Guests

	Erik Alexander Erik Alexander has been teaching creativity at Grand Valley State University since 2005. Before that he worked at the Public Museum of Grand Rapids for 14 years, serving seven years as Curator of Education and seven years as Curator for Natural Sciences and Ethnology. He has worked as a Naturalist and Nature Center Director, and has an MS in Natural Resources with an emphasis in Environmental Education and Interpretation. His undergraduate studies included an emphasis in improvisational theater, which he has found quite effectively applicable to all his vocational endeavors.
	Gretchen Arthur Gretchen worked in a variety of industries, including radio and public accounting, before deciding that teaching was the right career. She has taught Verbal Communications, Business Communications, Ethics, and Preparing for Success. She is involved in the Central States Communication Association and the National Communication Association. Gretchen believes that learning is a never-ending process and that everyone is a teacher in some respect. Some people are teachers by profession and others are teachers by example. Her goal as an instructor has always been to combine the two.
	Karen Aqua Karen Aqua has been making animated films since her graduation from Rhode Island School of Design in 1976. Her award-winning films have been screened worldwide, at festivals in Europe, Asia, North and South America, New Zealand, and the Middle East. She has received fellowships from the American Film Institute, the MacDowell Colony, Millay Colony for the Arts, Fundación Valparaíso (Spain), New England Film/Video Fellowship Program, the LEF Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Trust, and the Puffin Foundation. Aqua has taught animation at Boston College and Emerson College, and at workshops and residencies around the United States. She has served as a juror for major animation and film festivals in Japan, the US, and Canada, and has presented numerous one-person screenings of her work at museums and universities throughout the United States. In 2005, a special program of Aqua’s animated films was presented at the Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran. Since1990 she has directed and animated 22 segments for the acclaimed television program Sesame Street.
	Vita Berezina-Blackburn Vita Berezina-Blackburn is a visual artist working with 3D computer animation for film, performance, and installation in the arts and education. Berezina-Blackburn’s animations have been part of live performances at venues such as Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, Judson Church, Wexner Center for the Arts, PICA, Red Cat, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Animated film screenings include MIT Museum, Columbus Museum of Science and Industry (COSI), and PBS, as well as festivals in the US, Brazil, Poland, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, and the Netherlands. Berezina-Blackburn has presented her process at SIGGRAPH, Dance on Camera, Boston CyberArts, and Women in Animation Symposium. She is currently on staff at The Ohio State University’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD).
	Ellen Besen A former faculty member of Sheridan College's School of Animation (1987-2002), Ellen Besen has over thirty years of experience working in this field. Highlights of her career include directing award-winning films for the NFB, broadcast work on animation for CBC Radio and film curating for such organizations as the Art Gallery of Ontario. Her films have been shown at multiple international festivals and at such institutions as MOMA, and her film analysis workshops are featured regularly at KAFI and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. She writes on animation storytelling for Animation World Network and on all things animated for POV Magazine. She is director and head mentor of The Zachary Schwartz Institute for Animation Filmmaking (Zed-Ed), an online school specializing in storytelling and writing for animation. Recent work by her students includes the award-winning “Slide” by Sharon Katz. She is currently working on her first book, an overview of animation storytelling techniques.
	Kim Callery Kim Callery obtained her B.F.A. in Animation & Digital Media from the College for Creative Studies and M.A. in Interactive Design & Game Development from Savannah College of Art & Design. Kim started her career as an Artist-In-Residence at Berkley High School, and five years ago began her current position teaching at the International Academy of Design & Technology.
	Anne Denman Anne cut her teeth in animation at the world renowned International Rocketship Limited in Vancouver. There she worked on numerous indy productions including the Annecy Grand Prix winner Gary Larsons Tales From The Far Side. From Rocketship she went to managing the Vancouver Film School's award winning Classical Animation Department for eight years. She then joined ranks with Irene Kotlarz to help with Platform International Animation Festival, debuting in Portland, Oregon in 2007, as Director of the Student Program and coordinator of panels and presentations. Anne is thrilled to be back in the production world, as she is now serving as Director of Recruitment/HR at Studio B Productions, a DHX Media Company, located in Vancouver, British Columbia.
	Bill Dennis William (Bill) Dennis has been in the animation industry for nearly 30 years. As CEO/Founder, he was responsible for the birth and development of India’s Toonz Animation, rated one of the top 10 animation studios in the world. While there, he produced award-winning series such as “Adventures of Tenali Raman”, and organized the Children’s Animation Workshop. He also was the founder of the Toonz-Webel Animation Academy in Calcutta and founder of the Week with the Masters Animation Festival in India. He’s regarded as one of the most influential people in Asian animation today. Prior to that, Bill was affiliated with Turner Broadcasting’s Hanna Barbera Studios. As President of their overseas studios, he produced numerous award-winning cartoons starring the classic Hanna Barbera characters. For twenty years, Bill was an executive with Walt Disney Studios, most recently as Vice President of Feature Animation. While at Disney he orchestrated the talent and resources required for feature film productions including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. He was a key strategist for manpower planning and training for Disney's studios in Burbank and Orlando as well as their theme parks around the world. Dill Dennis founded the ASIFA India chapter and remains active in his role as President Emeritus. He also serves as special representative for ASIFA International to animators in developing nations, where he advises and conducts workshops. Bill is a frequent juror for animation festivals and is a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He also serves as an advisor and board member for studios in the USA and India. Bill is the co-founder and a principal of Zanymation International with associates in Berlin, Hamburg, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Kuala Lumpur.
