fmx/08 kicks off with a bang! No one less than Glenn Entis, Senior Vice President and Chief Visual & Technical Officer of the world-wide leading game company Electronic Arts will give the opening keynote. This essential lecture underlines the significant role of games within FMX.

More big names of past and upcoming box-office hits are part of fmx/conference, with a good deal of Academy Award nominees for animation and visual effects, such as Ratatouille, represented through Sharon Calahan from Pixar and Pirates of the Caribbean: At worlds end and Transformers with Christophe Héry from ILM. More lectures on exciting projects will come for example from Chris Burn from Double Negative (The Bourne Ultimatum and 10.000 BC) or Scott Singer from DreamWorks Animation (Madagascar: The Crate Escape).

The Virtual Humas Forum will provide an insight into the world of 3D characters and robots featuring Kirsty Boyle (Uncanny Robot), David Hanson (The Zeno Robot) and Jeff Kleiser from Synthespians.
After last year’s huge success fmx/08 once again stresses its international scope with a Focus on India, including Saraswathi Balgam and Prashant Buyyala from Rhythm & Hues India as well as Manu Ittina from Ittina Studios. Right on the doorstep of fmx/08 the Stuttgart region has been gaining ground in the animation and effects area. A fact that is reflected in the strong presence of regional studios at fmx/08. Another inspirational local hero will participate as well: Hip-Hop Producer And.YPSILON from ”Die Fantastischen Vier” will talk about Realtime Visuals.


Animation Production Day 2008 – Business platform for the international animated film industry

After a very successful kick-off event in 2007 Animation Production Day is back home at fmx/08.
On May 05-06 the partner event of Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film and fmx/08 will bring together producers of feature-length animated film projects, distributors, banks, marketing experts and equity investors. Intense one-to-one meetings provide the opportunity to discuss financing and exploitation strategies for selected projects. For further details see: www.animationproductionday.de. Registration deadline is February 15th, 2008.

Animation Production Day is organized by the Film- & Medienfestival gGmbH and by the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction of Filmakademie Baden- Wuerttemberg, in cooperation with Michael Schmetz Mediaconsult.


Exhibition: Into the Pixel

Games naturally form a part of our everyday culture. They influence and inspire contemporary cinema, literature, even fashion and especially art. The exhibition Into the Pixel features 16 exemplary works of video game art, selected by a jury from both gaming and art industry. fmx/08 is proud to present this special collection of pictures which acknowledges the truly artistic work in game design and offers the artists an opportunity to be recognized by a wider public. After previous shows in America it is now Stuttgart’s turn to marvel at the selection of impressive images. Into the Pixel is brought to fmx/08 by AIAS - Academy of Interactive Sciences and will be shown throughout the conference at Design Centre Stuttgart, Haus der Wirtschaft.


10th flashconference on May 08– Ignore us at your own risk

This year the 10th flashconference presents flash programing and new flash features as well as glimpses into effects, film and cinema, commercials and video, music video clips, business applications, computer arts, real time, and much more. The event will include new speakers like Alexander Gellner, video illustrator for the music video clip Dienen from Germany’s top Band Ich + Ich next to famous cartoonist and animator Nina Paley from New York. She will show a making-off about her film Sita sings the Blues, the first feature film ever completely produced in flash premiering at this year’s Berlinale.
Marcel Fahle and Gerd Hilgemann, prominent specialists in video on flash platform will surprise the audience with a flash on multiple devices presentation. Greg Rewis from Adobe Systems will give a look behind the scenes on innovative strategies of their platforms. Famous members of the German flash community like Holger Eggert and Mario Klingemann, one of the top flash actors on international level, present another highlight. Please check out the website http://www.flashconference.de/ for more information.


Visual Computing - Visualization and simulation in science, technology and industry

The special series Visual Computing will once again prove that animation is not just exciting and creative when it comes to entertainment. The MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg Public Innovation Agency for Information Technology and Media presents professionals from science and industry displaying the potential in the area of visualization and simulation. Examples and results from the Visual Computing Cluster, a unique pool of research institutes, companies and educational institutions stress the success and development of animation-based technologies in diverse business branches, from automotive and plant engineering to medicine and architecture.

For further information check: www.fmx.de