Stephen Hillenburg

Born in 1961, is the creator and executive producer of Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants", one of most popular animated series ever, nominated for the Emmy six times since 2002. Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Stephen worked as a science educator for kids. This experience showed him how enamored kids are with undersea life and was essential to Stephen's creation of SpongeBob and all of his sea friends.

Stephen graduated from Humboldt State University, with a degree in natural science with an emphasis in marine biology. He later enrolled in the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he got a master's degree in experimental animation in 1992. At CalArts, Stephen made several independent animated films, including "The Green Beret and Wormholes", which have been screened in festivals worldwide. He also worked as creative director on the last season of Nickelodeon's "Rocko's Modern Life".

Cordell Barker

A man tries by all mean to rid himself of an insistent kitty. A couple is forced to face the chaos brought by an unexpected visitor. Passengers on a speeding train enjoy themselves, oblivious to the dangers ahead. Cordell Barker's films are characterized by a slightly acid humor that results from a series of precisely orchestrated situations. Born in 1956, in Winnipeg, Cordell began working with animation as far back as his teenage years. Besides his renowned commercial work for Pascal Blais and other studios, he has directed three award-winning films. In 1982, he began production of his first film "The Cat Came Back" (1988), at the National Film Board. Then came "Strange Invaders" (2001), a "semi-biographical" story that, according to the director, is inspired by the birth of the eldest of his three sons.  In this edition of the festival, Cordell will present his most recent film, "Runaway" (2009), which won him awards at the Cannes (Le Petit Rail D'Or / Best Short) and Annecy (Special Jury Prize) festivals in 2009.

Daniel Greaves

The English animator Daniel Greaves, born in 1959, usually mixes several different techniques in his films. His most famous examples of such mixes are "Manipulation" (1992), that won him the Oscar and the Cartoon D'Or at Cannes, and "Flatworld" (1997), an entertaining and surprising narrative created entirely in stop-motion, where 2D cardboard characters sneak around a scenery made of real objects.

Daniel graduated in animation at the West Surrey College of Art in 1980. In 1986, he founded Tandem studios with his business partner Nigel Pay. In the Animated Chat with Daniel Greaves, we will get to know a little more about his still very successful career.

Guilherme Marcondes

A talented Brazilian animator with a growing reputation abroad, Guilherme Marcondes works as an independent director in New York, represented by the Hornet Inc. (USA) and Passion Pictures (Europe) studios, after a period in Los Angeles working for the renowned production company Motion Theory. Even before he got his degree in architecture from the University of São Paulo, Guilherme already worked as an illustrator. In 2000, he joined the Lobo Filmes crew as an animator, where he worked for five years directing films for several international clients, such as Diesel, Panasonic and Cartoon Network. In 2005, he travelled to London to direct the opening campaign for MTV's Europe Music Awards. Back in Brazil, he directed the short length film "Tyger" (2006), which won him more than 20 international awards, including two at the Clermont-Ferrand festival and the Director's Award from Anima Mundi.