Animation Calling

Julie Breton and Lowell Hall Join Festival Executive Board to Participate in Delivering a Spectacular Festival Committed to Being Inclusive and Truly International

The 10^th Year to be Bigger and Brighter with Montreal’s Leading Global Gaming Industry to Participate in this Years Program with a Country Focus on France

Animaze – The Montreal International Animation Festival will be celebrating its 10^th year with many new exciting additions to its programs and more for its local and international attendees to see and participate in.  The now three-day festival, which is on the tail end of TIFF and leading into the Ottawa Animation Festival will be jam packed with various new components to Animaze added on the demand and ask from previous attendees requesting to include the robust gaming market Montreal is internationally renowned.

“In celebrating 10 years of this festival, the Board and I decided it should celebrate the rich history of animation in Montreal Quebec as a whole, and the significant accomplishments of those past and present who have contributed to this incredible craft of animation not only here at home, but have made their mark internationally as a brand or by their content,” says festival founder Laurie Gordon.

Joining the growing festival executive board and team this year is Julie Breton, co-founder of iFeelvirtuel Inc., who brings to the board an impressive portfolio of business development, marketing and interactive media background. Breton has worked on several VR projects as co-producer, collaborator, storyteller of short movies, documentaries, concerts, events and VRodcast with professional collaborators around the world. Her passion and understanding of the VR experience challenges the concepts of imaging to its core, with a sense of creative leadership, bringing bigger than life projects to evolutive dimensions.

Also coming onboard this years exciting 10^th year of the festival team is Lowell Hall, who will be participating in festival DEI program developments, along with corporate sponsorships, brand activations and marketing initiatives in tandem with Ms. Breton. Hall is a recent transplant to Montreal, QC from Toronto, where he has worked in the film and broadcast industry since 1998 in marketing - PR, starting with animation powerhouses like Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, and numerous other notable industry brands like Cookie Jar, Breakthrough Entertainment and most recently the launch of Wow Unlimited Media Inc. with Canadian animation ‘serial business guru’ Michael Hirsh, which was timed with the launch of Wow’s successful Netflix animation series Transylvania. From classics like Franklin the Turtle, Little Bear, George Shrinks, Inspector Gadget, Roli Polie Olie, Braceface with Alicia Silverstone, and global anime brand sensation Beyblade to name just a few, Hall now continues his colourful career on the festival board team of ANIMAZE.

Gordon added, “I am elated by the wealth of knowledge and capabilities of these two new members to the festival Board, and excited for what the team and I are currently planning for this year’s festival in which the core of our festival is remain to remain ‘Montreal Cool’, accessible, inclusive and celebrating animation in Canada and greats like late Ryan Larkin, Co Hoedemann and Gerald Potterton whom we have recently lost.  Thus, throwing Ottawa’s Animation Festival the opportunity to be the tasty icing on our delicious 10^th year celebration animation festival cake.”