This morning, Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival announced an all-star group of guests that it will host at its 2016 edition, set to take place September 6-11 in the town of Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The festival and conference is a key gathering spot for Mexico’s animation industry, connecting the country’s up-and-coming studios and artists to creative talent from around the world, including animators, video game artists, illustrators, and writers. This year, the event has invited over 70 guests from 13 countries, including delegations from Quebec and Spain. Key speakers and guests include:
- Kim Jung Gi, master draftsman from Korea
- Shannon Tindle, creator of Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings
- Georgina Hayns, head of puppets at Laika
- Steve Emerson, VFX supervisor at Laika
- Ana Ramirez, visual development at Pixar
- Guillermo García Carsí, co-creator/director, Pocoyo
- Bruce Zick, feature film concept artist/illustrator
- Raul Garcia, director, Extraordinary Tales; feature film animator
- Martin Olson, Phineas and Ferb writer
- Megan Brain, paper sculpture artist, Kubo and the Two Strings
- LeSean Thomas, director/producer, Boondocks, Black Dynamite
- Kris Pearn, co-director of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
- Koji Igarashi, co-producer of Castlevania and director of Bloodstained
- Joel Kuwahara, Simpsons and Bob’s Burger producer, Bento Box founder
- Jöelle Jones, comic author and DC artist
- Jeffrey Yohalem, WGA and BAFTA-awarded screenwriter
- Kinuko, lead animator at Lab Zero Games
- Tony Sandoval, illustrator and graphic novelist
- Mighty Animation
- Joel Burgess, game designer of Fallout4 and Skyrim
- Yibing Jiang, senior shader artist at Naughty Dog
- Fran Krause, author of Deep Dark Fears
Additionally, Pixelatl’s competitive Ideatoon Summit gives an opportunity for Mexican creators to pitch their projects to global entertainment companies to receive feedback and build relationships. The participating companies in this year’s Summit include Cartoon Network, Reel FX, Bento Box, Sony Imageworks, Children’s BBC, NBC Universal, Paramotion Films, Lightbox, and Discovery Kids.
