FMX is celebrating its 25th anniversary under this year’s motto “Imagine Tomorrow”. You can still purchase tickets for FMX 2020 with an early bird discount here in the Ticket Shop until 13 March 2020. In addition to other programme items, the first episode of the official FMX 2020 trailer series Mulm is also online.
FMX 2020 new speakers
All speakers confirmed for FMX 2020 can be found on the FMX website. A full description of the FMX 2020 tracks and curators has been available on the websitesince the beginning of February.
Klaus – Sergio Pablos Animation Studios
Director Sergio Pablos (Sergio Pablos Animation Studios) will talk about the highly acclaimed film Klaus, which has just won seven Annie Awards (including Best Feature) and is also nominated for Academy Awards (for Best Animated Feature), BAFTA Awards and VES Awards – and is the first original animated Netflix film. Sergio Pablos is known for having worked as supervising animator on Disney films such as Tarzan and Treasure Planet, and for developing the base story for films such as Despicable Me and Smallfoot. His career in animation spans three decades. “If there’s one thing I’ ve learnt after 30 years of working in animation, it’s that you can’t predict the future,” he says. “So many predictions that were considered certain have not materialised, and so many unexpected developments have occurred that have changed the industry forever. But as a filmmaker working in animation, I try to focus on the things that are an essential part of human nature in my stories, things like empathy and emotion, because those will always exist.”
Image Engine: Carnival Row
From werewolves to the Dark Asher, the design, look and animation of some of the murderous creatures from Amazon Prime’s fantasy series Carnival Row will be the topic of Animation Supervisor Jenn Taylor ‘s (Image Engine) talk at FMX 2020. She will discuss how Image Engine’s pipeline has evolved to create complex creatures for the small screen. In her career, she has worked on titles such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Game of Thrones and Lost in Space. Jenn Taylor on the future of animation: ” With the entertainment trend towards streaming media, we’re getting more opportunities to create high-quality , feature film-quality visual effects. I’m excited about the content that’s already being produced and I expect we’ll continue to see more, with higher and higher standards. This is positive for both viewers and artists! We all want to create content that we are proud of, and with the increasing number of streaming platforms and series releases, we continue to be inspired and incentivised to improve year on year.”
Phil Davies and Preppa Pig
Phil Davies (The Elf Factory) has been producing television programmes and animation projects since the early 1980s and has won six BAFTAs and an Emmy Award. Most recently he has produced two multi-award winning animated series for children – Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. At FMX 2020, Phil Davies will give a talk about Peppa Pig , which has been sold in over 180 countries worldwide and has spawned a huge licensing programme. It is currently the number one pre-school brand in the UK, Spain, Italy and Australia, with major rollouts in the USA, China, South America and Russia. Good prospects for the future – how does Phil Davies himself envisage the future? “‘Tomorrow’s world’ was one of my favourite shows as a child. I always loved exploring new technologies, new ideas and new ways of working. Technology may evolve, but the basic rules of storytelling still apply, no matter what marvellous new device might be invented, either next week or in the next millennia.”
Half-Life: Alyx
Joe van den Heuvel is a software engineer at Valve, where he focuses on improving real-time animation. He is responsible for developing the Source 2 engine’s new runtime animation system, which is being used for the first time in the game Half-Life: Alyx, as well as SteamVR’s Skeletal Input API. After nearly two decades of developing animation and physics technology used to bring characters to life, he is more excited than ever about the new opportunities VR offers audiences to connect with virtual characters.
FMX 2020 Trailer Mulm
The FMX trailers are traditionally created by the students of the FMX organiser Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. For the 25th anniversary, the animated short film Mulm forms the basis for a trailer series with four episodes, which gives the FMX its design for the year 2020. Mulm (Director: Carol Ratajczak, Tobias Trebeljahr | Producer: Laura Messner | Technical Director: Seyed Ahmad Hosseini | Sound Design: Marc Fragstein | Film Music: Alexander David Wolf) shows a visual trip through the distorted perception of the protagonist, an obsessive physicist who observes a distant celestial body that emits impulses. But something is constantly nagging him, keeping him from his work and driving him mad… Watch the first trailer here:
FMX 2020 Forum
Foundry is back on board as a main partner at the FMX Forum this year – the software company is inviting the public to its Company Suite. Golaem, BenQ, Qualisys, Rokoko and Substance by Adobe will be represented with stands in the Marketplace. Workshops will be offered by Substance by Adobe, PocketStudio and Pixar’s RenderMan. Scanline VFX, Electric Theatre Collective, Rise FX, Framestore, Blue Zoo, Axis Studios and Spellwork Pictures will be participating in the Recruiting Hub. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the University of South Wales, the TH Mittelhessen, the Merz Akademie – Hochschule für Gestaltung, Kunst und Medien Stuttgart and the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf can be announced for the School Campus.
Early Birds availability
You can still purchase early bird tickets for this year’s conference in the Ticket Shop until 13 March 2020. For all four days (5 to 8 May), students can currently still get the conference pass for €180, professionals for €400.
Further information: To the FMX 2020 website
