First VR project by Mexican director Jorge Gutierrez for Google Spotlight Stories to be presented alongside a production panel with the director, composer/sound designer Scot Stafford, and technical supervisor John Anderholm.
Kicking off on September 5th in Cuernavaca, Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival is gearing up for an amplified 2017 edition.
Each year, the conference brings together an endlessly inspiring group of creative talents from around the global animation, VFX, comics, and gaming industries. This year’s edition includes more than 90 speakers and guests who will attend the Festival from 13 different countries.
Among the major highlights of the fest will be the world premiere of Google Spotlight Stories’ Son of Jaguar, the first VR project by Mexican director Jorge Gutierrez. A panel about the production of the short will take place with Gutierrez, composer/sound designer Scot Stafford, and technical supervisor John Anderholm. A separate evening fiesta themed around the short is also being planned.
Here are some of the other highlights at the 2017 Pixelatl Festival:
- Anima Estudios, the prolific Mexican animation studio, will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a keynote address by co-founder José Carlos García de Letona and a party.
- Henry Selick masterclass and screening of his rarely seen shorts and commercial work.
- Workshop and lecture by Alonso Ramirez Ramos, award-winning storyboard artist from Mexico, who has worked on Disney’s Mickey Mouse shorts and Gravity Falls.
- Alan Ituriel will talk about his breakout Cartoon Network Latin America hit.
- Visual effects panel with Hal Hickel (ILM), Omar Morsy (MPC) and Catherine Turp (Moment Factory).
- Animation for TV panel with Dana Terrace (director of Ducktales), Mike Hollingsworth (supervising director on Bojack Horseman), David Feiss (creator of Cow and Chicken), Daniel Chong and Manny Hernandez (We Bare Bears creator and director), Jhonen Vasquez and Jenny Goldberg (Invader Zim creator and art director).
- Rising starts in IP development panel with Ivanobich Verduzco (Viking Tales), Gabriel Frugone (Space Dog), Guillermo Rivas (Jim’s Island), Alan Ituriel (Villainous).
- Feature film director’s panel with Enrique Gato (Tad the Lost Explorer, Capture the Flag), Alberto Vazquez (Psiconautas), Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life), Augusto Schillaci (Mischievians).
- Acclaimed videogame composer David Wise will offer a “deconstructing a soundtrack” masterclass and a concert with his classic hits from Donkey Kong Country and Battletoads.
- Game designers and storytellers panel with Teddy Dief (creative director at Square Enix), Aleissia Laidacker (interactive director at Magic Leap), Liam Wong (art director at Ubisoft).
- Dozens of workshops about topics including character design, storytelling, live-model sketching, producing, illustration, crowdfunding, online film distribution, and comic book inking, as well as workshop programs for kids.
- A competition short film program with films themed around “Borders and Immigration.”
- Feature films screenings including My Life as a Zucchini, Psiconautas: The Forgotten Children, Miss Hokusai, The Iron Giant, and Las aventuras de Tadeo Jones.
- The Ideatoon Summit which will include buyers and advisors from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney, PBS, Amazon Studios, Netflix, Reel FX, Sony Animation, Discovery Kids, Televisa, Brownbag Films, and Bento Box. Delegations will also attend from Chile, Spain, Canada’s Quebec province, United States, and Poland.
The chill-out/meeting zone for special guests and Ideatoon Summit attendees will be known as the Cartoon Brew Lounge, and it will be accompanied by a Cartoon Brew happy hour for socializing.
Source: Pixelatl Festival
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