	Ken Field Ken Field is a composer and saxophonist. Since 1988 he has been a member of the modern music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. He also leads the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, an improvisational brass band whose 2008 release “Forked Tongue” was included on best-of-year lists in the Village Voice and in Georgia, Kansas, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, NYC, and Estonia. The CD spent 2 months on the CMJ North American Jazz Top 20 Chart. The Ensemble‘s 2003 debut “Year of the Snake” was named by influential WNYC music director John Schaefer as one of his top 20 “new sounds” releases of all time. The group has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), and numerous other venues. Field’s commissioned music for Bridgman/Packer Dance’s “Under the Skin’ has been performed widely, and was released in 2006 on Innova Recordings. Field has performed in the US, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Ireland, and Japan, and has been Composer-in-Residence at the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, the Fundacion Valparaiso, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. His solo releases document his compositions and improvisations for layered alto saxophones. His recordings have been released on the Cuneiform, O.O.Discs, sFz Recordings, Sublingual, and Innova labels, and have been featured in The New York Times, Saxophone Journal, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and many other publications. Field is a Vandoren Performing Artist. His music is also heard regularly on Sesame Street. www.kenfield.org
	Marc Glassman Marc Glassman is a veteran film writer and programmer specializing in animation, documentary, and Canadian cinema. A past member of the Advisory Board of the Ottawa International Animation Festival and current member of similar boards for the Cinematheque Ontario and the Images Festival, Marc has written extensively on film for Playback, Take One, POV, and Montage magazines. He is the co-author of Paul Driessen: Images and Reflections, and has curated series on Kaj Pindal, Derek Lamb, Faith Hubley and Mr. Driessen. Marc is the former film programmer for the National Film Board of Canada's John Spotton Cinema (in Toronto) and the first programmer for the Hot Docs and Images Festivals.
	Margo Greenlaw Margo Greenlaw’s films and videos blend documentary with experimental and narrative forms and have screened at festivals throughout North America and the UK. Her most recent documentary, Face Down on a Hill, creates a poetic portrait of a unique forensic anthropological facility commonly known as the “Body Farm” and encourages the viewer to consider her own reactions to mortality. Margo is a former board member of the Iowa City International Documentary Film Festival and former co-director and founding member of Iowa City Microcinema. She is a recent addition to the Film/Video Production Department at Grand Valley State University, having relocated from Philadelphia, where she taught film/video at Temple University and Saint Joseph's University. Margo holds an MFA in Film & Video Production from the University of Iowa, and a BA in French and Cinema Studies from the University of Tennessee.
	Judith Gruber-Stitzer Judith Gruber-Stitzer, a Montreal-based film composer, has scored over 70 films and TV productions, live action, and animation. Her music has played in film festivals around the world. Most notable among the animated films is the National Film Board of Canada’s short “When the Day Breaks” which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and an Oscar nomination. Her live action work includes 2 made-for-TV films for the iconoclastic American director Robert Altman. Gruber-Stitzer’s musical style is as varied as the pictures she’s scored. Electronic, orchestral, folk, jazz, suspense, dramatic, lyrical music, and world beats color her soundtracks. Her scores have taken her from Prague to New York, Rio de Janeiro to Hiroshima
	Bryce Hallett Bryce Hallett is an independent Canadian animator/cartoonist. His many cartoons can been seen across North America, in TV shows such as the Red Green Show (CBC/PBS) and History Bites (History Television/Comedy Network), advertisements, and music videos. Hallett teaches occasional workshops on various animation techniques at the Toronto Animated Image Society, where he also serves on the board of directors.
