Top Story: A Historic Box Office Weekend: Five Of The Top Ten Films Are Animated Features
Lightbox Expo Lightbox Expo

Lightbox Expo (LBX) has announced details for its sixth annual edition, to be held October 25-27 at the Pasadena Convention Center.

Created by Bobby Chiu and Jim Demonakos, the event brings together thousands of artists who work in entertainment. “The collective inspiration, passion and expertise that blends together under one roof is exactly why we call LBX ‘for artists and by artists,’” said Chiu in a statement.

Last year’s event drew nearly 15,000 attendees, and this year’s event is just as ambitious, with over 200 hours of programs, demos, panels, and workshops, as well as an exhibition hall with hundreds of artists selling their work. A complete schedule of this year’s programming events be found HERE.

Among this year’s key highlights:

Disney and Netflix Programming Rooms

More than 20 hosted panels from Netflix and The Walt Disney Company are part of this year’s programming. The expansive list includes “Walt Disney Animation Studios presents: Diving Into the Creative Process Behind Moana 2,” a panel on storytelling through character design at Pixar, a behind the scenes look at developing concept art for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Career Journeys to the Star Wars universe with Lucasfilm Animation. Netflix will host panels and signings for Ultraman: Rising and Arcane: League of Legends, a panel for its longest-running adult animated series Big Mouth, as well as a featured talk from directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham for their upcoming film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

International Animation on Friday, October 25

The first Pakistani 2d hand-drawn animated feature, The Glassworker, will have its U.S. premiere at this year’s LightBox Expo on Friday, October 25. The screening is open to anyone with a LBX event badge. Animayo, the first and only animation festival in Spain designated a qualifying festival by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will showcase award-winning international short films on Friday night. Following that, the Animation Showcase, curated by Benoit Berthe Siward, is screening top animation productions from around the world.

Video Games

Adi Shankar, the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the upcoming animated series, Devil May Cry, based on the popular video game will present. On Sunday, League of Legends will have a panel and signing for Arcane: League of Legends – The Alchemy of Animation. Another featured Sunday panel is “The Art of Video Games: Panel with Top Industry Artists” that includes: Raf Grassetti (God of War), Loish (Horizon: Zero Dawn), Bruno “Noxizmad” Gore (Death Stranding), Alexandria Neonakis (The Last of Us) and Alvin Lee (League of Legends).

Concept Art Awards

Every year, LightBox Expo presents The Concept Art Awards, which recognizes the best concept art from film, tv, and video games, as well as independent and student artists, presented in partnership with the Concept Art Association. Among the honorees at the 6th Annual Concept Art Awards are Lifetime Achievement recipients Doug Chiang and Terryl Whitlatch. The awards will be on Saturday night, October 26, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The awards are open to anyone with a LBX event badge.

Further details about the event, including ticket info, can be found at Lightboxexpo.com.

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