Archives: Meet Your Makers

Born in 1980, Itazu started working in the anime industry at the age of 18. He worked as an animator for “KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops” series (2004), “Paprika” (2006), and “Wind Rises” (2013). He served as the character designer, animation director, and an animator for “MISS HOKUSAI” (2015), and he was the co-assistant animation director … Yoshimi Itazu

Director, illustrator, and professor at ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs), Sébastien Laudenbach has written a dozen award-winning short films selected by numerous international festivals, as well as credit packages and music videos. With his feature film The Girl Without Hands, presented at Cannes, awarded at the Annecy International Animation Festival, and in competition … Sébastian Laudenbach

Liu Jian (China, 1969) majored in Chinese Painting and graduated from the Nanjing Art Institute in 1993.Since then, he has made various works that met with the criteria of modern art and that were presented in some of the most important exhibitions in China and abroad. He is one of the representative artists of Gaudy … Liu Jian

Jérémie Périn was born in 1978 in the north of France. He studied animation at the renowned Gobelins school, graduating in 2000. Since 2001, he has worked for various animation studios, acquiring solid experience in storyboarding, layout, compositing, and design. He moved on to directing in 2004 with TV series pilots and short films. In … Jérémie Périn

Sam Fell started his career as writer/director of the short film The Big Cheese for 3 Peach Animation/Channel4. He then joined Aardman Animations as a director and animator on commercials and short projects like Pop, Chump, Peter Lord’s’ Oscar-nominated short film Wat’s Pig, and the BBC series Rex the Runt. During that time he also … Sam Fell

FilmInfo_PHOENIX Nishimi is known for his unique sense of animation style. Nishimi was the supervising animation director of Tekkonkinkreet (2006). He directed Mutafukaz, (2017) an animated film co-produced with France. It was premiered at Annecy in June 2017, and was nominated for the 46th Annie Awards in the Best Animated Independent Feature. PHOENIX Reminiscence of … Shojiro Nishimi

Han Ji-won is a Seoul-based director, illustrator and cartoonist. Her debut film, Clearer Than You Think, made her the youngest South Korean to direct a theatrically released animation film. It earned praise from moviegoers as well as fellow directors such as Yeon Sang-ho, director of Train to Busan and Pseudo, who referred to her as … Han Ji-won

Prior to directing Trolls Band Together, Dohrn made his directorial debut with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour after serving as co-director on the first installment of the blockbuster franchise. As one of DreamWorks Animation’s most trusted story experts, Dohrn previously served as head of story on Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Shrek Forever After. A … Walt Dohrn

Jarelle Dampier is a director and story artist at Sony Pictures Animation. Dampier started his entertainment career in television as a story artist on various Justice League animated shows, Skybound’s Invincible, Marvel’s What If… and Marvel’s Spider-Man before moving on to feature animation boards. After teaming up with Sony to direct for the LENS program, … Jarelle Dampier

Gina Shay has over 25 years of experience producing animated films, whichincludes a full decade of films and specials for DreamWorks Animation. Most recently,she produced Trolls Band Together, the third installment of the blockbuster franchisestarring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. Shay has been instrumental in thesuccess of the property, having also served as a producer … Gina Shay

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Tim Heitz has played a key role in numerous DreamWorks Animation’s most celebrated and iconic films over his fifteen-year tenure with the company. Most recently, he served as co-director on Trolls Band Together, the third installment of the blockbuster franchise starring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake. Over the years, Heitz … Tim Heitz

Khaila Amazan is a writer at Sony Pictures Animation. Prior to starting in the LENS program, Amazan began her entertainment career as a story trainee in the creative development department at Columbia Pictures, followed by executive assistant positions at the development departments of Walt Disney Studios and Netflix’s Original Independent Films group. Amazan’s TV writing … Khaila Amazan

Joe Darko was a senior animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks, most recently completing work on the highly anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Darko joined Imageworks in 2017 and his credits include the Academy Award®-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Academy Award-nominated The Sea Beast, for which he served as animation lead, The Mitchells vs. The … Joe Darko

Chiara Malta has directed several short films including a trilogy on childhood that have been selected for and awarded at numerous international festivals. After her feature-length documentary Armando e la politica for la Lucarne (Arte/ZDF), she became an artist-in-residence at the Villa Medici (Rome). Her first feature film, Simple Women, featuring Jasmine Trinca and Elina … Chiara Malta

