SPARK ANIMATION 2024: FESTIVAL JURY
October 31 - December 31, 2024
Vancouver · BC · Canada
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SPARK ANIMATION 2024: FESTIVAL JURY
HONOURING THE INNOVATION + CREATIVITY IN ANIMATION
FROM AROUND THE WORLD
October 31 - December 31, 2024
THIS YEAR'S JURY MEMBERS ARE:
- Alan Barillaro · Author and Film Director · Passion Pictures
- Alyssa Zárate · Art Director and Environment Supervisor · The VFX Mentor
- Athena Georgaklis · Executive Producer · Independent
- David Mullins · Co-Founder, CCO, Writer and Director · ElectroLeague
- Dawn Fidrick · Production Team Manager · DNEG
- Don Perro · Sr. Lecturer · Capilano University
- Jinko Gotoh · Producer · Sony Pictures Animation
- Kenny Park · Artist · Klei Entertainment
- Melissa Tierney · Producer · Animal Logic
- Rick Mischel · CEO and Founder · Artists Animation Studio
SUBMIT YOUR FILM NOW
You can submit your work through FilmFreeway until 13 September 2024. Visit our Submissions page for details.
BIOGRAPHIES
Alan Barillaro
Author and Film Director // Passion Pictures
Alan Barillaro is the Academy Award-winning writer and director of the animated short film Piper and the current Creative Director at Passion Pictures. He’s been a supervising animator on many other popular theatrical releases, including The Incredibles, Incredibles 2, WALL-E, and Brave.
Where the Water Takes Us is his debut novel. He has been honoured with an ASIFA-Hollywood Award and an ICFF Award for Outstanding Career and was recognized by The House of Commons of Canada for his artistic and cultural contribution to the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Alan began his career in animation at sixteen, graduated from Sheridan College in 1996, and spent twenty-five years at Pixar Animation Studios.
Passion PicturesIMDb.com
Alyssa Zárate
Art Director and Environment Supervisor // The VFX Mentor
Alyssa Zárate is an Art Director based in Vancouver, BC. She served as an Environment & Matte Painting Supervisor at Sony Pictures Imageworks for almost a decade and has worked on films such as Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs The Machines, Game of Thrones, The Wolverine, Jurassic World, Prometheus, The Chronicles of Narnia to name a few; and various high-profile shows produced by HBO, Starz, National Geographic, Amazon Prime, Disney, Marvel, and Netflix.
Upon completing her Fine Arts and Computer Science degrees from the University of Canterbury, she kick-started her career in the art department as an on-set production illustrator and designer for various film and television productions around New Zealand and Australia. After the filming of The Chronicles of Narnia was completed, she continued doing freelance illustration work while taking a hiatus from full-time film work and worked in advertising as an Associate Accounts Manager for Saatchi & Saatchi International. After four years in advertising, she returned to working in film and television full-time and has been working on big-budget feature films and animation ever since.
She is passionate about leadership, mentoring, and inspiring current and future generations of artists in visual effects and animation, especially those from underrepresented communities.
The VFX MentorIMDb.com
Athena Georgaklis
Executive Producer // Independent
Athena Georgaklis is an award-winning executive producer of animation and live-action content for kids and families.
As VP of Nelvana Studios, she oversaw the development and production of multiple series in animation and live-action with a crew of over 300 animators and staff. Before that, she led the development team at Nelvana as Head of Development, working with creators, IP owners, broadcasters, streamers, toy companies and showrunners.
As the Director of Original Content for TELETOON and a long-time broadcast executive, she commissioned dozens of award-winning series that have become global hits.
In recent years, she has served on the Board of several organizations and currently co-chairs the Youth Media Alliance.
LinkedIn
David Mullins
Co-Founder, CCO, Writer and Director // ElectroLeague
Dave Mullins is a distinguished American writer, director, and animator renowned for his significant contributions to storytelling and filmmaking. As the co-founder of ElectroLeague, he draws from a rich two-decade career at Pixar Animation Studios.
Best known for his directorial debut, the emotionally resonant short film LOU, Dave earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. The film received acclaim at events such as the SXSW Film & TV Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival, earning nominations for Best Animated Short and Best Family Film, respectively.
During his tenure at Pixar, Dave played a pivotal role in overseeing animation for Academy Award-winning masterpieces like Up and Soul. His artistic contributions extended to other acclaimed projects, including the Academy Award-nominated Incredibles 2 and Golden Globe-nominated films like Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur.
Dave’s animation journey began in 1995 at Walt Disney Feature Animation, leading to notable roles at Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Domain. His credits include iconic films like Stuart Little, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, Brave, Inside Out, and Coco.
In addition to his creative pursuits, Dave studied computer science at Brown University and earned his BFA at Rhode Island School of Design. His technical expertise at Pixar is evident in four awarded patents, showcasing his vital role in developing groundbreaking animation tools for some of Pixar’s most successful films.
