rendering are all reshaping how VFX workflows are structured and delivered. From your position as a Senior VFX Coordinator, what are the most significant shifts you've seen - and how are you adapting?

I’m all for efficiency, which is another thing that drew me to VFX. You are dealing with so much data, so many assets that you need to have a very efficient way of handling it. And the AI tools help with that. At Focus London I heard Joe Plaete talk about his work on “Here”. He was saying that they were able to achieve what they did because the technology had finally caught up and made possible to see the ageing/de-aging in real time. And this is exactly what I mean by I love what VFX offers to filmmakers. Due to legality and the content security, we cannot use any random AI tool on projects, but the existing and approved software is incorporating AI into their systems. I’m fully behind anything that automates menial, boring but crucial tasks. The way I see it, this was the whole point of AI - to get rid of all the soul destroying and mind-numbing jobs. Can you imagine not being able to auto file?

Your credits span both VFX and Art Department coordination - having worked as Art Department Coordinator on The Little Mermaid and Snow White before moving into VFX full time. How did your experience in the Art Department shape the way you approach VFX coordination, and do you think that cross-departmental background gives you a different perspective to those who came up entirely through VFX?

My experience in the Art Department is what led me to VFX. Both The Little Mermaid and Disney’s Snow White were live action and CG heavy. 1917 utilises invisible VFX due to the nature of how the story is told, the other two are completely on the opposite side of this spectrum: we had full CG environments, animation characters, underwater. On top of it they are musicals, so a lot of singing and dancing you need to accommodate. Art Department would do mark outs for rehearsals and the methodology meetings, which I loved attending. All the HoD’s coming together and working out how a particular scene would be shot, the challenges fleshed out and solutions provided. You get a clear picture of the dependency between departments, especially with stunts/SFX & VFX. We had five weeks of motion capture shoot on Snow White, and I had front row seats to the whole process, it was amazing to watch. My experience in Production & Art Department gives me a wider perspective and understanding of how everything works in pre-production, production and shoot particularly. I know what everybody does and who to go to for various issues or questions VFX may have. I have a firm grasp on logistics, and I understand the challenges production may be facing when they are turning us down for something, that means I can take a different approach if I hit a problem. People eventually learn all of these doing the job, but if you are someone who has only done VFX and spent your entire career working out of an office some of the stuff you end up dealing with may not make sense at all. It’s always good to see everything first hand.

On a lighter note - after the complexity and pace of a production like The Dog Stars, what is your absolute non-negotiable on a long shoot or post schedule?

Life-work balance. We work to live, not the other way around.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone who wants to move into VFX coordination - and what has kept you passionate about this work?

Be patient and persist. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; it is difficult to get someone to take a chance on you when your background isn’t in strictly VFX and it’s a constantly evolving space, so you need to be prepared for sudden changes. Out of sheer luck I came across great producers who were able to see past my credits and understood my experience in other departments would be useful. I would like to tip my hat to The Production Guild as well, all the master classes and trainings you organise, allowing us to have real conversations with great people from the industry is very helpful. During my transition period into VFX the support I received from you was invaluable.

What keeps me passionate about this work is simple: I love films. From Dusk Till Dawn is one of my all-time favourite movies. I remember watching Full Tilt Boogie the making of documentary when it first came out and thinking “I want to do this”. And somehow, I am here, doing it. Getting to work with people who influenced you is mind boggling.