Industry Talks

Povilas is an architect, comic book author and interactive media creator. Together with a group of friends he founded an independent game development collective Weekend Warriors.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in computer science from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Ignas followed his passion of computer graphics and animation. After five years of working in the field as an animator he started to direct short animated films. His films have been awarded in international animation festivals and distributed world-wide. Ignas continues to work mainly in his refined style of stop-motion animation and in 2019 became a co-founder of a Vilnius based animation studio "Kadrų Skyrius".

After some Maths, Telecom science and culture management studies, Christophe worked at Canal+ international before being head of Short and children content of Premiere (Hamburg), now Sky Germany. He then launched and was head of SRTL, Nickelodeon, Fox Kids (now Disney XD) in Germany, Spain and UK. Since 2006, he's an international kids content consultant, books and screenwriter (e.g. ELLA OSCAR AND HOO 52x11' preschool animated series), curator (APD, Cartoon, Annecy) and creative producer (www.godofilms.fr).

Kārlis Vītols (1979) is the director and screenwriter of ten animated short films. Alongside the non-narrative animation trilogy The Garden of Fetish (2006), Eclipse (2010) and The End (2019) he has created several films adapting material from myths and fairy tales, including his debut The Trophy (2004) and Minotaur (2016). His 2020 short film Swan Maiden is based on the popular literary fairy tale. Since 2020 he has been working on the script and dialogues of his first feature-length film. He has received some international and national awards and his shorts also have been selected for such prestigious festivals as Annecy International Animated Film Festival, The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Animafest Zagreb, Animateka, and many others.

Wilhelm is a game designer and CEO at Landfall. For the last few years, he has been exploring physics-driven game design making titles like Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and Stick Fight: The Game.

Discussion moderator. An enthusiast of animation and video games, who, as a teenager, created amateur games and animated films and wished to be Gordon Freeman (a character from the Half-Life game) when he grew up. Years ago, he sent some of his short films to Pravda One Minute festival. He thinks that film directing course has been the most fun learning experience in his life to date. Even though he had not ended up becoming a director or a programmer, or Gordon Freeman (still needs no glasses), Bernardas successfully uses this experience in his work in the radio and television and still feels a respectful nostalgia when playing games and watching animation.

Arthur is a long-time video game industry writer and critic, also has worked with several companies helping with marketing and business development.

A founder and producer of the production company ART SHOT, Agnė Adomėnė, has educational background in culture management (The Master of Management, Department of UNESCO Cultural Management and Cultural Policy, Vilnius Academy of Arts) and works in film business since 2009. Founded in 2012, independent production company ART SHOT focuses on developing, producing and co-producing artistic animated films. n 2016 ART SHOT production “Nuopuolis”, Eng. “Ragnarok” (Short puppet animation directed by Urtė Oettinger and Johan Oettinger, Lithuanian – Denmark co-production) was awarded by Lithuanian Film Academy as The Best Lithuanian Animation Film of the year.

Meinardas has been interested in animation since childhood. In 2010, he graduated fromVilnius Academy of Arts, BA Animation. In 2012,he established animation studio "MeinArt", during the 9 years the company created various animated films, one of them "Hunt" traveled around the globe to many animation festivals and has been viewed online for more than 2 million times. "MeinArt" and its directors vision is to invest part of its profits to create memorable animated films with a deeper meaning.

Šarūnas is a co-founder and CEO of game development studio Tag of Joy, working both with original games and outsourcing projects. The studio is launching a new adventure game Crowns and Pawns early next year.

Thomas is an award-winning VR game developer, immersive content creator, NFT evangelist and founder of VR entertainment studio Zen Republic. He experiments with the latest technologies of machine learning, blockchain and virtual reality to bridge the gap between the real and the virtual.

Braden Roy, co-founder of Ferryman Collective, is something of a jack of all trades. He has a background in film production, illustration, marketing, web development, audio production, game design and development as well as 11 years in information technology. He previously served as the writer, a producer, co-director and performer for the live immersive VR productions PARA, Krampusnacht and most recently served as a live artist and producer for OnBoardXR. His current productions include Severance Theory: Welcome to Respite and En Route – the former of which he serves as a producer, performer and is responsible for VR adaptation, the latter a producer, art director and lead of mechanical design.

