Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
From leading the complex 3D animation on Hank the Octopus in Finding Nemo to the simple beauty of The Dam Keeper’s Poems, to 2020’s Academy Award-nominated Opera, Erick Oh continues to surprise and delight us. And now with Namoo, Erick ventures not only into a deeply personal story, but he does it in the immersive technology of VR. Articulate, enthusiastic and engaging, Erick Oh shares with us his love of family, art, and why Baobab Studios was the perfect choice for making the film. With Baobab producer Kane Lee.
SPEAKERS
Erick Oh
Director // Baobab Studios & Tonko House
Erick Oh is an Oscar®-nominated Korean filmmaker and artist based in California, USA. His films have been presented at numerous film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, Anima Mundi, SXSW and more. With his background in fine art from Seoul National University and film from UCLA, Erick worked as an animator at Pixar Animation Studios from 2010 to 2016. He then joined his fellow former Pixar artists at Tonko House to direct PIG: The Dam Keeper Poems which won the Cristal Award at the Annecy Animation Festival in 2018. He followed that by directing the animated short installation project, Opera, for which he received an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Short in 2021. Opera continues to tour the festival circuit and will debut as an installation exhibit later this year in Paris and Seoul, among other key cities. Erick is currently working on a variety of projects with his partners in film and animation, the VR/AR industry, and also, the contemporary art scene in the US and South Korea.
Kane Lee
Head of Content // Baobab Studios & Tonko House
Multi-Emmy Award-winning producer, Kane Lee, heads content for Baobab Studios. Lee has always led at the intersection of technology and media. He masterminded the first-ever adaptation of VR IP (Invasion!) into a traditional feature film. With new technology mediums, IP is usually adapted the opposite way, from Hollywood to new medium, but Roth Kirschenbaum Films signed on to partner with Baobab to bring Invasion! to the silver screen. Lee is lead producer of 20th Century Fox’s feature film based on the Academy Award-nominated short, The Dam Keeper, and is on producing teams for projects ranging from The School for Good and Evil at Universal Pictures to Frozen writer/director Jennifer Lee’s The Way Between to the international award-winning children’s series Spooksville. Previously Lee was Vice President of Development and Production for Jane Startz Productions and worked on Horton Hears A Who!, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Robots for Blue Sky Studios. He is an advisor in interactive media for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
MODERATOR
Keith Blackmore
Sr. Lecturer // Vancouver Film School
As an animation historian, Keith Blackmore has been a passionate cheerleader and a voice for all-things animated in the Vancouver area for almost 30 years. As one of the producers of the SPARK ANIMATION Festival and an active member of the local SIGGRAPH chapter, Keith has presented, interviewed and moderated at many festivals, local and national.
Since 1995, Blackmore has educated, entertained and inspired students in the history of animation and media studies at the Vancouver Film School. When he’s not reading, teaching or talking about animation, he’s watching it.
Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
From leading the complex 3D animation on Hank the Octopus in Finding Nemo to the simple beauty of The Dam Keeper’s Poems, to 2020’s Academy Award-nominated Opera, Erick Oh continues to surprise and delight us. And now with Namoo, Erick ventures not only into a deeply personal story, but he does it in the immersive technology of VR. Articulate, enthusiastic and engaging, Erick Oh shares with us his love of family, art, and why Baobab Studios was the perfect choice for making the film. With Baobab producer Kane Lee.
SPEAKERS
Erick Oh
Director // Baobab Studios & Tonko House
Erick Oh is an Oscar®-nominated Korean filmmaker and artist based in California, USA. His films have been presented at numerous film festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Zagreb Film Festival, SIGGRAPH, Anima Mundi, SXSW and more. With his background in fine art from Seoul National University and film from UCLA, Erick worked as an animator at Pixar Animation Studios from 2010 to 2016. He then joined his fellow former Pixar artists at Tonko House to direct PIG: The Dam Keeper Poems which won the Cristal Award at the Annecy Animation Festival in 2018. He followed that by directing the animated short installation project, Opera, for which he received an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Short in 2021. Opera continues to tour the festival circuit and will debut as an installation exhibit later this year in Paris and Seoul, among other key cities. Erick is currently working on a variety of projects with his partners in film and animation, the VR/AR industry, and also, the contemporary art scene in the US and South Korea.
Kane Lee
Head of Content // Baobab Studios & Tonko House
Multi-Emmy Award-winning producer, Kane Lee, heads content for Baobab Studios. Lee has always led at the intersection of technology and media. He masterminded the first-ever adaptation of VR IP (Invasion!) into a traditional feature film. With new technology mediums, IP is usually adapted the opposite way, from Hollywood to new medium, but Roth Kirschenbaum Films signed on to partner with Baobab to bring Invasion! to the silver screen. Lee is lead producer of 20th Century Fox’s feature film based on the Academy Award-nominated short, The Dam Keeper, and is on producing teams for projects ranging from The School for Good and Evil at Universal Pictures to Frozen writer/director Jennifer Lee’s The Way Between to the international award-winning children’s series Spooksville. Previously Lee was Vice President of Development and Production for Jane Startz Productions and worked on Horton Hears A Who!, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Robots for Blue Sky Studios. He is an advisor in interactive media for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
MODERATOR
Keith Blackmore
Sr. Lecturer // Vancouver Film School
As an animation historian, Keith Blackmore has been a passionate cheerleader and a voice for all-things animated in the Vancouver area for almost 30 years. As one of the producers of the SPARK ANIMATION Festival and an active member of the local SIGGRAPH chapter, Keith has presented, interviewed and moderated at many festivals, local and national.
Since 1995, Blackmore has educated, entertained and inspired students in the history of animation and media studies at the Vancouver Film School. When he’s not reading, teaching or talking about animation, he’s watching it.
