Animation Libation Studios and Animation magazine will present
the World Animation Celebration
international animated short film festival this weekend.
Hosted by Sony Pictures Animation, the Saturday and Sunday programs run from 11 until 7 in the Sony Animation studio lot in Culver City.
The festival will showcase 150
animated shorts from 40 countries as
well as industry panels, guest speakers,
colleges, portfolio reviews, recruiters, guest artist demos and more.
Among the programs planned for the weekend are:
The West Coast festival premiere of
Dear Basketball, written and executive
produced by former Laker Kobe Bryant, and directed by animation icon
Glen Keane. A panel discussion about the making of the film will follow,
featuring director/animator Glen Keane, producer Gennie Rim (Duet) and
production designer Max Kean.
Industry panels include:
Fox-TV’s American Dad. Supervising director Brent Woods, directors Valerie Fletcher, Jennifer Graves and Rodney Clouden, color supervisor Mickey Rose and producer Kara Valow.
Nickelodeon’s The Loud House. With creator/executive producer Chris
Savino, art director Amanda Rynda, storyboard artist Jordan Koch, and writer
Kevin Sullivan and production manager
Sean Gantka.
Classic Disney Animators. With
Mike Cedeno, Kathleen Quaife, Nik Ranieri, Bruce Smith, Jane Baer, Marlon West.
Sony Pictures Animation’s
The Emoji Movie. Explore the secret world inside your smartphone with the artists from Sony Pictures Animation’s
The Emoji Movie, in theatres now and on Digital HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra
HD in October. Speakers include visual development artists Joey Chou,
Yuhki Demers, Aurora Jimenez, Lizzie Nichols, and Ernie Rinard in a panel
moderated by production designer Carlos Zaragoza.
For more information, contact festival director Michael Bonitatis at