Hear and learn from international animation experts here in the UAE! Andrew Gordon of ‘Finding Nemo’ fame, animator Doug Sweetland of ‘Toy Story, Japanese animation studio CEO Shuzo John Shiota and martial arts expert Lauren Mary Kim are all set to lead workshops and industry discussions at the Sharjah Animation & Comics Conference (SACC) taking place on Oct 22-25.
The four speakers will bring their vast experience across directing, studio leadership, character animation, stunt performance, motion capture and emerging creative technologies. Through hands-on workshops and industry discussions at Aljada in Sharjah, they will offer key insights into the artistic decisions, production environments and creative techniques behind animation and screen entertainment created for a global audience.
Andrew Gordon: Shaping Characters Across Generations
Andrew Gordon, Chief Storyteller at EyeTell, has spent more than two decades helping shape some of contemporary animation’s most recognisable characters. During his career at Pixar, he worked on films including ‘A Bug’s Life’, ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Ratatouille’, and served as lead animator for Mike Wazowski in ‘Monsters, Inc’. His character work also includes Remy, Gill, Edna Mode and Buzz Lightyear.
Gordon later served as Head of Animation at DNEG in London and contributed as a co-director of ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’. On October 25 from 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM, he will lead a workshop examining how emerging technologies can support ideation, visual development, storytelling, character creation and production workflows. He will return from 7:15 PM to 8:45 PM for a masterclass with Doug Sweetland on Pixar’s early years and the relationship between artists, animators, engineers and new technologies.
Doug Sweetland: Lessons in Story, Performance and Comic Timing
American animator and director Doug Sweetland played an important role in Pixar’s formative years, contributing to films including ‘Toy Story’, ‘Monsters, Inc.’, ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘The Incredibles’. His animation work earned him two consecutive Annie Awards, while his directorial debut, the Pixar short Presto, received both Academy Award and Annie Award nominations.
Sweetland will first appear on October 22 from 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM in a panel exploring the relationship between original animation and Arabic dubbing through ‘Toy Story’. On October 24 from 3:45 PM to 5:15 PM, he will lead a workshop to examine visual storytelling, character performance, comic timing, staging and animation. He will join Andrew Gordon on October 25 from 7:15 PM to 8:45 PM for a masterclass on Pixar’s early years and its creative and production culture.
Shuzo John Shiota: Four Decades of Creative Leadership
Shuzo John Shiota, CEO of Polygon Pictures, brings extensive experience in building and leading one of Japan’s internationally recognised digital animation studios. He has also served as a judge at major film and digital arts events, including Prix Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. He received a Special Achievement Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2022. Shiota is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
On October 23, Shiota will draw on Polygon Pictures’ more than 40 years in animation to discuss building and sustaining a creative company, including studio workflows, leadership and the relationship between artistic ambition and business realities from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. He will return on October 24 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM for a talk sharing practical lessons on building a sustainable career in the creative industries.
Lauren Mary Kim: Martial arts, Motion Capture and Screen Action
Lauren Mary Kim is a stunt performer and actor whose work spans film, television and games. Her credits include ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘Furious 7’, Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’ and ‘The Defenders’, where she served as the stunt double for Elektra, as well as ‘The Last of Us Part II’ and ‘Mortal Kombat 11’. With a background in martial arts, dance and acrobatics, she works across both on-camera performance and action work behind the scenes.
Kim will lead “The Art of Lightsaber Dueling” on October 24 from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM and again on October 25 from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Drawing on her experience as the motion-capture performer for Ahsoka Tano in Season 7 of ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, she will examine how movement, stance, martial arts technique and choreography shape cinematic combat. The masterclass will also address double-edged lightsaber swordplay and the dual-lightsaber and reverse-grip techniques associated with Ahsoka Tano’s fighting style.
Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), SACC 2026 will bring together leading figures for four days of talks, alongside film screenings and live performances, providing a platform for established industry leaders, emerging professionals, students and animation enthusiasts, while encouraging collaboration and knowledge exchange across markets and creative disciplines.
For more information about SACC 2026, visit www.sharjahanimation.com.
