Variety Announces 10 Animators to Watch and Domee Shi as Honoree for Annual Animators Event

variety.com:

William Earl Variety and Nickelodeon are joining forces again for this year’s 10 Animators to Watch event in Los Angeles. The in-person cocktail party and awards ceremony on Oct.

6 will celebrate rising creators in the animation space who are leaving their mark on the industry. This year’s class of trailblazing storytellers includes: Fawn Veerasunthorn, director, “Wish” (Walt Disney Animation Studios, 2023); Karissa Valencia, creator and showrunner, “Spirit Rangers”; Juston Gordon-Montgomery, creator, “Invincible Fight Girl”; Christian Linke and Alex Yee, creators, “Arcane”; Neeraja Raj, creator, “Meow or Never”; Shea Fontana, co-EP, “Monster High”; Arthur Fong, art director, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”; Sergio Valdivia, stop-motion animator, “Pinocchio”; Natasha Kline, creator, “Primos”; and Joe Bennett, director, writer, animator, “Scavengers Reign.” Additionally, Pixar Animation Studios filmmaker Domee Shi will receive the 2022 Creative Impact in Animation award.

Shi is one of the most exciting voices in animation. A former Variety 10 Animators to Watch recipient, she has had a hand in creating some of the most important animated features in recent years, including “Inside Out,” “Incredibles 2” and “Toy Story 4.” In 2019, she won an Oscar for “Bao,” which she directed and wrote.

This year, Shi’s feature directorial debut, “Turning Red,” marked an exciting new peak in her already impressive career. She is also a part of Pixar’s creative leadership team, where, in her role as creative vice president, she is involved in key creative decision-making at the studio and consults on films in both development and production. “I am so grateful to be partnering with Variety for the eighth year as we celebrate