Speakers

**Becky Friedman**
**Writer and Producer**
Becky Friedman is a children's television writer and producer. She developed and served as Executive Producer and Showrunner for the Netflix animated preschool series, *Horton!,* based on the delightful characters of Dr. Seuss.
Becky's work can also be seen on shows such as: *Rosie's Rules* (PBS), *The Stinky and Dirty Show* (Amazon), *Esme and Roy* (HBO Max), *TOTS* (Disney Jr), *Pupstruction* (Disney Jr) . Most notably, Becky served as Head Writer for the first five seasons of the hit preschool show *Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood"* for which she received 5 Emmy nominations and countless questions about why Daniel Tiger doesn't wear pants.
Becky lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sassy kids who love to remind her that they're too old to watch her shows.

**Tamsin Lyons**
**Ink and Light**
Tamsin Lyons is a seasoned film and television producer from Ireland with more than two decades of experience in animation and live-action production.
She is founder and managing director of Ink and Light, a production company specialising in creating original animated series and films for family audiences.
Most recently, Tamsin produced the animated Christmas TV special SANTA’S HOLIDAY with Anima Vitae which aired on RTÉ on Christmas Eve.
2025 also saw the international premiere of Ink and Light’s latest series STORIES FROM BACKWOODS in Competition at Annecy Animation Festival.

**Dustin Ferrer**
**Creator, Writer, Producer**
Dustin Ferrer is a childrens' television writer, creator, producer, and - despite what her name suggests - a woman.
She developed and was the showrunner for three Dr. Seuss projects for Netflix (*Red Fish, Blue Fish; Horton!; The Sneetches),* created Vida the Vet (BBC), developed *Sago Mini* (Apple) and was the co-creator of *Esme & Roy* (HBO Max).
Dustin has been nominated for 6 Emmys (and won twice) for her work on *Esme & Roy,* *Peg + Cat*, *Wonder Pets* and *3rd and Bird!*. In addition, she has written for many other preschool programs including *Muppet Babies*, *Bubbleguppies, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood,* and *Wallykazam.*

**Ben Klimmek**
**Saurus Animation**
Ben Klimmek has over 20 years of experience in the animation industry. After running a small animation studio in the UK, he returned to Ireland.
Working as an Animation Director and CG Generalist at Screen Scene, contributing to major films and TV shows, including A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) and Ahsoka (2024). His expertise spans storyboarding, animation, and VFX, allowing him to guide projects from concept to completion.
Now helping Saurus Animation, to deliver dynamic visual content while shaping the studio’s evolving brand identity.

John Kelly

Director, Filmmaker

John Kelly is a filmmaker specialising in animation. He studied at the Royal College of Art in London and is based in Dublin, Ireland, where he lives and works.
His film *RETIREMENT PLAN* won the Jury Prize for Best Animated Short at SXSW 2025 and was nominated for an Oscar in 2026.
He is currently developing a feature-length animated documentary, alongside a slate of other projects.

**Jon Mortimer**
**Edinburgh Napier University**
JON MORTIMER, is the Education & Early Career advisor for Axis Studios and animation lecturer for Edinburgh Napier University, with his focus on Employability skills and accessibility in the Animation sector.
JON has a background as a 2D animator and storyboard artist, with clients which include; Roald Dahl, Hasbro, Disney, Yamination & Sky.
JON has been working with different groups and communities to explore more inclusive options for animation education & training.

Including highlighting the gap in animation terminology available to sign language users - thought the animated short film “New signs for animation” (2021) [top right] & ‘Representation in Animation’ workshops. JON’s work has recently been awarded ENU’s ABOVE & BEYOND award for Inclusion, his short film inducted into the National Library of Scotland’s Moving image archive, and inducted into the Scottish Samurai awards

**Elizabeth Waybright Taylor**
**Creative Development Executive**
Elizabeth is a creative executive with 16 years of experience in developing award-winning animated series.
She built her career at Disney Television Animation, joining the development team in 2010 as an assistant. As a young executive she watched and took lessons during the development of *Gravity Falls*, the *Mickey Mouse Shorts* and *Star Vs. the Forces of Evil*. As she rose through the ranks, she looked within the studio for original voices and found the future creators of *Amphibia*, *Zombies: The Re-Animated Series*, *Primos* and *StuGo*. She developed and championed these as well as *Kiff* and three soon to be announced franchise series. Over the years, Elizabeth also developed a few hundred ideas that didn't get greenlit to series, and she's proud of those too.
Elizabeth is a mom of two young kids and a wife to her college sweetheart. Her famous name is entirely his fault, but she decided he was worth it.

**Francesco Siddi**
**Blender**
Francesco started contributing to Blender as volunteer when he was a teenager, and joined the team in 2012 as a 3D artist. He has been involved in the project ever since in various roles, organizing events, designing and developing software and producing open movie projects.
He is currently CEO and chairman at Blender Foundation.

**William Fitzgerald**
**Galway Film Fair**

William Fitzgerald is head of the Galway Film Fair, Ireland’s film & television market running annually alongside the Galway Film Fleadh.

The former Programme Director of the Fleadh, his festival career also encompasses the Foyle Film Festival in Northern Ireland, the Tribeca Festival in New York, and Irish Screen America in Los Angeles.
He curated *Éire Bheoga: A Celebration of Irish Animation* at the World EXPO 2020 in Dubai, and has curated film programmes for organisations including EU-Japan Fest, Glasgow Film, Screen Ireland and the Irish Times.

