Panels

We are thrilled to present our 2020 Panel Discussions featuring a wide variety of accomplished industry professionals and university professors! Our panel discussions are designed to provide in-depth and diverse conversations on specific film production topics, helping our community further expand and develop their craft.

*All 2020 Panel Discussions are available exclusively for our All-Access passholders on our Eventive virtual festival platform.

**Panels will premiere beginning on October 5th and will remain available through January 1, 2021 for your continued enjoyment!

“Art of Animation” Panel - Moderated by Tyler Sandifer

Date: Thursday, October 8th 2020 at 8PM EST

(Only on our Eventive Virtual Platform, exclusively to All-Access Passholders)

Join us for an epic and informative conversation with true legends of Hollywood Animation as they discuss how they broke into the industry, their unique experiences, insights about specific projects and, of course, real-world advice for our community of emerging animators and filmmakers. Panelists include: Production Coordinator: Walt Disney Animation Studios, NYFA Chair of the Animation & Visual Effects: credits include of 100 film projects including Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, Tremors, Batman Returns, Ghostbusters and Return of the Living Dead, MCAD professor and Senior Animation Supervisor at Rhythm and Hues: a Los Angeles-based Academy Award-winning studio and one of the world's leading producers of animation and visual effects, FSU professor and veteran animator with over 20 years experience, SCAD professor and an artistic instructor for Disney, Dreamworks and Electronic Arts with credits including the games and films: "Madden," "NCAA," "Superman," "AFL," "NFL Street," "Prince of Egypt," "Mulan," "Lilo and Stitch," "Dinosaur" and "Brother Bear", and an Indiana University professor who is the Originator & Executive Producer of the BATMAN movie franchise.

Since graduating college, Tyler Sandifer has worked in a variety of roles in the animation industry. With experience in feature and television animation as well as video games, he has been a storyboard artist, animator, and worked in production management.  He is currently a production coordinator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Craig Caton-Largent, Chair of the Animation & Visual Effects Department at the New York Film Academy, has been creating VFX for the motion picture industry for over 40 years and has contributed to over 100 films. He has created animatronic puppets and worked as a puppeteer on movies such as Jurassic Park, Terminator 2, Tremors, Batman Returns, Ghostbusters and Return of the Living Dead. In addition, he has maintained and puppeteered "E.T., The Extraterrestrial" for commercials and public appearances since 1992.   

Craig has also worked as a Previs / Layout Artist on many films including How To Train Your Dragon 2, Turbo, Rise of the Guardians, Tangled, Total Recall and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.  Working for Stan Winston, Craig supervised the creation of a network of Silicon Graphics workstations that would later become part of Digital Domain when Stan partnered with James Cameron and Scott Ross. Craig is credited as one of the eight co-founders of Digital Domain.

Kristin Solid is a St. Paul-based 3D animator and professor. She has animated and supervised on over 20 Hollywood feature films, and on numerous games and commercials. Most recently, she been animating shots and supervising a team of animators in Los Angeles, Vancouver, and India on the feature film The Yinyang Master, set to premiere in 2020.

Before relocating to Minnesota in 2013, Kristin worked as Senior Animation Supervisor at Rhythm and Hues, a Los Angeles-based Academy Award-winning studio and one of the world's leading producers of animation and visual effects. Kristin has also worked at ILM (Transformers), Weta (King Kong), and on Tim Burton's film, '9'.

Kristin Solid graduated from St. Olaf and received an M.F.A. in Animation from U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television.

Jason Maurer, a veteran of more than 20 years in the animation and motion picture industry, specializing in story, pre-visualization, and direction, strives to entertain while educating audiences in his award-winning work, often on socially-difficult topics. He currently spends his time expanding the minds of talented college students at FSU, exploring the exciting nuances and power of real time film making in UE4, and endlessly doodling with his children.

Having worked in the feature animation and game industries for a dozen years, Tina O'Hailey gives her animation students a sense of what to expect in production.

O'Hailey is the author of "Hybrid Animation", "Rig it Right", "Absolute Darkness", and "When Darkness Begins" with a B.F.A. in Computer Animation and a M.S.I.T. in Object Oriented Programming.

Prior to SCAD, O'Hailey worked in the artist development department as an artistic instructor for Disney, Dreamworks and Electronic Arts.

She has taught artists in every department of the animation and game production process including the games and films: "Madden," "NCAA," "Superman," "AFL," "NFL Street," "Prince of Egypt," "Mulan," "Lilo and Stitch," "Dinosaur" and "Brother Bear."

Michael Uslan, Originator & Executive Producer of the BATMAN movie franchise, from 1989’s BATMAN to 2019’s JOKER as well as Professor of Practice at The Media School at Indiana University. 

