SPEAKERS

Kaliko Hurley is the Senior Manager, D&I Content and Culture Strategies at Walt Disney Animation Studios where she spearheads multicultural efforts in the development, production, and promotion of Disney Animation features, series, and short form content. Kaliko first joined Disney Animation for the studio’s Oscar®-nominated 2016 feature,Moana, and continued on to lead community engagement efforts on Frozen 2, Raya and the Last Dragon,” and most recently, Encanto.

Prior to joining Disney, Hurley managed creative inclusion efforts for 21st Century Fox film, TV, and digital within the Fox Audience Strategy department. She began her career as an attorney representing Native & Indigenous communities. She is also an author whose books include The Art of Raya and the Last Dragon and children’s titles such as The Mighty Maui Makes a Friend, Tales of Courage and Kindness, and Mom & Me (Disney Princess).

Born in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, Hurley received her B.A. with honors from Stanford University and J.D. from UCLA Law.

There are moments that mark a life. For Joseph Kasparian, this translates into the first Jurassic Park, in 1993. He was then in his second year of university in finance at HEC Montreal. From the moment he discovered 3D Studio software 3D animation became his passion. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, Joseph enrolled at the NAD Center, where he studied 3D in more depth.

Shortly after his training at NAD, Joseph began his career at Hybride in 1997 as a 3D generalist on the film Mimic by director Guillermo del Toro. In twenty-five years, he has collaborated on seventy films. Visual effects supervisor since 2012, he has left his mark on movie classics such as: the latest Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic World, Arrival, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Aladdin, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Jack Ryan Season 1 and 2, and more recently, The Mandalorian Season 1 and 2 and The Book of Boba Fett.

A skilled communicator, Joseph is one of Hybride’s primary spokespersons at conventions, conferences as well as for other corporate events.

Jordan came to Rodeo FX from Sony Imageworks over 10 years ago where he worked on numerous high-profile CG animation projects such as Hotel Transylvania, Arthur Christmas, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, and Surf’s Up – he subsequently brought that experience and intelligence to Rodeo FX to manage both the innovation and creative sides of the business.

Jordan was behind Rodeo FX’s Marvel accreditation and successfully bid for the company’s work on Ant-Man and the Wasp. He also negotiated work on four seasons of the groundbreaking series Game of Thrones, for which Rodeo FX earned three Emmy Awards.

He has built Rodeo FX’s relationships with many major studios, including Netflix, for which he successfully bid the streaming platforms’ biggest show, Stranger Things Season 3 and 4, as well as The Witcher season 2. Or films such as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Fantastic Beast: The Secrets

Jean-Michel Blottière is CEO of www.RealTimeConference.com. With 21,281 participants since its inception in April 2020, RTC has established itself as the World’s Premiere Event for Real-Time Technologies.

Back to the Future:
Magazines: JMB started TILT, the very first magazine dedicated to video games in Europe in 1982.
TV Shows: JMB started PIXIFOLY, the first TV show to plunge the audience into virtual worlds, in 1983. He produced live TV specials covering VFX, XR, and Video Games events, worked for Canal+ as Head of Programming for C :, the channel dedicated to new technologies. He was involved in the creation of such groundbreaking programs as Cyberflash, Cyberculture and Le Deuxième Monde (8 years before Second Life!).
Events: He has been General Manager for the digital festival Imagina in Monte-Carlo and Executive Director of FMX, in Stuttgart for 12 years.

JMB is also serving as President of Games for Change Europe.

Guillaume Laforge is a software developer specialized in computer graphics.
He worked on both sides of the VFX industry. For Software companies developing Digital Content Creation applications and for Visual Effects companies involved in various films and commercials.

Federico Moreno Breser is a Director / CG artist working in the animation industry for more than 16 years. He studied filmmaking at Palermo University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Later on, he specialized in animation, graduating from Animation Mentor back in 2009.

In 2005, he founded Mcfly Studio, one of the main animation studios in Buenos Aires working for a wide range of clients and projects through all these years such as Legendary Pictures, Disney, Fox, Netflix, Ubisoft, Unicef, Bradesco, among others.

Federico is the creator and director of the awarded animated series Tierra de Rufianes, and the co-director of El Paraiso, a film noir animated feature winner of an Epic Mega grant hitting theaters in 2022.
At the beginning of 2021, he released REBELS, a VR narrative story in partnership with Facebook Oculus, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.

In 2021, Federico joined Reel FX Studios in Montreal as a VFX Supervisor working for the new Real Time division.

A graduate of NAD Center, Eric began his Framestore career as a Lighting TD before rising through the ranks to the role of CG Supervisor. A key member of the Montreal team, he has worked on titles such as Blade Runner 2049 (for which he was nominated for a VES Award), the Oscar-nominated Christopher Robin (where he oversaw lookdev for the Piglet and Tigger characters), the animation/live-action hybrid Tom and Jerry and, most recently, the box office-destroying Spider-Man: No Way Home.

