Coraline stop-motion studio LAIKA and The Gotham Film & Media Institute have named the fellows for their inaugural Animation Accelerator program which supports early- to mid-career animators.   

Three creators were selected for a six-month program in which they’ll refine a production-ready pitch for an animated short film. They will receive mentorship from an established group of animators including Emmy- and Annie-nominated writing team Shawneé and Shawnelle Gibbs; Cami Kwan, co-owner of animation studio Apartment D; and Stephen Neary, director of the Sundance award-winning short Living with a Visionary.

The fellows will get tours of LAIKA’s studio, and will prep for and participate in Gotham’s market/screening event Gotham Week (September to October), where they’ll present during a pitch event. They’ll also be featured in Gotham’s Filmmaker Magazine. 

The selected creators are: 

• Ben Ellebracht: A viz-dev artist who’s worked with DreamWorks Animation, Spin Master and Lucasfilm, Ellebracht co-founded animation studio Cafe LaBobo in 2023. He has co-produced and co-directed segments of Yo Gabba GabbaLand! (Apple TV+). His project is Celestia, a dark fairytale about a young girl who falls in love with the moon. 
• Emily Ann Hoffman: Hoffman has worked as an animation director for Netflix, Hulu and HBO. Hoffman’s project is The Pond Prince, about a frog who was once the star of a reality dating show and today is a washed-up bachelor. 
• Searit Kahsay Huluf: A Pixar Animation Studios alum (Incredibles 2 and Turning Red), Huluf has written and directed indie short films, including Self through Pixar’s SparkShorts program. Huluf’s project is Fuzzy, which is set in a world where humans have become floating, fuzzy balls, and follows one reclusive man who has to confront his loneliness. 

Gotham is a New York-based non-profit organization that supports indie content creators. This accelerator, first announced in March, is the org’s first initiative focused specifically on animation.

Image courtesy of Gotham and LAIKA.