**Gilly Fogg**
**Lighthouse Studios**
Gilly Fogg is a BAFTA winning director, head creative and one of the founding members of Lighthouse Studios in Kilkenny.
In Lighthouse, Gilly oversees the development of the studio’s original slate, and directs projects in development and in productions such as Bug Diaries, and the El Deafo.
Beginning as an intern in Studio Jiri Trnka in Prague, Gilly has worked in stop-motion, CG and 2D animation. She spent 10 years at HOT Animation in the UK, 10 years in DHX Media in Canada, and then returned to Ireland to join Lighthouse in 2017.

Coral Vazquez

Audiovisual Sector Coordinator at Invest in the Canary Islands
**Proexca - Canary Islands Film (Government of the Canary Islands)**
With a focus on fostering international partnerships, Coral provides strategic support to studios looking to leverage the Canary Islands' premier ecosystem. She is a key point of contact for navigating the region’s renowned tax incentives (up to 54%-45%) and facilitating international co-productions.
Through her work at Proexca, she actively connects the Canarian animation and VFX ecosystem with global partners to foster collaboration. Additionally, she provides tailored soft-landing services to companies interested in developing projects or expanding their operations to the Islands. Her mission is to ensure a seamless entry into one of Europe’s most competitive and dynamic audiovisual hubs, positioning the Canary Islands as a top-tier partner for global content creation.

**Tonje Skar Reiersen**
**Mikrofilm**
Tonje Skar Reiersen is a producer with the Norwegian Oscar winning animation studio Mikrofilm.
Together with Lise Fearnley, Reiersen has produced a dozen acclaimed short films, the award winning 2D feature Titina (2022), and co-produced EFA nominated The Ape Star and Dante, which will premiere in Annecy this year.
Tonje’s upcoming feature Pesta won the Eurimages co-development award at Cartoon Movie. Reiersen has managed the network Nordic Animation since the beginning in 2018. She has been an expert with CEE Animation Workshop, Ace Animation Special and Ties That Bind.
Reiersen holds a Master's degree in Film and Media Studies, and has published numerous articles and film analyses, as well as working with documentaries, film festivals and as a moderator, mentor, and speaker.

**Nicky Gogan**
**Exec Producer**

Nicky Gogan has had a highly prolific career across many roles in the creative industries and cultural innovation over the past 25 years.

In 1999 she founded the Darklight Film festival and in 2008 she established Still Films where she has produced and directed a large slate of award-winning documentaries, animations and artist films, including Emmy award winning animated documentary Last Hijack and SXSW audience award winning documentary This Ones For The Ladies and Gays Against Guns, which also won the audience award at 2026 Dublin International Film Festival as well as the Jury Special Mention award.

Nicky also worked as the executive producer and head of development at Piranha Bar for 8 years across a slate of animation and live action/animation hybrid series. Nicky produced 156 episodes for animated preschool series Mya Go and was the executive VFX producer on Barack and Michelle Obama's Netflix series, Bodkin.

Nicky produced the creature FX for Sky Studios Small Town Big Story, a series created by Chris O’Dowd and was executive producer on Team Jay, Juventus Football Club's hit Youtube animated series.

She is a founder of the Irish Animation Residency in Birr County Offally and currently sits on the steering committee for the VFX Talent Academy and on sub-committees for Animation Ireland and works as a mentor for the NTAA.

**Juraj Krasnohorsky**
**Artichoke**

Juraj Krasnohorsky is a Bratislava-based film producer. In 2010, he founded the production company Artichoke and released his first feature film in 2012. Juraj trained at Maia Workshop, EAVE, and Producers on the Move and is a member of the European Film Academy.
Juraj is head of studies of the CEE Animation Workshop and EAVE Ties That Bind x ATF Singapore Animation Lab. His latest feature films White Plastic Sky (2023) and Tales from the Magic Garden (2025) were nominated for the European Film Awards.
His short films Hurikan (2024) and I died in Irpin (2024) were shortlisted for the Oscars. In 2026 he was nominated producer of the year at Cartoon Movie

**Sherry Gunther**
**HEEBOO**
Sherry Gunther Shugerman, Co-CEO of HEEBOO/Claynosaurz, is a two-time Emmy-Award winning producer & media executive with 7 Emmy-Award Nominations, a Cable-Ace Award, and multiple film festival awards.
As a producer, Sherry holds an unparalleled track-record of creating & producing some of television's top hits for the past 3 decades including: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Rugrats, PowerPuff Girls & more. Sherry most recently produced an adult animated series for Netflix with Zack Snyder and team, titled Twilight of the
Gods. Sherry began her career at Disney Feature Animation on The Little Mermaid and more.

Sherry joined the Claynosaurz team last year as their Co-CEO, to expand this digital first fan facing brand into gaming, longer form content, and continued journey in collectibles. The team is also building HEEBOO, a crowdfunding launchpad for animation creators and their fans.

Harriet Jones

Hoho Entertainment

Harriet is Head of Digital at Hoho Entertainment, where she leads the company’s digital and e-commerce strategy across flagship brands including Cloudbabies, Toad & Friends, and Shane the Chef.

She is also the founder of 25 Media, a specialist agency supporting children’s IP owners with YouTube-first strategies, channel growth, and creative content development, working with indie brands such as Tractor Ted and the award-winning children’s Podcast, Koala Moon.

A member of the YouTube Strategic Partner Programme, Harriet works closely with the platform to stay ahead of trends and ensure best practices across her channels. With over a decade in children’s media, her expertise spans content planning & storytelling, building niche audiences & communities, international channel management, and live-action production.

Harriet combines deep industry knowledge with a practical, creative approach to building and scaling kids’ brands in the digital space.