The 2025 edition of Animation Magazine’s World Animation Summit and the Annual Hall of Fame Awards proved to be a resounding success this past week. Despite the torrential rain on opening night on Monday, the event held at The Garland in N. Hollywood posted record attendance numbers and offered packed panels, keynotes and networking parties, bringing the global animation community together for three memorable days.
Hosted by everyone’s favorite voice actor, Emmy-winner Eric Bauza (the voice of Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny and many other toon faves), the 13th edition of the Hall of Fame awards honored a diverse selection of talented men and women who have made a major impact on the art form and business of animation. This year’s honorees were:
- Loren Bouchard— Creator, Bob’s Burgers
- Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans— Directors, KPop Demon Hunters — Movie of the Year Award (accepted by Appelhans and producer Michelle Wong)
- Fumi Kitahara— beloved animation publicity executive (posthumous award), accepted by Fumi’s husband, director Simon Otto
- Juan Jose Meza-León— Director, Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires — New Vision Award
- Tim Miller— Creator/Exec Producer; Love, Death + Robots, Secret Level
- Kristen Schaal — Actress, Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls, Toy Story 4
- Linda Simensky— Animation Creative Executive; Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS Kids
- Matt Stone & Trey Parker— Creators, South Park
- Studio 100 International/President Martin Krieger— International Studio of the Year Award
- Alex Woo— Director, In Your Dreams — New Vision Award
We were also thrilled to have the likes of Disney legends Ron Clements and John Musker, show creator Craig McCracken, vfx visionary Jerome Chen, director and creative producer Jennifer Coyle, actors H. Jon Benjamin and Simu Liu, and KPop Demon Hunters vocalist Rei Ami on hand to present the awards at the ceremony.
All Your Essential Panels and Keynotes
Bill Damaschke, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, kicked off the event on Monday morning with a smart and informative look at the eclectic slate of his studio, which includes next year’s eagerly anticipated The Cat in the Hat movie and other hot titles such as Bad Fairies, Margie Claus, Dynamic Duo, The Lunar Chronicles, Hello Kitty and Meet the Flintstones.
Everyone’s favorite Mexican animation artist/show creator/writer/director Jorge R. Gutierrez (El Tigre, The Book of life, Maya and the Three) delivered a hilarious and totally inspiring keynote (as always!) that detailed his tales of success in Hollywood, as well as the fickle rejections that led him to bigger and better things. Jorge has been a regular at the Summit, and he never fails to dazzle the audience with his big heart and enormous artistic and storytelling talents.
He was followed by an informative panel on how to get the greenlight for your animated project with execs Jason Caparaz (DreamWorks Animation), David Weidenfeld (Bento Box), Ingrid Tous Tovar (Disney Jr.), Katie Petrachonis (Warner Bros. Animation) and Karen Miller (Hidden Pigeon Company).
Animation veteran Sander Schwartz (Sandman Films) moderated the next panel which focused on the new paradigms and practices of working with international partners and featured Saraswathi Vani Balgam (Dancing Atoms), Aaron Behl (Atomic Cartoons), Frank Falcone (Guru Studios), Aaron Berger (Chatrone) and David Michel (Cottonwood Media).
Monday afternoon sessions included a dynamic session on creating preschool animated shows for today’s fragmented audiences moderated by veteran journalist and frequent Animag writer Karen Idelson. Dete Meserve (Apple TV’s Not a Box), Bryan O’Connell (The Jim Henson Company), Jessica Hanlon Rapsas (Disney Jr.’s Super Kitties), Vanessa Taylor Sands (DreamWorks Animation) and Dave Levy (Pink Fong) shared some valuable tips for animation professionals and newcomers alike.
This year’s Award Season Contenders Panel offered a star-studded gathering of some of the key creative forces behind the year’s biggest and most acclaimed animated features. Animation Magazine was proud to welcome Carrie Liao (head of story on Zootopia 2), Peter Hastings (writer/director, Dog Man), Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans (directors, KPop Demon Hunters), Ugo Bienvenu, writer/director, Arco), Alex Woo (writer/director, In Your Dreams), Pierre Perifel (director, The Bad Guys 2), Derek Drymon (director, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants), Dave Jesteadt (president, GKIDS, distributor of Little Amelie or the Character of Rain) and Japanese auteur Mamoru Hosoda (director, Scarlet). The panelists discussed their sources of inspiration, specific challenges and what made their creative process most memorable during the making of their movies.
On Tuesday, The Mighty Nein’s showrunner Tasha Huo and exec producer Sam Riegel revealed some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of their hot new Prime Video series in a fun conversation with veteran journalist Jennifer Wolfe. The second creative keynote of the day showcased Lion Forge Entertainment’s senior VP of animation Koyalee Chandra and writer/exec producer Kerri Grant as they discussed their experiences in the business and the making of the hit show Iyanu.
The powerhouse trio of women animation leaders Kristine Belson (Sony Pictures Animation), Margie Cohn (DreamWorks Animation) and Hannah Minghella (Netflix Feature Animation) led an entertaining and informative conversation about making animated features in today’s uncertain and fast-changing landscape. It’s always great to catch up with Belson and Cohn who have been generous and inspiring presences at the Summit in previous years, and Minghella was a great new addition to this panel, sharing her perspectives on the animation business and Netflix’s plans for the future.
