The Emmy-winning ‘Adventure Time’ creator will kick off Toronto Animation Arts Festival International’s 3-day hybrid conference with a keynote fireside chat on joke theory this evening, November 10, at 6:15 pm EST.
Today, the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI), a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the animation arts and its local and international community, has named Pendleton Ward as the keynote speaker for their annual 2022 Toronto Animation Industry Conference. Pendleton Ward will kick off the three-day hybrid conference with a virtual keynote fireside chat on joke theory on November 10, followed by a day of virtual panels on Friday, November 11. The industry conference will then host in-person presentations on Saturday, November 12 at the Toronto Reference Library.
Pendleton Ward created the popular Emmy-winning fantasy animated television series, Adventure Time, and recently directed the psychedelic interview show Midnight Gospel for Netflix. TAAFI’s Chair Karen Jackson will moderate Ward’s virtual keynote on Thursday, November 10 at 6:15PM ET.
This year’s conference will also feature more than 22 panels and networking opportunities welcoming renowned animation industry professionals from studios such as 9 Story Media Group / Brown Bag Films; Atomic Cartoons; Bento Box; Big Jump Entertainment; Boat Rocker Studios; Buzzfeed; Corus Entertainment's Nelvana; Dark Slope; DNEG Animation; Friends & Enemies; Ghost Dogs; Guru Studio; House of Cool; Industrial Brothers; Jam Filled; Keyframe Digital + Krow; Lighthouse Studios; Look Mom! Productions; Mainframe Studios; Mercury Filmworks; Nickelodeon Animation; Pipeline Studios; Pixomondo; Snowball Studios; Thought Café; Titmouse; WildBrain; and Yowza! Animation.
Additionally, TAAFI will once again host its much-anticipated Big Pitch event on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 6PM ET. Sponsored by Wildbrain and Wacom, the event will be moderated by Ben McEvoy, and will feature live pitching industry veterans Athena Georgaklis, Head of Development at Nelvana; Darin Bristow, Executive Creative Director at Pipeline Studios; and Lorna Withrington, Vice President of Development – Animation, at Wildbrain. The Big Pitch winner will receive $1000 from Wildbrain as well as a Wacom Cintiq 16 from Wacom.
In a statement, Karen Jackson, Chair of TAAFI said, “The talent in our animation community is unmatched. The animation community will come together to celebrate the work we've done over the years, what's to come, and to reconnect as we present this conference in-person with this brilliant roster. TAAFI’s Toronto Animation Industry Conference will conclude with a closing night party sponsored by Pipeline Studios on Saturday night at The Artful Dodger in Toronto.”
For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit the TAAFI website at taafi.com.
Whitney is a freelance writer focusing on VFX-driven fantasy film & TV as well as preschool animation.
