The World Animation Celebration has announced the judges and panelists for the one-day international short film festival set for Nov. 1 at the Los Angeles Film School.
A presentation of Animation Libation Studios and Animation Magazine, the World Animation Celebration will feature a full day of animated films with industry panels, and featuring world-class animation professional judges. The event is free, but tickets are required; get yours here!
The judges are:
- Raul Garcia is an animator, educator and head of R&R Communications whose credits range from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Lion King to Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, the Oscar-nominated short The Lady and the Reaper and the upcoming feature El Americano.
- Lee Crowe started her career as a freelancer before landing jobs at Film Roman, Filmation and BRC, working as a character assistant animator, storyboard revisionist, and character designer. Her feature work includes character cleanup on the features The Little Mermaid and Brother Bear, and she also has done special effects animation. She also teaches animation.
- Robb Denovan has worked for MPC London, Weta Digital and Pixar, where he has been for the past 5 years. His credits include the Oscar-winning short Ryan and features from King Kong to Monsters University and the upcoming Pixar release Inside Out.
- Ian Hamilton is a native of El Paso, Texas, and a graduate of the Art Institute of Los Angeles. His credits include Pink Panther and Pals and Bob’s Burgers.
- Yvette Kaplan has more than 25 years experience in the animation industry and has worked in every role from animator to producer. She is best known for her work on Beavis and Butt-head, Blue Sky’s Ice Age and co-created the Nickelodeon preschool series Zack and Quack.
- Stephen Chiodo is a stop-motion animator, educator and head of Chiodo Bros. Productions. His credits include stop-motion character animation for Elf, creating marionettes for Team America: World Police and directing pilots for CNN, Showtime, Relativity Media, Disney Channel and the Internet.
- Brooke Keesling is manager of animation talent development for Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. She previously produced the Oscar-winning short Boobie Girl and worked for years in practical visual effects on feature films. She also teaches character animation at CalArts.
- Pete Michels is an experienced animator and director on such shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy and is now supervising director on Rick and Morty.
- Eric Daniels has been working as an animator for going on four decades, having done traditional animation on Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings, The Secret of NIMH, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Simpsons, as well as computer animation for Tarzan, Paperman, Frozen, Get A Horse and Big Hero 6. He also created patented animation techniques used on-screen in Tarzan and Paperman.
- Mark Aguilar started his career designing and developing children’s content for the NFL and other national brands, and now is at Cosmic Toast Studios, where is animation director for LaLaloopsy and directing a feature-length film for a multinational brand.
- Juli Murphy has been worked in animation for 25 years and has directed episodes of Hey Arnold, Danny Phantom, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Chowder. A four-time Emmy Award nominee, she is a timing director on Nick’s Sanjay and Craig.
The featured panel “Creating an Independent Animated Short Film” will include
James Lopez, a veteran Disney Animator and creator of Hullabaloo, as well as judges Michels, Aguilar, Denovan and Crowe.
Acclaimed Disney animator Floyd Norman will be the featured guest speaker, and the event will be hosted by voice actor Michael Leon-Wooley.
For more information, head over to the event’s website here.
