An English-speaking event, VIEW Conference 2024 takes place October 14-19, 2024, in the beautiful baroque city of Turin, Italy. Tickets for this special 25th Anniversary Edition are now available from the official VIEW Conference website:
viewconference.it/pages/registration
Adapted from the New York Times best-selling novel by Peter Brown, The Wild Robot is an epic adventure following the journey of a robot — ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling.
The Wild Robot, starring Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, will be released in North American theaters September 27, 2024.
In another unmissable presentation, Josh Cooley, director of Paramount Animation and Hasbro’s Transformers One, inspires and educates the VIEW Conference 2024 audience with an in-depth masterclass on story.
The VIEW Conference 2024 program also features a wide array of sessions featuring the makers of the latest animated short films, many of which have been tipped for Oscar nominations. These include “Yuck!” directed by Loïc Espuche, and “NUBE,” directed by Christian Arredondo Narvaez and Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera. Also attending VIEW Conference 2024 is Joseph Wallace, the BAFTA Cymru-nominated animator and director best known for his 2022 animated short film “Salvation Has No Name,” who appears live on stage with his inspirational presentation “Handmade Fantasies: The Stop Motion Worlds of Joseph Wallace.”
“I am thrilled to welcome Chris Sanders and his creative team to VIEW Conference 2024,” says Conference Director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “Chris’s reputation is nothing short of spectacular and I know his new animated feature The Wild Robot is going to blow us all away. I am equally excited to have so many talented animated short film directors on the VIEW Conference program, including the legendary Joseph Wallace and many more. Without question, 2024 is shaping up to be a stellar year for animation and I am proud that VIEW Conference will be at the heart of it.”
About the Speakers
Chris Sanders
A graduate of CalArts’ Animation Program, Chris Sander began his career working for Marvel Productions and later Disney Studios. Sanders worked as a story artist on “Rescuers Down Under” and received writer/story by/screenplay credits on “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” and “Mulan.” Sanders wrote, storyboarded, and directed “Lilo & Stitch” with Dean DeBlois, for which Sanders earned his first Oscar® nomination. In addition, Sanders voiced (and continues to voice) the titular character of Stitch. In 2006, Sanders left Disney Studios to join the filmmaking team at DreamWorks Animation. As a character designer, Sanders contributed to the Shrek and Madagascar franchises, as well as “Kung Fu Panda.” He also directed “How to Train Your Dragon,” which garnered two Academy Award® nominations, two BAFTA nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, won ten Annie Awards and three Visual Effects Society Awards and, in the process, established a successful franchise across two Oscar® nominated subsequent films, a multiple Emmy award-winning television series, multiple theme park attractions and countless consumer products. Following the success of “How to Train Your Dragon,” Sanders and Kirk DeMicco wrote and directed the Academy Award® nominated blockbuster “The Croods.” Chris Sanders is a member of the Academy Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, ASIFA-Hollywood, and the Visual Effects Society. In addition to his three Academy Award® nominations, Sanders has been recognized by ASIFA-Hollywood numerous times throughout his career, winning four Annie Awards and an additional four nominations, as well as earning numerous accolades around the world for his work.