Clara Chan is a visual effects Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks with over two decades of industry experience. In 2001, Chan joined Imageworks as a technical director in the lighting department. Her credits include the upcoming animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the Academy Award®-nominated Over the Moon, first three Hotel Transylvania films, Storks, The … Clara Chan

Director Joel Crawford is currently in production on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. He most recently served as director of the DreamWorks Animation feature film The Croods: A New Age and as director of Trolls Holiday Special for NBC. Crawford joined DreamWorks Animation in 2006 and quickly became an integral story artist on Trolls, … Joel Crawford

Born 1966. Animation director and producer. After working as an episode director for “Eldoran Series” and “Gundam Series”, he made his debut as a director with “One Piece: Defeat Him! The Pirate Ganzack!” in 1998. Since then, he has directed many original-based works and own productions, including “PLANETES”, “CODE GEASS”, “Jungle Emperor: The Brave Can … Goro Taniguchi

Inna Sahakyan has directed and produced feature-length documentaries, documentary series, and shorts, for over fifteen years.

Born in 1983, she joined MADHOUSE in 2007. She made her directorial debut with the TV series “BTOOOM!” in 2012 and has worked as a production member with MADHOUSE.

Benjamin Massoubre discovered the richness and diversity of animated cinema in the halls of the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival. This interest quickly became a passion, then a vocation.

Amandine Fredon came to cinema through drawing. After studying art, she naturally turned to animation, working mainly at the Folimage studio based in Valence for about fifteen years.

Alê Abreu is a Brazilian film director, animator and screenwriter. In 2013, he released “The Boy and the World”, his second feature film.

After 25 years as an innovative short animation director, Kajsa Næss is ready for her feature film debut with TITINA. Næss is known for her playful, humorous and humanistic films.

With Viking Film producer Marleen Slot thrives to be a nurturing home for talents from all across the world, telling stories for audiences to strongly identify with, by filmmakers with whom she is closely connected.

Director Mascha Halberstad (1973) attended the ArtEZ Art Academy in Arnhem. She made animations for several feature films, including TAKING CHANCES (Berlinale Generation 2012) and HOW TO SURVIVE…

Celebrated for his detailed spatial designs, use of transparent, airy colors and attention to depth of field, loundraw began his career as an illustrator when he was a teenager, finding early success on online platforms.

Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, originally from Japan, is a filmmaker and painter.

Robert Kondo is co-founder and president of Tonko House, a San Francisco bay area based studio focused on creating animated narrative content.

Sara K. Sampson is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Oakland, CA. While at Pixar Animation Studios, Sara contributed to several features such as the Academy award-winning films COCO and INSIDE OUT.

Lindsey Collins joined Pixar Animation Studios in May 1997. Collins’ film credits include “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2” and the Academy Award®-winning “Finding Nemo,” and “Ratatouille.”

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein is the Founder and CEO of The Gotham Group, the only major management/production company in Hollywood owned solely by a woman.

Henry Selick is the director, writer, production designer and producer whose films have defined a generation of animated storytelling.

Shi graduated from the animation program at Sheridan College where she was fueled by her love of anime/manga, Disney, and Asian cinema influences that can be seen in her work to this day.

Jeff Rowe is the writer and co-director of Sony Pictures Animation’s original feature comedy “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” with Michael Rianda. Rowe graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 2011. He was employed by animation studios Film Roman, Bento Box Entertainment, and Rubicon Holding Group before serving as a writer for Disney Television … Jeff Rowe

JARED BUSH (Director/Writer) was previously co-director and screenwriter on the Oscar®-winning feature “Zootopia” as well as screenwriter for the Oscar-nominated “Moana” and executive producer on “Raya and the Last Dragon.” He was also co-creator, executive producer, and writer for Disney XD’s animated comedy adventure series “Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.” Bush, who began his career as … Jared Bush

Born February 12, 1979 and raised in Osaka. After some time as a production assistant and episode director, he made a splash with Mobile Suit Gundam 00 as an episode director and storyboardist, as well as the series’ assistant director. Since his directorial debut with No. 6 in 2011, he has not only continued his work in episode direction … Kenji Nagasaki

CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA (Director, Story by) joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in late spring 2019. He is a member of the Studios’ story trust, and, in addition to directing “Raya and the Last Dragon,” is currently directing his next as-yet unannounced feature film with the Studio.

