Top Story: Despite A Large Number Of Detractors, Animation Guild Members Ratify New Contract

If there’s one thing the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy promises to deliver each and every year, it’s the opportunity to hear from an illustrious and illuminating cross-section of the digital arts industry, from gaming and animation to vfx and vr.

This year – the event’s 18th edition – offers an incredible group of speakers, headlined by keynotes from World of Warcraft game designer Rob Pardo, who now runs Bonfire Studios, and Madagascar series co-director Eric Darnell, today a co-founder of the vr startup Baobab Studios.

Add to that list names like Phil Chen, a key figure in vr who developed the HTC Vive; computer graphics researcher and tech engineer Paul Debevec; Twitch.tv COO Kevin Lin; and Vicki Dobbs Beck, the executive in charge of ILMxLAB.

On the animation side, speakers include director Mark Osborne (The Little Prince, Kung Fu Panda), Kubo and the Two Strings creator Shannon Tindle, Super Girl animation supervisor Elaina Scott, Rogue One animation director Hal Hickel, Lego Batman Movie head of animation Rob Coleman, Cars 3 director of photography-lighting Kim White, and Smurfs: The Lost Village production designer Noelle Triaureau.

And the list doesn’t end there. Among the dozens of other speakers, key supervisors and leads from most of this year’s major vfx-driven movies will present talks at the event including Joe Letteri (War for the Planet of the Apes), John Nelson (Blade Runner 2049), Bill Westenhofer (Wonder Woman), Martin Hill (Valerian), and Christopher Townsend (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2).

“VIEW is special not just because we bring so many amazing people to Turin, but because of the collaboration we see among our speakers and our attendees,” said conference director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “VIEW has become not only a place where ideas are presented, it’s a time and place where ideas are incubated.”

A complete list of talks and speakers can be found on the VIEW website, as well as details on how to attend.

There are other events that happen at VIEW parallel to the conference and workshops, including the VIEW Awards, which recognize animated shorts and videogames, and the Games Development Boot Camp Accelerator Program, in which six early-stage game companies are mentored for two weeks by industry experts and equity partners who invest in the industry. The deadline to apply for the bootcamp is August 31 – go HERE for application details.

VIEW will take place this year from October 23-27 in the northern Italian city of Turin.