Animation Industry Unveils Plans for the Collision Awards. First Ever Honor Recognizing Animation and Motion Design In All Its Forms.

Animation veteran Randeep Katari, previously at Netflix, named as The Collision Awards General Manager.

Call for entries now open. Early entry deadline is March 8th, 2024.

January 22, 2024 – Reflecting the tremendous growth and importance of animation in today’s media world, industry leaders have joined forces with the organizers of The Telly Awards to launch The Collision Awards – the first global and holistic platform solely dedicated to honoring excellence in Animation and Motion Design in all its forms. Launched in partnership with key industry leaders, the mission is to celebrate the unique and incomparable creativity and technical talent in Animation and Motion Design across Marketing & Communications, Commercials, Television, Film, Experiential, Games & XR. This is the first time ever that animation across all disciplines will be honored by one set of awards. With winners set to be announced in July 2024, the call for entries is now open at https://collisionawards.com.

The premiere list of global partners includes Animation Magazine, Animation World Network, Animation Nights New York, Motion Plus Design, SIGGRAPH ACM London, Skwigly, Stash, VIEW Conference and WeTransfer.

“I’m most excited for the people behind the animation and motion design industry to finally have a world-class awards show designed specifically for them – and most importantly, to have those awards created and managed by the team who built The Telly Awards into a household name. Scale and gravitas matter and The Collision Awards already feel like they have both,” says Stephen Price, Executive Editor of Stash Magazine, a founding Collision Awards partner.

Leading animators and executives across television, marketing, advertising, games and film will review and judge thousands of expected entries. Founding jurors include Kev Cheah (Partner, Brunswick), Sarah Cox (Executive Creative Director/Aardman), Marge Dean (Head of Skybound Animation Studio and President/Women in Animation), Ronnie del Carmen (Co-director & writer of Pixar’s Inside Out), Melinda Dilger (Global Head of Animation Production, Film/TV – Riot Games), Maureen Fan (Chief Executive Officer/Baobab Studios), Angela Foster (Executive Producer of Animation/Partizan), Jinko Gotoh (Producer Finding Nemo), Jay Grandin (Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director/Giant Ant), Jorge Gutierrez (El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, Maya and the Three), Julie Lockhart (Co-Founder and President of Production/Locksmith Animation), Andrew Millstein (Co-Head/Annapurna Animation), Mike Moloney (Founder and Executive Creative Director/Art&Graft), Gilles Monteil (Animation Expert/Ubisoft), Ramsey Naito (President/Paramount Animation and President/Nickelodeon Animation), Claire Renton (Animation Director/Ludo Studio), Phil Rynda (Director of Original Animation, The Pokemon Company International) and Fred Volhuer (Co-Founder/Atlas V Group).

“I really want to contribute to the recognition and reward of talent and quality work in our field,” says Sarah Cox, Executive Creative Director and a member of the Board of Directors at renowned studio, Aardman.

Organizers have tapped Netflix veteran Randeep Katari as General Manager. A 15-year industry stalwart, Katari has worked as a creative executive and story artist for leading companies such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, Nickelodeon, NBC/Universal, Rough Draft, and Passion Pictures. As a writer/artist, he has worked for Google, Facebook and Activision-King. He served as Head of Story for Axis Animation/Timeless Pictures’ first feature for Netflix, and most recently served as a Creative Manager at Netflix, overseeing Animated Film and Series.

“Helping lead an organization that’s dedicated to celebrating animation, motion design and the community of creatives within it allows us to spotlight undiscovered stories and unrecognized talents all around the world. The Collision Awards is collaborating with leaders in the industry to set a standard of excellence and share how animation can inspire, connect and entertain on a truly global scale,” says Katari.

The Collision Awards is being supported by the executives behind the annual The Telly Awards, an award “honoring excellence in video and television across all screens,” since 1979. With over 12,000 annual entries, The Telly Awards has seen the vast amount of remarkable work being done by talented people working specifically in animation across industries and realized there was a critical need and opening for this kind of recognition.

The awards will honor work by studios, production companies, brands, agencies and individuals with a varied list of categories specifically focused on the intersection of creativity and technical skills unique to this community and inclusive of everyone working in the medium of animation and motion design. The awards appreciate how an entire industry and community can benefit when the best work and talent is credibly recognized by its members and beyond.

Winners of the inaugural The Collision Awards will be announced in July, 2024. Call for entries are now open. The early entry deadline is March 8. Complete details on the submission process are available at https://collisionawards.com.

ABOUT THE COLLISION AWARDS:
The Collision Awards is the first global and holistic platform solely dedicated to honoring excellence in Animation and Motion Design in all its forms. Launching in partnership with various industry leaders, our mission is to establish a holistic platform that celebrates the unique and incomparable creativity and technical talent in Animation and Motion Design across Marketing & Communications, Commercials, Television, Film, Experiential, Games & XR. We recognize how an entire industry and community can benefit when the best work and talent is credibly recognized by its community and beyond. Follow @collisionawards for more details.

PR Contact:
Michael Agulnek
Michael Agulnek & Associates
michael@michaelagulnek.com