Raymond Zibach
Raymond Zibach began his animation career in episodic television, working as a key background painter on a variety of animated series, including “Alvin & the Chipmunks,” “Darkwing Duck,” “Bonkers,” “Marsupilami,” “Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show,” “Rocko’s Modern Life,” “The Ren & Stimpy Show” and “The Twisted Adventures of Felix the Cat,” as well as the TV short “Star Wars: Clone Wars.” Segueing into feature film, Zibach first worked as a background artist for the animated feature “Rover Dangerfield.” He then worked as a background artist on “Aladdin and the King of Thieves” and “Space Jam.” Zibach joined DreamWorks Animation in 1996 and worked on “The Road to El Dorado” where he supervised the background painting department and managed the department’s transition from traditional hand painting to hybrid digital painting. His work earned him a promotion to art director of the film. Zibach’s credits include “Megamind” (visual development artist), “Bee Movie” (visual development), and “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” (production designer). Zibach was the production designer on “The Boss Baby: Family Business” and was a visual consultant for the first installment, “The Boss Baby.” Zibach also served as production designer on three short films: “To: Gerard,” “Marooned,” and “Bird Karma.” His work on “To: Gerard” earned him an Annie Award nomination from ASIFA-Hollywood. Zibach is perhaps best known for his work as production designer on the first three Kung Fu Panda films. With the release of the latest installment, “Kung Fu Panda 4,” the franchise has grossed more than $2 billion at the global box-office. Zibach’s work on the Academy Award® nominated film “Kung Fu Panda 2” earned him an Annie Award from ASIFA-Hollywood for Outstanding Production Design in a Feature Film. Over the course of his career, Zibach has been nominated for five additional Annie Awards, as well as a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Movie for his work on “Kung Fu Panda 2.” Zibach is a graduate of the prestigious Otis College of Art and Design. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science and ASIFA-Hollywood.
Jeff Budsberg
Jeff Budsberg is a graduate of Cornell University, where he received both a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting, and a Master of Science, computer graphics, with a minor in computer science. With a career spanning seventeen years at DreamWorks Animation, Budsberg has developed a reputation as a respected leader who fosters new technical developments across the studio. He served as Head of Look on “The Bad Guys,” and as Head of Effects on “Abominable.” His previous visual effects credits include “The Croods: A New Age,” How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” and “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” and he served as an Effects Lead on “Kung Fu Panda 3,” “The Croods,” and “Shrek Forever After.” Budsberg’s work has earned him numerous accolades including an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Animated Effects from ASIFA-Hollywood for “The Croods,” an Annie nomination for “Kung Fu Panda 3,” and two nominations from the Visual Effects Society (VES) for Outstanding Effects Simulation and Outstanding Effects for “The Croods” and “Shrek Forever After.” In 2015, Budsberg received a Technical Achievement/Sci-Tech Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for his groundbreaking work on the development and implementation of DreamWorks Animation’s foliage toolset. The foliage system was first development in 2001 for the Academy Award® winning film “Shrek,” where it was used to create more than 10,000 trees, the largest deployment of digital vegetation in any film at that time. In addition, Budsberg has been involved with OpenVDB (an open-source software library developed at DreamWorks Animation), which has also been recognized the Academy of Motion Picture & Sciences.
Josh Cooley
Oscar-winning director Josh Cooley began his career at Pixar working on films including “The Incredible,” “Ratatouille,” “Up” and “Inside Out.” He also directed the Academy Award-winning “Toy Story 4.”
Joseph Wallace
Joseph Wallace is a BAFTA Cymru nominated animation director, writer and producer. His award-winning work spans short films, music videos, commercials and sequences for feature films and television. He has written and directed more than a dozen short films since 2007 which have gained international acclaim and screened at festivals around the world as well as receiving Vimeo Staff Picks. Described as ‘one of the UK’s most extraordinary stop-motion directors’ by London International Animation Festival, his work has been praised for its cinematic quality and unique aesthetic. His music video for Sparks screened at over 50 international film festivals and was described as “sublime” by French site Allociné. The video won five awards including ‘Best Music Video’ at the Hollywood Art and Movie Awards, USA and was named as one of the ten best British animated music videos of all time by Anim18. 2021 saw the release of ‘The Sparks Brothers’ the feature documentary from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver) for which Wallace created stop motion animated sequences. The film premiered at Sundance and Wallace’s animations were described as ‘hilarious’ by iNews, ‘dark wonders’ by Mark Kermode in the Guardian and were nominated for an award at the Cinema Eye Honours in New York 2022. Wallace’s 2022 short film ‘Salvation Has No Name’ is Exec Produced by Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams and stars Itziar Ituño from Netflix’s Money Heist. The film is funded by the BFI, France Television and the Czech Film Commission and premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2022 where the refugee organisation Choose Love was announced as the film’s official charity partner. Salvation won the Grand Prix and Best Director at Animage Brazil as well as the Grand Prix at Animario in Spain, was longlisted for both a BIFA and a BAFTA and received the Jury Special Mention at the Unifrance Prix du Court Metrage at Cannes 2023. In 2022 Joseph became a member of BAFTA through their ‘Connect’ scheme following on from participating in BFI Network x BAFTA Crew 2021 and was selected for the prestigious Berlinale Talents 2023. He was previously made a BBC Performing Arts Fellow in 2015 and named by the BBC as one of 32 British artists ‘to watch’. From 2009-2010 he attended the EU training course Animation Sans Frontières. Aside from his background as a theatre director, Joseph has also worked as a journalist, lecturer and curator. He has also served as Jury for the CEE Forum, Animatex Egypt, Primanima, London International Animation Festival and Brighton Animation Festival. He has given talks and held workshops at some of the top festivals and universities around the world. As a curator Wallace conceived the film programme of the 2015 Bristol Festival of Puppetry featuring the work of influential animators the Quay Brothers, OSCAR nominated Barry Purves and the late children’s animator Ivor Wood. His new live action puppet short film is currently in production with BFI network and is due to reach festivals summer 2024.
