7 minute read
Welcome to the 2021 Edition of Our World Animation Summit!
We are absolutely thrilled to be hosting the 2021 edition of our World Animation and VFX Summit live this year, after taking a year off from being together face to face. It is my opinion that there is no replacement for networking and meeting together to share ideas and future visions. To realize that objective and stay safe, we have moved the whole event to the lovely park-grounds and tented tennis court of the historic Garland hotel in N. Hollywood, where we normally host the parties. Guests will be asked to wear a mask, and will be required to show proof of vaccinations or a negative COVID test within the past 72 hours.
We are also very excited to welcome eight brilliant and diverse Hall of Fame Award recipients. As you read about our amazing honorees, we hope you will find inspiration in their journeys and joy in their accomplishments. All of them are “Game Changers” who through the realization of their own personal goals, have paved the way and set a high bar for future generations of animation professionals. Celebrating them and applauding their outstanding contributions should give us all an inside view of how extraordinary and exciting our industry is!
The 2021 Summit will be a timely, optimistic snapshot of our healthy, growing and thriving industry. Over the past year, animation leaders around the world have shown us that they are ready and more than able to navigate change while protecting their talented employees. Many of those top-level leaders will be sharing their astute visions for their companies during this award-winning, four-day event, November 7-10. We hope that you will be able to join us to find your place in the revolution and evolution of our amazing industry.
See you there!
Jean
Jean Thoren
Publisher and Founder, World Animation and VFX Summit
Hall of Fame Awards
This year’s honorees, who will be presented with their awards at the opening night gala on Sunday, Nov. 7, are:
Gaumont Animation: International Studio of the Year. Award presented to U.S. President Nicolas Atlan and Exec VP of Creative Content Terry Kalagian. Phil Lord & Chris Miller. The innovative producers of Sony Pictures Animation’s critically acclaimed features Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse and this year’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Award presented by Sony Pictures Animation President Kristine Belson. Tom McGrath. The acclaimed director of DreamWorks Animation’s two Boss Baby features, three Madagascar features and Megamind will receive the Hall of Fame: Billion Dollar Director Award. Chris Meledandri. Founder/CEO of Illumination Entertainment and creator of Despicable Me, the world’s most successful animated franchise in cinematic history, which includes Minions, the fourth-highest-grossing animated film. Other career highlights include being the founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation and producing the Ice Age movies, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and The Grinch, The Secret Life of Pets movies, Sing and this year’s Sing 2. He will receive the 2021 Vanguard Award. Chris Nee. Creator of Disney’s Peabody Award-winning series Doc McStuffins, Vampirina and Netflix’s We the People, Ridley Jones and Ada Twist, Scientist. Award presented by animation veteran Jorge R. Gutierrez, creator of Maya and the Three and The Book of Life. Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Oscar-nominated director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and supervising producer of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series Love, Death + Robots Volume 2. Award presented by Victoria L. Howard, producer of Love, Death + Robots, Robot Chicken and BoJack Horseman. Bruce W. Smith. Trailblazing creator of The Proud Family and the upcoming Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and director of Bébé’s Kids. Award presented by Ralph Furquhart, producer, The Proud Family and Da Jammies. Cree Summer. Beloved animation voice actress, best known for her work on Rugrats, Kid Cosmic, Muppet Babies, DC Super Hero Girls, Vampirina, Voltron Legendary Defender, Dawn of the Croods and many others. The awards ceremony will be hosted by animation voice actress and Annie Awards regular Dina Sherman.
Chris Meledandri Bruce W. Smith Jennifer Yuh Nelson Chris Miller Terry Kalagian Phil Lord Nicolas Atlan Cree Summer
Chris Nee Tom McGrath
The Agenda at a Glance
Monday, Nov. 8
8:30 Registration & Networking Breakfast
10:00 Opening Keynote. Jorge R. Gutierrez (Maya and the Three) 11:00 Leading the Industry. Kristine Belson (Sony Pictures Animation), Margie Cohn (DreamWorks Animation), Melissa Cobb (Netflix Kids & Family), Ramsey Naito (Nickelodeon/Paramount) 12 PM Superstar Showrunners. Megan Nicole Dong (Centaurworld), John Harvatine IV (Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.), Steve Loter (The Ghost and Molly McGee), Aliki Theofilopoulos (Doug Unplugs), Teddy Riley (Fairfax)
1:00 Lunch
2:30 Award Season Feature Contenders, Part 1. Flee, Raya and the Last Dragon, Spirit Untamed, Vivo, Wish Dragon 3:20 Feature Contenders, Part 2. The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Encanto, Luca, The Boss Baby: Family Business, Ron’s Gone Wrong 4:30 L.A. Indie Animation Studio Panel. With BUCK, OddBot, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Titmouse
5:30 L.A. Studio Party Featuring OddBot’s 15th Anniversary
Tuesday, Nov. 9
9 AM Networking Breakfast
10:00 Guide to Selling Your Toon in 2021. With Kelli Bixler, Gregory Little, Vladimir Nikolaev and Sander Schwartz