	Steve Hansen Steve Hansen, “The Picasso of Papier Mache,” has agreed to design, create and sign trophies for KAFI 2009. In addition to being a major ingredient in the Smithsonian Institution's “Information Age: People, Information and Technology” exhibition, Hansen sculptures are on display in Sri Lanka, Quebec, the U. S. Information Agency, Copenhagen, and at U. S. embassies in Italy and Venezuela. Corporate collections are housed in the headquarters of Borg-Warner, Capital Records, Hughes Aircraft, Herman Miller, Standard Oil of Indiana, and Mark Twain Banks. Hansen has also been featured at one-man shows in New York City, San Francisco, New Mexico, Colorado, Philadelphia, Chicago, Saugatuck, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Hansen probably cringes a little bit when he sees what is being used as temporary carpeting for canaries and parakeets, or as wrapping paper to take care of the remains of the daily catch from the ol' fishing hole. Because to Hansen, those old newspapers are the means of his artistic expression. They are his clay, his canvas, his raw film, his molten metal. Yesterday's newspaper is today's medium for him. Hansen moved from his home state of Washington to Michigan in 1966 when he was still in high school. His father, a farmer and logger who ran into financial problems in the Pacific Northwest, shifted careers and went to work for the Dow Chemical Company in its public-relations division. After graduating from Midland High School in 1968, he came to Kalamazoo as a Western Michigan University student where he sampled many majors, including religion, over a three-year period and paid his college costs by selling his papier-mache creations. Those also financed many a trip to southern California, Baja, Spain, and Italy when the grind of college became too bothersome. But the return ticket always seemed to be stamped Kalamazoo in those days, where he found a creative, pleasant environment to try metalsmithing, jewelry making, wood carving, and oil painting. But it was his papier-mache artistry that allowed him - beginning in 1967 -to make a living from his art, a skill that began to take shape as a third-grader when he got his hands full of gooey chunks of newspaper. By the age of 13, he had entered one of his figures in his first exhibit. By 17, he was being paid real money to produce them. In his creative periods, he can craft about 100 a year, some of them made from a whim and some emanating from a waiting list. The size of Hansen's figures range from six inches to nearly life-size. Hansen, 56, remained in the Kalamazoo area into the early 1990s, operating out of a studio in the old Saniwax building, before relocating in the American Southwest.
	Jeff Hipolito An avid animation buff since childhood, Jeff has always dreamed of producing a special FX-laden film in the same vein of style as the original “Lord of the Rings” rotoscope animated feature produced in the late 70's. However, the high costs of production have always deemed it impossible for an independent film maker to achieve until now. With the power of open source software integrated into Animux, Jeff is currently attempting a proof-of-concept experiment to produce a hyper-realistic animated short with production values like that of big studios at a fraction of the cost. Among the technologies he experiments with in his attempt are Render Farming using Animux and Farmerjoe with Blender, along with motion capture hardware created by Naturalpoint. Jeff has founded the web site www.mongrelfx.com to document his endeavor.
	Ed Hooks Ed Hooks pioneered the instruction of acting theory specifically for animators, as opposed to stage actors. He is the author of a popular text on the subject, “Acting for Animators” as well as “Acting in Animation: A Look at 12 Films”. Ed has taught at most major studios and game companies in countries all around the world. Among the studios are Disney, PDI/DreamWorks, Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Valve, Rockstar, Sony, Black Rock, and Bioware. He has twice been a featured speaker at SIGGRAPH and at GDC, and he is on the board of advisors of the FMX International Animation Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.
	Jill Johnston-Price Jill Johnston-Price is an Assistant Professor responsible for introducing the Animation and Illustration curriculum at SUNY Fredonia. She received her Masters of Fine Art in Cinematography from the University of South Florida in Tampa and has previously taught at University of Maryland Baltimore County, Ohio State, Columbus College of Art and Design, and Maryland Institute College of Art. Her eleven independent films, including seven animations, have screened at international festivals in Australia, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Turkey, and New Zealand, as well as numerous national festivals and exhibitions. She is the recipient of several festival awards, as well as the Maryland Area Media Arts Fellowship and various SUNY grants. Her animations are available through Microcinema International, the Journal of Short Film, PAWKY, and Cinequest’s Jaman site.
	Sharon Katz Sharon Katz is a visual artist working in animated and still images. In 1994 she began experimenting with digitally created images in motion and followed this with formal studies in animation. Since then she has completed four animated short films and a number of experimental works in the genre. Her animations have been screened at art and film festivals around the world. Her works on canvas and paper have been exhibited in group and solo shows, and her drawings and paintings are held in public and private art collections in Canada and abroad.
	Heather Kenyon Heather Kenyon is currently a consultant specializing in the development of animated and children’s media. She is the former senior director of development, original series at Cartoon Network, where she focused on the development of animated comedy, comedy adventure, action adventure, and live-action series for children 6-11 years old. Prior to joining Cartoon Network, she was editor-in-chief of Animation World Network, a leading Internet publisher of animation news, information, and resources, and was responsible for managing the site’s editorial and writing efforts. After graduating magna cum laude with a BFA from the Filmic Writing Program at the University of Southern California’s prestigious School of Cinema-Television, Kenyon began her career in animation at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. As Manager of the Production Information department, she was responsible for providing information and materials from current productions to all TBS departments worldwide, as well as artistic staffing and festival involvement. Kenyon has been quoted on the status of the industry in many publications, including The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Independent in the U.K., and Newsweek magazine. In addition to working as a script consultant, she has also contributed to numerous publications, including a chapter in the book Animation in Asia, printed by John Libbey & Company, Ltd. A number of international animation festivals and schools have invited Kenyon to act as a jury member, speak on panels, or give presentations on animation, development, and the children‘s business. Kenyon has also advised the Platform International Animation Festival, which took place in Portland, Oregon, in 2007. Kenyon is on the Board of Trustees of Trees for Life, as well as a member of ASIFA International, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and a founding member of Women in Animation.
