C. Andrew Nelson

With such a varied and diverse career in the entertainment industry, Andrew can speak on a wide range of related topics including acting, voice-over, animation, visual effects, game design, film & television production, marketing, writing, breaking into the industry, and sustaining a career in arts or entertainment. Andrew can cover short highly focused lectures, lengthy in-depth discussions, general overviews of the industry, question & answer sessions, or anything in between. He can also speak specifically about his long professional association with the Star Wars franchise in front of the camera as a performer, behind the scenes as an artist, and behind the microphone as a voice talent. Whether it is for a high school assembly, a college lecture series, an industry trade show, a corporate event, a fandom convention, or a community or church event, Andrew has a presentation to fit your needs.

C. Andrew Nelson is an award winning artist, actor, writer, producer, director, public speaker, and genuine Dark Lord of the Sith. Andrew spent four years as a visual effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic with credits that include Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Perfect Storm, Jurassic Park III, The Time Machine, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Prior to joining ILM, Andrew worked six years at LucasArts Entertainment Company where he served as a visual effects supervisor. At LucasArts he helped create and design such popular games as Dark Forces, Rebel Assault II, Full Throttle, The Dig, Jedi Knight, Curse of Monkey Island, Masters of Teras Kasi, Shadows of the Empire, Rogue Squadron, and Indiana Jones & the Infernal Machine. He's worked extensively with sister companies Lucasfilm Ltd., Lucas Learning, Lucas Licensing, and THX.

Andrew is probably best known for having portrayed the character of Darth Vader for film, television, games, commercials, print, and live appearances including the Special Edition re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy as well as in the Rebel Assault II and Dark Forces games from LucasArts. With over twelve years as the iconic Dark Lord, he has managed to spend more time in the official Vader costume than any other actor. Andrew has gone on to play other roles in various feature films & television production beyond Star Wars.

Beyond his tenure with the Lucas companies, C. Andrew Nelson has been a consulting VFX supervisor and art director for some of the top effects, animation, and post-production facilities in the world. His credits include Rocky Balboa, The Last Mimzy, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Rush Hour 3, Enchanted, The Kite Runner, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Jumper, and Race to Witch Mountain. Andrew also served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Visual Effects Society.

No stranger to academia, for several years Andrew took on the role of Visual Effects Director for the School of Animation & Visual Effects at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. At the university, he presided over the school’s visual effects curriculum and trained the next generation of VFX artists who are now working throughout the industry. Andrew routinely consults for various networks, studios, and developers such as Disney, MTV, Nickelodeon, PBS, Fox, Hasbro, EA, and others.

When not at a workstation conjuring up images for motion pictures and television or speaking on the lecture circuit, Andrew can be found in front of the camera or behind a microphone. Andrew has appeared in numerous feature films, TV series, national commercials, and print ads. He is also a much sought after voice-over artist having lent his vocal talents to many games, animated films, and interactive multimedia projects, even supplying the voice of Luke Skywalker for multiple LucasArts games, which makes him the first actor to officially portray both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Along with his business partner Jerry Cornell, C. Andrew Nelson is co-founder of entertainment production company Adventurous Ideas, LLC., which produces full-cast audio dramas featuring well-known and beloved actors.

Andrew and his wife Veronica Loud - a gifted actress, voiceover artist, singer, model, and photographer - live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their daughter and son.

For most lectures and presentations I ask that there be a microphone and speaker system so that everyone can easily hear me. I also have plenty of slides, images, & video clips that can be shown during my presentations, so having a video projector & screen or a large-sized monitor is helpful along with ports for me to connect a laptop. In a pinch, though, I can forego the visuals and if necessary work without a microphone. My years in theater taught me how to project my voice well enough to be heard across an auditorium.