DON HALL (Director, Story by) began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in June 1995 as a story apprentice on “Tarzan.” He served as a story arst on several development projects and produtions, including “The Emperor’s New Groove” and “Chicken Little,” before becoming head of story for “Meet the Robinsons” and “The Princess and the Frog.”

Haipeng Sun was born in 1979 in Wuhan, China. Graduated from Wuhan Art College and awarded First Prize for Excellent Domestic Animation Works Of 2014 by National Press Publications Broadcasting And TV Office in China. Short film Super Bao awarded Prize DigiCon6 by “The 12TH Tokyo TBS”, Animated Short Film Awards by“The 15th Seoul International Cartoon … Haipeng Sun

Brandon Jeffords is co-directing, along with director Kirk DeMicco, Sony Pictures Animation’s original animated musical “Vivo,” which features brand new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative force behind the Broadway smash “Hamilton.”

Kirk DeMicco is directing, along with co-director Brandon Jeffords, Sony Pictures Animation’s original animated musical “Vivo,” which features brand new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative force behind the Broadway smash “Hamilton.”

Michael Rianda is the writer and director of Sony Pictures Animation’s original feature comedy “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” a very personal project inspired by his own delightfully crazy family, and a childhood infatuation with robots.

Ari Folman is an Israeli director, screenwriter, and film score composer. He has written for several successful IsraeliTV series, including the award-winning In Therapy (Be Tipul), which was the basis for the HBO series In Treatment. He is the director of the Oscar-nominated Waltz with Bashir and The Congress.

Born in 1980, a comedian and picturebook author. He formed the comic duo King Kong with Yuta Kajiwara in 1999. In addition to his work as a comedian, he has authored many picturebooks and books on business strategy.

Yusuke Hirota joined STUDIO4°C in 2001. He served as the Studio’s computer graphics director first on the TV series Piroppo (2001, directed by Katsuhito Ishii), and then on many titles including The Animatrix – BEYOND (2003), Genius Party – BABY BLUE (2007), Genius Party Beyond – MOONDRIVE (2008), Berserk The Golden Age Arc 1 – … Yusuke Hirota

Andrea Warren joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1998, when she began as a marketing production assistant on “A Bug’s Life.” She then moved on to be an art department coordinator for the Academy Award®-winning feature, “Monsters, Inc.,” and served as a digital painter for another Academy Award-winning feature, “Finding Nemo.” Warren accepted her first managing … Andrea Warren

Enrico Casarosa joined Pixar Animation Studios in January 2002.  He began as a story artist on “Cars”before moving on to work on the Academy Award®-winning feature films “Ratatouille” and “Up.” He made his directorial debut with the Academy Award®-nominated short film, “La Luna,” which screened theatrically with “Brave” in 2012. He then went on to … Enrico Casarosa

Aurel is a French illustrator born in 1980. He is working as a press illustrator for the national daily Le Monde and the satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné. He has also worked on numerous graphic reports for various french news- papers.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen is a Danish/French film director born in 1981. He debuted in 2006 with the acclaimed TV documentary Something About Halfdan, followed by a series of radio documentaries from around the world.

Born in 1956, Florence graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Arts D coratifs with a specialization in engraving. She began her professional career as a layout artist for the press and exhibited drawings and engravings. In 1991, she directed her first short film Hammam. Since then, she has imposed a very personal style on animated … Florence Miailhe

Acuña is a visual communicator by profession but works as a director / animator. In the year 2007 he created Carburadores, making to date more than 100 audiovisual pieces in different animation techniques, mainly animated television spots for various brands. He also directs videoclips for musical artists such as Javiera Mena and Solo di Medina, … Germán Acuña

As executive vice president of creative for Sony Pictures Animation, Karen Toliver is responsible for the creative supervision of a number of upcoming features for the studio, from inception to script, and through production.

Everett Downing is an animator, story artist and director living in the Greater Los Angeles area. Born in Boulder, Colorado and raised in Denver, he studied Film, focusing on computer animation at Columbia College in Chicago. Everett began his career as a story artist at Big Idea Productions before making his break into feature film, animating at Blue Sky Studios on the original “Ice Age.”

