Another great year of collaboration with the 9th annual Animation First Festival, hosted by L’Alliance New York. The festival offered various opportunities for the School of Visual Arts, BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects and BFA Animation community to step beyond campus and engage in the growing international world of animation.

Student Short Film Competition Student Jurors

School of Visual Arts (SVA), CalArts, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and the University of Southern California (USC), were all tasked with selecting the Best French Film. While the participating French student jury from Gobelins, RUBIKA, l'École des Nouvelles Images, and Emile Cohl, evaluated submissions from the American schools. Sana Kakumanu (BFA 2027 3D Animation and Visual Effects) and Nevaeh Williams (BFA 2026 Animation) were part of the student jury from the four participating American schools. Sana shares about her experiences as a juror and selection process: “As student jurors, we reflected on how our individual perspectives shaped our opinions of each film. We each began with our top three, then narrowed it to the most recurring picks until all jurors reached the group’s final three. We chose the film with the most impactful story. My personal favorite film was Coup de cœur: Chère Fin​, created by the students from Gobelins. It was a timeless story of reflection and finding meaning, and was done so beautifully. It was very moving and reminded me why we create art in the first place. Many of the films challenged my expectations of what a student film should look like and reassess traditional narrative structures. Moving forward, I want to create for the sake of creating and not create to be recognized.”

Winners of the ‘Best French Film’ award in the Student Shorts category was Gauze by Noran Fikri Alezabi, Nicholas Arujah, Xinyue Ma, Yulin Yue, Xiaonan Zhou (Gobelins), while the winners for “Best American Film” were Sleep Sweetly by Sage Saccio (BFA 2025 Animation) and Death is a Giant Peanut by Amy Boisvert (CalArts). 

Animation Jam 48-Hour Challenge - BFA Animation Students

The Animation Jam is a unique opportunity for students to meet students from within and beyond the BFA Animation department. Teams from each participating school, Montpellier, BrassArts, Maryland Institute College of Art and SVA, had under 48 hours to create an 18-second collaborative film. Using any animation mixed media techniques they all had to incorporate a still image and audio provided by guest artist Félix Dufour-Laperrière from his film Death Does Not Exist. This year’s SVA has two teams: The Zenith Horizons and the Glorp and Gleepers and they are given an opportunity to present the AniJam in its enterity at the festival’s award ceremony.

Moderating the Making of “The Songbirds’ Secret”

This year, I was invited to moderate Making of The Songbirds’ Secret with set designer Samuel Ribeyron, who shared an in depth look at the behind the scenes process of the feature paper cutout animated film, which involved more than 2,000 puppets and a multiplane camera setup. During his visit to New York, Samuel also spent time at SVA BFA Animation, meeting with several thesis students and learning about their production processes. Students received thoughtful and generous feedback on their work, including BFA Animation senior, Emmanuelle Martinez, who shared her stop motion set and animation tests. The wonderful filmmakers and creative artists we are able to invite are what make our educational experience so unique. Animation is such a collaborative art form, and I am deeply grateful to Animation First for always thinking of our SVA community and sharing their network of professionals with our emerging talent. I look forward to seeing the incredible films they will bring next year.

This year at @annecyfestival , I sat next to @rebeccasugar at the @wia.animation luncheon. It was not the first time we had met, but it was the first time we shared a meal together. I desperately wanted to invite her back to meet our @svanyc students, but I was trying very hard to play it cool. Before I could even find the courage to ask, she turned to me and said, “One of the songs I wrote, called Ice Water, is about my life at SVA as an art student. Can I go back to SVA and share it with everyone?” My brain froze, but my head nodded over and over.

On November 8, 2025. Rebecca returned to SVA with her creative partners Ian Jones-Quartey ( @ianjq ), Chris Burns ( @exit73studios ), and Alex Myung ( @alexmyung ); all @svanycalumni . Their presence was truly magical. Through the making of Ice Water, This is a Love Song and Hill to Die On, they shared thoughtful, honest, and remarkably generous reflections on their creative journeys. The day ended with Rebecca’s intimate and heartfelt performances, which filled the room with emotion and created a moment none of us will ever forget. The space was full of talented friends who came together to celebrate animation, music, art, beauty, truth, and partnership. We were reminded of how powerful and meaningful community can be and how deeply it matters now and for many years to come.

