Oscar Contenders for Best Animated Feature 2026

Register for Free to Attend Online

Join a free virtual panel discussion with the directors of this year's Oscar-nominated films for Best Animated Feature on Friday, February 27th, 2026 at 9:00am–10:00am PST (18:00–19:00 CET). The panel will include:

Moderated by Ramin Zahed, Editor-in-Chief, Animation Magazine.

This event is FREE, but any amount you can offer as a donation helps VIEW Conference bring you high-quality events like this.

Zoom details will be emailed to registered participants closer to the day of the event.

Madeline Sharafian

Madeline Sharafian is an acclaimed animator and director of Armenian-American descent who graduated from the California Institute of the Arts. She began her professional career at Cartoon Network, where she worked as a storyboard artist and writer on the series We Bare Bears, earning an Annie Award nomination for her storyboarding work. At Pixar, Sharafian advanced from story artist on features including Coco, Onward, and Turning Red to directing the animated short Burrow(2020), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. She co-directed the Pixar feature Elio (2025), making history as the first Armenian woman to co-direct a Pixar feature film.

Domee Shi

Domee Shi is a groundbreaking animation director at Pixar Animation Studios. Born in Chongqing, China and raised in Toronto, Canada, Shi graduated from Sheridan College and began her Pixar career as a storyboard artist. She achieved historic recognition as the first woman to direct a Pixar short film with Bao (2018), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. She then became the first woman to solo-direct a Pixar feature with Turning Red (2022), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Most recently, Shi co-directed the science fiction adventure Elio (2025), further establishing her as one of animation's most visionary voices.

Byron Howard

Byron Howard is an Academy Award-winning director at Walt Disney Animation Studios. After studying at Evergreen State College in Washington, Howard began his Disney career and went on to work on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, and Lilo & Stitch. His directorial credits include Bolt(2008), the critically acclaimed Tangled (2010), and the Oscar-winning Zootopia (2016). He also co-directed Encanto (2021), winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for a second time. Most recently, he directed Zootopia 2 (2025), continuing the story of one of Disney's most beloved modern franchises.

Maggie Kang

Maggie Kang is an acclaimed animator and filmmaker at Sony Pictures Animation. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in Toronto, Canada, Kang studied animation at Sheridan College, where she was recruited to DreamWorks Animation. Her career has included story artist roles on major animated features including the Puss in Boots franchise, The Croods: A New Age, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Rise of the Guardians, as well as work at Illumination Entertainment and as Head of Story on The LEGO Ninjago Movie at Warner Animation Group. She co-directed and co-wrote K-Pop Demon Hunters alongside Chris Appelhans, an original animated feature that became a global phenomenon upon its release.

Chris Appelhans

Chris Appelhans is an accomplished animator, artist, and filmmaker. He studied at Art Center College of Design and began his career as a concept artist and production designer on acclaimed films including Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, and Monster House. Appelhans made his directorial debut with the animated feature Wish Dragon (2021), a reimagining of the Aladdin tale set in contemporary China. Most recently, he co-directed K-Pop Demon Hunters with Maggie Kang, an animated musical about a K-pop girl group that leads a double life as demon hunters. Beyond film, he is also an accomplished children's book illustrator and author.

Ugo Bienvenu

Ugo Bienvenu is a French illustrator, director, screenwriter, comic book author, producer, publisher, artistic director, and entrepreneur.

He arrived in France at the age of 15 after spending his childhood in Guatemala, Chad, and Mexico, to attend the École Estienne. He then studied at the Gobelins, the California Institute of the Arts, the Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and Animation sans frontières.

As an illustrator, he has worked for major media groups, illustrated books for most Parisian publishing houses, designed several album covers, and created print campaigns for major brands. Since 2019, he has been designing scarves, watches, twillys, and other items for the prestigious Hermès brand.

As a comic book author, he has published a dozen albums with various publishing houses, including Préférence système with Denoël Graphics, which won the Grand Prix de la Critique at the Angoulême Festival in 2019.

As a director, he has made a dozen short films, music videos, animated segments for several documentaries for Arte and Canal+, and around fifteen advertising campaigns for major brands (Hermès, Gentle Monster, Thierry Mugler, etc.). In 2017, he co-directed the mini-series "Antman" for Marvel and Disney. Arco, his first feature film, was included in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival and received the Annecy Crystal Award for Best Film and the Sacem Award for Best Music. It also received the Best Film Award at the Champs-Elysées Festival.