Max Lang is an Oscar®-nominated and BAFTA®-winning animation director. He jointly directed the award-winning animated films The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom for Magic Light Pictures as well as the animated Christmas special Albert for Nickelodeon.

Matt Williames began his 23-year career at the age of 14, when he started working professionally as an animator while still in junior high school. At the time, Matt worked on projects ranging from the animated feature Quest for Camelot, to independent shorts, including the Oscar nominated Stubble Trouble.

After graduating in Applied Arts, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec joined the Ecole des Gobelins in 2003. Her first two short films, Madame (made during her studies in 2006 ) and Escale (2010) were selected at the Annecy. In addition to her work as a graphic designer on television sets and advertising for luxury brands, she also worked … Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec

At four years old, Zabou played in one of the episodes of the TV show “Thierry la Fronde” alongside her father, Jean-Claude Deret. Zabou studied cinema, modern Greek and English for her bachelor’s degree and attended the Simon course. She was an Animator at “Recré A2” in the 80s ands made her film debut in … Zabou Breitman

Anca Damian studied at the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts where she obtained a diploma in Cinematography and a Doctor’s degree in Arts, Cinema and Media. After graduating, she worked as a director, screenwriter and producer for several documentaries on art related topics, and also as a director of photography for two long feature … Anca Damian

Born in 1966, Watanabe joined Studio Mates in 1986 and debuted his first original picture with the same studio. In 1988 he moved to Shinei Videos and was active in a wide range of roles including key animator, animation director, and director. Watanabe directed the short theatrical release Obachan no Omoide (2000), and the feature … Ayumu Watanabe

Marcell Jankovics has written, designed and directed several hundred animated short films: singles and series. He directed the first full-length animated film produced in Hungary, Johnny Corncob (1973). He was the leading director of the series Gustavus, Hungarian Folktales and Legends from the Hungarian History. Besides directing, he was the writer, storyboard and graphic designer, … Marcell Jankovics

WHITE SNAKE Amp was involved in the production of Little Door Gods, Tea Pets, Cats and Peachtopia.Before joining the Light Chaser Animation Studios, he worked in CGCG (Xiamen) Inc. and Imagi Animation Studios, as animation supervisor and assistant director，and participated in the Hollywood animation series such as Astro Boy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Green Lantern.

Has studied at the Communication University of China and UCLA. The editor and post-production supervisor of Little Door Gods, Tea Pets, Cats and Peachtopia.

Yonfan wrote, directed and produced all 14 of his motion pictures. Throughout his career, he gave Maggie Cheung her first on-screen romantic role and made Chow Yun-fat a box- office star, Story of Rose (1985), discovered Daniel Wu, Bishonen (1998) and revived the career of the legendary Rie Miyazawa, Peony Pavilion (2002). He has worked … Yonfan

Marc du Pontavice, Xilam Animation’s President, began his career with GAUMONT, where he co-founded GAUMONT Television (1991‐95), supervising the production of a hundred hours of prime time fiction, including the series Highlander. He created GAUMONT Multimedia, whose assets he acquired in 1999 to found Xilam Animation. Since that time, Xilam has established itself as one … Marc Du Pontavice

Makoto Shinkai was born in Nagano prefecture in 1973. In 2002, he debuted with self-produced Voices of a Distant Star, which won many awards including Best Public Submission at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 21. His first feature released in 2004, The Place Promised in Our Early Days won Best Animated Film in the 59th … Makoto Shinkai

In 2006, a short film Uki created for a university graduation project was selected as the first sponsored work by the Tokyo Douga Kakumei [Anime Innovation Tokyo]. The short animation based on the project CENCOROLL was released in 2009 and met with highly favorable reception. Uki later worked as a character designer for titles such … Atsuya Uki

Rebecca Sugar is the creator of Cartoon Network’s six-time Emmy-nominated series Steven Universe, an animated slice-of-life action comedy revolving around Steven, the “little brother” to a team of magical aliens—the Crystal Gems—who defend the planet Earth. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) with a BFA in Animation, Sugar joined Adventure Time in … Rebecca Sugar

In the late 1990’s, Jérémy Clapin studied animation and illustration at the École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris (Paris Decorative Arts School). After graduating in 1999, he started working in 2000 as an illustrator and directed his first short film in 2004, Une Histoire Vertébrale (A Vertebral Story), which was very well received in festivals. … Jérémy Clapin

Sergio Pablos’s experience in the Animation field has not only been limited to the Original Story or Executive Production of the well-known Despicable Me feature hit. His career includes credits as Supervising Animator for Disney titles such as Tarzan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Hercules just to name a few.

