Trent Alum Wins Emmy Award

Jim Maxwell ’92 Recognized for his Work on the History Channel's Vikings

Alumnus Jim Maxwell ’92 is finally an Emmy Award winner.

The digital matte painter had received an astonishing five nominations before finally breaking through with a win this year in the Best Visual Effects category for his work on Vikings.

Mr. Maxwell has had a notable career in Hollywood matte painting – the painted backgrounds seen on many films and TV shows – and has created some very prominent ones over the years: from recreating the Vatican in The Borgias to sweeping panoramas of the ancient Scandinavian landscape in Vikings.

Mr. Maxwell has received no shortage of recognition from the entertainment industry for his work, with an Emmy nomination for The Borgias in 2012, and then nominations for his work on Vikings in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. He has won a total of six Canadian Screen Awards, also for his work on Vikings.

After being nominated several times, the award was particularly appreciated.
“It's a culmination of all the effort working on every season of Vikings,” says Mr. Maxwell. “And I can accept it on a personal level as symbolic of the years I've spent in visual effects.”

Trent Voices, The Trent Alumni Podcast, sat down with Mr. Maxwell in 2016 for an interview that ranged from creating movie effects magic to the changing technology behind the Star Wars franchise, as well as what it’s like to attend black-tie Hollywood award shows.

You can listen to it here: https://trenttalks.podbean.com/e/trent-voices-episode-34-jim-maxwell/