Tiffany Feeney, VFX & Animation Recruiter, Talent Outpost

Tiffany Feeney, founder and recruiter at Talent Outpost GmbH, has been working on this beat forover 15 years and hiring people on over 50+ feature 2d and 3d animated films and vfx features, tvseries, commercials, and games.

Her company, Talent Outpost GmbH, is based in Zürich, Switzerland. They help animation, vfx,and design studios in Europe and North America find and recruit exceptional talent for theirhardest-to-fill roles and when they need to ramp up. She and her team typically crew between 5-7productions per year, and in 2021, they’ve reviewed 4’800 candidate reels and portfolios.

Clients include Aardman Animations, Axis Studios, Boulder Media, Blue Sky, Framestore,Locksmith Animation, Reel FX, Rodeo FX, Skydance Animation, Sergio Pablo Animation Studios,and more, to name a few.

Tiffany is originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania (yes, home of the famous chocolate bar!). Sheholds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Computer Graphics: Animation and a Master’s Degree in DesignManagement, both from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

Imke Fehrmann, Co-CEO and Coach, Akkord Film Produktion GmbH

Imke Fehrmann has been producing Animation and Visual Effects for almost 30 years. She has been managing and producing innovative projects all around the world, building and leading creative teams everywhere.

Since the beginning of her career, she has been passionate about the art of animation and the people who create it. Imke offers a wide range of global experience in animation and VFX production and has successfully worked in Producer roles for Animal Logic and Lucasfilm and as Executive VFX Producer for Framestore and Rodeo FX. Currently, she serves as Co-CEO at the German Animation production company Akkord Film.

In 2016, Imke began working with award winning filmmaker and journalist Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, initially starting with mentoring and coaching of Waadi Animations team in Karachi, Pakistan. Imke has been Lead Producer on Sitara: Let Girls Dream, the first ever Pakistan animated short film that qualified for the Academy Awards.

Imke is also working as coach and recently began the process to be an ICF-certified coach to support diverse and creative teams globally and to help animation and VFX professionals to bring out their best selves while working, collaborating and communicating - with creativity and empathy.

Imke works as a mentor for the WIA Women in Animation mentorship program, and has been an active member of WIA and VES for years. In 2018, she was also a founding member of the German Initiative for Women in Animation, VFX and Visual Arts, and has recently joined the board of the Animation Association Germany as deputy chair. 

Sinje Gebauer, Managing Director & Executive VFX Producer RISE South, RISE | Visual Effects Studios

Sinje Gebauer graduated with a degree in production from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and specialized in VFX and animation producing.

Having started her career at Jellyfish Pictures in London, she then moved to Munich where she worked for more than 10 years on over 30 German and international projects as the responsible VFX Producer, including "Avengers", "The Little Witch", "Balloon" and "Black Panther". In 2019, she set up Studio Isar Animation as Head of Studio and just 18 months later the first studio-owned feature film project Maya the Bee 3 was successfully delivered. Doing her ambitions in both animation and VFX justice, she became managing director of RISE Munich in 2021, setting up the animation branch alongside running the already successful VFX business.

Sinje is very involved in nurturing talent, having taught the workshop "VFX Producing" at the HFF Munich for seven years and being involved with the SchulKinoWochen since 2013 to bring the medium of film closer to children and young people. Under her lead, RISE will be hosting “Girls’ Day” in Munich this year while she keeps organizing the VFX Stammtisch in Munich and enjoys being a member of the Visual Effects Society.

Tom Box, Co-Founder, Blue Zoo Animation Studio

Tom Box is co-founder and joint managing director of Blue Zoo Animation. O ver the last 21 years, the studio has grown to become one of the leading animation studios in the UK, picking up multiple Emmys and BAFTAs along the way. Tom oversees many aspects of the studio including strategy, culture, technology, and skills outreach. Tom recently oversaw the studio becoming the first large animation studio in the world to attain B Corporation status, ensuring the studio has a positive impact on the world.  

Ben Owen, General Manager, One of Us

Ben is the General Manager at One of Us across both London & Paris studio locations, his career in VFX has spanned more than fifteen years and has seen him working across Recruitment, HR and Operations at such studios as Framestore, MPC and DNEG. During his time at One of Us, Ben has been instrumental in helping the studio grow to over 300 artists, expansion into new territories and take on ever more challenging work across Film and TV.