[ JURY ]

[ JURY ]

ALFREDO
MARUN

He is currently a Director of Development at Disney Television Animation who works closely with creators to develop new animated series based on original ideas as well as Disney heritage properties for Disney Channel. Prior to Disney, Alfredo worked at Dreamworks Animation Television developing series for Netflix, Amazon and other streaming platforms including the upcoming series, ‘Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts’. With over ten years of experience in entertainment-both in live action and animation-Alfredo is always looking for unique stories that haven’t been told before and that push the envelope. He got his start in the entertainment industry working at Scott Rudin Productions before moving over to Matt Tolmach Productions. Alfredo is a native of Colombia who now resides in Los Angeles, California. He loves all things animation, animals and cooking.

Photo by Agata Grzybowska – www.agatagrzybowska.com

ANJA
FRANCZAK

Creative producer at Human Ark since 2012, responsible for the development of feature films and series. Currently preparing production of the family comedy ‘Diplodocus’, an animated feature film based on the comic books by Tadeusz Baranowski. Anja is a graduate of the “Creative Producers” course at Wajda Film School in Warsaw. Studied in Germany, Croatia and Italy and holds
 a degree in Cultural Studies / Scenic Arts with a focus on Film and Media. She worked on feature films, TV documentaries and commercials in Germany and Switzerland before joining Warsaw-based world sales agent New Europe in 2010. Anja is co-founder of the Association of Polish Animation Producers and a member of the European Film Academy. From 2015 till 2017 she was part of the nomination committee for the animation category at the European Film Awards. Besides her activities in the animation film industry, Anja is a grief counsellor and works with people after the loss of a loved one.

SIMÓN
VARELA

Production Designer and Visual Development Artist for several studios, including Pixar Animation Studios, Disney Feature Animation Studios, Warner Bros Feature Animation Studios, Sony Animation, Fox Animation and Universal Animation Studios, among others. He studied illustration at the Art Center Colllege of Design in Pasadena. Life led him to a small animation studio in 1990 in the city of Burbank, California, beginning his professional career in animation. He has worked on more than 25 feature film productions, including iconic films such as ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘WALL-E’, ‘The Thief and the Cobbler’, ‘The Corpse of the Bride’ and ‘Ice Age’. The last six years his focus has been on independent productions in different parts of the world, participating as Production Designer in ‘The Book of Life’, ‘Animal Crackers’ and ‘Koati’. He currently resides in his country El Salvador.

VERA
VERBA

YouTube Manager at Sesame Workshop, specializing in content programming and strategy. Vera has managed operations for the Sesame Street YouTube channel since 2017, driving its growth from 3 million subscribers, to over 10 million. Her passion for creating quality educational preschool content has earned her several Telly Awards, including ‘I Love Trash Animated Lyric Video’ and ‘Cookie Shark’. In addition to producing original digital content, she also heads up strategic digital partnerships and collaborations. In her free time, she studies and practices Argentine Tango.

VERONIQUE
ENCRENAZ

She obtained her Master’s degree in Applied Foreign Languages in 1987. She wrote her thesis in the United States and perfected her Spanish during a 6-month stay in Madrid. Between 1988 and 1994, after a brief stint at Acteurs Auteurs Associés where she began her professional career, she joined Président Films, an export company of French films. For the next two years, she continued in the same position in the film department at France Télévisions Distribution in Paris. Her arrival in Annecy, at the beginning of 2005, gave her opportunity to join CITIA team. She spent her first four years working as a Sales Assistant for the MIFA before taking on the job of Sales Manager until 2011, then Mifa’s Head Projects 2018, in charge of developing and marketing the spaces events for film Market. Since July 2018, Véronique Encrenaz is Head of MIFA, under the authority Mickael Marin, CEO of CITIA.