Ilustrator, concept artist & director. MONSTERS PIT STUDIO

IGOR HERAS

Igor Heras had it clear since he had his first comic: she wanted to dedicate herself to the art sector. He began his training in ESDIP, and there he discovered illustration and concept for video games, where he already has more than ten years of experience in the industry. He has worked on projects such as Castlevania Lords of Shadow II, Castlevania Mirror Of Fate and Runaway: A Twist of Fate. He currently runs Monsters Pit Studio, an illustration and concept art studio that offers outsourcing services in concept art, character design, visual development and art direction in the entertainment industries (video games, board games, film, advertising, publishing, etc.). He works with important companies such as Konami, Nintendo, Games Workshop, Social Point and Disney, taking part in the development of projects such as Castlevania Lords of Shadows, Monsters Legends and Toy Story 4. In addition, in the Monsters Pit studio, located in the Esdip facilities, conducts conferences and mentoring actions to students of the Master of Concept Art and Digital Production.

Co-founder. WWW.NIVELOCULTO.COM

JUAN MANUEL MORENO

Co-creator of Nivel Oculto, a reference website in Spanish about independent videogame development. He combines his professional activity of web consulting with the cultural promotion of videogames through lectures at universities and private entities, collaborating in several books about the sector and participating in the creation of different events such as Indie[MAD], with four editions in Madrid, Valencia and Malaga or Bitsommar, where the videogame merges with the rural environment.

Video Game Designer.

LUDIPE DÍAZ PERALTA (LUDIPE)

Luis Díaz Peralta (Ludipe) is a freelance game designer. He has been responsible for the design of A Place for the Unwilling, Bleep Bloop and Missing Translation. As a freelance he has worked on projects of all kinds for clients, from experimental games to serious games.  He is also a regional organizer of the Global Game Jam and part of the team of events like Bitsommar and Game Jam Open Culture. He publishes many small games for free every year and is currently developing Sushi For Robots thanks to a grant from the Astra Fund.

Designer & Developer.

LUCAS LERÍN SALAFRANCA

Degree in mathematics, self-taught designer and developer, starting in his room in 2016 until 2021, when he starts full time: crossing the border from amateur to professional. Known as Le Slo on the internet. Fanatic of puzzle games, cryptic and mysterious, advocate of understanding and learning as a feeling.

Video Game Designer.

LUDIPE DÍAZ PERALTA (LUDIPE)

Luis Díaz Peralta (Ludipe) is a freelance game designer. He has been responsible for the design of A Place for the Unwilling, Bleep Bloop and Missing Translation. As a freelance he has worked on projects of all kinds for clients, from experimental games to serious games.  He is also a regional organizer of the Global Game Jam and part of the team of events like Bitsommar and Game Jam Open Culture. He publishes many small games for free every year and is currently developing Sushi For Robots thanks to a grant from the Astra Fund.

Producer & Director. SARDINHA EM LATA

DIOGO CARVALHO

He began his career in animation filmmaking in 2001 as a 3D generalist. In 2005 he joined Lampada Acesa where he worked on projects such as the short film “Candido”, in 2007 he was part of the team that formed Sardinha em Lata where he performed various functions from pre-production, to post-production, through animation, in projects such as the short film “My Life in Your Hands” or the series “Ema e Gui”.  Between 2011 and 2015 he worked in advertising, animating and directing. And in 2015 he returned to Sardinha em Lata to help develop and expand the studio’s production capacity in long-term projects.

