World Animation & VFX Summit Announces 2021 Award Winners, Speakers

The 2021 edition of the World Summit on Animation and Visual Effects, which will take place live and in person November 7-10 at the historic Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, California, announced this year's recipient of its Hall of Fame awards and training of speakers. This year's winners, who will be presented with their prizes at the opening gala on Sunday 7 November, are:

• Gaumont Animation: International Study of the Year. Award presented to the President of the United States Nicolas Atlan and Exec VP of Creative Content Terry Kalagian.
• Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The innovative producers of Sony Pictures Animation's critically acclaimed films Raining meat balls, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and this year The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Award presented by the president of Sony Pictures Animation Kristine Belson.
• Tom McGrath. The acclaimed director of the duo from DreamWorks Animation Features of Boss Baby, three Madagascar features e Megamind will receive the Hall of Fame: Billion Dollar Director's Award.
• Chris Meledandri. Founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment and author of Despicable Me, the most successful animated film in the world in the history of cinema, which includes the Minions, the fourth highest-grossing animated film. Other career highlights include the film  Ice Age, Seuss's Lorax, the secret life of pets movie, Sing, The Grinch, Dr. Seuss and this year is long awaited Song 2. will receive the 2021 Vanguard Awards.
• Chris Nee. Creator of the Peabody Award-winning Disney series Doc McStuffins (Doc McStuffins), Vampirina and Netflix We the PeopleRidley Jones e Ada Twist, Scientist. Award presented by animation veteran Jorge R. Gutierrez, creator of Maya and the three e The book of life.
• Jennifer Nelson Yuh. Oscar nominated director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and supervising producer of the acclaimed Netflix anthology series Love, Death + Robot Volume 2. Award presented by Victoria L. Howard, producer of Love, Death + Robots, Robot Chicken e BoJack Horseman.
• Bruce Smith. Pioneering creator of The ProudFamily and the upcoming Disney + series The ProudFamily: stronger and prouder and director of Bébé's children. Award presented by Ralph Furquhart, producer, The ProudFamily e From Jammies.
• Cree Summer. Beloved animated voice actress, 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 the animated voice actress and regular of the Annie Awards Dina sherman (Bleach, Naruto, Mom called me sheriff, Marvel Future Avengers).

The gala event will be followed by three content-packed summit days: breakfasts, lunches and all-inclusive networking cocktails anchor the all-day panels of industry luminaries. The focus is on easy access, information and face-to-face interactions. Speakers will share inspiring insights and information about their experiences, the current state and future of the animation and visual effects industry, new ideas and innovations, the current job market and technologies that help advance the medium and they help studio talents, artists, executives and visual effects craftsmen.

“We are thrilled to be returning as a live event in November to celebrate the vitality of our business and community and to highlight the achievements of iconic animation revolutionaries,” says World Animation & VFX Summit founder, president and editor. from Animation magazine Jean Thoren. “We are very pleased to have some of the greatest innovators, creative talents and thought leaders in our field sharing their vision for the future with us at our event. We look forward to seeing all of our friends in the global animation community and learning about their many fascinating innovations and projects. ”

The eclectic training of Vertex panels this year explores many different facets of the animation and visual effects industries, from behind-the-scenes tips on how to produce a successful international co-professional, to the nuts and bolts of creating content for virtual reality, to informative interviews with the directors and producers of this year's feature and short films vying for the Academy Awards.

Summit 2021 will feature panels on the making of some of the best animated films of the year such as Baby Boss 2 - Family business (The Baby Boss: Family Business), Encanto, Flee, Luca, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Raya and the last dragon, Ron a friend fupri program, Spirit Untamed, La vetta deglidei, Vivo e wish dragon. It will also highlight some of the most acclaimed animated shorts of the year, which will be competing for year-end awards. Among the titles expected to be screened and discussed are Blush, Demi's Panic, Twenty Something, Far From the Tree, Nona, Robin Robin, Steakhouse e Us again.

Additional conferences taking place Monday through Wednesday will focus on some of the innovations in new media, co-production opportunities, the future of streaming and changes in the television animation landscape and the promise of the VR universe. There will also be discussions on promoting greater diversity and inclusiveness in the industry, how to bring animated projects to the attention of streamers, how to successfully launch an international co-production, and how to refine your portfolio and resume the work of your own. dreams in animation.

Among the distinguished animation and visual effects professionals appearing on the panels this year are:

• Kim Adams, Co-founder, Adventure Lab
• Chris Applehans, Director, Desire Dragon
• Liz Bartels, Head of Global Content Planning, LEGO Group
• Kristine Belson, President, Sony Pictures Animation
• Kelli Bixler, Owner, Bix Pix
• Elaine Bogan, Director, Indomitable Spirit
• Špela Čadezh, Director, Steak house
• Eric Calderón, Executive Vice President, Falcon's Beyond Global
• Beth Cannon, VP TV, DreamWorks Animation
• Dan Clark, writer / producer / director, Dan Clark Company
• Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids and Family, Netflix
• Margie Cohn, President, DreamWorks Animation
• Kirk DeMicco, Director, live
• Megan Dong, Creator and Executive Producer, Netflix, Centaurworld
• Camille Eden, Vice President, Animation Recruiting, Nickelodeon
• Jinko gotoh, producer, Klaus, Escape from Hat
• Jorge R. Gutierrez, Director / Creator, Netflix, Maya and the three
• Jonathan Hagard, VR Director, Substitutions
• 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 the firm, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
• Shyam Kannapurakkaran, VR Production Technical Artist, Stargate Studios
• Christopher Keenan, Senior Vice President, Mattel Inc.
• Court Lane, executive producer, My Little Pony: a new generation
• Hillary Levi, Head of Literature, The Gotham Group
• Gregory Little, Senior Vice President, Content, Mainframe Studio
• Steve Loter, executive producer, Disney, The ghost and Molly McGee
• Tom McGrath, Director, The Boss Baby: Family business
• Paul Mezier, Executive Producer, Novelab
• David Michael, 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 Artistic Director, The Third Floor
• Eric Oh, Director, People
• Silvia Olivas, writer / executive producer, Maya and the three
• Bill Plympton, Director, Demi's panic
• Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Director, Run away
• Mike Rianda, writer / director, The Mitchells vs. the Machines
• Teddy Riley, executive producer / co-creator, Fairfax
• Octavius ​​Rodriguez, Co-director, Ron was wrong
• Khoby Rowe, Executive Director of Animation, Fox Entertainment
• Sander Schwartz, executive producer, Skylander Academy, Alien Xmas
• Dane smith, Vice President, The third floor
• Aliki Theofilopoulos, executive producer, Doug breaks away
• Kevin Walker, Executive Creative Director, BUCK
• Josh Wassung, Founder, The Third Floor
• Michelle Wong, producer, live
• Mark Zavadsky, CEO, Riki Group

Health and safety policy: To ensure the safety of staff and guests, World Animation & VFX Summit will require proof of the 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 must be worn at all times in accordance with Los Angeles County requirements. To learn more about the event and get special discounted tickets, visit www.animationmagazine.net/summit.