Standing on stage as the host, I had flashbacks of the last five years being the chair of @svabfaanimation with so many challenges, setbacks, and a great deal of personal loss. But the Lonely Magic event is healing and evokes something far stronger. Love rises above every hardship. Love fills the room, lifts the heart, and gives meaning to every bit of work we do together. The cheers, the appreciation, the laughter, and the tears we shared were beyond anything I imagined. They were beautiful because they came from our students, our alumni, our faculty, our staff, and everyone who believes in what we are building collaboratively. #AniFam and beyond is real!

I never chose animation, yet it has become one of the most purposeful parts of my life. It led me to meet extraordinary people whom I now call my people. I hope I am your person, too. ❤️

2025 marks the 8th year of the Animation First Festival, hosted by L’Alliance New York to showcase French and Francophone animation to U.S. audiences. This festival is especially dear to my heart, not only because it takes place in New York City, but also because of the programmers' thoughtful curation and their commitment to connecting the French and Francophone animation communities with my own SVA and Women in Animation communities. The festival features screenings of feature-length and short films, conversations with creators, VR experiences, sneak peeks of upcoming projects, and a Student Short Film Competition.

Every year, I am invited to moderate one of the filmmaker talks, and I had the honor for this year’s “The Legends of Paris”. Moderating this Q&A was a profound experience, as this animation production resonates deeply with me because it celebrates both history and the history of art. The parallels between the 19th century and today’s world, particularly with the rapid advancement of technology, women’s rights movement, media influence, etc., make this film especially timely. Hearing from director Amélie Harrault, co-writer Céline Ronté, and producers Judith Nora & Priscilla Bertin not only shed light on their creative process but also reinforced the importance of looking to history for insight. Ultimately, storytelling is about the people who bring these narratives to life, ensuring they endure for generations to come.

This year’s student film competition included five films from SVA: BUCKSHOT by Kaye Diaz (BFA Animation, 2024), Inter-Dimensional Girl & The Thing of No Real Cosmic Significance by Cris Mestre (BFA Animation, 2024), The Dream Factory by Jiyoon Oh and Hyojin Shim (BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects, 2024), Open Mind, Open Heart by Avery Pendleton (BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects, 2024), and LACRIMOSA by Aaron Sams (BFA Animation, 2024). Other student films represented work from the French schools Rubika, Gobelins, L’École Émile-Cohl, Ecole des Nouvelles Images, as well as the American schools CalArts, SCAD, and USC. Student representatives from each school formed a peer jury to select two top prizes. The French students awarded the prize for the American films, while the American students determined the winner among the French films. The two students representing SVA were Addison Fujimoto (BFA Animation) and Ellie Hui (BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects).

“It was such an honor to be a student juror for L'Alliance!,” Hui said about her experience. “I had so much respect for the jurors since they were all very passionate about film-making, and we had a lot of back-and-forth when it came to deciding which film should be Grand Prix. It oddly felt like a good brain exercise since we dove into a lot of visual, narrative, and musical analyses to try to come to a consensus. Overall, a very inspiring experience and I got to meet some cool people!” Fujimoto shared similar feelings about the opportunity, “ I had a really excellent time in the jury, and getting to connect with animation students from other schools and view completed thesis films as a current thesis student was a highlight for me. My favorite film of the bunch, unfortunately, wasn't selected for an award, however, I was given the time to plead its case. It unfortunately didn't make it into the final round. Overall it was a very exciting and enjoyable experience.”

On February 8, 2025, SVA’s BFA Animation and BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects programs will host a screening of films that participated in the Franco-American Student Short Film Competition, along with the premiere of the work from this year’s Animation Jam, at the SVA Theatre. This is the third year Animation First has hosted the Animation Jam, which brings together students from France and America to complete an animation sequence in 48 hours. The student teams created sequences in the animation mediums of their choice while incorporating an image provided by Boris Labbé. SVA had two teams participating and they were led by BFA Animation students, Laila Hollins and Micah Sanders. Hollins shared, “The experience was pretty fun. Going through the entire animation production process with my friends was very enjoyable and it definitely helped me imagine how the 3rd year group film could go.” and “I enjoyed the time spent with my team and meeting the underclassmen. The on-the-spot problem solving and mixed media exploration before our group film officially kicks up was also cool,” said Sanders.

SVA has always enjoyed collaborating with friends and colleagues in France. L’Alliance New York’s Animation First provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our relationships with French colleagues and deepen our appreciation of French Animation right here in New York City.  

