BEYOND ANIMATION: NAVIGATING THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL LANDSCAPE OF INDUSTRY SURVIVAL

Godfather of  Storyboarding​

Mark, the Godfather of Storyboarding, has over 35 years in entertainment, amassing over 6,000 production credits, including STRANGER THINGS, THE WALKING DEAD, DEXTER, BLACK LIGHTNING, WOODY WOODPECKER, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, FBI and more. He is the animation producer for HOW HIGH 2, LITTLE RASCALS and TOOTH FAIRY 2 features. Mark participated in an Engineering Emmy for his work on Storyboard Pro. He was also inducted into the DAVE School Hall of Fame. He has won over 200 awards for projects he’s written and directed. He is the author of 13 books and lectures around the world at major conferences and universities.

Art Director, Wizards of the Coast

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Lauren Brown is an Art Director at Wizards of the Coast, working on the Magic: The Gathering. She has over 13 years between the animation, games, and tabletop industries, and has worked with companies such as Marvel, Google, Electronic Arts, Zynga, and Sapphire City Games, and on projects such as Archer, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Words with Friends, and Star Wars. Lauren is an advocate for inclusion and equity in all entertainment arts industries, and continues this work through her co-hosted podcast, Painted In Color.

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Producer, Slothique & Professor of Practice, Georgia State & Moderator

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Lisa Ferrell, Producer for Slothique animation, is a seasoned production professional whose background encompasses television series and film development and production/post production for television, film and commercials. Lisa is also a CMII Professor of Practice and has worked in series and telefilm development for such companies as CBS, Lifetime Television/Hearst Entertainment, NBC and TBS. While at motion capture studio Giant Studios, she was involved in the post-production of films that include New Line Cinema’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Sony Imageworks animated holiday feature “Polar Express”.

Character Designer​

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Joshua Leonard is a professional Character Designer and Concept Artist who has worked for Disney, Netflix, Lion Forge Animation, Nickelodeon, Sony Immersive, Illumination, Hillman Grad, Mattel, Baobab Studios, Axis Studios, 9 Story, OVO, and more. He has been featured in several magazines, and media sites, specifically including his ATTN: feature, which went viral with over 6.5 Million views. 

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Production Manager​

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James is a creative manager with animation expertise with a proven track record in building teams, exceeding client expectations, and fostering collaborative workflows. Avid card game enthusiast. He has worked with Awesome Inc and Bento Box Entertainment on projects such as Ren & Stimpy, Paradise PD, The Masked Singer, and more.

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Motion Graphics Designer​

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Desmond Du is a Motion Designer/Creative Technologist based in NYC. He utilize technology and code to craft cool designs and animations. I also help organizations boost their design game by creating tools and templates, developing workflows, and managing design teams efficiently. 

His focus includes JSX expression rigging, developing custom studio workflow, tool kitting, automation, and organizational and knowledge management. Also known as “NoSleepCreative“,he makes motion design YouTube tutorials along with a Domestika Course “Advanced After Effects: Coding for Motion Design” .

Founder, Dynasty Animation​

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Christo Perry Black "Stoart" is the founder of black owned and operated Virtual Animation Studio based in Atlanta, GA. His cllients include Universal Music Group, Bleacher Report, Hulu. 

Founder, Awesome Inc

Ashley Kohler is the head of motion design and animation studio Awesome Inc. Ashley has led teams on hundreds of episodes of series animation for networks like Adult Swim, Comedy Central, and Hulu, while also supervising commercial, promo, and packaging projects for clients like FX, Cartoon Network, and Wieden+Kennedy. She is passionate about improving workplace culture in the industry and empowering artists throughout the Southeast, serving on the board of directors for ASIFA South.

Lead Background IArtist, Awesome Inc

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Shaping dreams from animation to background canvas, merging creativity and functionality. Now, directing art to breathe life into new visions. Tiffany's journey in background design started with 4 years of professional animation. Since changing departments she has found so much joy in the blend of creative problem solving and artistic execution to not only create an aesthetically pleasing background for the characters to exist in, but to also make it functional for the Animation and Composite departments to work with after she pass it on.