Panel Discussion
The Influence of Disney in French Animation

Online: Fri, Feb 18–Mon, Feb 21
On Eventive
In Person: Sun, Feb 13 at 5pm
FIAF Skyroom



Animation experts will discuss the influence films created by The Walt Disney Company have had on French animation, and the fascinating history between the two countries’ industries as far back as the mid 20th century.

Moderated by Jake S. Friedman – Writer, teacher, and artist

Panelists:
Wolf Burchard – Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Teddy Newton – Artist at Pixar Animation Studios
Kristof Serrand – Character Animation Manager at Netflix

60 min

About Wolf Burchard

Wolf Burchard is the curator of Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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    • He joined The Met in 2019, prior to which he held curatorial positions at the National Trust in England and the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. His exhibition is The Met’s first ever to explore the art of Walt Disney hand-drawn animation. It focuses in particular on the influences of French art on Cinderella (1950), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Beauty and the Beast (1991).

About Jake S. Friedman

Jake S. Friedman is a New York–based writer, teacher, and artist.

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    • He is a longtime contributor to Animation Magazine and Animation Mentor, and has also written for American History Magazine, the Huffington Post, Animation World Network, and the Philadelphia Daily News. He has taught animation history at New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since 2020 he has been a mental health practitioner. Previously, he was an animation artist in New York, whose work was seen on Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Saturday Night Live.

About Teddy Newton

Teddy Newton’s unique sense of humor mixed with his ability to whip out characters with only a few strokes a pen, gave rise to his career in the animation field.

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    • Teddy has contributed as a designer and story artist to many of the top animated films in the industry, including: The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Incredibles 2, as well as many Pixar short films, such as, Presto, Jack-Jack Attack, Your Friend the Rat, Partly Cloudy, and Day and Night, which he also wrote and directed. The film played theatrically with Toy Story 3 and was nominated for an Academy Award. It won both a VES and an ANNIE award for outstanding short film of 2010. This month his animated short film, Snow Day drops and continues the popular video game, Clash of the Clan film series. Teddy is currently designing for Brad Bird’s next animated feature and in Development on multiple animated projects.

About Kristof Serrand

Kristof Serrand is currently Character Animation Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Netflix.

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    • Trained at Paris’s Beaux-Arts and Gobelins animation school, Serrand grew his passion for animation out of his never-ending curiosity for the arts in all of their forms. His rich career began in the studios of France’s most celebrated filmmakers, including Paul Grimault (The King and the Mockingbird) and René Laloux (Fantastic Planet), before taking him to a long tenure at DreamWorks and now to Netflix, where he is currently Character Animation Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

      Serrand will serve as President of the Jury of Animation First’s student film competition.