The Savannah College of Art and Design will bring SCAD AnimationFest back to SCAD Atlanta Sept. 23-25, staging three days of premieres, sneak peeks and industry conversation at the university’s SCADshow theater. The anniversary program will be leaning on two marquee tributes: a 25th-anniversary celebration of “The Proud Family,” honoring executive producers Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar, and a closing-night premiere of DreamWorks Animation’s “Forgotten Island,” with director and writer Joel Crawford — an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominee — collecting the Variety Impact in Animation Award.
The anniversary edition arrives with two notable additions. SCAD is launching its inaugural Animated Shorts Competition, and the festival becomes the new home of Variety’s 10 Animators to Watch, a franchise first launched in 2015 that makes its SCAD AnimationFest debut this year.
“SCAD AnimationFest is a unique opportunity to discover and celebrate creators, both students and professionals, who are carving out their own space in the animation landscape,” said Mollie Brock, director of SCADFILM. “To celebrate our 10th year, we are launching our inaugural Animated Shorts Competition and we are the new home to Variety’s prestigious 10 Animators to Watch.”
Smith, the series creator and executive producer, and Farquhar, executive producer, will receive the Animation Trailblazer Award, recognizing a show that reshaped what mainstream animation could look like and still resonates through “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.” SCADFILM’s signature digital-media festival will convene executives and creatives from Adult Swim, Prime Video, Awesome Inc., Bento Box Entertainment, CBS Studios, Crunchyroll, Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks Animation, Fox Entertainment, LAIKA, Marvel Animation, Paramount+, Pixar Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Television, Titmouse, Walt Disney Imagineering and Warner Bros Pictures Animation. Woven throughout is a spotlight on SCAD students and alumni working at the leading edge of animation, motion-media design and visual effects.
“Animation continues to be one of SCAD’s most popular degree programs and this incredible signature event provides students unique access to the creatives leading in the industry,” said Jud Estes, associate dean of the SCAD School of Animation and Motion. “We have alumni from our school of animation and motion working and innovating around the globe, and we are thrilled to welcome many of them back to SCAD for this year’s event to share their experiences with the next generation of SCAD graduates.”
The festival opens Wednesday with the Animated Shorts Competition, then hands the floor to Warner Bros Pictures Animation for an exclusive sneak peek at “The Cat in the Hat,” the first animated theatrical feature built around Dr. Seuss’ iconic character, with Bill Hader voicing the Cat ahead of the film’s November release. Wednesday also brings special screenings of new series “President Curtis” and “Helluva Boss,” the latter featuring voice actors Richard Horvitz and Brandon Rogers, alongside the recently released “Toy Story 5″ and “Avatar: Aang the Last Airbender.” After the “Avatar” screening, director Lauren Montgomery joins attendees for a conversation on the vision, storytelling and artistry behind bringing Aang’s world to the big screen.
Thursday opens with “The Magic of SCAD Alumni: Inside Walt Disney Imagineering,” a behind-the-scenes panel with university alumni who have turned their craft into careers building theme-park experiences.
A Warner Bros. Animation double feature follows, starting with “Batman: Knightfall — Part 1: Knightfall,” adapted from one of the most beloved sagas in “Batman” comics history and followed by a conversation with Peter Girardi, executive vice president for alternative programming and creative affairs, and supervising producer Rick Morales. The pair returns for “GET JIRO,” the new Adult Swim series based on the graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose, joined by executive producers and showrunners Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka for a talk on adapting Bourdain and Rose’s singular vision into a world that blends food, action and dark comedy.
Thursday’s slate also includes Sony Pictures Television’s “Universal Basic Guys,” co-created and executive produced by brothers Adam Malamut and Craig Malamut, with a third season set to premiere Sunday, Sept. 27, plus the acclaimed “Hoppers.” The day closes with the North American premiere of “Sekiro: No Defeat,” presented exclusively by Crunchyroll. Directed by Kenichi Kutsuna at studio Qzil.la and based on FromSoftware’s “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” the hand-drawn 2D adaptation lands in Atlanta following its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, with Crunchyroll senior vice president of content Adam Zehner introducing the screening.
The 25th-anniversary “Proud Family” celebration and the Animation Trailblazer Award presentation to Smith and Farquhar anchor the Thursday program.
Friday begins with an exclusive sneak peek at LAIKA’s stop-motion feature “Wildwood.” LAIKA head of animation Brad Schiff and SCAD alum and stop-motion animator Tilly Fidler (B.F.A., animation, 2022) will take audiences inside the painstaking process behind director Travis Knight’s upcoming epic.
The closing day also features a special screening of the new series “Golden Axe,” a deep dive into Marvel Animation’s “X-Men ’97” with supervising producer Jake Castorena and Variety’s 10 Animators to Watch presentation. Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis will host a conversation with this year’s honorees, a dynamic class whose work is helping shape where the medium heads next. The list of 10 honorees will be announced on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Closing night will also belong to “Forgotten Island.” Crawford, who recently marked his 20th anniversary with DreamWorks, will accept the Variety Impact in Animation Award before taking the stage for a conversation on the creative journey behind the film and the career that has established him as one of animation’s most exciting filmmakers.
Rounding out the program are a look at independent studios and two curated showcases for SCAD talent: “Draw Your Own Path: Independent Animation Studios,” “From SCAD to the Studio: Alumni Voices,” and “Next in Animation: SCAD Student Spotlight.”
SCAD’s animation program has been named a top U.S. program year after year by Animation Career Review, and the School of Animation and Motion unites the university’s animation, motion-media design and visual effects offerings under one roof.
Animated Shorts Competition (inaugural)“The Cat in the Hat” — exclusive sneak peek, presented by Warner Bros Pictures Animation (Bill Hader voices the Cat; in theaters November)“President Curtis” — special screening“Helluva Boss” — special screening, featuring voice actors Richard Horvitz and Brandon Rogers“Toy Story 5″ — screening“Avatar: Aang the Last Airbender” — screening, followed by a conversation with director Lauren Montgomery
“The Magic of SCAD Alumni: Inside Walt Disney Imagineering” — panel discussion“Batman: Knightfall — Part 1: Knightfall” — special screening, followed by a conversation with Peter Girardi and Rick Morales“GET JIRO” — special screening (Adult Swim), with Peter Girardi, Rick Morales, Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka“Universal Basic Guys” — screening (Sony Pictures Television), from Adam Malamut and Craig Malamut (Season 3 premieres Sunday, Sept. 27)“Hoppers” — screening25th-anniversary celebration of “The Proud Family” with Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar — Animation Trailblazer Award presentation“Sekiro: No Defeat” — North American premiere, presented exclusively by Crunchyroll, introduced by Adam Zehner
“Wildwood” — exclusive sneak peek (LAIKA), with Brad Schiff and Tilly Fidler“Golden Axe” — special screening“X-Men ’97” — an in-depth look with supervising producer Jake CastorenaVariety’s 10 Animators to Watch — presentation and conversation hosted by Clayton Davis“Forgotten Island” — closing-night premiere (DreamWorks Animation); Joel Crawford receives the Variety Impact in Animation Award, followed by a conversation moderated by Clayton Davis
“Draw Your Own Path: Independent Animation Studios”“From SCAD to the Studio: Alumni Voices”“Next in Animation: SCAD Student Spotlight”