Randeep Katari, General Manager, Collision Awards

Randeep has been a story artist for studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Blue Sky (Epic, Rio 2, The Peanuts Movie), Nickelodeon, NBC/Universal, Rough Draft, Passion Pictures, and more.

Meet Randeep Katari, General Manager, Collision Awards and watch our AMA below!

Randeep Katari is a Creative Exec, Story Person, and Artist living in New York City. Originally hailing from the Canadian suburb of Richmond Hill, Ontario, he grew up with a deep love of storytelling that led him to work as a story artist for studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Blue Sky (Epic, Rio 2, The Peanuts Movie), Nickelodeon, NBC/Universal, Rough Draft, Passion Pictures, and more. As a writer/artist, he’s worked for Google, Facebook and Activision-King. He served as Head of Story for Axis Animation/Timeless Pictures first feature for Netflix, then made the transition to an executive role as a Creative Manager overseeing Animated Film and Series at Netflix. He’s usually supervised at meetings by his dog Milo. To watch our live AMA with Randeep and find out everything you need to know about the Collision Awards, watch our AMA here.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, and I’ve been in NYC for 13 years after a short stint in LA while working at Disney Animation. I grew up being a voracious reader, loved storytelling and animation, and when it was time to choose a discipline, my options were Law, or Animation. Realizing that I was awful at arguing, I decided to study animation, and attended Sheridan College. Originally wanting to be an animator, during college I discovered storyboarding as a focus, and realized it encompassed my love for drawing, story, acting, and filmmaking in one aspect of animation. Since then I’ve worked as a Head of Story on Timeless Pictures/Axis Animation’s “Scrooge” for Netflix, as a story artist for commercials, tv and film at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios, Nickelodeon, Rough Draft, Passion Pictures, Hornet, Golden Wolf, (among others), as well as a writer and artist for King Games on Candy Crush, at Google working on the Google Assistant, and Facebook/Meta with their initial round of Avatars, before joining Netflix as a Creative Executive and Story Consultant.

Where can I watch your AMA?

On our Collision Awards YouTube here!

Q: What drives your passion for animation?

I’ve been obsessed with drawing and reading stories for as long as I can remember, and after my dad bought me the “Art Of Aladdin” book, I realized that there were people who made these movies and drew for a living. It’s rare that one medium can encompass so many aspects of art in the manner that animated filmmaking is capable of. As I started working in animation, I was able to meet some of the nicest, most encouraging and gracious people, and realized how unique of a community it is that allows for a multitude of incredibly talented creatives to come together and use their passion and skill to make work that delights and inspires millions of people. Since then, I’ve been lucky to get to know my peers, some of my heroes, and work on my personal mission of “helping people tell stories better” through being a head of story, story artist, writer and creative executive. Animation is part of my DNA now, and I’d have it no other way.

It’s rare that one medium can encompass so many aspects of art in the manner that animated filmmaking is capable of.

Randeep Katari, General Manager, Collision Awards

Q: What experiences and expertise are you bringing to the Collision Awards?

I try to maintain a breadth of interests and cast a wide net on both subject matter and genre, and recognize the hard work that goes into any creative endeavor. It’s a unique and fortunate alchemy when all the pieces of a project come together to create a unified whole that subverts, exceeds, and captures the attention of audiences, or enters the zeitgeist. However, having worked on a variety of projects across genre and audience demographic, there is rarely enough recognition for the talent contributing to all manners of animated and commercial art. I’m hoping that I can lend my knowledge and expertise around the talent required to create all manners of work and recognize under-appreciated and underrepresented creatives.

Q: What was some of your favorite work from 2023?

So many across so many categories! Films: Across the Spider-Verse, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, Nimona and I’m really looking forward to seeing Miyazaki’s The Boy & The Heron, and Jeremie Perin’s Mars Express. On the Live-Action front, Past Lives, Bottoms, The Holdovers, and Anatomy of a Fall stood out. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Blue Eye Samurai, Pokemon Concierge, Scavengers Reign, & Invincible for animated series, and Deadloch, Succession, and The Bear for live-action. Standout games were Tears of the Kingdom (obsessed) and the Super Mario RPG remake! And my fave books of the year included Age of Vice, Ember in the Ashes, and Sons of Darkness.

Q: What are you most excited to see in the inaugural Collision Awards season?

With animation being a global medium, and that being evidenced more and more each passing day, I’m really excited to see a breadth of entries, projects, genres, and work from around the world. It’s never been easier to access the tools to create art, and I’m excited to see the way that the medium has been pushed over the last few years. The animation industry, much like other creative industries, has had a rough year amidst restructures, cancellations, layoffs, and the threat of GenAI looming. I’m hoping that the inaugural season of the Collision Awards will bring the community together and allow for some celebration and positive energy around all the hard work that so many talented individuals have contributed to the entertainment industry.

Q: What do you look forward to most as a founding Collision Award jury member?

I enjoy meeting people outside of my immediate environment and comparing creative
thoughts and ideas. I really want to contribute to the recognition and reward of talent and
quality work in our field.

To meet Randeep and find out everything you need to know about the inaugural Collision Awards, including the entry process, how to enter and more about our jurors, sign up to our virtual Ask Me Anything on February 14th, 1pm EST here.