Gitanjali Rao emerged into the international stage with her animated short, ‘Printed Rainbow’ which premiered in Cannes Critic’s week 2006 and won the Kodak Discovery Award, Petite Rail D’Or and Prix Du Jeune. The film went on to win 25 awards and was short listed for the Oscar in 2008.

Eric Darnell is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Emmy award winning and leading VR animation studio Baobab Studios, whose mission is to inspire you to dream by bringing out your sense of wonder. Started by industry leaders Maureen Fan (Zynga VP of Games, Farmville Franchise), Eric Darnell (Director of all 4 Madagascar films), and Larry Cutler (Dreamworks’ Head of Character Tech, Pixar TD Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Oscar tech judge), the company’s Emmy-award winning VR animation, INVASION!, starring Ethan Hawke, launched to substantial critical acclaim and has become the top downloaded VR app. In a first, Hollywood is taking IP from VR to become a feature film: Roth Kirschenbaum Films (Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman) has signed on to adapt INVASION! into a big screen feature film “flattie”.

Ribon was first tapped by directors John Musker and Ron Clements to work on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana (2016). She also worked on Disneynature’s Bears (2014), scripting John C. Reilly’s narration. It was there she worked with Rich Moore and Jim Reardon—which ultimately led to her current assignment with Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Ruben Brandt, Collector Milorad Krstić is a Middle European artist who was born in Dornberk, Slovenia, in 1952. He took a degree in law at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Since 1989 he’s been living and working in Budapest, Hungary as a painter and multimedia artist. He immersed himself into different fields of visual … Milorad Krstić

Bio TK

Bio TK

Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. Affiliated to Studio VOLN. Studied abroad at a Los Angeles college majoring in design, and later joined Madhouse USA. After returning to Japan, his credits include Storyboard・Production for HUNTER×HUNTER (2011), Assistant Director for One Punch Man (2015) and All Out!! (2016). The animated film I Want to Eat Your Pancreas (2018) … Shin’ichirô Ushijima

Titi and the Birds André Catoto was born in Rio de Janeiro. He is the director of the films Segredo (2008) and Say I am Only Seventeen (2015). Tito and the Birds (2018) is his first feature.

Tito and the Birds Gabriel Bitar is an animator, painter, and photographer based in São Paulo. He has directed the short film The City and Desire Nº5 (2010). Tito and the Birds (2018) is his first feature film.

Tito and the Birds Gustavo Steinberg was born in São Paulo and works as a producer, screenwriter, and director. His films include End of the Line (2008). Tito and the Birds (2018) is his latest feature.

Pachamama Juan Antin was born in 1969 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied traditional animation and then continued his studies on 3D animation in Montreal, Canada. Since 1998, he is in charge of the animation department at Universidad del Cine (Buenos Aires). He directed more than 70 animated films (shorts, TV series and video clips, … Juan Antin

Joined Platige Image in 2005. Graduate of the National Film School in Lodz. Directed three short animations: The Aim (2005), The Great Escape (2006), and Paths of Hate (2010). The latter was screened at over 90 film festivals and ended up garnering 25 awards and honors. In 2011, he directed City of Ruins, an animated documentary commissioned by the Warsaw Uprising Museum. … Damian Nenow

Another Day of Life In 2015, Raúl de la Fuente’s film Minerita was shortlisted for the 88th Oscars© Academy Awards as Best Short Documentary Subject. The film won in 2014 the Goya Award, from the Spanish Cinema Academy. Minerita has been screened in more than 140 film festivals and has won 45 international prizes. His … Raúl De La Fuente

Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1988. Attended the school of art at Aichi Prefectural Asahigaoka High School. While he was there he began to produce animation, and in his second year he announced his first work Greeting of Love. He went on to study manga at Kyoto Seika University’s animation school in the department of … Hiroyasu Ishida

Salvador Simo started working in traditional animation at Pegbar Studio, Barcelona, in 1991, painting cells and making Xerox copies. He then went on to study at the American Animation Institute in LA, taking an evening course for six months and working during the day as assistant animator at Bill Melendez Prod, on the Peanuts shows. … Salvador Simó