Defense Vets Morph Into New Jobs

Diana Weynand wants to take laid-off defense workers from outer space to cyberspace.

As founder of Weynand Training International, which conducts hands-on, intensive, state-of-the-art production training for the broadcast and film industries, Weynand knows that visual effects are crucial to movies such as “Independence Day,” “Twister” and “Mission: Impossible.”

So her company has teamed up with the Verdugo Private Industry Council, a nonprofit agency administered by the city of Glendale’s community development department, to provide free training in digital special effects that will help displaced aerospace and defense industry workers move into new careers.

“These people are perfect for it, because they have been doing very detail-specific jobs, which translates very well to digital effects,” Weynand says.

The class, which runs six weeks and focuses on small-group learning at computers, will conclude just as the studios plunge into post-production of the summer blockbuster season. Weynand says some of the graduates will be placed immediately into jobs.

Wages aren’t bad, either. Weynand says entry jobs in digital special effects pay $11-$20 per hour. At this level, workers do elementary jobs such as painting out wires, rigs and support devices used in action films.

Those with experience and lots of movie credits can command about $50 per hour, with some charging up to $75 per hour.

The field supports both staff and freelance workers. Many of the studios and special-effects houses hire extra freelance help on a seasonal basis during the crunch months before big movies come out.

Weynand, a 20-year industry veteran who was a producer-director for PBS documentaries and a supervising editor with the Barbara Walters TV specials, knows her way around every facet of the business. She was doing computer editing at a time when most people didn’t know how to use the new technology.

“People were always asking me to show them how to use the machines,” Weynand recalls.

So Weynand founded the company in 1981 in partnership with Shirley Craig, a producer she met working on the Walters specials. Today, Weynand develops training courses for clients such as Sony, Viacom, Fox TV and Microsoft.

In the modern special-effects industry, knowledge of digital computer methods is essential to survival. New employees are expected to have digital computer skills or acquire them quickly, experts say.

Observers say the industry’s employment outlook is growing because of an increase in the use of special effects in Hollywood movies.

“Right now, there’s not enough talent out there,” says Ray McIntyre Jr., vice president and chief engineer of Optical Cinema Service, a Toluca Lake company that is now hiring for its digital effects division called Pixel Magic.

In fact, demand so far outstrips supply that Weynand and UCLA Extension have joined forces to develop a digital effects certificate program called Digital Image Creation.

But the classes for former aerospace workers are free, and Weynand says that applicants should send their resumes to WTI Inc. at P.O. Box 492, Canoga Park, CA 91305 or call the Verdugo Private Industry Council at (818) 972-2695.