Sabīne Andersone is managing director of the Atom Art animation film studio based in Riga, Latvia. She is a co-founder and member of the Latvian Animation Association, and also producer of prizewinning artistic animation shorts, pre-school series and TV specials. She produced the animated feature film Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs, which premiered in Latvia in February, 2019

Edmunds Jansons works as animation film director and graphic designer in his studio Atom Art. His animation films have been screened all over the world. Edmunds graduated with a Master of Animation in 2012. He also is a recognized children’s book illustrator.

Daniel Moore (right) is a game developer working at Paradox Development Studio as a Content Designer currently working on Victoria 3. Previously he has worked in QA and Production. He also does 2D and 3D art as well as indie game making in his spare time.

Milda Karklytė-Palevičienė is a paediatric psychologist, the founder and head of Child and Adolescent Psychology Centre Laimingas Vaikas, who has been working in this field for more than thirteen years. She is constantly looking into the latest and most effective methods based on scientific research and practice and enjoys great results that these methods help her achieve. She provides advice to children and adolescents, their parents, and teachers, delivers seminars, training courses, and therapy sessions for children and adolescents and speaks at conferences.

Birutė Kapustinskaitė works as screenwriter and playwright for cinema, theatre, and audio projects. In 2018, she received the National Golden Cross Award as the best playwright. She wrote screenplays for "Sasha Was Here" (dir. E. Jankauskas), "I am Fine, Thanks" (dir. E. Jankauskas), "People We Know Are Confused" (dir. T. Smulkis), plays "Therapies" (dir. K. Glušajevas), "Detoxification" (dir. D. Gumauskas), "Locals" (dir. P. Markevičius) and others. For the screenplay of the film “Sasha was Here” she received The Best Screenplay Award at the Aubagne Film Festival in 2019. She teaches screenwriting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and Vilnius University.

As Chief Business Officer at Landfall, Rebecca is responsible for global business development, partnerships, brand building and overseeing the studios funding activities. (Rebecca is passionate about connecting the games industry across borders, not only at Landfall but also in her previous roles as Head of BerlinBalticNordic.net and Director of Partnerships at loots.)

Experienced game designer and producer, Gediminas currently is running a Vilnius branch of No Brakes Games studio, creators of Human Fall Flat. He is also a director of the Lithuanian Game Developers Association.

Sabīne Andersone is managing director of the Atom Art animation film studio based in Riga, Latvia. She is a co-founder and member of the Latvian Animation Association, and also producer of prizewinning artistic animation shorts, pre-school series and TV specials. She produced the animated feature film Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs, which premiered in Latvia in February, 2019

Jaroslav Kocourek is a passionate film lover and future film programmer. He is a recent graduate of Film Curation studies which he undertook in England, Scotland and Iceland. Throughout his studies, he has explored unconventional forms of film exhibition such as animated films exhibited specifically on Instagram. Moreover, he regularly organised film events in bars which explored connections between silent cinema and contemporary music, or addressed the political situation in his home country, Slovakia. Currently, he works as a distribution coordinator of post-festival activities at Fest Anča International Animation Festival and also as a CEE Talents coordinator at CEE Animation.

Discussion moderator. An enthusiast of animation and video games, who, as a teenager, created amateur games and animated films and wished to be Gordon Freeman (a character from the Half-Life game) when he grew up. Years ago, he sent some of his short films to Pravda One Minute festival. He thinks that film directing course has been the most fun learning experience in his life to date. Even though he had not ended up becoming a director or a programmer, or Gordon Freeman (still needs no glasses), Bernardas successfully uses this experience in his work in the radio and television and still feels a respectful nostalgia when playing games and watching animation.

Gertrūda Nemčauskaitė (b. 1998) studied at Kaunas Art Gymnasium, graduated with bachelor's degree in animation from Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2020. Her final film “Siempre con lo mismo” was created using 2D cartoon animation. She is currently working in stop motion with plasticine.

Veronika Jakutaviciute is a freelance animator and character designer. She studied animation at University for the Creative Arts and in a few years planning to do masters. Her debut film was a short called Fit In (2020) after she worked on a few other short films such as Be.Better.Pigs(2020), Between Two Fires (2021) and Red Hat (2021). In 2020 she took part in creating a short animated 3D commercial for the charity program called CATTs helping to raise cancer awareness among young people. At the moment is working on expanding her knowledge in games creation and planning to incorporate her Lithuanian culture and heritage into her new projects.

