The World Animation and VFX Summit, organised by Animation Magazine, is returning to L.A. for 2025. Taking place November 17-19 at the historic Garland Hotel in North Hollywood, the event is one of the leading ways of staying current with the latest trends and technologies in animation and VFX. The summit is packed with keynotes, panels, parties and networking opportunities featuring top-level animation industry professionals. Ahead of this year's event, the organisers have revealed this year's Hall Of Fame inductees and panellist line-up.
This year's award winners include South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Bob's Burgers creator Loren Bouchard and K-Pop Demon Hunters directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Panel highlights include Celebrating the Magic of LAIKA at 20, Creative Keynote: Delicious and Super Magical Recipes for Animation Success with Jorge R. Gutierrez, The 2025 Awards Features Contenders and Short Contenders In The Spotlight.
The summit will open with a special opening night gala, where the recipients will be given their awards. The rest of the event will feature special keynotes, panels, and networking breakfasts, lunches, screenings and parties with top tier executive and creative talent representing various aspects of the industry.
The 2025 Hall Of Fame Honourees
• Loren Bouchard, Creator, Bob’s Burgers
• Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans, Directors, KPop Demon Hunters (Movie of the Year Award)
• Matt Stone & Trey Parker, Creators, South Park
• Martin Krieger, CEO, Studio 100 International (International Studio of the Year Award)
• Alex Woo, Director, In Your Dreams (New Vision Award)
• Tim Miller, Creator/Exec Producer, Love, Death + Robots, Secret Level
• Juan Jose Meza-León, Director, Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (New Vision Award)
• Fumi Kitahara, Animation Publicity Executive (Posthumous)
• Linda Simensky, Animation Creative Executive, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS
• Kirsten Schaal, Actress, Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls, Toy Story 4
The ceremony will be hosted by Eric Bauza. Emmy-winning voice actor and the voice of Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Daffy Duck and many other favourites.
Summit Keynotes and Highlights
A New Era For Warner Bros Animated Features:
One-on-One With Bill Damaschke, president, Warner Bros. Feature Animation
Creative Keynote: Delicious and Super
Magical Recipes for Animation Success
with Jorge R. Gutierrez
Creative Keynote: Bold, New Adventures
in Storytelling and World Building
with Dana Terrace
Getting To Greenlight! Top Development Execs
Offer New Insights In Getting Shows Made In
Today’s Shifting Media Landscape
Jason Caparaz, DreamWorks Animation
Daniel Weidenfeld, Bento Box Entertainment
Ingrid Tous Tovar, Disney Jr.
Katie Petrachonis, Warner Bros. Animation
Karen Miller, Hidden Pigeon Company
Will the Next Bluey Please Wag Your Tail
Dete Meserve, Apple TV’s Not a Box
Bryan O’Connell, The Jim Henson Company
Jessica Rapsas, Disney Jr.’s Super Kitties
Vanessa Taylor Sands, DreamWorks TV Animation
Moderator: Karen Idelson, Journalist
The 2025 Awards Features Contenders
Carrie Liao, Zootopia 2
Peter Hastings, Dog Man
Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans, KPop Demon Hunters
Ugo Bienvenu, Arco
Alex Woo, In Your Dreams
Pierre Perifel, The Bad Guys 2
Derek Drymon, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants
Dave Jesteadt, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Mamoru Hosoda, Scarlet
Creative Keynote: Next Stop, Exandria
Tasha Huo, Showrunner/EP
Sam Riegel, EP/Voice Actor
Creative Keynote: The Writer and the Executive
Koyalee Chandra, Lion Forge Entertainment
Kerri Gran, Writer, Iyanu
Women Who Lead: A Conversation with
Three Impactful Animation Studio Heads
Kristine Belson, Sony Pictures Animation
Margie Cohn, DreamWorks Animation
Hannah Minghella, Netflix Feature Animation
Inside the Mad, Mad World of Adult Animation
Alex Rubens, Krapopolis
Mike Hollingsworth, Low Tide, BoJack Horseman
Michael Price, The Simpsons
Simon Raccopia, Invincible
Eric Towner, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
The New British Animation Invasion
Ralph Kamp, Film Producer, Timeless Films
Allison Abbate, Film Producer
Sueann Smith, CEO, Wild Child Animation
Andrew Pearce, Exec Producer &
Co-Founder, Zaratan Studios
How We Got Our Show Made, Against All Odds!
Emily Brundige, Goldie, Pubertina
Genevieve LeDoux, Star Forest, Tumble Leaf
Mike Roth, Bat-Fam
Kiana Khansmith, Pretty Pretty Please
I Don’t Want to be a Magical Girl
Joe Cappa, HaHa, You Clowns
John Derevlany, Blank Stare Productions
The Animation Professional’s
Survival Guide: Practical Tips on
Thriving in an Unpredictable Industry
Julia Pistor, Upcoming Moomins feature
Gregg Taylor, In Your Dreams
Marge Dean, Skybound
Rick Mischel, Artists Animation Studio
Joe Sichta, Public Pixels Media
Rita Street, Radar Cartoons
The Dawn of Claynosaurz
Nic Cabana, Claynosaurz
AI Myth Busters: How to Empower Artists
and Storytellers with New Creative Tools
Eric Oldrin, Nirdlo
Kyle Jolly, Scriptsee
Larry Cutler, Baobab Studio
Evan Spiridellis, Spridellis Bros. Inc.
Justine Bannister, Just B
Finding Success in a “Digital First” World
Nic Cabana, Claynosaurz
Adam Walters, English Tree TV
Sherry Gunther Sugerman, Producer
Cory Williams, Daydream Studios
Elie Dekel, Dekel Brands
Celebrating the Magic of LAIKA at 20
Chris Butler, ParaNorman, The Missing Link
Thibault Leclercq, ParaNorman: The Thrifting
Peter McCown, LAIKA
Shorts Contenders in the Spotlight
Malcon Pierce, Versa
Damian Perea, Playing God
J.P. Vine, Cardboard
Nathan Engelhardt, Forevergreen
Aaron Blaise, Snow Bear
Giovanna Ferrari, Éiru
Shabrayia Cleaver, Wednesdays With Gramps
Brooke Keesling, ASIFA-Hollywood
