Maria Elena Gutierrez has been CEO and executive director of the VIEW Conference since 2005. She took a very small national event and put it on the world scene. Maria Elena is also the Director of VIEW Conference’s digital movie Festival, The VIEWFEST. Born in Mexico and raised in California, Maria Elena Gutierrez first studied at the University of California in Santa Cruz and then at Stanford University, where she received her masters in 1990 and her doctorate in 1995. Maria Elena taught Cinema and Italian Literature at the State University of New York SUNY in Buffalo, where she became an associate "tenured" professor in 2000. Throughout her career she has received numerous fellowships and awards, including the Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities, the Cesare Pavese award and the Milton Plesur Award of Excellence for university teaching.

Some animation articles by Maria Elena Gutierrez

• Wolfwalkers
• Burrow
• Bombay Rose
• If Anything Happens I Love You
• Soul and the Cinematic Empathy Machine
• The Mitchells vs The Machines - Using Art to Save the World
• Love Death Robots + Revelation
• The Fabulous Journey of LUCA
• VIVO: The Magic of the Mambo
• Maya and the Three: A Rebel Fire Burning Bright
• Encanto: Seeking Beauty in Truth
• Turning Red – Embracing The Animal Spirit Within Us
• Love, Death + Robots: A Visceral Pleasure
• Lightyear: A Metatextual Odyssey
• Lost Ollie: The Power of Memory
• Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: A Fable for the Modern Age
• Avatar: The Way of Water - A Miraculous Vision
• Re-VIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Furthering the Found Family Theme
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: A Truly Diverse Cosmos
• Elemental: Taking Breath, Making Connection
• Nimona: Fluidity is Life
• Oppenheimer: The Clarity of the Fractured Lens
• A Balance of Heart and Mind: Ultraman: Rising