About Katharine

Katharine Baird is a San Francisco-based digital paint and rotoscope artist and supervisor with over 30 years of experience in the visual effects industry. After attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts for Theatre & Film Producing, she began her VFX career at Industrial Light + Magic (ILM) in San Rafael — where she spent over 25 years working on some of the most iconic films ever made, including the Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, and Jurassic World franchises, Iron Man, Harry Potter, and many others.

She specializes in shot finishing, paint animation, plate prep, outsource QC, and VFX production. Following her years at ILM, Katharine served as Head of 2D Paint & Roto at PowerHouse VFX, supervising and working as an artist across more than 15 film and television productions including Stranger Things. She continues to freelance, bringing her expertise to projects across the industry.

Alongside her VFX work, Katharine is the founder of Passion Projects SF — a hybrid gallery-shop and online space celebrating the personal creative lives of world-class VFX artists past and present. Through curated exhibitions, art sales, artist talks, and community events, PPSF brings forward the unseen artistry behind the films and television we love.

www.passionprojects.art

Katharine is a member of the Visual Effects Society (VES), Bay Area chapter, and previously served as Secretary on the Bay Area Board of Managers.