Panelists will briefly present about their work and experiences followed by a Q&A discussion + a casual meet and greet.

Annie Wong, a.k.a. Headexplodie is a mixed-media artist and storyteller known for cooking up playful eye candy in the form of sculptures, illustrations, and stop-motion animation.

Her work is a blend of delightful fun, oddball humor, with a touch of teenage rebellion, all rooted in her experience growing up as a second-generation Chinese American in South Texas.

Pee-Wee Herman once told her she was very talented and she’s been riding high on that achievement ever since then.

She is a Giphy Featured Artist with over 28 billion views and her Ovary Actions project has received global coverage. Clients include Adult Swim, Apple, The New York Times, Washington Post, Vans, Creative Mornings, Meta, Instagram, and The Greater Good Science Center. Annie holds a B.F.A. from California College of the Arts and a Master’s Degree in Animation from the Academy of Art University.

Mateo Sof is an Animation Instructor and Program Specialist for the NextGen Program. They create curriculum for this program, as well as lead students through various different animation techniques and software.

Mateo Sof Allier Lechuga is a mexican multimedia artist with a focus on animation. They graduated from California College of the Arts, where they specialized in Experimental Animation. After teaching art classes in various schools, and being a 3D animation guest instructor at CCA, they are joining BAVC Media.

They have completed three short films, with their thesis being screened at the historic Roxie Theater. They graduated from CCA with High Distinction, after earning the Int’l Creative Achievement Award.

Mateo enjoys illustration, fashion and textiles. They love to upcycle clothes, as they find punk fashion to be very inspiring.

Hi my name is Devin Brice. Im an Animator from the bay that graduated in 2024.  love the ocean, retro aesthetics and early internet culture, so a lot of my art, and the series im working on takes inspiration from that. Currently working on short film with an old professor, writing my own series and doing supplemental animation for cordaroy the rat on Instagram. None of this pays.

Sahiti Guduru is a 2D artist and animator. As a student, her films explored telling complex stories through minimal dialogue. She also has an interest in the horror genre and its use in storytelling. Her work is influenced by several different mediums such as video games, live action movies, manga, and anime. After graduating, she has been focused on developing a project to make an indie game.

Hi my name is Lewi and im an Indi-American 3D animator, lighter and vfx/3D Compositor based in the bay area! I graduated just last year, making me a cca 2025 alumni!! Currently I work as 3D lighting and Compositing Artist at Black Kite Production and do freelance visual effects for a bay area studio called Nen Creative- tackling CG, compositing and vfx supervision for their commercials:)

Angie Chaparro (they/them) is a stop motion animator and fabricator who works with themes of childhood joy, nostalgia, and whimsy. They specialize in puppet fabrication and learning how to use multiple materials to experiment with such as felt, wood, wire, cardboard, fabric, paper, and more. 

Angie has taught stop motion workshops to immigrant and refugee high schoolers  through the Artogether organization, as well as worked with filipino filmmakers to create a pilot pitch that was shown at the sf public library. 

You can find their thesis stop motion film that won the Cannes art festival, and got selected for the Paris Play festival and Lonely Wolf international film festival on their website and youtube!