ElectroLeague.comIMDb.com
Dawn Fidrick
Production Team Manager // DNEG
Dawn is an American film producer who grew up on the East Coast of the US. The heart of her professional career was spent in New York and Los Angeles. Spanning work in animation, VFX, and live theatrical production, her roots in theatre elevated her to stage manage the legendary Blue Man Group at the Astor Place Theatre in New York City.
She earned her Master of Fine Arts in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts and her BFA in Production Management from DePaul University. She has contributed as a visual effects artist on blockbuster films such as Star Trek: Into Darkness and Iron Man 3. Her dream project to date was producing the planetarium show Signs of Life, now playing in the Samuel Oschin Planetarium at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. This seasoned range of experience has made her a high-performing team leader with a deep knowledge of physical production, CG and animation pipelines, and post-production. She cultivates a sense of purpose and meaning within her teams, where that sense of belonging enables a creative and collaborative workspace.
She is proud to currently be the Production Team Manager at DNEG in Vancouver, BC, and looks forward to serving her upcoming appointment as SIGGRAPH 2025 Electronic Theater Director, Program Chair.
DNEGIMDb.com
Don Perro
Sr. Faculty // Capilano University
Don Perro has been training artists for the animation industry for over thirty years and has developed or co-developed career animation programs in universities in Canada, Malaysia, China, Jamaica and Mexico.
In 1990, he helped found the animation program at Algonquin College (Ottawa) and, four years later, moved to North Vancouver to develop Capilano University’s animation department. Ever since, Don has coordinated and taught Capilano’s internationally recognized 2D Animation and Visual Development program.
He continues to work in the industry whenever possible as an animator, storyboard artist and consultant.
Jinko Gotoh
Producer // Sony Pictures Animation
Jinko Gotoh is an Oscar-nominated producer and consultant for the animation industry.
Jinko’s producing screen credits include: 2020 BAFTA winner and Oscar-nominated Klaus, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, The Little Prince, Oscar-nominated The Illusionist, 9, and Oscar-winning Finding Nemo.
Jinko is devoted to advancing women and all under-represented people in the industry. She serves as Vice-President for Women in Animation. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, advocating diversity, equity, and inclusion on various committees. She also co-chairs the PGA Animation and VFX Committee. Beyond that, she serves on the board of directors for Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, which provides K-4 music education to underserved neighbourhoods in LA county.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Math and an MFA in Film from Columbia University.
Kenny Park
Artist // Klei Entertainment
Kenny Park received an Emmy nomination for Best Direction of an Animated Series and won an Annie award for his work on the Netflix original series Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, which he directed for its first two seasons. He’s worked with numerous studios (DreamWorks Animation, Netflix Feature Animation, Blue Sky Studios, Giant Ant) in a variety of roles, including lead character designer, story artist and head of story.
He was educated at Capilano University in Vancouver and through Walt Disney’s Story Talent program in Los Angeles. He is also an illustrator whose work has been featured in The Washington Post, Wired, and The Boston Globe. He currently works as an artist at Klei Entertainment.
Instagram
Melissa Tierney
Producer // Animal Logic
Melissa Tierney is a Vancouver-based producer with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry, specializing in feature animation. She has worked at several studios, including Blue Sky, MPC and Animal Logic. She holds a BFA in Visual Communication Design and an MFA in Film in Animation. Melissa brings her love for the art of the medium to the work that she does in production.
She has contributed to various feature films, including Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Peanuts Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie, DC League of Super Pets and Leo. In addition to working on projects, Melissa is passionate about mentoring production teams and developing processes, workflows and training materials for the studio.
Animal LogicIMDb.com
Rick Mischel
CEO and Founder // Artists Animation Studio
With 30 years of experience in the animation industry, Rick Mischel is the CEO & Founder of ARTISTS ANIMATION STUDIO, a full-service animation studio launched in early 2024 with the acquisition of Yeti Farm Creative Studio in Kelowna, BC, Canada. Rick has been an Executive Producer (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania: The Series) at Sony Pictures Animation since 2014. From 2018 – 2022, he served as CEO of Bardel Entertainment, overseeing a team of over 400 artists and productions for some of the industry's leading broadcasters and IP owners, including Fox, Nickelodeon, Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. Additionally, he received an Emmy Award in 2020 as an Executive Producer for Bardel’s work on Rick and Morty. Before Bardel, he served as SVP & GM of Sony Pictures Imageworks, where he launched the animation and VFX facility in Vancouver behind hits such as Hotel Transylvania, Smurfs and the Academy Award-winning feature, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Rick has held several C-Level positions, including Executive Vice President of Technicolor, managing over 500 artists in the gaming and animation arena in Los Angeles and India; CEO of Mainframe Entertainment, a publicly traded CGI animation studio specializing in television series, direct-to-video features, and gaming animation; and President and COO of the publicly traded The Harvey Entertainment Company, home of such brands as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich.
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