Producer. WKND

ROGER TORRAS

Roger Torras graduated from ESCAC and took the “Master in Audiovisual Business Management” at IE. In his early professional career he worked in production teams of several production companies including Filmax and Oberon. After this period he was a producer of advertising spots in the national and international market. In 2004 he participated in the spot “Crossroads” for BMW, winner of the Grand Prix at the advertising festival El Sol de San Sebastián.  In 2008 he was an audiovisual producer in the film and advertising department of Eddie Saeta where he participated in the feature films “La Mosquitera” by Agustí Vila and “Ait” by José María de Orbe. With the production company Escándalo Films he produced the second and third season of the animated series for adults “Arrós Covat”. A series created by illustrator Juanjo Saez and which won the 2010 Ondas Award for best television program on an autonomous channel. In 2018 he also produced “Heavies Tendres”, the second animated series for adults by Juanjo Saez. In early 2010 he creates WKND to develop his own projects. His first production is the fiction feature film “El Club de los Buenos Infieles” of which Netflix acquires its worldwide rights. He is also involved in the Belgian production of the children’s animated series “Elvis & Benny”. At the moment, and together with Juanjo Sáez, he is producing for TV3 what will be his third series titled “Roni”, the Chilean animated series “Petit” for TVE and TV3 and the short film “Kafka’s Doll”, Portuguese coproduction with Animanostra .

Producer, Director & Screenwriter. SYGNATIA

XOSÉ ZAPATA

He studied Economics at the Universidade da Coruña and began studying Art History at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, he also specialized in direction and production at the Escola de Imaxe e Son de A Coruña. He has produced dozens of short films, documentaries and feature films. He started in the mid-nineties with works supported by the Universidade da Coruña, where he coordinated its Film Club, editor of the quarterly magazine “Waco”, of which he was editor-in-chief. 

In 2001 he founded the production company Lorelei Producciones with Álex Castro and Borja Pena, created and directed the production department at Ignacio Benedeti Cinema. 

He is co-author of the book “Amando de Ossorio, un galego fantástico” (1999) together with Ignacio Benedeti and Rafael Calvo. 

In 2006, he established the first distribution company in “Gallaecia Cinema”, a subsidiary of IB Cinema, which produces and distributes more than 200,000 DVDs of Galician productions in Galician. 

In 2009 he produced the feature film “Estigmas” by Adán Aliaga, winner of the Pilar Miró award for best new director at the International Film Week of Valladolid SEMINCI. 

In 2010 he made his first work in feature film directing with “Linko” premiered in 2012 in the official section of the Malaga Festival. His productions “Minotauromaquia” and “La Casa de mi Abuela” were nominated for the European Film Academy (EFA) awards, and accumulated more than four hundred national and international awards, and three Goya Award nominations for Best Animated Short Film.

In 2018, he premiered in theaters as executive producer of the feature film “Tiempo Después” by José Luis Cuerda and as associate producer participates in the first series of Amazon Prime and Antena 3 Estudios “Pequeñas Coincidencias” by Javier Veiga.

In 2021 he co-directed with Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti the short film “The Monkey”, in which he also participated as producer with Lightbox Animation (Spain) and Sardinha em Lata (Portugal).

Animation Director & Head of Character. BOULDER MEDIA

GRAHAM GALLAGHER

Graham Gallagher is a Disney veteran with over 25 years’ experience in the animation industry.

During this time, he has held many roles including Creative Director, Animation Director, Art Director, Head of Character and VFX Supervisor. He has worked on movies in both production and preproduction such as Disney’s Tarzan (under Glen Keane’s direction and mentorship), Emperor’s New Groove, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gravity and Disney’s Jungle Book to name a few.

Graham has worked alongside some of the most talented people in film and animation including renowned directors such as Sergio Pablos, Alfonso Cuaron, and the Wachowski siblings.

During his career he has contributed to two Oscar and Bafta winning movies, ‘Gravity and Disney’s Jungle book’ and has obtained valuable experience and insight into how to recruit and build a great team which can deliver a hit movie on time and on budget.

Graham has been invited to share his rich industry experience through international speaking engagements, masterclasses, portfolio review sessions as well as in production training and he loves to mentor and inspire up and coming artists and animators to help them reach their potential.

He is currently involved in development of a live action TV show with Subotica Films while also developing new independent animated movies and shorts.

When Graham isn’t working in film and TV, he is happily painting with his wife, Deirdre, in their shared art studio in Ireland, working on land and seascapes inspired by the beautiful coastline where they live.

