Chris Ebeling, Beyond Horizons

Chris Ebeling, a world-class Animator, Creative Director, and Digital Artist, has contributed to Hollywood hits like The Lego Movie and The Great Gatsby. His expertise extends into VR/AR and games, shaping the future of digital entertainment. At the University of Technology, Sydney, he founded the Animal Logic Academy, mentoring in animation and visualization. Co-founder of Virtually Human Studio, Chris launched the pioneering blockchain game ZED.RUN. Now, as Chief Creative Officer at Behaviol, he's leading creative strategies for emerging tech in sports entertainment. Chris also heads Beyond Horizon, a consultancy advancing businesses in the digital era.

Niels Riisgaard, The Animation Workshop

Niels Gram Riisgaard, is an animation director and visionary creator on the verge of completing his studies in computer graphics arts at The Animation Workshop (TAW) in Viborg, Denmark. With a bachelor’s degree focused on computer graphics for animation, film, and video games, Niels is passionate about pushing the boundaries of storytelling through cutting-edge technology.

At TAW, he serves as the head of the student council, representing the student body. In his spare time, Niels is currently directing a CG short film titled 'A Sea Full of Fish'. Developed with an international team, the project is driven by passion. Additionally, Niels has participated in various initiatives, including the Danish Film Talent Program on TV series development, 'Serieskolen,' by the Danish National Radio (DR). Through this program, he gained valuable insights into crafting stories tailored to the 9-14 age group audience.

Zoltan Batho, Digic

Zoltan Batho is an award-winning and PRINCE2 certified XR / Virtual Production / VFX Producer with over 15 years of digital experience in various industries and markets. His passion is to create immersive and engaging experiences that leverage the power of real-time technologies, such as Unreal Engine, VR, and AR.Currently, Zoltan works with Digic Pictures, a globally recognised 3D animation studio, to produce stunning game cinematics, motion capture animation, and 3D animated shorts. He also founded Virtualproduction.services, a news aggregate website that showcases the latest trends and innovations in the Virtual Production industry.

Remy Sohier, Paris 8 University

Rémy Sohier, an artist-researcher specialising in computer-generated image technologies for animated films, special effects and video games. He has written a doctoral thesis on video game creation processes. He was technical director of Alineaire for 6 years, creating numerous video game installations exhibited internationally. He is leading research to improve our understanding of production pipelines in the audiovisual sector. He co-directs the ATI department at the University of Paris 8, a rare public and free training course in computer graphics in France.

Roberta Jablonskyte, The Animation Workshop

Roberta Jablonskyte holds the position of Project Manager at the Center for Animation, Visualization, and Digital Storytelling, overseeing the Interactive Technologies and Games program area.

Currently, she is responsible for managing projects such as PANEURAMA, Virtual Production Studio Networks, as well as initiatives focused on AI in Creative Digital Industries.

Beyond her project management responsibilities, Roberta demonstrates a strong interest in research, particularly in the realms of work environments and soft skills within the creative digital industries.

Tuki Clavero, Breda University of Applied Sciences

Tuki Clavero, a Senior Researcher at BUas' academy of AI, Games, and Media, focuses on conducting research in the fields of creative and entertainment video games, GenAI applications, XR technologies, and human-computer interaction. With a strong background in Game Architecture and Design from Breda University, and further specialisation in Game Design from ITU Copenhagen, Tuki combines academic rigour with practical game development.In addition to her research, Tuki actively contributes as a lecturer to the master’s program in Game Technology at BUas, focusing on the integration of GenAI into research practices and its application as a research tool. She is also a member of the AI Pioneers Team at BUas, the group at the forefront of integrating AI into the University's education, operation, and research. 

Joey Relouw, Breda University of Applied Sciences

Joey Relouw started his career as a 3D artist with a focus on innovative media, such as VR, AR, Photogrammetry and Virtual Productions. With a degree in 2D Graphic Media Design, a Bachelors in 3D Game Art, and a Masters at the Executive Master of Media Innovation, he is an artist at heart. His background lies in the field of 3D Art as a game developer specializing in world building in Unreal Engine. Currently Joey works at Breda University of Applied Sciences as the Art Lead and Coordinator for Virtual Productions and Virtual Humans in the R&D Team called Cradle, which is part of the Academy of AI, Games and Media. In the Cradle lab, students and researchers design and create the next generation of digital realities. The team also consists of professionals from the creative media and games industry, such as programmers, artists, and designers. Projects include the integration of geodata and big data, models, and simulations with artificial intelligence, advanced game technology, motion capture suits, VR/AR, and playful interactions.

Morten Thorning, Creative Viborg

Morten Thorning started out as a musician, composer, writer, producer, and director of radio drama and comedy at Danmarks Radio, later advancing to producer/reporter of documentary features for the youth television program Transit. From 1988 to 2019, he served as the founder and General Director of The Animation Workshop, transforming it into a visionary international center for education and development of the art of animation. This included founding three bachelor educations, the artist residency Open Workshop (1997), the Drawing Academy (1998), the incubation house Arsenalet (2012), Viborg Animation Festival (2012), and the national R&D Center for Animation, Visualization, and Digital Storytelling (2017).

Morten is recognized with Danish Bodil Prize (2017) and Norwegian Golden Gunnar (2021) for lifelong achievements in animation, and the Hanne Hansen Prize (2016) and Ping Prize (2020) for his work for the Danish graphic novel.

Today, Morten works in the fields of animation and XR as scriptwriter, creative producer, director, and artistic consultant through his companies, Bureau G and SCRPT. He also works for Creative Viborg leading their part of the ERASMUS+ Innovation Alliance PANEURAMA.