	Elaine Lillios Elainie Lillios’ music focuses on the essence of sound and suspension of time, conveying different emotions and taking listeners on "sonic journeys". The sounds she explores are varied - sometimes they are simple like the human voice, cars, wind chimes, or water. Other times her materials are less obvious, like crunching branches, walking through snow, or pebbles shuffling in water. Influential mentors include Jonty Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Larry Austin, and Jon Christopher Nelson. She has received commissions from ASCAP/SEAMUS, International Computer Music Association, La Muse en Circuit, New Adventures in Sound Art, Rèseaux, Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, Louisiana State University's Center for Computation and Technology, and saxophonist Steve Duke. She has received grants from the Ohio Arts Council, Mid-American Center for Contemporary Music, Ohio Board of Regents, and National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, with awards and recognition from CIMESP, Russolo, and IMEB (Bourges), among others. Her music has been presented at conferences, concerts, and festivals internationally, including guest invitations to the GRM, Rien à Voir, festival l'espace du son, June in Buffalo, and Mountain Computer Music Festival. Elainie's music is available on the Empreintes DIGITALes, StudioPANaroma, La Muse en Circuit, and SEAMUS labels, and is included in New Adventures in Sound Art's The Radio Art Companion. Elainie serves as Associate Professor of Composition and Coordinator of Music Technology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Find her on the web at www.elillios.com or on myspace at www.myspace.com/elainiesacousmatics
	Iuri Lioi Iuri Lioi is currently enrolled in The Department of Design’s Digital Animation and Interactive Media (DAIM) M.F.A. program at The Ohio State University. His thesis topic focuses on the ideation process for character design. Lioi is active in both academic and research opportunities at ACCAD as part of his MFA program. Most recently, he has completed character design for a video game,The Bakery Shop, that teaches principles of economics to second graders, and design and animation as part of a collaborative group project on James Thurber’s dog drawings as part of a January ’09 Columbus ProMusica Chamber Orchestra live performance. Lioi received his BS in Product Design and Visual Communication Design from Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), Brazil. He joins Dreamworks Animation in the summer of 2009 as a Visual Development Artist.
	Jim Middleton Jim Middleton is a Battle Creek pharmacist and self-taught animator who made his first film at 13 and won’t stop despite of the better efforts of Windows 95, 98, or XP. When not illustrating, he lectures on film, pharmacology, and Dr. Kellogg (yes, that Dr. Kellogg). Most recently he has developed an associate-level degree program in animation for Kellogg Community College. His production company of one, “The Animating Apothecary,” serves as his home base in Michigan. Works in progress include, “Je Ne Dis Pas Non,” “Sfumato #2,” and “Political Asylum.” Initial films were in 8mm and 16mm; he now animates using Animator Studio, Flash, and Photoshop, then kicks everything out in digital format. He is a member of ASIFA International and has served as ASIFA Central President since 2000.
	Aubry Mintz Aubry Mintz has worked as a director, animator, and storyboard artist at several animation houses in Canada and the United States. He has also worked as a feature animator at Industrial Light and Magic (The Mummy) and Square USA (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) and as a freelance animation director for television and the Internet working on projects for clients such as Smirnoff, McDonalds, and General Mills. As an Associate Professor, Aubry Mintz developed a BFA program (Laguna College of Art and Design) to train students who now work at top animation studios (Pixar, Blue Sky) and is presently creating an Animation sub-discipline within the Illustration Department at California State University Long Beach. Aubry has also traveled to India where he taught ‘Acting for Animation’ and ‘Animation Storytelling’ workshops at several animation studios. Passionate about animation as an art form and the synergy of collaboration, Aubry has produced 16 short films and continues to direct and animate every year.
	Bonnie Mitchell Bonnie Mitchell’s animations and artworks explore experiential relationships to our physical and psychological environment through interaction and immersion. Screenings and exhibitions include Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, SIGGRAPH, International Symposium of Electronic Arts, Ars Electronica, International Computer Music Association, and many others. Art and Animation Show curatorial work include GRAPHITE2006 & 2007 (Malaysia & Australia), and SIGGRAPH 2006 (Boston) Art and Animation Exhibitions. Bonnie Mitchell is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Art at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA, and teaches courses in 3D and 2D computer animation, experimental animation, and creative multimedia development.
