"10 Animators to Watch" Take On AI at SCAD AnimationFest

Ten animators from eight countries took the stage on the final day of the 10th annual SCAD AnimationFest in Atlanta, joining Variety's 2026 class of "10 Animators to Watch" for a panel on artificial intelligence, the future of the medium, and the value of human fingerprints in the frame.

What did the panel say about AI?

The conversation closed on the subject hanging over every creative discussion in Hollywood. Director Louise Bagnall, whose "Julián" was released by Cartoon Saloon, framed the response in terms of specificity. "AI tends toward homogeneity," she said. "It tends toward the middle ground, the generic kind of solution to a problem. With that in mind, you can lean into specificity. You can lean into your own point of view. Nobody else has your point of view on the world."

How did the animators defend the craft?

Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis moderated the panel in partnership with SCAD Film Festival. He opened by reminding the audience that "KPop Demon Hunters" had won the Oscar for best animated feature earlier in 2026, and that "behind every one of those wins is a small army of artists whose names often get overlooked."

The artists, profiled in Variety's New York issue, came from Ireland, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States. They work at Hollywood's largest studios and in independent production.

Which craft choices drew attention?

• Eric Bofa Nfon, animation director on the hand-drawn feature "Tangles," moved his team off the industry-standard twos and onto threes and fours. One sequence was animated on eights. The change carried texture, not just budget relief. "You have to think about the motion and where to select your drawings," he said.
• Maarten Lemmens, lead animator on DreamWorks Animation's "Forgotten Island," studied anime over a Christmas break after realizing the directors' references went deeper than his own. He became the film's anime specialist after doing "that homework."
• Clarisse Chua, storyboard artist on Brad Bird's "Ray Gunn" and Nathan Greno's "Swapped," studied choreographer Busby Berkeley for one sequence. When a pitch stalled, Bird would sometimes grab his camera and "start running around the meeting room."
• Ryan Gaffney, head of story on Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's "The Cat in the Hat," cracked Thing One and Thing Two by recalling the Baby Herman cookie sequence in 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." "The Things want to eat waffles," he told the crowd, on the character voiced by Matt Berry.

What did Chloë Aubert and Tilly Fiddler add?

Chloë Aubert, animation director on "Iron Boy" after its Cannes premiere, has heard technological death sentences before. Fifteen years ago she was told that 2D animation was being replaced. "All I wanted was to draw, to animate, to share feelings with people," she said.

Tilly Fiddler, a 2022 SCAD graduate who moved from intern to team member on Laika's stop-motion "Wildwood," said her loss of interest in AI-generated images runs to her core. "I watched behind-the-scenes footage of people making it, and it's passed down through generations," she said. "I find that really emotional and exciting."

What did "Forgotten Island" reveal?

The closing-night film was "Forgotten Island," co-written and co-directed by Joel Crawford and his best friend, Filipino filmmaker Januel Mercado. The film opened in theaters the same day it screened at SCAD.

Crawford received the Variety Creative Impact Award. He drew on his Oscar-nominated work on "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" to warn the more than 400 attendees against comparison. "Do not let other people's success be failure," he said, "because it's so hard to not compare and it's so hard to embrace the unknown."

Who else weighed in?

Samm Lee, working on the top-secret "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" at Sony Pictures Animation, said the industry's history argues against fear. "It's a little scary, but I believe in us," she said. "I don't think we have to be afraid."

Amol Sathe, director of cinematography and lighting on Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Hexed," pointed to collaboration over tools. "The best projects come from people collaborating, bouncing ideas off each other and relying on their teams, both emotionally and creatively," he said.

Lemmens warned students in the audience against treating classmates as competition. "Asking for feedback, encouraging each other to show stuff, actually gets you way further," he said. Bofa Nfon offered a single line for new hires: "Don't suffer in silence."

What was the surprise of the night?

One student, Lily, a senior 3D animation major from Milledgeville, Georgia, raised her hand when Davis posed Variety's recurring question — who will be on the first animated feature to win the Oscar for best picture? — and was named the panel's "11th animator to watch."

Crawford will return to SCAD for the fifth edition of Variety's "Pixels and Pencils" at the Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 26, where the spotlight shifts to the directors behind 2026's standout animated features.