Animation Magazine has announced its list of 2016 Animation Hall of Fame inductees, who will be celebrated with an Awards Gala held Tuesday, November 1 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the beachside Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, California as part of the World Animation & VFX Summit.
This year’s Hall of Fame awardees are: Betty Cohen, Butch Hartman, Michael Hirsh, Travis Knight, Ellen Poon, and Pierre Sissmann.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame Awards Gala are available now.
Betty Cohen: Renowned TV network and digital media executive, and founding President of Cartoon Network/Adult Swim/Boomerang.
Butch Hartman: Multiple Emmy- and Annie-nominated and BATFA-winning creator of the long-running Nickelodeon series The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy.
Michael Hirsh: Highly accomplished entrepreneur and executive and founder of Nelvana and TeleTOON Canada.
Travis Knight: President & CEO of renowned animation studio LAIKA and the director/producer of Kubo and the Two Strings, producer and lead animator on The Boxtrolls and ParaNorman; and lead animator Coraline.
Ellen Poon: Acclaimed VFX supervisor and producer whose many credits include Disney’ Frozen, Zootopia, and this year’s much-anticipated feature Moana.
Pierre Sissmann: Chairman, CEO and Founder of leading French animation company, Cyber Group Studios.
The 5th Annual World Animation & VFX Summit takes place on Monday, October 31, and Tuesday, November 1, at the California Yacht Club, in Marina del Rey, CA. This high-profile event will feature panels, discussion and networking with a global array of high-level animation and visual effects professionals, who are changing the animation, VFX, distribution and financing landscape all over the world.
“It’s been a watershed year for animation and visual effects, and we are delighted to celebrate the fifth anniversary of our World Animation and VFX Summit with such a supremely talented group of visionaries and artists,” says Jean Thoren, Animation Magazine‘s publisher and founder of the event. “Our six distinguished Hall of Fame Honorees this year — Betty Cohen, Butch Hartman, Michael Hirsh, Travis Knight, Ellen Poon and Pierre Sissmann — have brought so much artistry and creative vision to our world. These superb six have worked hard and led teams of gifted artists in their quest to share unique and inspiring stories. We are thrilled to acknowledge their achievements at the Summit this year and thank them for all the joy they have given us with their movies and TV projects.”
This year’s distinguished keynote speakers, presenters and panelists include:
George Antzoulides, Lead Supervisor, Proof, Inc.
Raquel Benitez, CEO, Comet Entertainment
Camille Cellucci, VFX Producer Titanic, Elysium
Vanessa Chapman, Head, VJC Media
Joyce Cox, VFX Producer, The Jungle Book, Avatar
Larry Cutler, CTO, Baobab Studios
Valeria Dobrolyubov, Head of Sales, Mirsand, Ltd.
Malik Ducard, Global Head of Kids and Learning, YouTube
Holly Edwards, Producer, Trolls
Michael Eisner, Founder, The Tornante Co.; former Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
Josh Fisher, VP of Creative Affairs, DHX Studio
Sean Gorman, President, American Greetings Entertainment
Laura Gross, Founder, L.E.G. Productions
Sherry Gunther-Shugerman, Founder/CEO, POPmedia Brands, Beatrix Girls
Mary Harrington, Head, Harringtoons Productions
Dylan Highsmith, VFX Editor, Star Trek Beyond, Furious 7
Gale Anne Hurd, Producer, The Walking Dead, Terminator
David Kleeman, Senior VP of Global Trends, Dubit
Stephen Hodge, Founder, Toon Goggles
Christopher Keenan, SVP Content Development & Production, Mattel Creations
Heather Kenyon, SVP Development & Production, Citizen Skull Productions
Travis Knight, President and CEO, LAIKA, director (Kubo and the Two Strings)
Konnie Kwak, President, Toonzone Studio
Babar Lakhani, CEO Ice Animations, & Principal, Lakson Group
Ed Lantz, Founder, Vortex Immersion Media
Rick Leary, VFX Supervisor, Double Negative
David Lodge, Actor, Goldie and Bear, Care Bears and Cousins
Marco Marenghi, Animation Supervisor, Framestore
Christy Hui, Founder, Actionfliks
Peter McHugh, Manager, The Gotham Group
Tom McLean, Editor, Animation Magazine
Michael Mennies, Producer, Story Editor, Voice Director, Actor
Candi Milo, Actress, Pig Goat Banana Cricket, Breadwinners
Rick Mischel, Producer, Sony Pictures Animation
Kyle Odermatt, VFX Supervisor, Big Hero 6, Moana
Jayakumar Prabhakaran Nair, CEO, Toonz Media Group
Mark Osborne, Director, The Little Prince, Kung Fu Panda
Anna Pokorskaya, Intl. Sales & Licensing Manager, Wizart Animation
Birk Rawlings, Head of DreamWorksTV at AwesomenessTV
Wendy Rogers, VFX Supervisor, Puss in Boots, Shrek
Eric Rollman, President & CEO, Rollman Entertainment
Theresa Ellis Rygiel, VFX Supervisor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange
Jyotirmoy Saha, Founder & CEO, August Media
Elliot Sakharov, Tech Strategist for Media & Entertainment, Microsoft
Bill Schultz, CEO and Exec Producer, Home Plate Entertainment
Sander Schwartz, President, Grom Social
Fred Seibert, Founder, Frederator Networks
Matt Silverman, Head of Integrated Productions, Ignition Creative
Vadim Sotskov, President & CEO, Kinoatis
Rita Street, Executive Producer, Radar Cartoons
Lynne Southerland, Animation Director & Producer
Marjolaine Tremblay, VFX Supervisor, RodeoFX
Tatiana Tsyvareva, CEO, Carousel
Annette van Duren, President, Annette van Duren Agency
Alexander Vegh, Previs Supervisor, Star Trek Beyond
Rene Veilleux, CEO and Founder, Verité Entertainment
Joan Vogelsang, President & CEO, JV Consulting
Giancarlo Volpe, Director, Producer, Writer
Marlon West, Head of Effects, Moana
Diana Yurinova, VP Intl. Development & Distribution, Riki Group