“Virtual Production: Navigating the New Normal” Panel - Moderated by Andrew Jenks

Date: Monday, October 5th 2020 at 8PM EST

(Only on our Eventive Virtual Platform, exclusively to All-Access Passholders)

Join us for an eye-opening and hyper-relevant conversation with elite industry insiders and moderator and AAHSFF Founder, Andrew Jenks, as they discuss everything you need to know about creating content virtually. The informative conversation reveals essential tips and tricks you need to know to make virtual collaborations with a profound impact.

Often dubbed 'the voice of his generation', Andrew Jenks is the co-founder of AAHSFF and an  award-winning filmmaker that has lived and filmed all over the world. Andrew’s film and television credits include: ANDREW JENKS, ROOM 335, an international hit released by HBO to rave reviews and critical acclaim; ESPN’s THE ZEN OF BOBBY V, which premiered at the 2008 TriBeca Film Festival; MTV’s WORLD OF JENKS, which shares intimate disparate lives and in the process pioneers a new style of storytelling for the millennial generation; GANT clothing’s IT’S ABOUT A GIRL; ESPN 30 for 30 short POSTERIZED; CNN Films’ ALL AMERICAN FAMILY and most recently, DREAM/KILLER, which premiered at the 2015 TriBeca Film Festival and of which the New York Times said “elicits incredulity, frustration and astonishment…fast-paced and frightening.” Jenks is also the author of Scholastic Books “Andrew Jenks; My Adventures as a Young Filmmaker”. Currently, Jenks is the writer and host of “What Really Happened” and “Gangster Capitalism” documentary podcast series (co-produced) by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions.

Jonathan Whittaker, Chair of the Short-term Intensive Programs and Co-Chair of the Virtual Reality Department at The New York Film Academy, is a partner and founding member of ManInHat, a New York based production company. With over nineteen years of experience in the film industry, having produced, directed and lensed short films, music videos, live concerts, commercials, TV shows, features, docs, virtual reality experiences and 3D specials, he is never one to shy away from a new challenge. Nissan, Sony Pictures, DirecTV, Gillette, Hyundai and Sports Illustrated are just a few of his clients and collaborators. When he is not on set or in an edit you can usually find him at the head of a lecture hall sharing his thoughts on the art of cinematography and the director’s craft. In addition to being a resident professor at The New York Film Academy he has also given guest lectures all over the globe including the venerable Beijing Film Academy, Shanghai Theater Academy and Dar El-Hekma (in KSA).

Craig Laurence Rice is a long established educator, diverse entertainment executive, entrepreneur and an award-winning producer and director internationally recognized for his distinguished career in the film, video and television industries. 

He was also Executive Producer / Director for the feature length documentary Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks for HBO, which was nominated for three Emmy awards, and an NAACP Image Award.  The documentary was also selected to the Museum of Television and Radio in the year 2000, and won the Tree of Life Award from The Friends of the Motion Picture Academy. Additional various credits on several feature-length films including Graffiti Bridge, Purple Rain, Brother From Another Planet and Joe Somebody.

Notable television credits include Producer of We Teach Our Children for CBS,  Executive Producer on the nationally syndicated series Million Dollar Idea, Producer for the 90-minute PBS variety show A The Prairie Home Companion 30th, Producer for New Dramas for Television for The Eugene O’ Neill Theater Center for 4 seasons. Laurel Avenue a limited series for HBO, Once Upon A Tree series for Animal Planet.

Rice currently is developing a dramatic television series entitled The Black Panthers for HBO.

As a commercial award-winning director, Rice has helmed commercials for clients such as Amoco, Nike, Target, Kraft, United Way, McDonald’s, and the Partnership for Drug Free America. And most recently producer of two Silver Clio award winning spots for Hamburger Helper.

He has also directed dozens of music videos with artists including Prince, Mavis Staples, Mazarati, Patti LaBelle, and Sounds of Blackness.

In addition, he has an outstanding career in the music industry as a manager working with a number of international recording artists including Bobby Brown, Prince, Pink Floyd, Taj Mahal, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and World Voices.

He is a professor at McNally Smith College of Music and Minneapolis College of Art and  Design. 

Rice holds a Production Degree from the University of Southern California Cinema Department, also the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and a Liberal Arts degree from Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

Quinlan Orear is a Writer, Director, and Producer of both Film and Theater. His film "Seeking: Jack Tripper" has screened at over a dozen film festivals across the country, winning Audience and Jury Awards alike. His film "Little Shadow" was long-listed for the BAFTA and nominated for an Artios Award. Quinlan is the Associate Chair of Film & Television at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Atlanta location.