With over 20 years of experience in VFX, Live Action Studio Director Eric Labranche has touched all aspects of the industry. Beginning as a graduate in film studies with a BFA in Animation (honours), he first entered the CG side as a Lighting Supervisor on blockbuster films and animated TV series then evolved into management roles as a Resource Manager, VFX Outsource Producer, and now as Head of the Live Action Studio.

This array of skills and experiences has enabled Eric to deeply understand all facets of the industry as he consistently pushes himself to learn the necessary tools to push technical and artistic boundaries within the team and on their projects.

I wanted to be Batman, but because I’m not a rich dilettante with cool karate moves… I settled for the second-best thing… Head of Production at Reel FX!

I have been implementing my “HOP” arsenal over 3 continents and for more than 25 Earth rotations around the sun.
I love cartoons, I love people, I love budgets, I love planning, I love solving problems, and I love art and technology…
So, now I’m in charge of this brand new Virtual pipeline division at Reel FX…
All things considered… this is cooler than being Batman, but, heck, I still miss the karate moves.

Denis Doré is the CEO and co-founder of Squeeze, a world-class 3D animation studio located in Quebec City and Montreal. His vision and leadership have played a major role in Squeeze’s fast expansion and recognition by the business community and the elite of the entertainment industry. He thus saw the studio win top honors at the prestigious Vision, Fidéides, OSEntreprendre and Mercuriades awards in addition to leading the international distribution of Cracké, the studio’s first original animated TV series. Prior to founding Squeeze, Denis worked in the video game industry as a producer at Ubisoft. He holds a doctorate (PhD) in regional development, a master’s degree in regional studies, as well as a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in geography.

Dave is a director, an innovator and a creator. He leads Cinesite’s feature animation team in seeking out exciting new talent, from original content to artists, writers and directors.
Prior to joining Cinesite, Dave was VP of Talent at Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment; during his tenure the company released some of its most successful animated movies. A talented creative visionary, Dave also directed The Picture of Dorian Gray and forthcoming release Riverdance, alongside Eamonn Butler.

Recent Projects: Riverdance: The Animated Adventure, Blazing Samurai, Hitpig
Previous Credits: Despicable Me 3, Minions, Secret Life of Pets, Sing

Dann Tarmy has worked in the VFX industry for over 25 years and joined Scanline in 2019. Most recently, he served as Scanline Visual Effects Supervisor on director Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up, recently longlisted for the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects.

Dann began his career in the games industry at Drew Pictures in 1994. Between 2002-2011, he became a freelance CG artist working on film and television at Ring of Fire, Zoic, Method, Blue Sky, Digital Domain, Animal Logic, and Sony Imageworks on titles such as Ice Age 2, 2012, and Green Lantern.

Christophe Paradis is an Animation Supervisor at MPC’s Montreal studio. With more than 12 years of experience, he has supervised animation teams on a host of major movies, including Dumbo, Aquaman, Dolittle, Artemis Fowl, and most recently, Ghostbusters Afterlife.

A graduate of 3D Animation and Visual Effects at the National Animation and Design Centre, Christophe kicked off his career as an animator at several Montreal-based studios for television series, advertisements, documentaries, feature animation, and films including Pacific Rim, Paddington, and Edge of Tomorrow, accumulating experience in a vast spectrum of animation genres.

He joined the MPC team in 2016 as a Lead Animator going on to work on shows including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Alien Covenant, and Justice League.

Brian Connor is a VFX Supervisor at DNEG with over 20 years of experience of high-end feature film visual effects. He most recently supervised DNEG’s work on Dune in Montréal, for director Denis Villeneuve, and is currently the Overall Production Supervisor for DNEG’s work on Devotion for director J. D. Dillard.

Previously, Brian supervised George Clooney’s World War II drama Catch 22 for Hulu. His work on the series earned him an Emmy Nomination at the 2019 Emmy Awards for ‘Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role’. His work on Poseidon earned him a VES nomination for ‘Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture’. Brian also worked as DNEG’s VFX Supervisor on Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and prior to that was DFX Supervisor on Warner Bros. monster movie The Meg (2018).

Brian has extensive experience of bringing the physical reality of in-camera elements together with state-of-the-art digital material to create a seamless, photo-real result, which can be seen in his work on films such as Wonder Woman, Iron Man, Pirates of the Caribbean and War of the Worlds among many others.. Brian is a team player with a solid knowledge of the on-set environment gained through his work on films such as Chaos Walking, where he served as on-set Supervisor, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as well as Star Trek Beyond for which he was part of DNEG’s on-set supervision team. He is versatile and resourceful, and always looks for the most appropriate and practical methodologies at every stage of the visual effects process.

Alex lives and breathes movies. “If I’m not making them,” he says, “I’m probably watching them.”
His passion for cinema has led to a career spanning 20 years in animated movies. Having held creative leadership positions in both large and independent studios, Alex’s infectious enthusiasm is essential to his ability to lead and inspire large teams.
Recent Projects: The Addams Family, Riverdance: The Animated Adventure, Hitpig

Previous Credits: Little Prince, Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda2, Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0969874/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2