Laura Jurkaityte (1999) is an animation film director and animator. In 2021, she graduated from the University for the Creative Arts in the UK with a diploma in animation. Laura directed four short animated films "Be.Better.Pigs"(2019), "Fashion"(2020), "Between two fires" (2020) and " Pancake Day" (2021). She is currently a part of the mentorship program „Lithuanian Shorts Mentorship 2021", where she is working on a new short animated film.

My name is Rusnė Dragūnevičiūtė, I am an Animation Arts student at University of the Arts London. Making analog traditional animation and combining it with digital techniques is what interests me most at the moment.

In 2008, Antanas received a Master of Arts degree, graduating from Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts – with his diploma work on – Lithuanian mythological beings (mitologija.lt). His filmography includes Copy of Paste (2006), a humorous movie about computer icons living their lives in a computer world and "Nebaigta pasaka" (Unfinished Story, 2007), about the massive die-off of a beehive (CCD). He worked with his professor Ilja Bereznickas, on the movie Cyber Pirate. He is currently working on the movies "Vaikystes dienorastis" (director and animator) and "The Vanishing of the Bees"(artist, animator). Antanas worked for a number of commercials, including those of national TV channel, Baltijos TV, for the 2005/2006 season. He also made video installations for local pop-group Saulės Kliošas for their participation at the national Eurovision Contest.

Born in 2000, Vilnius. I'm a beginner animator, currently studying at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. As a starting point, currently I'm interested in bodily senses and relationships between people, although with time the curiosity could lead me to other themes.

Ieva is a young illustrator, animator and graphic designer. In 2018 Ieva started studying at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Department of Graphic Design. "ART OF LIVING" is her first serious animation project created at Vilnius Academy of Arts, with the help of associate professor Marius Žalneravičius, in collaboration with the famous Lithuanian drummer, performer, musician Gintas Gascevičius. The animation is also a part of Shenshrut Film Festival in Germany.

Marta Gabiga is an illustrator and animator born in 1995 in Poland, focused on learning frame by frame animation, and influenced by cinematography from all over the world. Graduated from Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice with a bachelor degree in Graphic Design with her first short movie The Elephant (2019).

Kārlis Vītols (1979) is the director and screenwriter of ten animated short films. Alongside the non-narrative animation trilogy The Garden of Fetish (2006), Eclipse (2010) and The End (2019) he has created several films adapting material from myths and fairy tales, including his debut The Trophy (2004) and Minotaur (2016). His 2020 short film Swan Maiden is based on the popular literary fairy tale. Since 2020 he has been working on the script and dialogues of his first feature-length film. He has received some international and national awards and his shorts also have been selected for such prestigious festivals as Annecy International Animated Film Festival, The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Animafest Zagreb, Animateka, and many others.

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania. Fascinated in films that envokes owns cultural mindset and traditions, as well as interested in perfecting the visuals. Each films is approached using new tools and medias. Has a good knowledge across multiple processes, but is mostly fond of raw, sketchy paper animation.

Thomas is an award-winning VR game developer, immersive content creator, NFT evangelist and founder of VR entertainment studio Zen Republic. He experiments with the latest technologies of machine learning, blockchain and virtual reality to bridge the gap between the real and the virtual.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in computer science from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University Ignas followed his passion of computer graphics and animation. After five years of working in the field as an animator he started to direct short animated films. His films have been awarded in international animation festivals and distributed world-wide. Ignas continues to work mainly in his refined style of stop-motion animation and in 2019 became a co-founder of a Vilnius based animation studio "Kadrų Skyrius".

Margrethe Danielsen has a bachelor in animation from Volda University College and is currently enrolled for her Masters degree in Media Practices. She has worked as a Stop Motion artist in Estonia, Ireland, Belgium and France. I love wales - 2012 PEARL DIVER - 2020 Bear Hug - WIP

Petter Vilberg is a freelance game developer who specialises in gameplay systems that utilise characters and generate stories. He recently finished working on Crusader Kings 3, and currently leads design on Curious Expedition 2. He also runs the studio Esteemed Frogs, which is hard at work on its first game.

Thomas is an award-winning VR game developer, immersive content creator, NFT evangelist and founder of VR entertainment studio Zen Republic. He experiments with the latest technologies of machine learning, blockchain and virtual reality to bridge the gap between the real and the virtual.

