Animation and computer games talent shines on Teesside

A dazzling array of animation and computer games talent is to appear at our twelfth Animex international festival.

Guest speakers for Animex on Monday 7 February to Friday 11 February, include:

Eric Goldberg – animator and director Eric is a veteran director, designer, and animator who has worked extensively on feature films, commercials, and television specials.

He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he was supervising animator of Aladdin’s wise-cracking Genie, co-director of the hugely successful Pocahontas and supervising animator of Phil in Hercules.

Eric also directed, wrote, and animated two critically-acclaimed sequences for Fantasia/2000: Carnival of the Animals (flamingos with yo-yos) and Rhapsody in Blue, inspired by famed theatrical caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.

Eric was animation director on the live-action and animation feature Looney Tunes: Back in Action, directed by Joe Dante. On this film, Eric got to handle the entire Warner Bros. menagerie and provided the voices for Speedy Gonzales, Tweety and Marvin the Martian.

Eric is currently back at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he was supervising animator for Louis (the trumpet-playing alligator) in Disney’s recent hand-drawn animated feature The Princess and the Frog. Most recently, he worked as supervising animator for Rabbit in Disney’s upcoming Winnie-the-Pooh feature film.

Eric is author of Character Animation Crash Course! (Silman-James Press), which has become a useful college textbook for many animation courses around the world. He will deliver a masterclass and a special talk about his career at Animex.

Tony West - producer and visual effects animator For 14 years Tony was a visual effects animator for Walt Disney Feature Animation, contributing effects animation to a range of box office hits, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan.

In 2002 he was one of more than 200 artists in Los Angeles to be told by Disney’s President of Feature Animation that their services were no longer required and they would be replaced by computers.

Tony’s counterparts in Florida, Paris and Tokyo were also axed, with a global job loss of 1,300. Tony went on to produce a documentary describing the impact of these job losses, ‘Dream on Silly Dreamer, which received its world premiere at Animex in 2005.

Tony later joined Premise Entertainment, founded by a group of former Disney animators. They have contributed to a number of feature films including Curious George and The Princess and the Frog. Tony will speak about what has happened since Dream on Silly Dreamer was released and describe what impact the film had on the industry.

Joseph Gilland - animation director, special effects animator, journalist, author and musician Joseph's career spans more than 30 years, working at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Don Bluth Animation and the National Film Board of Canada. Credits include visual effects supervisor on Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear, and special effects animator on Pocohontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan.

Joseph's text Elemental Magic - The Art of Special Effects Animation showcased his vast knowledge to readers. Attending his first Animex, Joseph will deliver a masterclass to delegates and give a presentation about his work.

Matt Tateishi - level designer Matthew Tateishi is a lead level computer games designer at Lucas Arts currently working on an unannounced project. He has been in the industry since 1994, working on Dark Forces and Jedi Knight and more recently Dante's Inferno and The Force Unleashed. In between these projects he worked on other titles such as Starcraft: Ghost for Nihilistic/Blizzard, New Legends for Infinite Machine and Droidworks for LucasLearning.

Wright Bagwell - creative director Wright began making computer games as a hobby when he was a child. He has been making games professionally for 14 years, and is currently the creative director of the Dead Space franchise at Visceral Games.

Workshops Workshops in animation and computer games will take place throughout the week for diverse audiences, ranging from Tees Valley primary schoolchildren to industry professionals. And animation talent of the future will be showcased in the international Animex Awards.

Chris Williams, Animex Director, said: 'Once again we are delighted to be bringing some of the world’s brightest talent from the animation and computer games industries to Teesside.

'Not only will these people be talking and working with our main audience, but will be meeting schoolchildren from the Tees Valley in special workshops and film screenings.

'Animex really does have something for everyone and I would urge people to take a look at our website and see how they can get involved.'

For more details on Animex: E: info@animex.net W: www.animex.net T: 01642 342653.

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