“We are where animation happens” is a philosophy deeply rooted in my career and for the team I lead. The year of 2023 is no exception because animation has taken me on a world tour in familiar parts and foreign lands where I met the most kind souls who also share the same passion for animation.

Annecy International Animation Film Festival

In June, I traveled to Annecy, France, for the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which this year attracted over 16,000 attendees from 102 countries. My participation included attending master classes, world-premiere and competition screenings, panel discussions and many networking events. With Mexico being the festival’s 2023 country spotlight, a number of the events celebrated Mexican animation.

The week kicked off with the WIA (Women in Animation) World Summit. WIA is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering and advocating for people of underrepresented gender identities in the art, technology, production and business of animation. Its summit theme this year was “Break the Box: Gender and Leadership,” and writer and comics artist Molly Ostertag (BFA 2014 Illustration) participated in the event’s Authentic Storytelling panel. I was also part of an Annecy Mifa Campus panel discussion, “The Art of Finding Your Dream Job: From Student to Professional in the Animation Industry,” for which I was joined by industry pros Stephane Biava, Joan Da Silva and Tran Ma, along with the moderator Stephanie Hayot, of ArtStation/Epic Games.

Anibar International Animation Festival

In July, I was invited to participate in Kosovo’s Anibar International Animation Festival as a juror for the International Short Film and Feature Film competition categories. My fellow jurors included industry pros Claus Toksvig Kjaer, Chris Robinson, Alice Saey and Anastasiya Verlinskaya. I also ran a three-hour master class, “Portfolio and Pitch—Kickstarting You and Your Animation”, about navigating the different stages of an animation career. This event was one of the most life-changing experience because of how tightly knitted the community of jurors and participants was. The festival and program were designed in the most thoughtful way that everyone felt inclusive. Life-time friendships were formed with hearts and smiles.

Anímate 2D23

In September, I was invited to be a part of Anímate 2D23, hosted at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. This three-day festival brought together an international group of animation experts, emerging artists and studios. Speakers and panelists included Tim Dillnutt, Axur Eneas, Tomás Kiyoshi, Lina Porras and Alonso Jose Vega Peña Vizcardo. In addition to leading the master class “Bridging the Gap between Education and the Animation Industry”, I hosted two afternoons of portfolio reviews where she met with local talent and gave them constructive feedback on improving their work and taking the next step in their career.

The trip was possible because a personal invite by Gaby Chavez (MFA 2015 Computer Art), who attended SVA on scholarship before returning to her home country of Ecuador to teach and work in the industry. “I am now a teacher at USFQ, the top university in Ecuador and one of the highest-ranked institutions in South America,” she says. “It has been an honor to share the knowledge I gained during my MFA Computer Art program at SVA and contribute to the animation industry. This event broadens our horizons as educators, helps elevate the industry and inspires students to dream big.”

Each year the French Institute of Alliance Française (FIAF) presents educational and cultural events designed for schools in the tri-state area as part of its Young Audience Program, including film screenings, performances and workshops throughout the year that are free for public schools. On October 29, I was invited as a guest speaker and presenter for the animated film. A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat) by French directors Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagno. It is an Academy-Award nominated adventure film is a unique mix of genres, beautifully hand-drawn caper set in a stylized and vibrant Paris.

This event is particularly special because there are about 400 students from the 2nd through 7th grades, not a typical audience that I usually engage on the daily basis, therefore I was extremely nervous! In the beginning of the screening, I was able to say hello to the entire audience and give them a few things to think about as they watched the film. The energy of the room was beyond imagination! The students screamed when the character jumped from one building to another. They cheered when the villain was trapped in the swamp. They even chanted “Niko! Niko! Niko!” over and over again as if they were literally standing on the street of Paris watching the Niko character rescuing the little girl from the hands of the villain. However the biggest highlight was indeed the full 20-minutes I got to spend with the students for Q&A. There were so many interesting questions about the plots, about the design and many about how they really felt watching the animation.

It’s one of these moments that is a great reminder of I do what I do for a living. It’s about seeing everyone from all ages connecting with the animation. We all take something away from the animation, the story and most importantly we all leave something that is specific to the animation too.

Thank you, FIAF! Thank you, Clementine Guinchat!