	Deanna Morse Deanna Morse is an artist, educator, and leader in international organizations supporting animators and independent film and video artists. She is currently a Vice-President for ASIFA International, the oldest international organization of animators. The goal of ASIFA is to promote cultural understanding through the art of animation. Deanna has been invited to judge dozens of national and international festivals and competitions. She is a regular speaker and presenter, and has authored many festival reviews and articles. She has been invited as an artist-in-residence, internationally, at dozens of schools. Deanna has produced over thirty films and videos since the early 1970s. Her work has been selected for international festivals from Canada and the U.S. to Japan, Italy, France, England, and others. She has produced several films for “Sesame Street,” and her work also has been broadcast on “Romper Room” on PBS and cable networks. She has been cited in several articles and books on contemporary animators, and her films are represented in permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her current work explores ideas of place, seasonal change, growth, and decay. A Professor in the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University, Deanna was named a Distinguished Professor by the Michigan Association of Governing Boards of State Universities in 1993. She is a graduate of Iowa State University, and received an MA from Goddard College and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
	Dale Myers Dale K. Myers is a 34–year veteran of radio and television whose creative energy has found a home in the world of computer animation. Myers has worked as a freelance animator for clients around the country for more than 20 years, telecommuting from his home in Milford, Michigan. Clients include Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon, where he served as Lead Animator on five of the computer generated M&M spots. In 1994, Myers won 3 Michigan Emmy's ® for his computer generated cartoon short, Robo Jr, which was featured at SIGGRAPH's annual computer festival and also won the Gold Camera Award at the 27th annual U.S. International Film and Video Festival. In September, 2004, Myers was honored in New York City with a national Emmy ® award for his computer animated recreation of the Kennedy assassination featured in ABC-TV's 40th anniversary special, Peter Jennings Reporting: The Kennedy Assassination - Beyond Conspiracy. A seasoned writer and public speaker, Myers has authored two books, Computer Animation: Expert Advice on Breaking into the Business, and the critically acclaimed With Malice: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Murder of Officer J.D. Tippit.
	Jennifer Oxley Jennifer Oxley, who created the photo-puppetry animation technique first used in “The Wonder Pets!” has worked in the film and television industry for the past ten years as a director and animator. If you watch kids' TV, you've surely seen her work. Jennifer is the recipient of an Emmy Award and a Humanitas Prize for her role as Director on Nick Jr.'s “Little Bill,” the series that marked her first collaboration with Little Airplane founder, Josh Selig. She has also won an Environmental Media Award for her work on “The Wonder Pets! Save the Tree!” Jennifer has directed eight short films for “Sesame Street,” as well as the award-winning adaptation of Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee's children's book, “Please, Baby, Please” for Nick Jr. Her films have been featured at festivals such as the Annecy International Animation Festival and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. At Little Airplane, Jennifer has served as Creative Director on “The Wonder Pets!” and “Piper O'Possum” for Nick Jr. and “Go, Baby!” for Playhouse Disney. A true citizen of the world, Jennifer was born in Los Angeles and raised in Brussels, London, Chicago, and Connecticut. Her heritage is a blend of Native American, African American and Caucasian. As a student at New York University majoring in film and animation, she studied with John Canemaker who last year won the Academy Award for his short animated film “The Moon and the Sun.” In 2007 Jennifer was pleased to have her short film “The Melancholy Puff Machine” show alongside John Canemaker's film at the Tribeca Film Festival. Jennifer currently lives in New York City with her husband and their cat, Sydney. Her one time pet turtle has been immortalized as Tuck, a lead character on “The Wonder Pets!”
	Maria Palazzi Maria Palazzi is the Director of the Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design (ACCAD) and an Associate Professor of Design at The Ohio State University. She was a senior animator for computer animation pioneer Cranston/Csuri Productions. Palazzi founded the BFA program in Computer Animation at Ringling College of Art and Design and served as Department Head for seven years. In her current position, Palazzi fosters multidisciplinary research and academic experiences for graduate students in the areas of computer graphics and animation. Her current research, as the co-creative director for the web project, Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced, has been focused on the interdisciplinary translation of choreographic structures from dance into animation and interactive visualizations.
	Janet Perlman Janet Perlman was born in Montréal several years ago. Her humorous short films have received international acclaim, including an Oscar® nomination, an Emmy, and many festival grand prizes. Her extensive work with the National Film Board of Canada includes The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin, Why Me?, Dinner for Two, and Bully Dance. Penguins Behind Bars, Hulascope's TV special for Cartoon Network, was voted Best TV Film at Cartoons on the Bay, Italy. Her independently directed short, My Favorite Things That I Love, won the coveted "Best Bad Taste" award at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In 2007 the Ottawa Animation Festival featured a retrospective of her work, during which she premiered her latest film, The Nose, which features scratch and sniff cards distributed to the audience for a complete naso-sensory experience. Perlman also writes and illustrates children's books. Cinderella Penguin, The Emperor Penguin's New Clothes, and The Penguin and the Pea are published by Kids Can Press. Her latest book, The Delicious Bug, will be published in 2009. Perlman has taught animation at Harvard and at the Rhode Island School of Design.