As Chief Business Officer at Landfall, Rebecca is responsible for global business development, partnerships, brand building and overseeing the studios funding activities. (Rebecca is passionate about connecting the games industry across borders, not only at Landfall but also in her previous roles as Head of BerlinBalticNordic.net and Director of Partnerships at loots.)

Wilhelm is a game designer and CEO at Landfall. For the last few years, he has been exploring physics-driven game design making titles like Totally Accurate Battle Simulator and Stick Fight: The Game.

Experienced game designer and producer, Gediminas currently is running a Vilnius branch of No Brakes Games studio, creators of Human Fall Flat. He is also a director of the Lithuanian Game Developers Association.

Povilas is an architect, comic book author and interactive media creator. Together with a group of friends he founded an independent game development collective Weekend Warriors.

Arthur is a long-time video game industry writer and critic, also has worked with several companies helping with marketing and business development.

Žilvinas Ledas is PhD of informatics and develops video games more than 10 years now. He is a co-founder and CTO at Tag of Joy – an indie game development company which creates games merging fun and innovation. With their products the team has gained multiple awards at various international competitions. Žilvinas also teaches Game Development at Vilnius University and is active in local game development community.

Tomas Mitkus is a lecturer at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and an art director in co-founded animation studio MB “Studio Mitkus”. Tomas has worked in various live action and animated TV, feature, advertising, comic book and video games projects in Lithuania and abroad. Tomas is also a member of Lithuanian film board and an author of few academic books.

Discussion moderator. Vytautas is a long time reviewer of the games and games industry. He's been writing for almost all industry related Lithuanian magazines (from VA PlayStation to Stuff), also for more than 8 years he is working at communication agencies and finding common paths between games and PR. Currently Vytautas together with colleague Kazimieras are creating a passion project – the only game reviews YouTube channel in Lithuania – Done Right (www.doneright.lt).

Animation director, musician, graphic designer, music video creator, Graduated Lodz Film School on direction animation and special effects. Paralelly studied there scriptwiritng for 1 year. His graduation movie "Ziegenort" was shown on many international festivals and gained many awards incl. main award fro animated movie on New Horizons festival in Wrocław, award for best animation on Cracow Film Festival, Grand Prix in Oberhausen, and award for best animation on Brooklyn film festival. He was on of 3 chosen participants for Animationa Artist in Residence Tokyo orgnised by Japan Image Council (JAPIC) where he created movie "Black". His movies were two times selected for festivals in Rotterdam and Sundance Film Festival. Movie "Acid Rain" so far gained 35 awards, was shown in around 90 festivals, got prestigeous nomiation for Annie Awards, was on long Oscar list.

Michalina Musialik – polish animator, director of animated films. A graduate of the Polish National Film, Television and Theater School in Łódź. She collaborated with animated film studios such as Yellow Tapir Films, Animapol, Fumi Studio and Letko. She deals with animating, storyboarding and art studies. She worked at the Cinematography Museum in Łódź as an educator, where she conducted animation workshops for children and museum lessons on film history.Her diploma film and debut – Dog’s Field - won a silver Hobby Horse at the Krakow Film Festival and qualified for many international festivals around the world. The author is currently working on her next author's film.

In 2008, Antanas received a Master of Arts degree, graduating from Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts – with his diploma work on – Lithuanian mythological beings (mitologija.lt). His filmography includes Copy of Paste (2006), a humorous movie about computer icons living their lives in a computer world and "Nebaigta pasaka" (Unfinished Story, 2007), about the massive die-off of a beehive (CCD). He worked with his professor Ilja Bereznickas, on the movie Cyber Pirate. He is currently working on the movies "Vaikystes dienorastis" (director and animator) and "The Vanishing of the Bees"(artist, animator). Antanas worked for a number of commercials, including those of national TV channel, Baltijos TV, for the 2005/2006 season. He also made video installations for local pop-group Saulės Kliošas for their participation at the national Eurovision Contest.

Petter Vilberg is a freelance game developer who specialises in gameplay systems that utilise characters and generate stories. He recently finished working on Crusader Kings 3, and currently leads design on Curious Expedition 2. He also runs the studio Esteemed Frogs, which is hard at work on its first game.