Good friend of the Summit, killer comic and Emmy-winning director Mike Hollingsworth (BoJack Horseman, Tuca & Bertie) led a fascinating chat with some of today’s biggest adult animation shows. Alex Rubens (Krapopolis), Michael Price (The Simpsons), Simon Raccopia (Invincible) and Eric Towner (Stoopid Buddy Stoodios) shared the highs and lows of making toons for today’s sophisticated audiences and talked about why they can get away with murder in their edgy offerings.
Tuesday’s programming also featured two territory spotlights: The first panel “Bridging the Atlantic,” focused on U.K. and U.S. animation co-ventures and featured Ralph Kamp (Grand Prix of Europe), Richard Scott (Axis Studios), producer Allison Abbate (The LEGO Movie, Corpse Bride), Andrew Pearce (Scrooge: A Christmas Carol), Amy Takahara (Sigma Girl Media) in a rich conversation about how transatlantic collaboration is shaping up in the future.
Colombia was the second country in focus, with Camila Gómez (Team Toon) Carlos Duque (Katapix Media), Felipe Fierro (Pigmalion), Julian Sanchez (Dinamita Animacion), Peter Lopez (IKartoon), David Andrés Mesa Parra (Bombillo Amarillo Studios), Felipe Morell (Digitz) and moderator Alejandro Londono (ProColombia) sharing new information about their beautiful country’s many animation and vfx projects and the benefits of co-producing with them.
In the afternoon, Emmy-nominated animation veteran John Derevlany (Squish, Pudgy Penguins) hosted a terrific panel on the many different ways new animated content is being made and distributed in today’s brave, new media world. Joining the conversation were show creators Emily Brundige (Goldie, Pubertina), Joe Cappa (Haha, You Clowns) Genevieve LeDoux (Star Forest), Mike Roth (Bat-Fam), and Kiana Khansmith (Pretty Pretty Please, I Don’t Want to Be a Magical Girl).
The summit audience was treated to a frank discussion on how to survive in today’s turbulent and unpredictable animation industry, moderated by award-winning writer-producer Rita Street (Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos!, 100 % Wolf). This timely and insightful session featured producer Julia Pistor (The Magican’s Elephant, new Moomins feature), producer Gregg Taylor (In Your Dreams), Skybound president Marge Dean (Invincible) and Public Pixels Media CEO and co-founder Joe Sichta (Thomas & Friends, Muppet Babies) and Rick Mischel (GOAT, Surf’s Up).
Nic Cabana, Claynosaurz co-founder and CCO of Heeboo, delivered an electrifying keynote about his hugely popular digital-first franchise, giving hope to future animation creatives with insights on how to launch and promote their content and reaching millions of viewers in a world where you can reach and engage with fans directly.
Of course, there’s no avoiding the subject of AI in animation. We were fortunate to have well-respected international animation strategist and facilitator Justine Bannister on hand to lead a fascinating discussion on how the new technology is aiding indie producers to create new content without losing the human, artistic touch. Eric Oldrin (Nirdlo Studio), Kyle Jolly (Scriptsee), Larry Cutler (Baobab Studio), Evan Spiridellis (Spiridelllis Bros) offered examples of how AI has enabled them to produce new indie projects.
Another hopeful panel on the “Digital First” animation world featured the wisdom and knowledge of Nic Cabana, Adam Walters (English Tree TV), Sherry Gunther Shugerman (Heeboo), Cory Willliams (Daydream Studios) and moderator Elie Dekel (Dekel Brands.) The speakers showed how democratic, easy-to-learn tools have made it easier for animation creators to build their shows and reach new audiences worldwide through social channels.
2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the much-loved artisanal, stop-motion studio, LAIKA. The Summit was proud to welcome Oscar-nominated writer-director Chris Butler (ParaNorman, The Missing Link), director Thibault Leclercq (ParaNorman: The Thrifting) and Peter McCown, the studio’s development lead/producer to discuss the legacy of the studio founded by Travis Knight in 2005. The trio offered a sneak peek at some of the exciting projects the Portland studio has in store for audiences in 2026 and beyond. The audience was also treated to a special screening of the acclaimed new CG-animated short, ParaNorman: The Thrifting, which revisits the charming characters first introduced in Butler’s award-winning movie in 2012.
This year’s edition of the Summit ended with an entertaining screening and panel about the making of some of the top Oscar-qualified animated shorts of the year. Moderated by the dynamic and knowledgeable Brooke Keesling (ASIFA-Hollywood), the shorts contenders’ panel featured Malcon Pierce (Versa), Damián Perea (producer, Playing God), Nathan Engelhardt (Forevergreen), Aaron Blaise (Snow Bear), Giovanna Ferrari (Éiru) and Shabrayia Cleaver (producer, Wednesdays With Gramps). The shorts’ screening also included J.P. Vine’s Cardboard (Locksmith Animation) and John Kelly’s Retirement Plan.
A big thanks to all our generous sponsors, and event director Kim Derevlany for producing such a fantastic event this year. We are also grateful for our amazing team of volunteers (led by Jan Nagel), Heather Gaberman, Beste Demirel, Monique Muepo, Matthew Silverman, Camille Furman Collot, Jeff Nuss and his tech team, Jan Bayouth, and of course, Animation Magazine president Jean Thoren for launching the Summit 13 years ago! We hope to see everyone again in November of 2026 with an even bigger and better event!
You can find all our photos from the event, including party and red-carpet shots at animationmagazine.net/summit. We’ll also be posting some fun pics from the parties and red carpet online and our social media platforms in the next couple of days! Visit here for more red carpet photos.
Photos courtesy of Will Thoren