	Madi Piller Madi is a Toronto-based filmmaker who was born in Lima, Peru. A graduate of the University of Lima in Communication Sciences, she began her career in advertising, producing TV commercials for a wide variety of products. In 1998, Madi moved to Toronto and started working closely with the independent film community doing experimental short films, programming, and mentoring. Her films have been shown at many festivals and venues across Canada and abroad. Her work has been produced with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto, and the National Film Board of Canada. Madi’s admiration for the art of animation has motivated her to serve as volunteer President on the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) Board of Directors.
	Terry Posthumus Terry Posthumus has been the Coordinator of the 3D Animation programs at Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning since their inception. He is responsible for the development of the Multimedia 3D Animation diploma and the 3D for Production postgraduate certificate. The postgraduate certificate has two streams, one of which is the 3D for Broadcast Design and Animation, which is primarily an animation program designed for film and television. The other stream is 3D for Gaming and Interactive Entertainment. Terry has been teaching at Humber for the past seven years in various capacities, including 3D Animation, Audio and Video, and Motion Graphics/Compositing. Besides teaching at Humber, Terry has taught for over twenty years in both the 3D Animation and Music industries. Terry has benefited from an extensive career in animation and music. As an animator he has worked for Disney Animation Canada, Roger’s Sportsnet, and as a freelancer. Terry has produced many commercial pieces for companies like The Swatch Group, Sopexa Canada, Air France, and La Coste. As a musician/producer, he has arranged and produced several albums and is the Founder/President of Terry Posthumus School of Music in Port Perry, Ontario.
	Jennifer Proctor Jennifer Proctor is a film/video-maker and video-blogger whose interests include experimental documentary, handmade film, home movies, interactive online video, community-building, and the environment. She frequently offers workshops in handmade and small-gauge filmmaking, at schools such as the University of Texas, the University of Iowa, and Grand Valley State University. She also integrates handmade techniques into her documentaries. Her work has screened around the world at festivals such as Full Frame, Madcat, Dallas Video Festival, Portland Documentary and Experimental, EXP 24, and the Flicker circuit. She is also a former director of the Cinematexas Short Film Festival, Austin Cinemaker Co-Op, and Iowa City Microcinema. She currently teaches film and video at Grand Valley State University.
	Mark Puttnam Mark Puttnam is a project/technical lead on the Animux project, which develops an absolutely free animation toolset that can be used to create animation shorts. The Animux toolset supports the Animux pipeline, which handles tasks of Pre-Production (Scripting, Storyboarding, Character Design ... etc), Production (Modeling, Lighting, Texturing, Rendering ... etc), and Post-Production (Sound Engineering, Digital Composting, NLV editing etc...). He is also leading the effort on Animation Digital Asset Manager (ADAM), which will help animation studios store/sort/archive assets and implement efficient workflows during their productions.
	Richard Reeves Richard’s passion for music and painting led him to create abstract animations by drawing both sound and picture directly onto film. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker Assistance Program, he produced several award winning films. His works have screened at festivals around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Center, Gallerie Nationle de Jue de Paume in Paris and the Toronto International Film Festival. Richard studied animation at the Quickdraw Animation Society, an artist run centre in Calgary, where he eventually worked for 6 years as Film Production Coordinator. He has taught workshops across Canada, Europe and Brazil. Richard continues to explore animation as a time and space art form.
	Kim Roberts Kim is a video artist whose primary work takes the form of installation and experimental video. Through intricate relationships between video and objects, her installations raise questions and evoke complex feelings regarding social institutions and cultural privilege. Kim is an Associate Professor of Film and Video in the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, where she teaches courses in video production, new media, and film and video art. KimRobertsStudio.com
	Gary Schwartz Gary Schwartz is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker, award-winning animator, director, artist, and educator. Mr. Schwartz conducts intensive hands-on animation workshops in elementary, middle, high school, under-graduate, graduate, post graduate, professional training, film festivals, museums, summer art camps, community centers, prisons & psychiatric hospitals in the United States & around the world. Through his company, Single Frame Films, Gary has produced, designed and directed animation for Disney, Sesame Street, MTV, Fox Television, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and others. Mr. Schwartz is currently Associate Professor in the Entertainment Arts Department of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.