This year marked the 46th SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) in Los Angeles, the heart of the CG industry. With almost 20,000 attendees from around the world, SIGGRAPH is the largest conference on computer graphics art, animation and interactive techniques. My participation this year is slightly different than usual… I was more active in panels, studio visits as well as alumni outreach… Here are the highlights!

Representing the lead for the NYC Chapter of Women in Animation, I was part of the panel “"Building WIA Chapters: Vancouver, NYC, Montreal and More” within the Women in Animation Summit at SIGGRAPH. I got to share my experience co-leading the NYC chapter, my collaborations with other local organizations and the many challenges that the chapter is facing in its efforts to reach the goal of 50/50 by 2025. My SVA colleague, Jimmy Calhoun, chair of BFA Computer Art, was part of the panel “Supporting Students of Animation.” The panel discussed how to manage the cultural and technical challenges faced by students leaving animation schools and entering the workforce.

I was also part of the "Women in CG" panel where I shared the stage with Sidney Clifton, executive producer, Deluxe Animation Studios; Kaitlyn Yang, founder and visual effects supervisor, Alpha Studios; Katie Bouman, post-doctoral fellow, MIT; and moderator Diana Arellano, chair of ACM SIGGRAPH External Relations. It was such an honor to be sitting side-by-side with these outstanding female leads in their industry. I’ve learned just as much as the audience did by listening to their stories, where they came from and what led to where they are in their careers. Most important, we get to discuss what is still left to be done to support more women in their chosen fields.

Stepping out of the convention center, I got to visit several studios, including Buck LA, Frederator, Netflix, Bento Box Entertainment and Warner Brothers Animation. It did not come as a surprise that I ran into many familiar faces, SVA alumni and friends in the industry. However the highlight is indeed the moment when I finally got to meet Dony Permidi, the filmmaker for “Kiwi!” It is a 3D animated short about a kiwi bird’s journey on making the most effort to achieve their goal. Dony and I had corresponded many times over the course of several years and I finally got to meet him in person. What an honor! Thank you, all the studios for hosting us. Special thanks to Branko Kljajic (BFA 2017 Animation), who currently working as an animator, guided this special private tour.

Last but not least, there was the amazing SVA x SIGGRAPH reception where alumni and friends of the industry were all invited for conversation and inspiration. In addition to this reception, I also got many chances to meet with BFA Animation alumni across parts of LA. Thank you, everyone for coming out to reconnect!

I always see myself right in the middle between the animation education and industry. I am that invisible line connecting these two important dots. Often times, I get to share what I know at different animation film festivals. This summer, I found myself speaking the same topic but in Mandarin at “Digital Taipei 2019”, a B2B trade fair of digital content industry of Taiwan. My presentation is called “Bridging the Gap between Animation Industry and Education” where I got to share what my experience has been like working at School of Visual Arts as an educator and my take on working with the animation industry leaders, recruiters, and artists on fostering talent.

During this one-day forum, there are also many speakers sharing their expertise, including LeSean Thomas, Director and Creator of Cannon Busters on Netflix, leaders of the industries from Bilibili, HTC Vive Originals, Greener Grass Production, Tracking Troops VFX and Jonathan Lin, Modeler at DreamWorks Animation.

Special thanks to Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and its Investment and Trade Office for making this trip happen.

Below is a excerpt of my recap for this year’s trip to Annecy, featured on SVA website.

"Lapin!" the audience screamed at the top of their lungs every time a rabbit appeared on screen as part of the signature film for the Annecy International Animation Festival. This is one of many fun traditions at this festival in southeastern France and this year was no different. The energy of the room was full of passion and excitement from animation lovers from across the world, for whom Annecy International Animation Festival is the place to be.

The entire SVA team had a packed schedule at this year's festival, full of panels, screenings and industry events. On Monday, Women in Animation (WIA) and Les Femmes s'Animent (LFA) hosted their third annual WIA World Summit, where I was part of the Supporting Students of Animation panel, moderated by Brendan Burch, CEO of Six Point Harness and chair of students at WIA. The fellow panelists were Deb Stone, director of recruiting and talent development at Blue Sky Studios and co-lead of WIA NYC; and Cecile Carre, 2D animator at The SPA Studios. We discussed how to handle the high volume of female students, many from abroad; the cultural and technical challenges in animation schools; and how industry and education can work together to create a supportive and practical bridge between schools and studios.

