The World Animation Summit Returns This November

The 2024 World Animation and VFX Summit has announced this year’s Hall Of Fame honorees and panel speakers:

The World Animation and VFX Summit describes itself as “the leading West Coast event for staying current with the latest trends and technologies in animation and VFX.” The Summit is held annually by Animation Magazine. Every year, they induct new animation filmmakers and creatives into The Hall Of Fame and hold panels relating to a variety of animation and VFX topics.

Pete Docter, CCO, Pixar Animation Studios. Pete Docter is the Oscar-winning director of Monsters, Inc., Up, Inside Out and Soul, and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. Most recently, he served as the Executive Producer for Pixar’s original feature films, Elemental and Inside Out 2. Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the studio’s third animator, Docter collaborated and helped develop the story and characters for Toy Story, for which he also was a supervising animator. He was a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life, and wrote story treatments for Toy Story 2 and WALL•E. He also exec produced Monsters University and the Oscar-winning Brave. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards including a best Picture Oscar for Up. Award presented by Kelsey Mann, Director of Inside Out 2.

Lisa Henson. As CEO of The Jim Henson Company, Henson oversees all TV and feature film production, from development through post-production. She produced the critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning feature Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix), as well as the Emmy-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock and Harriet the Spy (Apple TV+). Her TV credits include the Emmy-winning The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Word Party (Netflix), as well as the Emmy- nominated Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train and Splash and Bubbles. She is currently producing the sequel to Labyrinth, and a TV adaptation of Webtoon’s Lore Olympus. Award presented by Rich Moore, creator of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train.

Claudia Katz, Executive Producer, Rough Draft Studios. Emmy Award-winning producer, Claudia Katz joined Rough Draft Studios in 1994 to produce The Maxx. Since then, she has helped build Rough Draft into a top-tier animation studio. In addition to overseeing production and executive producing duties, she also heads in-house development. Recent work includes serving as executive producer on the return of Futurama (Hulu), Disenchantment (Netflix) and Clash-a-Rama (Supercell). Her other work include Tarantula, Futurama (all seasons), Napoleon Dynamite, Sit Down, Shut Up, The Simpsons Movie, Looney Tunes shorts, Drawn Together and Star Wars: Clone Wars. She has received an Annecy Award, Emmy, Annie and Hugo Awards for her work. Award presented by Rich Moore, director of Wreck-It-Ralph!, The Simpsons

Joel Kuwahara, Co-founder, Head of Production, Bento Box [Studio of the Year Award]. Founded in 2009 and part of FOX Entertainment Studios since 2019, Bento Box Entertainment is an award-winning animation production company with studios in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Australia and Ireland. Bento Box’s experience, innovative digital production pipeline and talent-centric focus enables leading artists and content creators to develop and produce ground-breaking projects across all platforms. The company’s recent work includes programming on FOX (multiple Emmy Award-winning Bob’s Burgers, Krapopolis, Grimsburg, Universal Basic Guys, The Great North, Housebroken and Duncanville), Prime Video (Hazbin Hotel), Apple TV+ (Central Park), Netflix (Paradise PD, Farzar), Comedy Central (Brickleberry, Legends of Chamberlain Heights), HBO Max (The Prince) and Hulu (The Awesomes). Award presented by Wendy & Lizzie Molyneux, creators of The Great North.

Nick Park, Creator-Director, Wallace & Gromit: Murder Most Fowl. Nick Park is a four-time Academy Award winner (Creature Comforts, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. All four films were created and produced at Aardman, in Bristol, where Park is a director. Nick joined Aardman in 1985 to complete his college film A Grand Day Out and served as a director and animator on numerous projects. Alongside Peter Lord, Nick co-directed the studio’s first feature film, the highly acclaimed box office hit Chicken Run. In 2018, he directed the prehistoric adventure Early Man. His highly anticipated new feature, Wallace & Gromit: Murder Most Fowl (co-directed by Merlin Crossingham) will be premiere on the BBC on Christmas and on Netflix globally on Jan. 3. Award presented by Merlin Crossingham, director of Wallace & Gromit: Murder Most Fowl

Kevin Michael Richardson, Voice Actor. Kevin Michael Richardson is an exceptional voice actor, best known for his deep voices, represented by many recognizable characters. His voice-over role for the character Rosie in Netflix’s, F Is for Family was nominated for a 2019 Primetime Emmy Award. His most distinguishable voice-over credits include Family Guys Jerome, American Dad’s Principal Lewis, The Cleveland Show’s Cleveland Brown Jr. and Lester Krinlesac, and Lilo & Stitch’s Captain Gantu. His numerous credits include The Simpsons, Invincible, Frog and Toad, Super Mario Brothers, PAW Patrol, Teen Titans Go!, The Powerpuff Girls, Justice League, Foster’s Home for Imaginary friends, Static Shock, Fairly OddParents, and many others. Award presented by Tom Ruegger, creator/writer/producer of Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Pinky and The Brain.

Kay Wilson Stallings, EVP, CCD & Production Officer, Sesame Workshop. Wilson Stallings oversees Sesame Street and all Sesame Workshop shows as well as the development of new programs and content for the organization. She expanded the Workshop’s impact through animation with specials including The Monster at the End of This Story, Furry Friends Forever: Elmo Gets a Puppy and The Nutcracker, as well as new shows such as Mecha Builders, Bea’s Block; the upcoming animated adaptation of E.B. White’s classic Charlotte’s Web. Previously, she developed the award-winning shows Esme & Roy, Helpsters, Ghostwriter and Through Our Eyes. Wilson Stallings also developed and helped launch more than 20 series while at Nickelodeon, including Wonder Pets, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Fresh Beat Band, Shimmer and Shine, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Wallykazam, and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Award presented by Teri Weiss, EVP of Television Development, DreamWorks Animation.

Raymond Zibach. Production Designer, The Wild Robot. Raymond Zibach served as production designer capacity on the critically acclaimed DreamWorks Animation film, The Wild Robot for writer/director Chris Sanders. Previously, Zibach was the production designer on The Boss Baby: Family Business and the first three Kung Fu Panda features. and was a visual consultant for The Boss Baby. Zibach began his career in TV, working as a key background painter on shows such as Alvin & the Chipmunks, Darkwing Duck, Rocko’s Modern Life, The Ren & Stimpy Show and The Twisted Adventures of Felix the Cat. He also worked as background artist on Rover Dangerfield, Aladdin and the King of Thieves and Space Jam. He also served as production designer on three DreamWorks shorts —To: Gerard, Marooned and Bird Karma. Award presented by Jeffrey Hermann, producer of The Wild Robot.