	Linda Simensky Linda Simensky is Senior Director of Children’s Programming for PBS. In her role, Ms. Simensky collaborates with producers, co-production partners and distributors throughout development, production, post-production, and broadcast. She was instrumental in the development and launch of PBS KIDS GO!, an on-air and online destination for children ages 6 to 8 years old that debuted in October 2004. She is currently overseeing the development and launch of several new series, including It’s a Big, Big World, FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman and Curious George, for premiere on PBS in 2006. Simensky began her career with a nine-year tenure at Nickelodeon, where she helped build their animation department and launch such popular series as Rugrats, Doug, and The Ren & Stimpy Show. Most recently, she was Senior Vice President of Original Animation for Cartoon Network, where she oversaw the development and series production of The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and other major projects. Simensky is a past-president of ASIFA-East, and the founder of New York chapter of Women in Animation. She has lectured at numerous colleges and animation festivals, and has taught courses in animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She has written for numerous animation publications, and a recent essay of hers appears in the book, Nickelodeon Nation. Ms. Simensky holds a BA in Communications & History from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Media Ecology from New York University.
	Bruce Simpson Bruce Simpson is an animation machine. He has produced hundreds of animated shorts for a variety of TV series including Prank Patrol and Popular Mechanics for Kids. His own series, Stick Girl, has appeared worldwide. In addition, Bruce has created work for Walt Disney, Hanna Barbera, Warner Bros., MGM, Teletoon, and Cartoon Network.
	Stephen Smith Stephen Smith has a B.F.A. in studio art from the University of Michigan, and has also attended Ringling College of Art & Design, Animation Mentor.com, and New York University for classes in both film and computer animation. He works as a freelance animator and as a digital imaging technician and data tech for the film industry, and has been working with Maya for six years.
	Karen Sullivan Karen Sullivan is the author of the book, Ideas for the Animated Short: Finding and Building Stories (Focal Press 2008). She has taught story development for the animated short at Ringling College of Art and Design for over 12 years, helping to foster stories in over 250 student films. She conducts workshops and lectures worldwide.
	Steve Stanchfield Steve Stanchfield is an award-winning character animator, animation director, and animation historian. His experience includes working for many of the major animation studios on projects that include television shows, commercials, educational programming, original short films, interactive games, and feature animation. For the past 10 years he has been a professor of animation and animation history at The College For Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, and is also the director of Thunderbean Animation, a small Ann Arbor-based studio that produces animation as well as compilations of classic animation on DVD.
	Pamela Kleibrink Thompson Pamela Kleibrink Thompson is an internationally known speaker at colleges, film festivals, and industry functions. Recent speaking engagements include presentations at ADAPT in Montreal; the MDA Animation Workshop in Singapore; FMX in Stuttgart, Germany; and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She has presented courses at SIGGRAPH in San Diego, Boston, and Los Angeles and she also taught two weekly Career Realties classes at Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood and a noontime lecture on animation history at Disney Feature Animation. Pamela Thompson is an internationally-acclaimed recruiter, career coach, and Emmy Award-winning animation veteran. She was named one of the Top Ten Recruiters by Animation Magazine. Her career has given her hands-on knowledge of every aspect of animation, visual effects, and games. As the production manager of Ratatouille director Brad Bird’s first network animation project, Family Dog, Pamela Thompson set up an animation studio from scratch. She was production manager on The Simpsons, the Emmy Award-winning prime time animation series. She was also production manager on the Paramount animated feature Bebe’s Kids, produced and directed by the Hudlin Brothers. Thompson produced the Career Boot Camp in 1998–a weekend immersion seminar for animation professionals. She co-produced the event in 1999 Pamela Thompson’s monthly column, The Career Coach, appears at the Animation World Network web site http://mag.awn.com. She has written articles for over 40 other publications, including the Working World, Los Angeles Times, Entrepreneur and Woman’s Day.
	Antonio Valente Antonio Valente is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Communications at the University of Aviero in Aviero, Porturgal. He completed his PhD thesis in 2D animation feature films and new technologies, and was Co-director of “To the Top of the World”, the first Portuguese animation feature. He has also produced several animation shorts and animation series, and has been awarded with nearly 100 awards from film festivals on five continents. Mr. Valente is the former President of Cartoon Portugal, a member of the administration of the European Cartoon in Brussels, and today is a national coordinator of the INPUT– International Public Television Conference. He has also been Director of the AVANCA Film Festival since 1997, and is the author of the book Cinema sem Actores (Cinema without Actors).
	Jason van Gumster Jason van Gumster got into animation when he realized that he wanted to create movies but that actors are generally intolerant of having pianos dropped on them. Using open source tools at nearly every step in production, Jason has produced animations and visual effects for television, film, and video games in his official capacity as a Production Monkey for Hand Turkey Studios, the company he helped start in 2005. Jason is most active in the Blender community and wrote Blender for Dummies, published in February of 2009. He has given numerous live workshops and demonstrations on Blender internationally and his Advanced Blender Fluids training DVD from cmiVFX is well-recognized as one of the best learning resources for Blender's integrated fluid simulator. In January of 2008, Jason worked with the Blender Foundation to assemble the Blender Certification Review Board and lead the launch of the Blender Foundation Certified Trainer (BFCT) program. He continues to use open source program in each new project and pushes their limits by doing crazy things like producing a 4 — 7 minute animated short in a mere 48 hours. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Jason can often be found in cafes and diners drawing, espousing the virtues of open source soft-ware, or catching confused looks from strangers as he contorts his body to better visualize a scene he's animating.
