We gather studio leaders, working professionals, and students in the animation industry for professional development panels, networking, and of course a bit of animation viewing!
Stay tuned for more announcements!
Thanks to all those who came out this year, check back here to get the latest news on future events!
animation summit 2024
Animation Summit gathers leaders and learners across the entire animation ecosystem - including graphic designers, artists, 2D ad 3D animators, production managers, business and marketing, voice actors, and more! Join us for networking opportunities & presentations from industry leaders.
My name is Trey Roane, and I am an Animation Supervisor and Senior Animator from Atlanta. I enjoy collaborating with cool people who are talented artists, and I enjoy teaching and mentoring others. I have over 20 years of experience in the animation and Visual FX industry, and have worked at studios such as Rhythm and Hues in Los Angeles, Weta in New Zealand, Sony Pictures in Vancouver Canada, and now Crafty Apes in Atlanta. I've worked on numerous TV shows and films, including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug, Hotel Transylvania 2 and 3, The Meg, and SpiderMan - Into the Spider-Verse. I enjoy working on all styles of animation, and also do 2D animation, storyboarding, and writing in my free time.
Danya Levine is an award-winning Production Director and co-founder of the Women in Animation Atlanta Collective. She has produced for NBC, CNN, and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Her credits include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, an animated version of Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell and the first live-action horror special Adult Swim Yule Log. Levine has produced live programming at Comic-Con, The Adult Swim Music Festival, and the 2008 YOUTUBE debates for CNN. She is a “Creative Instigator” who embraces risk and challenges to create memorable content. Currently, she is the Director at SCAD Atlanta’s Digital Media Center, where immersive and innovative work comes to life on their incredible XR stage.
Mark Simon is 35+ years in the entertainment industry known as the Godfather of Storyboards and owner of Storyboards & Animatics, Inc, as well as a producer and director for live action and animation, and has amassed over 6,000 production credits. Recent credits include more than 60 movies and tv series like Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Dexter, Snowfall, Woody Woodpecker and Black Lightning. He is the animation producer for Universal's How High 2 and Little Rascals movies and Fox's Tooth Fairy 2 feature. Mark participated in a 2012 Prime Time Engineering Emmy for his work with the Toon Boom software team behind the Storyboard Pro software, of which he is one of their Ambassadors. He was also inducted into the DAVE School (Digital Animation & Visual Effects School) Hall of Fame. Mark has pitched and sold more than 35 production and distribution deals for his original concepts, and worked with Disney, Nickelodeon, The Golf Channel, HSN and other networks pitching in-house productions. His articles have been seen in Animation Magazine, Animation World Network, Cinefex, Filmmaker Magazine, Moviemaker Magazine and others. He is also the author of 13 books including the best-selling Facial Expressions books, the bible of the storyboard industry, Storyboards: Motion In Art, 3rd Edition, the inspirational Start At The Top and his most recent, the memoir Attacked!, about when he was bullied and his family was attacked. He lectures around the world at major conferences, and universities.
Ben Feldman is a WGA writer/producer and head of Adventure Noises, a professional art and animation studio of voice directors, industry animators, writers, and producers with nearly a decade of experience in animation, games, new media, and creative development. As a producer working in both live action and animation production, Ben handles creative roles within art direction, story, and physical production as well as the back end of entertainment law and production finance where needed. The studio team at Adventure Noises has worked on projects ranging from programming for Paramount Global to successfully crowdfunded animated series works to new media productions within Vtubing. Ben is a proud advocate of the WGA, TAG, and founded the studio with the goal of supporting new artists within the industry."
Bob Carter is an internationally recognized Voice Actor, Audio Director, Voice Coach, & Media Advisor known for voicing characters such as Ptah & Set in Asgard's Wrath 2, Black Adam in Multiversus, Odin, Olorun, & Atlas in SMITE, Balrog in the Street Fighter series, Shao Khan & Baraka in Mortal Kombat 9, Bojack in Dragonball Z, Lifeless Planet, Arcadegeddon, Saga of Sins, and many other popular characters across a wide range of video games. Carter also has voiced many anime projects such as Rise of the Shield Hero, Lycoris Recoil, Misfit of Demon King Academy, Gundam Build Divers, Mashle, Tokyo 24th Ward, Odd Taxi, Housing Complex C, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Dragonball Z, Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai 7, Blassreiter, and many other cartoons, anime series, audio books, and audio dramas. He's an avid TTRPGer & DM who owns the Neighborhood Studio- a Teaching & Production Studio in Atlanta where he helps Aspiring Creatives become Working Creatives. He is also a Celebrity D&D Gamer with decades of experience playing in and running various D&D, Pathfinder, Heroes Unlimited, and Star Wars Campaigns if people or other Creatives want to get together for fun Celebrity Panels as well.