Member of the Advisory Board of the Sub- Directorate General for Intellectual Property. MINISTERIO CULTURA Y DEPORTE

CARLO PENNA

Civil Administrator of the State, graduated in Business Administration and Management and graduated in Market Research and Techniques. Until now, he has held the position of Vocal Advisor in the General Subdirectorate of Intellectual Property. Before working for the public sector, he has more than 10 years of previous experience in the private sector in the field of consultancy, being also a foreign trade technician for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madrid. In the public sector, he has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Finance.

Head of Digital Culture Service. General Sub-Directorate for the Promotion of Cultural Industries, Ministry of Culture and Sports

HELENA DEL BARRIO ALVARELLOS

Civil servant of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, she holds a degree in Hispanic Philology from the Autonomous University of Madrid. She has worked in different public libraries, in the Spanish Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) and in the Creative Europe-Culture and European Citizenship Point Office. She currently works as Head of the Digital Culture Service at the Sub-directorate General for the Promotion of Cultural Industries.

Visual Development Artist. DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

AURORA JIMÉNEZ

Aurora Jimenez is visual development artist for the Sony Pictures Animation animated musical “Vivo” which features new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative force behind “In the Heights” and the Broadway smash “Hamilton”. With more than 20 years of experience in the animation and video game industry, Aurora has designed for movies like “The Tale of Despereaux”, “The Smurfs. The Lost Village”, “The Emoji movie”, and “Hotel Transylvania 2” & “Hotel Transylvania 3” directed by Gendy Tartakovsky for Sony Pictures Animation. She was the Production Designer of the animated feature “El Guerrero Sin Nombre”. Her credits include visual development for the short film “La Noria” by Carlos Baena, and character design and concept art for games at Electronic Arts. Currently she is visual development artist at Dreamworks Feature Animation. Aurora’s great passion is comics, and she is developing her first graphic novel. Born in Madrid, she lives in Los Angeles, California.

Production Designer. SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

CARLOS ZARAGOZA

Carlos Zaragoza is the production designer of the Sony Pictures Animation animated musical “Vivo,” which features new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative force behind “In the Heights” and the Broadway smash “Hamilton.” His extensive experience includes production design, art direction and set design for more than 20 years in live-action feature films, animation, musical theater, advertising, and television. His credits include the production design of “The Emoji Movie”, the art direction of the short film “La Noria” by Carlos Baena, the visual development of “The Tale of Despereaux”, “Gnomeo & Juliet”, “Madagascar 3” and “Mr.Peabody & Sherman ”and designing the world of live action movies such as “Pan’s Labyrinth”, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Born in Madrid, he lives in Los Angeles, California.

Audiovisual industries consultant. CONSEJERÍA CULTURA, TURISMO Y DEPORTE. COMUNIDAD DE MADRID

MANUEL CRISTÓBAL

​​Audiovisual industries consultant in Comunidad de Madrid. Producer and member of the Film Academies of the United States (AMPAS) and Spain. D. from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid, BA in Film and Theatre Directing from ARTSS International UK and Master in TV Entertainment from the Erich Pommer Institute Berlin. 

He has produced eleven films for the international market and has won five Goya Awards for Best Animated Film, twice the Jury Prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and once the EFA and Platinum Award. 

Twice nominated for the ASIFA Hollywood Annies Awards, speaker in 21 countries and winner in 2012 of the CARTOON Tribute for best animation producer in Europe. Among his productions are El Bosque Animado (Ángel de la Cruz, 2001), El Lince Perdido (Manuel Sicilia, Raúl García, 2008), Arrugas (Ignacio Ferreras, 2012) and Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas (Salvador Simó,2019).

Animador 2D & 3D senior. LAMAE STUDIO

RUBÉN FERNÁNDEZ DE PABLO

With over 20 years of experience in animation for advertising, film and video games. Degree in animation, he was an animator at Milímetros working on TV series and the film “Dragon Hill, la colina del dragón” (2002), winner of a Goya award. From 2004 to 2008 he worked in Zinkia Entertainment in pre-production for the series “Pocoyó” and “Shuriken School”. Later he became a freelancer for companies such as UserT38 and Cartoon Network. In 2010 he joined Gameloft Madrid as 2D Lead Animator and in 2018 he created together with his brother the production company Lamae Studio, where they have several projects in development including the short film “Protocolo Flambé” created entirely in Quill and currently in pre-production.

