The 2021 World Animation & VFX Summit, the leading West Coast event for staying current with the latest trends and technologies in animation and VFX, is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Hall of Fame awards and panelist lineup. The iconic Summit, taking place in person November 7 – 10, on the grounds of the historic Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, will kick off with the opening night gala on November 7th where the honorees will receive their awards. The gala will be followed by the three-day Summit, beginning on November 8th, featuring panels, discussions and networking breakfasts, lunches and parties with top tier executive and creative talent representing various aspects of the industry.
This year’s 2021 Animation Summit honorees are:
- Gaumont Animation: International Studio of the Year Award — will be presented to U.S. President Nicolas Atlan and Exec VP of Creative Content Terry Kalagian.
- Phil Lord and Chris Miller: The producers of Sony Pictures Animation’s acclaimed features Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and this year’s critically celebrated The Mitchells vs. the Machines.
- Tom McGrath: Hall of Fame: Billion Dollar Director Award — will be presented to the acclaimed director of the two Boss Baby features, three Madagascar features and Megamind.
- Chris Meledandri: 2021 Vanguard Award — will be presented to 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.
- Chris Nee: Creator of Disney’s Peabody Award-winning series Doc McStuffins, Vampirina, We the People, Ridley Jones and Ada Twist, Scientist.
- Jennifer Yuh Nelson: Acclaimed director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and supervising director of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series Love, Death + Robots.
- Bruce Smith: Trailblazing creator of The Proud Family and the upcoming Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and director of Bebe’s Kids.
- 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 (Bleach, Naruto, Mama Named Me Sheriff, Marvel Future Avengers).
“We are thrilled the Summit is returning as a live event in November to celebrate the vitality of our business and community and to highlight the achievements of seven iconic game-changers in the animation industry,” says Summit founder and president and publisher of Animation Magazine Jean Thoren. “During the three-day event we will host a stellar line-up of industry innovators, creative talent and thought leaders sharing their vision for the future. We can’t wait to see all our friends in the global animation community and learn about their innovations and fascinating projects.”
Must-See Panels
The eclectic lineup of this year’s Summit will explore many different facets of the animation and VFX industries. Panels will focus on advances in new media, co-production opportunities, the future of streaming and the changes in the TV animation landscape, the impact of VR and other technologies pushing the medium forward. Also on tap will be discussions related to more diversity and inclusivity in the industry, how to bring animated projects to the attention of streaming gatekeepers, and how to polish your portfolio and resume to land your dream job in animation.
The Summit agenda also features informative talks with the directors, producers and key creatives on this year’s animated films that are contenders for Academy Awards®. Sessions showcasing the making of top animated features include Boss Baby: Family Business, Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Raya and the Last Dragon, Ron’s Gone Wrong, Spirit Untamed, The Summit of the Gods, Vivo and Wish Dragon. A spotlight on acclaimed animated shorts will include Blush, Demi’s Panic, Twenty Something, From the Tree, Namoo, Nona, Robin Robin, Steakhouse and Us Again.
2021 Animation Summit Featured Speakers:
The Animation Summit presents featured speaker sessions with distinguished creative forces to discuss prominent topics in animation and VFX. (Note: A complete list of Summit speakers is available here.)
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
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, Writer/Director, Luca, Pixar
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, Pixar
Kirk DeMicco, Director, Vivo
Megan Dong, Creator & Exec Producer, Netflix, Centaurworld
Camille Eden, VP, Animation Recruitment, Nickelodeon
Louis Gonzales, Director, Nona, Pixar
Jinko Gotoh, Producer, Klaus, Escape from Hat
Jorge R. Gutierrez, Director/Creator, Netflix, 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 Studio
Shyam Kannapurakkaran, VR Production Tech Artist, Stargate Studios
Christopher Keenan, Senior VP, Mattel Inc.
Cort Lane, Exec Producer, My Little Pony: A New Generation
Hillary Levi, Literary Manager, The Gotham Group
Gregory Little, Senior VP, Content, Mainframe Studio
Steve Loter, Exec Producer, Disney, The Ghost and Molly McGee
Tom McGrath, Director, Boss Baby: Family Busines
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
Silvia Olivas, Writer/Exec Producer, Maya and the Three
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
Aliki Theofilopoulos, Exec Producer, Doug Unplugs
Kevin Walker, Exec Creative Director, BUCK
Josh Wassung, Founder, The Third Floor
Michelle Wong, Producer, Vivo
Mark Zavadskiy, CEO, Riki Group
Health and Safety Policy
To ensure the safety of Summit staff and guests, proof of an approved vaccine administered at least two weeks prior to the Summit, a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event, and a valid ID will be required to attend. Temperature checks will be administered upon arrival and masks are required to be worn at all times as is in accordance with Los Angeles County requirements.
2021 Animation Summit Registration
To learn more about the 2021 Animation Summit and how to purchase tickets, visit the official website here.
To learn more about the 2021 Animation Summit:
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