Key Animation Artists Honored at World Animation and VTX Summit

The 2017 edition of the World Animation & VFX Summit has announced this year's recipient of the Hall of Fame awards and panelist lineup. This year's honorees are:

• Actress Nancy Cartwright (iconic voice of Bart Simpson)-award presented by THE SIMPSONS exec producer Al Jean.
• Producer Lori Forte (Ice Age movies, Ferdinand)-award presented by FOX Animation Studio president Vanessa Morrison
• Animation director/writer Glen Keane (Dear Basketball, Disney movies)-award presented by director John Musker (Moana, Princess and the Frog, Hercules, Aladdin)
• French animation distributor PGS Entertainment's Philippe and Guillaume Soutter (Miraculous, ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks, The Little Prince)-Award presented by TV producer Tom Lynch (Scout's Safari, The Secret World of Alex Mack)
• Frederator Studios founder/CEO and Emmy-winning producer Fred Seibert (Adventure Time, Castlevania, Fairly OddParents) - award presented by Herb Scannell, former president of Nickelodeon Networks.
• Dreamworks Animation's head of TV physical production Mark Taylor -award presented by Margie Cohn, head of DreamWorks TV Animation.

The awards ceremony will be hosted by one of the top voice-over artists working in the business today, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants).

The gala event will be followed by two packed Summit days in the intimate surrounds of the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. All-inclusive networking breakfasts, lunches and cocktail parties anchor the all-day panels of industry luminaries. The focus is on easy access, face-to-face interactions. Speakers will discuss inspiring information about their experience, the future of the animation and vfx industry, its best practices, new ideas and the technologies that will make life in 2018 easier for producers, studio owners and talent.

The final day of the summit will feature Master Classes for the Masters: Alison Norrington, Archita Ghosh, Fred Seibert and Butch Hartman on Wednesday November 1. Breakfast, lunch, an afternoon break snack and cocktails with appetizers will be served. Attendees can purchase these classes individually or as a full-day pass on the Summit website.

The World Animation and VFX Summit is a way to travel the world's geography of the animation and vfx industry, all while relaxing in the ambiance of a private club overlooking the Marina. For more info, visit www.animationmagazine.net/summit.

Must-See Panels

The eclectic lineup of this year's summit explore many different faces to the animation and vfx industries, from behind-the-scenes tips on how to produce a successful international co-pro, to the nuts and bolts of creating content for VR, to informative talks with the directors and producers of this year's feature and short films that are contenders for Academy Awards. Here is a list of some of the top industry professionals who were confirmed to appear on the panels at press time:

Agnes Augustin, CEO/president, Shaw Rocket Fund

Chrstine Brendle, CEO, FUN Union

Kobe Bryant, CEO, Kobe Inc.

Vanessa Chapman, managing director, VCJ Media

Lawson Deming, owner/vfx supervisor, Barnstorm VFX

Mo Davoudian, creative director/CEO, Brain Zoo Studios

Peter Denomme, CEO/exec producer, Switch VFX & Animation

Joel Douek, composer, sound designer

Ruth Fielding, producer/partner, Lupus Films

Archita Ghosh, exec producer/partner, E*D Films

Jorge Gutierrez, director, Son of Jaguar

Michaela Hart, animation exec, production specialist

Michael Hefferon, president, Rainmaker & Mainframe Studios

Guillaume Hellouin, chairman/cofounder/producer, TeamTO

Max Howard, producer and animation consultant

Kevin Tod Haug, vfx designer

Terry Kalagian, VP creative, Gaumont Animation

Ken Katsumoto, EVP family entertainment, Lions Gate Entertainment

Glen Keane, director, Dear Basketball

Dorota Kobiela, writer/director, Loving Vincent

Iryna Kostyuk, producer/creator/media expert

David Kwok, founder/CEO, Tiny Island Productions

Peter McHugh, manager, The Gotham Group

Chris McKay, director, The LEGO Batman Movie

Alison Norrington, writer/producer/founder, storycentral

Chris O'Reilly, co-founder/ECD, Nexus Studios

Sascha Paladino, creator/executive producer, Miles from Tomorrowland

Sandra Rabins, producer/animation executive

John Robson, managing director, Wildbrain

Adam Rumanek, founder, Aux Mode

Richard Scott, CEO, Axis Studios

David L. Simon, animation producer and executive

Carlos Saldanha, director, Ferdinand

Philippe Soutter, co-founder, PGS

Irene Sparre, exec producer, Wil Film

Mark Taylor, exec VP, physical production, Dreamworks Animation TV

Toper Taylor, president, Network of One

Nicolas Trout, co-head of animation/exec producer, Mikros Image

Tom van Waveren, CEO/creative director, Cake

Lin Zhang, CEO, DeZerlin Media

"We are thrilled to be presenting awards this year to some of the key game-changers in the animation industry," adds Thoren. "Our industry is poised for enormous and exciting changes in the next few years, and we are very pleased to have some of the biggest innovators and thought leaders in our field sharing their vision for the future with us at our event."

The 2017 Summit will showcase panels on the making of some of the year's top animated features such as Captain Underpants, Boss Baby, Loving Vincent, Despicable Me 3, LEGO Batman Movie, The Star and Ferdinand. It will also bring to focus some of the innovations in new media, co-production opportunities, the future of streaming and the changes in the TV animation landscape and the promise of the VR universe. The summit will also present a must-see panel on the making of the acclaimed short Dear Basketball, with animation icon Glen Keane and basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

To learn more about the event and secure tickets, visit www.animationmagazine.net/summit.