Welcome to Toronto’s Animation Industry Conference! THE ONLINE EDITION (Eastern Time)
TAAFI INDUSTRY 2020 is 5 days of pretty cool industry talks by a selection of the finest folks who create the art we love. From directors and creators to producers and artists, our focused track of featured programming is sure to peak your interest. From feature film or effect animation to television, international directors to local indie heroes, our programming mixes the best of animation in all its forms. Catch it all live, Toronto time (ET) or come back and watch what you missed for 3 months after. Our new online portal will be pretty neat for both watching and interacting with fellow attendees.
Hope you can join us live online for a week of inspiration. It’s going to be refreshing!
5
days
40
speakers
1
jam packed stream
20
sessions
2
virtual networking events
We’ve got a smattering of creators and showrunners, a handful of directors, a dash of designers, a smattering of writers, and a dusting of effects artists. Our speakers represent a diversity of stories, directions and designs that have shaped the industry and are animating to inspire our future.
Ron Clements, Director, Disney
Ron Clements is a renowned storyteller and filmmaker at Walt Disney Animation Studios. With his longtime collaborator, John Musker, Clements has written and directed iconic feature films that have become part of Disney’s legacy, including beloved classics like “The Little Mermaid” in 1989 and “Aladdin” in 1992, as well as Disney’s 2009 return to hand-drawn animation, “The Princess and the Frog.”
Dana Terrace, Creator & Executive Producer, Disney
Dana Terrace is creator and executive producer of Disney Channel's animated fantasy-comedy series "The Owl House."
Terrace previously served as a director on Disney's Emmy® Award-nominated "DuckTales."
A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Terrace was featured as one of Variety's "10 Animators to Watch" in 2017 and Animation Magazine's "Rising Stars of Animation" in 2019.
And dozens more speakers!
Athena Georgaklis
Andy Suriano
Aaron Long
Ant Ward
Brandon Lane
Brenda Chapman
Bobby Chiu
Cory Morrison
Cait MacDonald
Carl Beu
Céline Desrumaux
Doug Goldstein
Fable Siegel
Freddy Carrasco
Gary Ye
Guillermo Martinez
Gyimah Gariba
Goran Backman
Hannah Daigle
Ian Worthington
Jennifer Griffiths
Jonas Diamond
JoAnn Purcell
Joel Gregorio
Janice Walker
Jonni Phillips
Joel & Spencer
JJ Conway
Kevin Molina-Ortiz
Kris Pearn
Kevin Lima
Mark Theriault
Mike Valiquette
Mathias Richard Horhager
Michelle Melanson Cuperus
Mark Woodyard
Olivier Malric
Ross Stewart
Ryan Adams
Sylvie Trouvé
Spike Trotman
Steve Hong
Stephen Sloan
Simone Giampaolo
Steve Wolfhard
Thalia Lemon
Tomm Moore
Tom Ragazzo
Tracy Butler
Willem Wennekers
Winty
Winrik Haentjens
Studio Sessions
Animation Trivia with Yowza! Animation
Get to know animation history with a supervisor at one of Canada's most prestigious animation studios. We are animating on shows you might have watched as a kid and look forward to seeing you for a fun trivia game!
Thomas and Friends
Please join Campbell Bryer, one of the directors of Nelvana’s adaptation of Thomas the Tank Engine for a discussion about the property, its evolution from 3D to 2D and what it’s like to work on a property with such a long and successful history. Moderating will be Nelvana’s Head of Operations, Ross Maudsley.
Big ideas deserve big opportunities, come show us yours!
TAAFI is looking for two great pitches to go head to head in front of a diverse panel of animation industry experts and yours could be one of them! Pitch competitions usually only offer critiques by industry execs. The Big Pitch will have a panel of judges representing departments throughout the animation pipeline. You’ll learn not only what makes a pitch sell but how to make it work from every angle. Submit your animated TV or web series concept by November 2nd, 2020 for a chance to be chosen as one of our two finalists who will pitch to a live audience from the TAAFI main stage.
TAAFI Meet & Greet
The TAAFIxINDUSTRY Meet & Greet is a special chance to have a 10 min one on one meeting with various Industry Experts from around the world from such studios as Guru, Headspinner, Epic Story Media, CBC, Industrial Brothers and more! Click Here