What is NeW NeW?

After earning a Film Studies degree at Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal began as a director before transitioning to production. In 2009, he founded Miyu Productions, specializing in animated films. The company now operates studios in Paris, Angoulême, Valence, and Brussels, producing award-winning short films, audiovisual works, and feature films. Notable successes include 27 by Flora Anna Buda, winner of the 2023 Cannes Short Film Palme d’Or, and Chicken for Linda! by Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach, which won the Cristal Award for Best Feature at the 2023 Annecy Festival. He also established the first contemporary art gallery dedicated to the visual and artistic work of animation filmmakers, integrating animation techniques into contemporary art. Emmanuel-Alain is actively involved in Miyu’s networks, collaborating with broadcasters, institutions, and schools, driving new projects, and discovering emerging talents. His accolades include the Trophée de l’Animation (2019), French Animation Producer of the Year (2022), and French personality of the Year (2023). In 2024, he won a César for Chicken for Linda! and received the IFCIC film producer prize. He also programs the Festival du Film d’Animation des Villes Sœurs and co-authored Domenica, published by Albin Michel in 2023.

Fabian Driehorst is a producer of animation and VR. He is the managing director and co-founder of the Fabian&Fred studio. His films have received many awards. He took part in labs from Berlinale Talents, AniDox, EAVE TTB and ACE Producers. In 2023 he was awarded the Hamburg Producer Prize for International Co-Production, and in 2019 he was awarded the Documentary Producer Prize by VFF. He is chairman of the AG Animationsfilm (ASIFA Germany) and a member of the producers’ guild, as well as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and the European Film Academy (EFA). International film schools, Cartoon Springboard, CEE Animation and Animation San Frontier regularly invite him as an expert, and in 2023 he became a mentor for Women in Animation (WIA).

Draško Ivezić (b. 1975 in Pula, Croatia) is an animated film director, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor based in Angoulême, France. He co-founded Adriatic Animation in Croatia and has collaborated with talent from across Eastern and Central Europe as a creative producer. Ivezić also helped establish Central Eastern European Animation, which supports industry networking and professional training for animation producers. Over 12 years, he has produced 14 short animated films, alongside various television and feature projects. His work has earned accolades at major festivals, including Animafest Zagreb, OIAF, and Annecy, while also being selected for Sundance, TIFF, and the Berlinale. In 2024, one of his productions was shortlisted for the Academy Awards. By nurturing emerging talents and driving forward new artistic visions, Ivezić continues to shape the global animation scene. His dedication to storytelling and collaborative projects has established him as a respected figure in international animation, with a focus on both creative innovation and professional development.

Born in Japan in 1964, Nominated for an Oscar, his short “Mt. Head” (02) won 6 grand prizes of Annecy, Zagreb, and Hiroshima was selected for 100 Films for a Century of Animation. “Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor” (07) won the grand prize at Ottawa and Hiroshima, Feature film “Dozens of Norths” (21) won the Grand Prize at Annecy and Ottawa. In total, his films have won 154 awards. “Extremely Short” (24) is officially selected for the Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes. A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts.

In 2014, Luce Grosjean founded Sève Films, a distribution company dedicated to promoting student animation films in festivals and supporting emerging directors. In 2017, she joined forces with Miyu Productions to establish Miyu Distribution, a company specializing in festival distribution and international sales for animated films. Her curated selections have garnered significant acclaim, with seven films nominated for the Oscars and one for the César, earning widespread international recognition. Miyu Distribution was honored in 2020 and 2024 by UniFrance and La Fête du Court Métrage as the Best Short Film Distribution Company. In 2021, Luce expanded into feature films, signing her first two titles: Archipel by Canadian director Félix Dufour-Laperrière and Dozens of Norths by Japanese animator Koji Yamamura. That same year, she also curated Plan cul la praline, a bold erotico-trash short film program that screened in French theaters. In 2024, Luce added to her feature film roster with Olivia & Las Nubes, directed by Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, marking another milestone in her dynamic and innovative career in animation distribution.

Alex Dudok de Wit is a critic and programmer who has been writing about animation for over a decade. Formerly Deputy Editor at Cartoon Brew, he has also contributed to publications such as Sight & Sound, Little White Lies, Vulture, Blink Blank and the BBC, among others. His book BFI Film Classics: Grave of the Fireflies was published by Bloomsbury in 2021, and his translation of Hayao Miyazaki’s graphic novel Shuna’s Journey (First Second, 2022) became a New York Times bestseller and won an Eisner Award in 2023. He previously served as the animation consultant for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, and writes a Substack newsletter on animation, Move Madly.

Rupert Bottenberg is a writer, editor, visual artist, event producer, and cultural curator living in Montreal, Canada. In the early 1990s, Bottenberg founded the Montreal Comic Art Jams, a series of multidisciplinary events centred on the creation of improvised, collaborative comics. Bottenberg served as music editor of the Montreal Mirror, the city’s leading English-language newsweekly, from 1998 to 2011. During this time, Bottenberg also curated several group art shows at independent galleries. Bottenberg then spent a decade as co-director of the Montreal-based visual art initiative En Masse, an extensive series of improvised collaborative mural productions. Bottenberg’s 2012 book of graphic literature, Traumstadtdenken (Éditions Trip), won Quebec’s annual Bédélys Indépandant award. Further books of comics and graphic literature include Traumstadtdenken 2 (Trip) and Fourscore Phantasmagores (CZP). In 2012, Bottenberg assumed the position of Director of Animation Programming at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, overseeing the festival’s animation section, Axis (renamed Animation Plus in 2024, with an expanded mandate). Over the course of a decade, Bottenberg has gradually positioned Fantasia as a leading platform for the introduction of new Asian animation to North America and the world at large.

Chris Robinson is a Canadian writer and the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF). A leading figure in the animation world, Robinson has received several prestigious honors, including the Animafest Zagreb Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies (2020) and the Prix René Jodoin (2022) for his contributions to Canadian animation. Widely regarded as “one of the most stylistically original and provocative experts in the history of animation,” Robinson’s influence extends across writing, curation, and film. Robinson first garnered attention through his eclectic and influential magazine column, Animation Pimp, which was later adapted into a book of the same name. His other notable books include: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy: A Story of Estonian Animation, Unsung Heroes of Animation, Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind, Earmarked for Collision: A Highly Biased Tour of Collage Animation, and Dreaming a way (of) Life: The Films of Lewis Klahr. Beyond his contributions as a critic and historian, Robinson co-wrote the award-winning animated short Lipsett Diaries (2010), directed by Theodore Ushev. More recently, he collaborated with German artist Andreas Hykade on an illustrated novel titled My Balls Are Killing Me. He is currently writing Raw Outrage: The Films of Phil Mulloy.

Nobuaki Doi is the founder and CEO of New Deer inc, a company that “introduces” unknown animation through distribution, production, film festival, writing, and other activities. He is also a producer for the Hiroshima Animation Season. As a producer, he primarily focuses on providing opportunities for Japanese animators to create new works through international co-productions, mainly with France. His publications include Personal Harmony: Norstein and Contemporary Animation Aethetics (Film Art, Inc.) and Makoto Shinkai: The Birth of a National Animator (Shueisha Shinsho).