SMART COLLABORATION – embracing new technical tools in animation

Throughout her career in animation Lilian has focused on international animated feature films, both 2d and CGI and animated tv series. Her credits include a variety of animated feature films as Asterix and The Vikings, The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer, Help I’m a Fish and The Fearless Four, Latte and the magic waterstone, and also highly acclaimed TV series such as LEGO Chima.

Lilian Klages is a professor at the Film Academy/Animation Institute in Ludwigsburg, a curator for the case study conference at Animation Production Days and a founding member of Women in Animation/Germany.

Kim is the Director of Real-Time production at Nexus Studios, where she is leading studio initiatives in real-time animation production across original TV and film, branded content and immersive storytelling, and supporting the growth of Nexus Interactive Arts.

She is the Co-Founder of Adventure Lab, a social VR platform that connects audiences with virtual, live hosted, interactive adventures.

Before that, Kim led a team at Facebook in developing the AR “Storytime” app for Facebook’s Portal video device. Kim was the Head of Production and Executive Producer at Oculus Story Studio, shepherding the development of the Emmy Award-winning narrative VR project, Wolves in the Walls. Previous to that, Kim was at Google Spotlight Stories, and Pixar Animation Studios. Working between Walt Disney Studio, Pixar Canada, and Pixar, Kim produced 13 short films within the beloved Toy Story and Cars franchises. Previous to Pixar, Kim served as a visual effects producer on several films including Apocalypto, and worked on the Oscar-nominated visual effects for Master and Commander.

Julia produced some of the Nexus Studios’s most notable work, including the most awarded ad of the decade Honda ‘Grrrr’, recipient of the highly coveted, Cannes Film Grand Prix Award, as well as the Grammy-nominated music video for Franz Ferdinand ‘Take me Out’, no name but a few.

Julia also held the post of Head of Production at Nexus, where she brought her versatile and proactive skillset for almost a decade and oversaw the diverse creative output of the entire studio, ranging from high-profile film work such as the Oscar-nominated ‘This Way Up’, the title sequence for ‘Catch Me If You Can’ with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, several award winning commercials for the likes of Chipotle and Coca Cola, and ground-breaking XR experiences for the global consumer tech leaders.

Most recently, in the role of Executive Producer, Julia has established and nurtured long-standing relationships with further global brands such as Amazon Studios, Netflix, Headspace, Facebook, Google and Duolingo. She often works across platforms and is most interested in exploring how working at the cutting edge of technology can be enhanced with exceptional design and powerful storytelling, which has led her to spearheading a host of projects developed using Real-Time technology.

In 2019, Julia was named ‘Pitch Superwoman’, a UK industry award that recognises trailblazing women and their contributions.

Phil is Head of Real-Time at Blue-Zoo, researching, developing and testing new technology and workflows to help the studio achieve it’s ambition of working in the best ways for the benefit of the business and artists. From researching rendering tech and programming a VR-puppet in Unreal Engine, to doing push-ups to test a new Motion-Capture suit, the department strives to stay ahead of the game.

Animation Production Days (APD) is a curated business platform for the German and international animation industry, which will take place for the sixteenth time from 4 – 6 May 2022. In exclusive pre-planned one-to-one meetings producers present their fresh ideas for animated feature films, TV series, games or transmedia projects to broadcasters, streamers, investors, distributors and potential co-production partners. Trends and challenges of the industry will be discussed at the APD Conference. In addition, APD offers various networking events with industry participants from the partner events ITFS and FMX.

APD is a joint venture of Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film (ITFS) and FMX – Film & Media Exchange.

Further information: www.animationproductiondays.de/en