Mexico’s Pixelatl Conference Will Bring Together 90 Guests From 13 Countries

Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival is gearing up for a supercharged 2017 edition, starting September 5 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

The conference somehow manages to outdo itself each and every year, bringing together an endlessly inspiring group of creative talents from around the global animation, vfx, comics, and gaming industries — and this year is no exception.

We recently previewed a few of this year’s special guests, but now that the organizers of the event have firmed up the entire guest line-up, it’s grander than anyone could’ve imagined: over 90 speakers and guests will attend from 13 different countries.

Among the major highlights will be the world premiere of Son of Jaguar, the first vr project by Mexican superstar Jorge Gutierrez. A panel about the production of the short will take place with Gutierrez, composer/sound designer Scot Stafford, and technical supervisor John Anderholm. A separate evening fiesta, themed around the short, is also being planned.

Here’s a look at a few more of this year’s highlights:

• Anima Estudios, the prolific Mexican animation studio, will celebrate their 15th anniversary with a keynote by co-founder José Carlos García de Letona and a party
• Henry Selick masterclass and screening of his rarely seen shorts and commercial work
• Workshop and lecture by Alonso Ramirez Ramos, award-winning storyboard artist from Mexico who has worked on Disney’s Mickey Mouse shorts and Gravity Falls
• Alan Ituriel will talk about his breakout Cartoon Network Latin America hit Villainous
• Visual effects panel with Hal Hickel (ILM), Omar Morsy (MPC), and Catherine Turp (Moment Factory)
• Animation for tv panel: Dana Terrace (director of Ducktales), Mike Hollingsworth (supervising director on Bojack Horseman), David Feiss (creator of Cow and Chicken), Daniel Chong and Manny Hernandez (We Bare Bears creator and director), Jhonen Vasquez and Jenny Goldberg (Invader Zim creator and art director)
• Rising starts in IP development panel: Ivanobich Verduzco (Viking Tales), Gabriel Frugone (Space Dog), Guillermo Rivas (Jim’s Island), Alan Ituriel (Villainous)
• Feature film director’s panel: Enrique Gato (Tad the Lost Explorer, Capture the Flag), Alberto Vazquez (Psiconautas), Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life), Augusto Schillaci (Mischievians)
• Acclaimed videogame composer David Wise will offer a “deconstructing a soundtrack” masterclass and a concert with his classic hits from Donkey Kong Country and Battletoads
• Game designers and storytellers panel: Teddy Dief (creative director at Square Enix), Aleissia Laidacker (interactive director at Magic Leap), Liam Wong (art director at Ubisoft)
• Dozens of workshops about topics including character design, storytelling, live-model sketching, producing, illustration, crowdfunding, online film distribution, and comic book inking, as well as workshop programs for kids
• A competition short film program with films themed around “Borders and Immigration”
• Feature films screenings: My Life as a Zucchini, Psiconautas: The Forgotten Children, Miss Hokusai, The Iron Giant, Las aventuras de Tadeo Jones
• The Ideatoon Summit which will include buyers and advisors from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney, PBS, Amazon Studios, Netflix, Reel FX, Sony Animation, Discovery Kids, Televisa, Brownbag Films, and Bento Box. Delegations will also attend from Chile, Spain, Canada’s Quebec province, United States, and Poland
• The chill-out/meeting zone for special guests and Ideatoon Summit attendees will be known as the Cartoon Brew Lounge, and it will be accompanied by a Cartoon Brew happy hour for socializing

For information on attending and other details, visit the Pixelatl website, which is currently in the process of uploading the complete conference schedule.