11:00 Spotlight on Apple TV+’s New Animation Slate
12 PM Animation Execs’ Recipe for Success. With Beth Cannon (DreamWorks Animation), Emily Hart (Disney TV Animation), Kari Kim (Nickelodeon Animation), Khoby Rowe (FOX)
1:00 Networking Lunch 2:30 Spotlight on Nickelodeon’s Spectacular SpongeBob Multiverse 3:30 Toys, Parks and Toons: A Primer on Updating Popular Brands for New
Audiences. With Liz Bartels (LEGO Group), Eric Calderon (Falcon’s Beyond Global), Christopher Keenan (Mattel), Brooke Patterson (Great Wolf Resorts)
4:30 Oscar Contenders Shorts Screening
6:00 Animated Shorts Panel. Blush, Demi’s Panic, Far from the Tree, Namoo, Nona, Robin Robin, Steakhouse, Us Again
7:00 Animated Shorts Party
Wednesday, Nov. 10
9 AM Networking Breakfast
10:00 How to Find the Right Global Partners. With David Michel, Chris Henderson, Dan Clark, Frank Saperstein 11:00 The Business of Show Business. With Hillary Levi, Anna Berthold, Mark Zavadskiy 12 PM Drawing on Diversity and Representation: The Next Steps. With Camille Eden, Jinko Gotoh, Cort Lane, Silvia Olivas, Michelle Wong
1:00 Networking Lunch
2:30 Blending VR Tech and Animation. With Kim Adams, Jonathan Hagard, Shyam Kannapurakkaran, Paul Mezier, Erick Oh 3:30 The Quiet Revolution: Unleashing the Promise of Real Time. With The Third Floor’s Joshua Wassung, Dane Smith, Connor Murphy, Motoki Nishii
4:30 Closing Keynote: A Fireside Chat with Clark Spencer, President, Walt Disney Animation Studio 5:30 Closing Night Party
This Year’s Panelists and Speakers
Among the distinguished animation and VFX professionals appearing on the panels this year are: Kim Adams, Co-founder, Adventure Lab Chris Applehans, Director, Wish Dragon Liz Bartels, Manager Global Content Planning, LEGO Group Kristine Belson, President, Sony Pictures Animation Anna Berthold, Agent, UTA Kelli Bixler, Owner, Bix Pix Elaine Bogan, Director, Spirit Untamed Špela Čadež, Director, Steakhouse Eric Calderon, Exec VP, Falcon’s Beyond Global Beth Cannon, VP TV, DreamWorks Animation Enrico Casarosa, Director, Luca Marc Ceccarelli, Co-Exec Producer, The Patrick Star Show Dan Clark, Writer/Producer/Director, Dan Clark Company Melissa Cobb, VP of Kids and Family, Netflix Margie Cohn, President, DreamWorks Animation Aphton Corbin, Director, Twenty Something Kirk DeMicco, Director, Vivo John Derevlany, Writer/Producer, Squish, The Muscleteers Megan Nicole Dong, Creator & Exec Producer, Centaurworld Camille Eden, VP, Animation Recruitment, Nickelodeon Michael Favelle, CEO/Founder, Odin’s Eye Entertainment Kelley Gardner, VP of Current Series Animation, Nickelodeon Louis Gonzales, Director, Nona Jinko Gotoh, Producer, Klaus, Escape from Hat Jorge R. Gutierrez, Director/Creator, Maya and the Three Jonathan Hagard, VR Director, Replacements Chris Hamilton, President/Creative Director, Oddbot Studio Emily Hart, Senior VP of Development, Disney TV Animation John Harvatine IV, Co-Owner, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Chris Henderson, Founder, AstroNomical Jasmine Johnson, Head of Studio, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Ben Kalina, COO, Titmouse Shyam Kannapurakkaran, VR Production Tech Artist, Stargate Studios Christopher Keenan, Senior VP, Mattel Inc. Brooke Keesling, Head of Animation Talent Development, Bento Box Heather Kenyon, Head of Production & Development - Citizen Kids, Citizen Skull Kari Kim, VP of Animation Development, Nickelodeon Cort Lane, Exec Producer, My Little Pony: A New Generation Jennifer Lee, CCO, Walt Disney Animation Studios Hillary Levi, Literary Manager, The Gotham Group Gregory Little, Senior VP, Content, Mainframe Studio Steve Loter, Exec Producer, The Ghost and Molly McGee Joe Mateo, Director, Blush Tom McGrath, Director, The Boss Baby: Family Business Paul Mezier, Exec Producer, Novelab David Michel, Founder/President, Cottonwood Media Connor Murphy, Virtual Production Manager, The Third Floor Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon/Paramount Animation Vladimir Nikolaev, Co-Founder, Wizart Motoki Nishii, Environmental Art Director, The Third Floor Erick Oh, Director, Namoo Dan Ojari, Director, Robin Robin Silvia Olivas, Writer/Exec Producer, Maya and the Three Brooke Patterson, Senior VP - Brand Experiences, Great Wolf Resorts Mikey Please, Director, Robin Robin Bill Plympton, Director, Demi’s Panic Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Director, Flee Mike Rianda, Writer/Director, The Mitchells vs. the Machines Teddy Riley, Exec Producer/Co-Creator, Fairfax Octavio Rodriguez, Co-Director, Ron’s Gone Wrong Khoby Rowe, Exec Director Animation, Fox Entertainment Sander Schwartz, Exec Producer, Skylander Academy, Alien Xmas Dane Smith, VP, The Third Floor Clark Spencer, President, Walt Disney Animation Studios Aliki Theofilopoulos, Exec Producer, Doug Unplugs Troy Underwood, Content Exec and Producer Kevin Walker, Exec Creative Director, BUCK Vincent Waller, Co-Exec Producer, The Patrick Star Show Josh Wassung, Founder, The Third Floor Michelle Wong, Producer, Vivo Mark Zavadskiy, CEO, Riki Group Health and Safety Policy: To ensure the safety of staff and guests, the World Animation and VFX Summit will require proof of approved vaccine administered at least two weeks prior to the Summit and a negative COVID test within 72 hours of attending the Summit. The event will also require a valid ID. Temperature checks will be conducted on all attendees upon arrival and masks are required to be worn at all times in accordance with L.A. County requirements.
