Wendy Aylsworth

Wendy Aylsworth is a technology executive best known for her work in the television and motion picture industry. She has held positions at Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Feature Animation, and Warner Bros. and has filled roles at the Digital Cinema Initiative, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education Aylsworth was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she received her BSCE.

Career Her early career was spent in the defense industry, developing computer systems at Lockheed and managing software development at Honeywell.

In 1989, she moved to Walt Disney Imagineering, managing software development for theme park rides. The following year she moved to Walt Disney Feature Animation as Director of Engineering, coming aboard as Disney was making the transition to digital production, using CAPS to produce The Rescuers Down Under.

In 1994, she moved to Warner Bros. as director of technology in the feature animation division." of the Digital Cinema Initiative, including being chair of SMPTE's D-Cinema Technology Committee. She also led the effort to upgrade theaters to use High Frame Rate technology in preparation to show Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. She is a Lifetime Fellow of that organization.

In 2016, Aylsworth received the Bob Lambert Technology Leadership Award from the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California. Aylsworth had worked with Lambert during her time at Disney.

In 2018, Aylsworth was awarded The Charles F. Jenkins Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.