Loïc Espuche
Loïc Espuche is a French animation filmmaker born in 1989 in Villeurbanne. He graduated from La Martinière (Lyon) in Visual Communication. He then pursued training in animation and directing at EMCA and l’École de la Poudrière. During his studies, he created funny and sensitive films that resonated well in festivals, including «Je repasserai dans la semaine» (2013). His graduation film "Tombés du Nid" was prebought by ARTE and, in addition to numerous selections, won the Audience Award at Premiers plans d’Angers, the Best Student Film Award at Meknès, and the SACD Prize at the national animation film festival in Bruz. In 2016, Loïc took part in the third season of En sortant de l’école, dedicated to Guillaume Apollinaire, and adapted the poem "Mutation". In 2018, he directed seasons 2 and 3 of La Petite Mort based on Davy Mourier’s comic book for France TV Slash. He is currently developing two animated series projects: "What’s up Eesha" with TeamTo for France Télévision and "Les intraduisibles" with Vents Contraires. His new short Film "Yuck!" premiered at Berlinale in 2024 and already won more than 20 awards all over the world. Besides its broadcast on France télévisions, it's been purchased by spanish channel Movistar and will have a national release in French theatres in 2025.
Christian Arredondo Narvaez
Animation director and illustrator Christian Arredondo Narvaez graduated in 2020 from the Master of Arts in character animation and animation filmmaking at Gobelins, the School of Image. Since 2009, Devotes entirely to the visual arts. In 2015, he started a career as an animator and director creating short films, feature films and video clips.
Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera
Born in Mexico, animator and director Diego Alonso Sánchez de la Barquera started his journey in the world of animation as a motion designer where he spent 12 years directing commercials for television. In 2018, he went to Gobelins, Paris to study a Master of Arts in character animation and animated filmaking. since then he works as an animator and director in international industries.
About VIEW Conference
An English language event, VIEW Conference 2024 takes place in the beautiful baroque city of Turin, Italy. Enjoy this unrivaled opportunity to network with award-winning film directors, animators, artists and game designers as they deliver an incredible program of keynotes, panels, talks, workshops and masterclasses. Explore cutting-edge thinking in a wide range of creative and technology-based fields as a stellar line-up of stars from Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Celebrate the latest achievements in Animation, VFX and Games and share unforgettable visions of the future.
The 25th Anniversary Edition of VIEW Conference takes place from October 14-19, 2024, in Turin, Italy. Attending the event in person guarantees an unrivaled opportunity for people to soak up the atmosphere and meet their heroes and mentors.
The conference’s vibrant and inclusive atmosphere is designed to enlighten and inspire, with an extensive live program of talks, presentations, workshops and masterclasses embracing cutting-edge thinking on such diverse topics as Storytelling, Virtual Production, Computer Graphics, Interactive & Immersive Media, VR/AR/Mixed Reality and the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Real-Time Rendering and much, much more.