Carrie Tupper has been working in creative development and writing for more than a decade. With a passionate love for history and animation, Carrie is dedicated to creating resonate, transformative storytelling. She is author and co-creator of the Glyph award-winning graphic novel series Kamikaze. Working with her team she’s overseen 3 successful Kickstarters that funded publishing 3 graphic novel volumes, an anthology and the award winning animated short Kamikaze: Trial by Fire. Her work has been featured on NPR, Bleeding Cool, SyFy Wire, and The Hollywood Reporter. Outside of her work on Kamikaze, Carrie continues to write, edit, and create comics, was a contributing writer to the Won't Back Down anthology, and co-author for Hollywood Heroines: Women in Film History.
Troop AKA Troop Brand is a multifaceted artist, entrepreneur, and event organizer, renowned for his innovative contributions to both music and cultural events. He is the visionary behind Trap Sushi, an international anime and cosplay-themed event that celebrates Japanese and Atlanta culture through unique and interactive experiences. Trap Sushi features live sushi-making sessions, cosplay competitions, artist performances, gaming stations, and local vendor showcases. The event has garnered a massive following among Gen-Z and Millennial audiences, known for their significant cultural influence and buying power. Trap Sushi has partnered with a diverse group of influencers and has a strong social media presence, reaching thousands of attendees and followers. Collaborations with major brands such as Dream Con, The High Museum of Art, Anime Weekend Atlanta, Revolt Summit, and MomoCon have further solidified its impact. Recently, Trap Sushi has fostered a strategic partnership with the likes of Cxmmunity Media, a Black owned media-tech company connecting brands to multicultural audiences through gaming and anime. Through his innovative approach to music, beverages, and cultural events, Troop Brand has established himself as a dynamic and influential figure in both the artistic and entrepreneurial communities. His music career is highlighted by songwriting for Atlantic Records and having his work featured on platforms such as Netflix, Complex, Fader, Disney Plus, and MTV. Beyond music, Troop has ventured into the beverage industry with the introduction of Waves in the Clouds Double Milkshake IPA. This CBD-infused beer, created in collaboration with Monday Night Brewing, is infused with Citra Incognito, Tahitian vanilla, and over 500 pounds of fresh strawberries. With an ABV of 9.1%, the drink is both sweet and refreshing, selling out over 15,000 cans in just three months.
Todd is an accomplished entrepreneur who has been leading video game and esports businesses for 15 years and involved with technology product startups for 25 years. After leading product development at FinTech companies Radiant Systems and BlueCube Software, Todd co-founded Hi-Rez Studios, one of the largest video game studios in the Southeast with 120 million players of their games. Todd is currently Founder & CEO of Skillshot Media, a leading esports production company, CEO of esports professional org Ghost Gaming, Chair of the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (NASEF), and Chair of the Atlanta Esports Alliance. Skillshot connects leading brands to engaged esports fans. The company has produced thousands of esports events and live-stream productions, paid out over $10M in prizing for competitive video games, and delivered over 1 billion views of esports content. Ghost Gaming is an Atlanta-based professional esports team and gaming lifestyle brand that has won 15 tournament championships and cultivated a fan base of over 20 million. NASEF is the leading scholastic esports solution for K-12 students, providing opportunities for all students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. Atlanta Esports Alliance is a division of the Atlanta Sports Council with a mission to establish Metro Atlanta as a global esports capital.
Jordan Eggleston currently serves as an XR Developer at Futurus, an Atlanta-based software development company specializing in virtual reality production. As a part of project teams that create training simulations for enterprise customers such as Walmart, Delta, Georgia-Pacific, and Mars, he has programmed interactivity, choice-based flows, scoring, and locally networked multiplayer. His projects have reached thousands of employees to help them perform their jobs more safely and efficiently. In addition to development, Jordan works with motion capture and polishing animations through Unity's timeline system. Jordan also acts as the Lead Developer and Animator for Mop Boy Studios, an award-winning independent game development studio. Their first major title, Mop Boy, features a blend of energetic 2D action-platforming and relaxing story-driven gameplay. It's been showcased at a variety of conventions like Southern Fried Gaming Expo, Momocon, Dreamhack Atlanta, and SIEGECON. Always looking for an excuse to animate, Jordan keeps his skills sharp with personal and commissioned projects for games, trailers, music videos, and more.
Skillshot Media is one the nation's leading esports production companies - having produced over 1000 events, paid out over $10M in esports prizing, and delivered over 1B esports video views. Attendees will see behind-the-scenes of a live esports production from this location.
Ghost Gaming is an Atlanta-based organization cultivating the best talent in gaming, providing platforms to create unique partnerships in sports, music, lifestyle and entertainment. Attendees can check out the environment where big-names in the industry have gone to innovate.