	Ric Viers Ric Viers has worked in the film and television industry for more than ten years. His location sound credits include nearly every major television network, Universal Studios, Dateline, Good Morning America, Disney, and many others. His sound design work has been used in major motion pictures, television shows, radio programs, and video games. In 2007, Viers launched his own label, Blastwave FX, to celebrate the release of his 100th sound effects library. Currently, he is considered to be the world's largest independent provider of sound effects, with more than 150,000 sounds and more than 150 sound effects libraries to his credit. He has produced sound libraries for numerous publishers, including Apple, Blastwave FX, Sony, Sound Ideas, and The Hollywood Edge.
	Stan Williams Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D. (Stan) is the author of The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success (Michael Wiese Books, Studio City, CA). He is an international award-winning video producer, filmmaker, and show creator. Most recently he has worked on a number of future story projects for Will Smith. Since 1972, Stan has managed hundreds of industrial and dramatic productions, including numerous documentaries, live shows, theater, and live and broadcast television as producer, director, writer, editor, and executive producer. He is Executive Producer and Director for SWC Films and Nineveh's Crossing, a media distribution company, both located in Michigan and actively producing projects for television, music, and bookshelves. His holds a Ph.D. in film studies from Wayne State and an undergraduate degree in physics. He has trained NASA astronauts, collaborated on a book by Sonny Eliot and political caricaturist Draper Hill (Sonny Sez!, Wayne State University Press), and writes and speaks extensively on the intersection of religious faith and popular culture.
	Charles Wilson A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s M.F.A. Computer Animation program, Forensic Animator Charles Wilson has spent eighteen years working on a wide range of projects from technical writing and teaching to software design and development in client/server and Internet environments to forensic animation, independent animation, and video production. Currently he works at Investigative Mechanics, Inc., where he produces forensic animations and videos of vehicle accidents and product failures for police departments, attorneys, and insurance companies. In his spare time, he works as a freelance animator and web designer under the name ‘Smudge Animation LLC.’ His latest animation project can be seen at the Bard Graduate College in New York as part of the museum exhibit: “English Embroidery from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1580-1700: ‘Twixt Art and Nature’” (http://www.bgc.bard.edu/exhibit/gallery.shtml#). On the exhibit’s video, he animated a pair of gold-and-silk stitches found on a 17th century women’s jacket and assisted on a digital restoration of a 17th century Blackwork cap for this joint project between Bard Graduate College and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
	Barry Young Barry has his undergraduate BFA degree from Ohio University in Graphic Design and an MFA degree from Northwestern University in Visual Design. He taught Graphic Design at Ohio University for four years and has taught at Columbia College Chicago for over 20 years. He directs an animation program of over 300 students within the Film & Video Department, and teaches entry and advanced level courses. He was invited to lecture at the Beijing Film Academy in 1992, where he lived and continued to study Chinese for three months. His thesis MFA film, a live-action/animated documentary film on the 1906 Ringling Bros. Circus season, was screened on PBS and at the Smithsonian Institution, and several of his personal films have won festival awards. He has conducted numerous children’s animation workshops in the Chicago area, including working through Facet’s Multimedia with visiting Swedish animator Mr. Erling Ericsson in the completion of a 10-day workshop with inner-city children. He also co-directed an animation workshop at Children’s Memorial Hospital in 2000 that produced a 30 second TV spot for the American Kidney Fund. This spot was aimed at increasing awareness in the African-American community on proper nutrition and the prevention of diabetes and kidney-related diseases. He worked with eight children in the renal care unit over a seven-day period.
	Michele Yamazaki Michele Yamazaki is the VP of Marketing & Web Development Czarina for Toolfarm.com, a value added reseller of plug-ins and software. At Toolfarm she juggles many roles, including developing content and training and answering support questions. She has demoed plug-ins for Apple, Boris FX, Red Giant, Digieffects and other companies at multiple trade shows, conferences, and user groups, as well as teaching seminars on greenscreen and keying, After Effects and Apple Motion. She co-authored Greenscreen Made Easy with Jeremy Hanke, which was published in April 2009. She is president-elect of MCA-I and formerly co-chaired the West Michigan Animation & Effects User Group, which she launched with Matt Schirado in 2002. Michele was previously a visual effects/motion graphics artist at Postworks in Grand Rapids, MI, and a contributing author of After Effects @ Work, published by Focal Press in 2006. She just wrapped up a four-year stint teaching After Effects at Kendall College of Art and Design. Michele spends her free time with her husband Jeff and six-year-old daughter, Lily. She is an amatuer chef, indie music connoisseur, and aspiring jetsetter. She's also stuck in the 80's. And no, she's not Japanese.