TAAFI announces the virtual conference for 2020, a new board of directors and leadership

Il Toronto International Festival of Animation Arts (TAAFI) announced the addition of animation industry leaders Janice Walker, Karen Jackson and Claudia Barrios to its board. Additionally, studio veteran John Rooney has been named executive director and will immediately take over the effective role. With these changes, TAAFI has revealed its 2020 programming strategy in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic: the festival will continue to host its annual industrial conference and animation festival with the inclusion of new monthly events.

Il TAAFI animation industry conference will take place virtually on 6-8 November 2020. The TAAFI festival is confirmed for February 2021.

In addition to the two annual programs that TAAFI hosts regularly, the animation organization will be running monthly events which will include panels, presentations, workshops, discussions with studios and artists / creators. To kick off their 2020 program, TAAFI will organize a special live streaming of a new animated Netflix original followed by a round table with the key creatives behind the film. Details will be released this month.

Further information on the TAAFI 2020 program will be available on taafi.com

Janice Walker is an industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in the animated film and television industry. She is currently the Studio Producer at Yowza! Animation in which he is working on several animated series including Green eggs and ham e Angry Birds. Before Yowza! Animation, Walker was the animation manager and producer for Brain Power Studios, where he worked on overlapping productions. She was the acting producer on the original Netflix animated series Julius Jr. e Petunia moon. Prior to Brain Power Studios, he worked at DHX Media in Toronto.

Karen jackson she is a veteran of the TAAFI core team: she supervised the ambassadors' program for five years, working behind the scenes to bring TAAFI events to life. He currently works for Tangent animation as production coordinator after eight years of activity as an artist in various companies such as Nelvana, Guru Studio and Jam Filled Entertainment. Jackson is coordinating the VFX for a new innovative show for Netflix by director Jorge R. Gutierrez (The book of life). It brings with it an immense knowledge of the 3D studio pipeline experience and an understanding of the needs of both the production and the artist that help meet all sides of the industry.

Claudia Barrios He is currently Marketing Manager for Secret Location, where he supervises the marketing strategy for the studio's VR games and immersive experiences. With over six years in the entertainment industry, he has extensive experience in developing marketing strategies for films, television and games. Prior to Secret Location, he worked on the global launch of various shows including the animated Netflix Original series True and the Rainbow Kingdom for Guru Studio. Before joining Guru Studio, he held various roles in 9 Story Media Group through acquisitions, distribution and digital media. Barrios graduated from the Kids Media program at Centennial College.

John Rooney is an industry veteran with an extensive history in Canadian animation and children's television. He was director of programming at YTV and was instrumental in shaping the Corus Kids & Family brands. He has successfully created strategies for brands such as Bionix, Nickelodeon Canada, and ABC Spark Canada. In addition, he was director of programming for TELETOON, where he was responsible for the content strategy of TELETOON, TELETOON Retro and the launch of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim in Canada. He is currently a consultant for various clients in content strategy, programming, development, curation, research and trends. Its client list includes Mattel, Epic Story Media, WildBrain, Zodiak Media, Shaftesbury, Apartment 11 and Marblemedia.

Also, the board announced departures this year: co-founder and executive director, Ben McEvoy; Kathleen Bartlett e Barry sanders.

More information on the members of the board of directors on taafi.com/#/board

In a statement, TAAFI president Barnabas Wornoff said:

“Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, we remain dedicated to celebrating and showing some of the best animation content. In a rapidly changing industry with a growing demand for high quality content, we would like to announce the following changes:

I would like to welcome Janice, Karen and Claudia to the board of directors. We look forward to working with these industry leaders, benefiting from their deep experience in the animation industry.

John Rooney was named executive director. In recent years he has been instrumental in the organization's success. John is an extraordinary leader with strong industry-wide relationships. Please join me in congratulating him.

With this change, I would like to thank Ben McEvoy, one of TAAFI's co-founders, for his leadership and passion for the sector as TAAFI's executive director over the years. Finally, I would like to thank Kathleen Bartlett and Barry Sanders for their commitment to the board of directors, leading our marketing and programming teams.

Throughout 2020, I am excited to share TAAFI's program and strategy in the coming weeks. "

In a memo, McEvoy wrote to the TAAFI team:

“I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished with TAAFI in these first 10 years. And we did it all thanks to our generous community who wanted to see everyone rise and grow together here in Toronto and across Canada.

We have been fortunate to be partners of such a passionate audience, together with the support of so many studies, companies and government involved, including the ability of all of us to work together to grow the sector and, more importantly, create fantastic animations.

There are so many things I've wanted to keep doing with the festival as we walk that path together, but the time has come to make way for a new group of enthusiastic and volunteer leaders who can carry on the TAAFI torch and continue to help make grow this organization and our industry into a dynamic world-class animation center. "