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LIAF presents the 2022 UK Animation Industry Event – seven panels giving insider access to some of the hottest topics of the year. We’ve gathered together some of the most passionate, honest and insightful experts from a wide range of different areas and backgrounds who are ready to cover all manner of vital topics to give you much food for thought.
Animation doesn’t stand still; and debates and discussions with animators and creative experts are the best way to get in touch with what’s happening, whether it’s a look into the minds of some of the most creative forces making music videos in the 2020’s, a discussion on the career paths of women in the industry over the last decades, where AI Generated Imagery might be going, whether animation can be a viable and satisfying career for people who are neurodiverse, what the Metaverse might offer animators and can animation be a business as well as an artform.
For anyone currently working in the film and animation industry, thinking of working in the industry or just plain curious, these seven talks are indispensable.
The panels will be chaired by Saint John Walker, Dean/Director of Industry Engagement at Escape Studios, Julian Scott, animation consultant at Film London and Dara McGarry, Director of Outreach at DNEG Animation.
LIAF 2022: UK Animation Industry Event Session 3 – Animating the Metaverse: What the Metaverse might offer Animators
This year was the year of speculation about the Metaverse. There are signs the technology might be there to start creating this network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection and commerce. Should animators keep an eye on developments in this area? What kind of opportunities may emerge – in games or wider community platforms? Will there be a need for animated content beyond games, and if so, what might that be, and how might today’s animators prepare for new work the metaverse might require?
Panellists
Moderator: Saint John Walker, Dean/Director of Industry Engagement at Escape Studios

Saint is the author of the Core Skills of VFX Handbook and has designed and run VFX courses across the UK. He has been LIAF’s industry panel coordinator and chair for several years, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. At Escape he has chaired panel discussions for the annual VFX Festival, and has taken part in many Access:VFX activities online and in person.
Kadine James

Kadine is a Global Metaverse Strategist at Accenture and CEO and Founder of The Immersive KIND NFT Gallery and 3D Crypto Fashion House. Kadine is listed as one of the top 10 most influential women Metaverse Founders working in DigitaL Fashion, 3D Printing, augmented reality, virtual reality, spatial computing, XR, immersive gaming, and innovation. A pioneer in leading change in the immersive technology industry. She works at the intersection of future technology, strategy, and storytelling, engaging audiences across the globe around the future applications of emerging technologies.
Kevin Sharpley

Kevin Sharpley is the founder of Kijik Multimedia Inc. a full-service multi-media company with specialties in integrated, branded and convergent media and development of in-house projects. His range of work includes film, television, web, documentary, computer graphics, gaming, augmented and virtual reality, animation, metaverse, NFT, new media and more. He is also a founder of the company Xavatar which produces animated, universally native, autonomous avatars for video telecom, and a metaverse and animated show-The Sync Report, for them to inhabit. He has produced and directed projects across mediums and worked with Danny Glover, Wycleff Jean, David Lynch, Tommy Flanagan, Michael Chiklis and Daryl Hannah.
Gianfranco Bianchi

Gianfranco Bianchi is a founder and the CCO of Xavatar LTD. He is the creator of the original Xavatar avatars, the artistic look and feel of the company and The Sync Report. He is a multi-dimensional visual artist, learning and embracing all the ways one can tell a story visually. He started his career creating still architectural visualisations that became animations, visual effects for films, music videos and short films. His latest project has been creating an interactive experience mobile app for the Opera in Lausanne as well as creating an animated short film that is making the festival rounds.
Jo Redfern

Jo Redfern is a leader in children’s media with almost 2 decades’ experience in content strategy. She has worked on brands such as Peppa Pig, and at a variety of broadcasters and studios such as Disney and BBC’s Children’s and Education. Her passion is for developing content at the intersection of entertainment, education and technology, primarily across digital platforms such as YouTube, Roblox, TikTok & Fortnite, thus engaging young people where they spend most time. Of late, she is creating strategies for how young people will consume media in the ‘metaverse’ and using it to develop opportunities for new kids’ IP. Her passion is to create future-forward brands that make young people happy, that spark their imaginations and that make learning enjoyable.
Our Funding Partners

With Special Thanks to the Arts Council England

Event supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.