First Look: World Animation and VFX Summit Awards Gala in Photos

The Eighth Edition of the  World Animation and VFX Summit got off to a festive start Sunday night (Nov. 7) with a gorgeous gala honoring the 2021 Hall of Fame award winners. Held at the historic North Hollywood hotel The Garland, right in the heart of “Toon Town,” the inspiring  and fun-filled ceremony and cocktail reception sponsored by Nickelodeon preceded three days of panels, networking opportunities and screenings during the live edition of the event (Nov. 7-10).

This year’s honorees were:

• Gaumont Animation: International Studio of the Year. Award presented to U.S. President Nicolas Atlan and Exec VP of Creative Content Terry Kalagian.  Presenter: Animation producer and former Warner Bros. Animation president Sander Schwartz.
• Phil Lord & Chris Miller. The innovative producers of Sony Pictures Animation’s critically acclaimed features Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and this year’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Award presented by Sony Pictures Animation’s president Kristine Belson.
• Tom McGrath. The acclaimed director of DreamWorks Animation’s two Boss Baby features, three Madagascar features and Megamind will receive the Hall of Fame: Billion Dollar Director Award. Award presented by DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn.
• Chris Meledandri. Founder/CEO of Illumination Entertainment and creator of Despicable Me, the world’s most successful animated franchise in cinematic history and the upcoming feature Sing 2. He received the 2021 Vanguard Award from acclaimed actor/writer and show producer Nick Kroll (Big Mouth).
• Chris Nee. Creator of Disney’s Peabody Award-winning series Doc McStuffins, Vampirina and Netflix’s We the People, Ridley Jones and Ada Twist, Scientist. Award presented by animation veteran Jorge R. Gutierrez, creator of Maya and the Three and The Book of Life.
• Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Oscar-nominated director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and supervising director of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series Love, Death + Robots Volume 2. Award presented by Victoria L. Howard, producer of Love, Death + Robots and Tim Miller, Founder and head of Blur Studio and creator/exec producer of Love, Death + Robots.
• Bruce Smith. Trailblazing creator of The Proud Family and the upcoming Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder and director of Bébé’s Kids. Award presented by Ralph Farquhar, producer, The Proud Family and Da Jammies.
• Cree Summer. Beloved animation voice actress, best known for her work on Rugrats, Kid Cosmic, Muppet Babies, DC Super Hero Girls, Vampirina, Voltron Legendary Defender, Dawn of the Croods and many others. Award presented by Charlie Adler, veteran animation voice director and actor.

The awards ceremony was hosted by talented voice actress Dina Sherman, best known as the voice of the Annies. The Summit was produced by Animation Magazine’s event director Kim Derevlany. (Check back later for a look at the event’s packed parties, panels and screenings!)

You can check out more photos from the Summit gala here: https://www.facebook.com/AnimationMagazine/photos.

Learn more at www.animationmagazine.net/summit.