Marketing & PR and game writer. CHIBIG

DIEGO FREIRE

Diego Freire is in charge of Marketing & PR at Chibig, an independent video game studio in Valencia formed in 2016. In addition, he has also written the video games Summer in Mara, Ankora: Lost Days and Elementallis. He has been trained mainly as a scriptwriter and writer, which also implies having learned how to sell and sell himself in different fields.

Director & Animator.

DIEGO PORRAL

Diego Porral is an animator and director from Madrid. After finishing his animation studies at Gobelins University in Paris, he decided to become a freelance animator while directing his own short films in his spare time. As an animator he has worked at studios such as The Line (Gorillaz music videos), Titmouse (Love, Death & Robots) and currently at Cartoon Saloon on their latest feature film, among others.

As a director he has made short films such as Un Dia en el Parque (nominated to the Goya 2018), Blind Eye (selected to the Oscars and BAFTA student) and Leopoldo el del Bar, his most recent short film that will premiere in the Weird Market 2021 edition.

Producer, scriptwriter & interpreter.

JOAQUÍN GARRALDA

Joaquin comes from the world of Stand-Up Comedy and acting. He now debuts in animation with the short film “Leopoldo el del Bar”, directed by Diego Porral, for which he has played the role of producer, scriptwriter and interpreter of one of the main characters, Mauricio. His focus is now on the script and creative development.

Animation Director. ARCADIA MOTION PICTURES

BENOIT FEROUMONT

Born in 1969, he studied illustration and comics at Saint-Luc School in Liège and animation at La Cambre. With experience, he has become as much a confirmed animation author (Bzzz, Les triplettes de Belleville, Dji vou veu volti, Brendan, Asterix and the domain of the gods, The Lion and The Ape) as a recognized comic book artist (Wondertown, The Kingdom, Gisèle and Béatrice, Fantasio gets married). He has just published his latest comic book «Le Royaume de Blanche Fleur» and has worked on the development of an animated feature film. Currently he is working as animation director on the Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams.

Art Director. ARCADIA MOTION PICTURES

JOSÉ LUIS ÁGREDA

Artist with a very personal stamp, he has been dedicated to drawing for nearly 25 years in all its possible varieties: editorial, press, advertising, comics, design in animation, art direction…

In the animation cinema, his last work as Art Director in the feature film “Buñuel en el Laberinto de las Tortugas”, winner of, among others, the Jury Prize at the Annecy Festival and the Goya 2020 for Best Animated Film, stands out.

He has recently worked as Art Director of the animated series “Viking Skool” at the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, for Disney TV.

A seasoned journalist, he was part of the regular team of El País Semanal for two decades, and has collaborated in major publications such as Fotogramas, Cosmopolitan or Qué Leer.

He has published weekly and uninterrupted comics for almost twenty years in the satirical magazine El Jueves, and his graphic novel Cosecha Rosa won the prestigious award for Best Work of 2001 at the Barcelona Comic Fair, as well as at the Madrid Comic Fair of the same year.

Director. ARCADIA MOTION PICTURES

PABLO BERGER

He began his career as a director with the multi-award winning cult short film “Mama”. Thanks to the numerous awards he won, he obtained a scholarship to study for a Master’s Degree in Film Directing at New York University. At this prestigious film school, he directed “Truth and Beauty”, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Pablo Berger has been a professor of directing at the New York Film Academy, a center for which he has directed courses at the universities of Cambridge, Princeton, Yale, Sorbonne and La Fémis universities.

His debut feature, “Torremolinos 73”, was the revelation film of 2003-04. In addition to being a great box-office success, it won a multitude of national and international awards, including four Goya Award nominations (including Best Original Screenplay and Best New Director) and four original screenplay and best new director) and four awards at the Malaga Film Festival (including best film). “Torremolinos 73” was commercially released worldwide.

