Over the weekend of November 17-19, the CTN Animation Expo arrived at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airpot hotel, located on Hollywood Way. The expo, which turned eight years old this year, celebrates the arts and industry professionals in both traditional and digital animation fields. CTN, which stands for the Creative Talent Network began in 2006 and aimed to bridge the art community with creative professionals.
The expo spanned the Marriott Convention Center, as well as a large tent that we set up in the Marriott’s parking lot. Before the Expo kicked off, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held with members of City Council, CTN Expo’s founder Tina Price, and a representative from the California Assembly. The ribbon cutting ceremony acted as a visual display of Burbank’s support for the creative arts here in the media capital of the world.
After the ceremony, the Expo opened its doors to thousands of anxiously waiting creative attendees. While the CTN Expo may sound like a great time to some, for others, this event also provided the opportunity to numerous impromptu job interviews in the creatives arts field.
The CTN Expo’s popularity has steadily been growing with each passing year. In its first opening in 2009, the Expo saw over 2,800 attendees. This year, the Expo was expected to attract more than 8,000 people from around the world.
The event had many special engagements, including:
- Inspiring Kick-Off with Legendary Animator Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant.
- Appearance by Pixar Animation Studios Director Pete Docter.
- Internationally renowned artists Jordi Lafabre, Frank Pe and Tomer Hanuka.
- Special mentions to the women of animation with Chiara Benedetti, Genevieve Godbout, Iris Campiet and Elle Michalka.
- Animation Legends Aaron Blaise, Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja and Burny Mattinson in attendance.
- Creators from Blizzard Entertainment, Bluesky Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Reel FX, ILM, Nickelodeon, Pixar, Sony, and more.
To learn more about the CTN Expo, you can visit their official website here.
