Animation artists and fans come from all over the world to attend the Annecy Film Festival in France. It’s a chance to experience the latest animation ‘gems,’ such as the South African 2D short Kariba, and there are great opportunities to meet with film directors and find creative partners. Three artists from popular stop-motion studio LAIKA are set to attend.

Who will be in attendance?

Jeff Stringer

Stringer came to LAIKA in 2008 and now manages a team of technical directors and software developers. Stringer and his group develop cutting-edge tools and technologies to support the broad range of creative artists for LAIKA’s feature film projects.

Jon Dobson

Dobson works at LAIKA as technical support. He worked on Coraline as researcher and developer and on ParaNorman for visual effects pipeline support.

Both Stringer and Dobson will participate in a “collaborative tools and flexible methods presentation” in the Chambre De Métiers building on June 16 from 9:30 am -12:30 pm.

Anna Kvorning

Kvorning is the lead recruiter at LAIKA. She will be at MIFA on June 17 and 18. MIFA is the part of the festival where one can plan recruitment sessions and Kvorning is on the lookout for talented artists!

MIFA celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Pixar is just one of the many studios that have sent their congratulations.

Familiar characters such as Nickelodeon’s Spongebob Squarepants and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions also sent video messages for the occasion. You can check them all out here.

The entire festival runs from June 15 – June 20. There are several theaters in Annecy that screen films from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, including a screening at 10:15 pm on the Pâquier lawn which is free to all.