On Tuesday, I moderated my annual talent panel during the Mifa Campus that is specifically designed for talents to learn about not only the latest productions from studios, but also practical tips on how to enter the industry at different stages of their careers. The panel Master Your Career in Animation mixes recruiters and hiring managers across from animation and VFX industry. They included Antonio Canobbio, SVP and CCO of Titmouse Inc. from U.S.; Amélie Chicoye, Project Manager of Illumination Mac Guff from France; Ian Landman, Senior Recruitment Manager of Framestore from U.K.; and Roisin Mcintosh, Recruitment Manager of Brown Bag Films from Ireland & U.K. This year, the panelists put together a series of examples to not only talk about how to put together a portfolio and reel, but really show actual work on what the best practice is in order to stand out from the competition. One of the attendees, Arnau Ferrer from Spain, event posted a beautiful drawing from the panel to his Instagram account.

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Animation presented Looney Tunes cartoons and their creators (the company premiered its latest short, "Mummy Dummy," at the festival's opening ceremony earlier in the week), including alumnus and storyboard artist Michael Ruocco (BFA 2011 Animation). Later in the evening, the SVA team was invited to Netflix's celebration for its upcoming animated feature Klaus. Throughout the week, there were many other events where the team reconnected with alumni, including Phil Rynda (BFA 2003 Animation) from Netflix; Rebecca Sugar (BFA 2009 Animation) and Ian Jones-Quartey (BFA 2006 Animation) from Cartoon Network; and Dana Terrace (BFA 2013 Animation) from Disney.

Thursday was another highlight for the SVA team, with an industry dinner co-hosted by Pearl Studio and MFA Computer Arts. It was a night of Chinese dining in France where international animation industry professionals mingled over a family-style feast. The guests included Sergio Pablos, director of Klaus; animator Bill Plympton (SVA 1969 Cartooning); Alexandre Heboyan, director of Mune: Guardian of the Moon; Delphine Selles-Alvarez, film curator at French Institute Alliance Francaise; Tiffany Feeney from Talent Output; Chi Sui Wang, dean of the office of international affairs at Taipei National University of the Arts; and Will Feng, animation producer, and Ben Kalina, COO, of Titmouse, among many others. The event was organized by me along with Hank Abbott, preproduction manager and Justian Huang, head of development at Pearl Studio. The event ended with everyone holding up their glasses and cheering in Chinese, "乾杯!"

This is my seventh year attending Annecy and the eighth year where SVA was represented. Over the years, I've witnessed the tremendous growth in the festival in terms of the number of attendees, the variety of the film premieres and selections and the industry's undivided attention to the animation lovers. Sitting in the theatre should-to-shoulder with people who share the same passion as you about animation is the best feeling ever. We cheer, we cry, and we clap at the same time. These are the moments that remind us, as educators, why we do what we do. We want to bring this worldly perspective back to SVA and we also want to bring our unique voices of SVA talents to all corners of the world.

Thank you as always, Annecy! We will see you again in 2020!

2018 marks the 6th year I’ve been attending Annecy International Animated Film Festival and I am proud to say that this trip is the most insanely productive and busy of all. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to moderate two panels with such great opportunities working with all the studios while representing SVA.

For the “Crafting Your Future in Animation/VFX” panel, it is very close to my heart because helping out talents is what I enjoy the most at SVA. As an educator, there is nothing more satisfying to see students and talents from all over the world learn, grow and find their ways in their future artistic careers. For this panel, I got to work with recruiters from LAIKA, Illumination Entertainment, Illumination Mac Guff and Titmouse!

As for the “Tickling Your Brain with VR” panel, it was a great challenge for me to mix such different professional points of view on the topic of VR and they are researcher, tool-maker, artist, filmmaker, director and producer. No one has all the right answers to everything yet, technically speaking so it was fun to hear from all experts. The hardest part of me is to have two sets of questions for the panels because how different their perspectives are. At the end of the panel, I shared a photograph of my grandmother who is now 94 years old. It is her sitting on her bed playing with her iPad. She comes from the generation that there wasn't even electricity when growing up but she now finds company in this white electronic box in her hands. I think VR is the same thing that we will take for granted in the very near future.

More more recap, please visit SVA’s write-up here.

Fubon Art Foundation once again collaborated with the Taipei Film Festival and launched a series of lectures for teenagers to be selected to be the jurors of the year. The lecture series included 5 feature films and 8 short films in addition to a special topic on “Storytelling in Virtual Reality” by Hsiang Chin Moe.