As a producer, through his company Remembers, he has supported, in addition to his own projects, some fifteen directors in the creation of fifteen multi-award-winning short films and twenty music videos for big names in music (The Weeknd, The Strokes, November Ultra, L'Impératrice, Polo et Pan, etc.), several seasons of several series for Canal+, and dozens of advertising campaigns for mainly luxury brands (Hermès, Chanel, LVMH, Tiffany, among others). He also co-produced Bertrand Bonello's feature film Coma, as well as Félix de Givry's Adieu monde cruel (currently in editing).

As a publisher, he has published a dozen comic book authors, architects, and contemporary artists, with around twenty books to his name. He was also part of the editorial committee for the first issue of the legendary magazine Métal Hurlant's revival, for which he designed the cover.

As an artistic director, he works mainly for Hermès (advertising campaigns from 2019 to the present, immersive cube in Dubai in 2020, play in Singapore in 2025, among others) and Chanel (several advertising campaigns, haute couture fashion show in 2023).

As an entrepreneur, he founded Réalistes with Charles Ameline and Cedric Kpannou, then Remembers with Félix de Givry in 2018. Remembers Studio in 2022, then Remembers&Co in 2024. That same year, he founded the rights management company Mikki & Co with Jade Nin.

Maïlys Vallade

Maïlys is a director, story artist, animator, and visual designer of characters and backgrounds for both 2D and stop-motion animated films. From a very young age, she began drawing and inventing small stories for characters and puppets she built alongside her father.

In high school, she pursued Applied Arts at the Lycée de Sèvres. In 2006, she continued her studies at EPSAA (École Professionnelle Supérieure d'Arts Graphiques de la Ville de Paris), where she earned a degree in Graphic Arts. She completed her training at the Gobelins, majoring in Animation Film Design and Directing, graduating in 2009. During her time at the Gobelins, she directed three short films.

Passionate about experimental short films, she explored various techniques including traditional 2D animation, paper cut-out, and stop-motion. However, her desire to direct longer-format films soon took precedence. She joined the feature film ADAMA to develop the visual world and storyboard concepts. Later, she worked on ERNEST & CELESTINE, animating the characters in 2D.

A true all-rounder, Maïlys has particularly distinguished herself in storyboarding, contributing to THE LITTLE PRINCE, LONG WAY NORTH (where she also worked on character layout and 2D animation), A MAN IS DEAD, THE SWALLOWS OF KABUL (also contributing to background design), I LOST MY BODY, CALAMITY (as co-author of both characters and backgrounds), SÉRAPHINE and FLEUR (handling character design as co-author). LITTLE AMÉLIE marks her debut as a feature film director and screenwriter.

Liane-Cho Han

Liane-Cho is a director, story artist, and animation supervisor. A graduate of the Gobelins in Paris (class of 2007), he began his career as a key animator on features such as GO WEST! A LUCKY LUKE ADVENTURE and Sylvain Chomet's THE ILLUSIONIST. He then became a senior animator on ZARAFA, directed by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie.

Drawing on his animation experience, Liane-Cho transitioned into storyboarding, contributing to films like ASTERIX: THE MANSION OF THE GODS by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy, THE LITTLE PRINCE by Mark Osborne, and LONG WAY NORTH by Rémi Chayé, where he also served as animation director.

From 2018 to 2020, he worked again with Chayé on CALAMITY, A CHILDHOOD OF MARTHA JANE CANNARY, as both storyboard artist and animation director. Since 2017, Liane-Cho has collaborated regularly with Sun Creature Studio as animation director on various commercial films (A COKE IS A COKE, TRAVEL OREGON, LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: THE PATH AND IONIAN MYTH, TRAVEL OREGON 3, INITIAL D X TOYOTA GR86). LITTLE AMÉLIE marks his debut as a feature film director and screenwriter.

Ramin Zahed

Ramin Zahed is an acclaimed entertainment journalist and author specializing in animation and visual effects. As Editor-in-Chief of Animation Magazine, he has established himself as a leading voice in animation journalism, contributing to publications including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Sight and Sound. Zahed has authored numerous art books, including The Art of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Art of DreamWorks Animation: Celebrating 30 Years, among many others covering major animated films and series.