His second feature film, “Blancanieves”, was presented at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award and actress Macarena García won Concha de Plata for Best Actress. The film was the big winner of the 2013 Goya Awards, winning 10 statuettes including Best Film and Original Screenplay.

The international trajectory of this film was very successful. It won the Ariel Award for Best Ibero-American Film. It was nominated at the Cesar Awards for Best Foreign Film. And at the European Film Awards in the category of Best European Film.

In 2015, Pablo Berger was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

His latest film “Abracadabra” was released in the summer of 2017 and was one of the three finalists to represent our country at the Oscars. Pablo Berger was nominated for the Goya for Best Original Screenplay and the film had 7 other nominations in these awards.

Since 2018, Pablo Berger has been a member of the Hollywood Academy.

His next project, “Robot Dreams”, is an animated film based on the graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon.

Executive Producer. ARCADIA MOTION PICTURES

SANDRA TAPIA

Sandra Tapia has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She began her professional career as a production coordinator at Oberon Cinematográfica in productions such as “La teta asustada” (2009) and “Madeinusa” (2006). In 2009, she joined the Arcadia Motion Pictures team, becoming a partner in 2019. She has been executive producer on projects such as “Blancanieves” (2012) by Pablo Berger (10 Goya Awards, and selected to represent Spain at the 2012 Oscars); “Viaje al cuarto de una madre” (2018) by Celia Rico (Youth Award and Special Jury Mention at SSIFF) and “Madre” (2019) by Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

Co-Founder & Game Designer. UPRISING STUDIOS

CELER GUTIÉRREZ DÁVILA

He studied Music Composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón and a postgraduate degree in Sonology at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska. He starts working in the video game industry in 2015, as a composer and sound designer, publishing in 2019 “A Place for the Unwilling” (Alpixel Games). In 2017 he founded, along with several colleagues, Uprising Studios where, besides audio, he works as a Game Director. Uprising Studios, located in Béjar Salamanca, is currently finishing its first project “Scarf”, funded by THQNordic.

Founder & Executive Producer. BIG BANG BOX

GUILLERMO VELASCO

Graduated in Information Sciences (UCM, Madrid), Marketing Management (Ashridge Management School, UK) and Executive MBA (Instituto de Empresa, Madrid). Guillermo has developed a professional career deeply linked to the audiovisual sector in production, marketing and distribution of content (Film, TV, animation & digital content). Since September 2012, he has been an executive producer at Big Bang Box, an animation production company based in Madrid and Salamanca, which he founded together with other professionals in the sector, dedicated to animation and video games. Guillermo is a member at the board of Diboos and Pixelcluster, and has  a strong commitment to audiovisual education.

Founder. TOONWOLF

PEPE SÁNCHEZ

Animation director of series such as “Jelly Jamm” and “Pocoyo”, Pepe is one of the most valued Spanish professionals in the field of animation and pre-production. With more than 25 years of experience in the sector, he has worked with Disney, Don Bluth, Reel FX and Cartoon Saloon among others. He is also the author of the comic book “Picopico Adventures” and has recently directed his own series and video game called “Bugsted”. In the last five years he has worked as storyboarder, director and coordinator of several projects and teasers. He is also a professor of character design in the Master of Animation at the UPV. He has recently created his own company TOONWOLF, located in Segovia.

Co-founder EVERGUILD

ISABEL TALLOS

Isabel Tallos co-founded Everguild in 2014, an ambitious video game studio operating from the UK and Spain, specializing in digital collectible card games. Its main title, The Horus Heresy: Legions based on Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe has one and a half million downloads and has more than three years of uninterrupted growth.

Video game developer. CHIBIG

VIOLETA MOLDES RIVAS

Hi! I’m Violeta and I’m a junior game developer. I’m from Galicia, although I currently live in Valencia. I study Design and Creative Technologies at UPV. “Stories of Mara” is my first published videogame, and I love to talk about design of any kind!