The
VIEW Conference has announced that Daniel Chong and Nicole Paradis Grindle, the director and producer of Disney and Pixar’s action-packed comedy
Hoppers, are attending VIEW Conference 2026 in Turin, Italy, this October. Appearing live on stage in front of the conference's international audience, Chong and Grindle will share their secrets behind the creation of this fun and original animated feature.
In Disney and Pixar’s animated comedy adventure Hoppers, animal-lover Mabel (voice of Piper Curda) uses a new technology to “hop” her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver and communicate directly with animals. As she uncovers mysteries in the animal world, Mabel befriends charismatic beaver King George (voice of Bobby Moynihan). Together they must rally the entire animal kingdom to face a major imminent human-threat: the smooth-talking local mayor Jerry Generazzo (voice of Jon Hamm). The all-star voice ensemble also features Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Vanessa Bayer, and Meryl Streep.
Hoppers is directed by Daniel Chong and produced by Nicole Paradis Grindle, with an original score by Mark Mothersbaugh.
“When an original animated film lights up the screen as brightly as Hoppers, it is a cause for celebration,” says Conference Director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “Welcoming Daniel and Nicole to VIEW Conference 2026 gives us even more reason to celebrate. I know their presentation will leave our audience hopping with energy. Roll on October!”
About Daniel Chong
Daniel Chong joined Pixar Animation Studios in February 2009 as a story artist, and has worked on several short and feature productions including the “Cars Toons,” TV Special “Toy Story of TERROR!” and feature film “Cars 2.” He also worked on the Academy Award-winning film “Inside Out,” and most recently directed Pixar’s original feature film “Hoppers,” which was released in theaters in March of 2026.
Prior to joining Pixar, Chong worked as a story artist for Disney Feature Animation, Blue Sky, Nickelodeon, and Illumination. He also created the Emmy-nominated TV series “We Bare Bears” for Cartoon Network, which ran for four seasons and led to an original TV movie.
Growing up in Orange County, CA, Chong earned a BFA from Cal State Long Beach and also attended CalArts. Chong currently resides in Berkeley, CA.
About Nicole Paradis Grindle
Nicole Paradis Grindle joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1995 as producer of the “Toy Story Activity Center” interactive computer game. Since then, she has played various production management and producer roles on many of Pixar’s feature films, including “A Bug’s Life,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Monsters University,” and Academy Award-winning films “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille” and “Toy Story 3.” More recently she produced the feature film “Incredibles 2,” which grossed over $1.2 billion in global box office. Grindle also produced Pixar’s newest original feature film “Hoppers,” which was released in theaters in March of 2026.
In 2015, Grindle produced the short film “Sanjay’s Super Team,” for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. In addition to her film work, she has played numerous organizational roles in the studio, producing commercials, broadcast television shorts, and promotional material. In 2014, Grindle partnered with Pixar colleague Mary Coleman to create a mentoring program for potential women directors, which bore fruit with the premiere of director Domee Shi’s Academy Award®-winning short film “Bao.”
Grindle came to Pixar with many years of animation production experience. She began her feature film career at Industrial Light and Magic on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and then moved to (Colossal) Pictures where she produced numerous projects including MTV’s groundbreaking short segment “Aeon Flux” which was featured on the program “Liquid Television.”
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Grindle graduated from The University of Pennsylvania and holds a Master of Arts degree in Documentary Film from Stanford University. At Penn, she was a writer, actor, director and chair of the all-women’s sketch comedy group “Bloomers,” only learning later in life the genius of delegation. She currently resides in San Francisco, CA.
About VIEW Conference
VIEW Conference 2026 takes place from October 12-16, 2026, in the stunning baroque city of Turin, Italy. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to network with award-winning film directors, animators, designers and thought leaders as they deliver an incredible program of keynotes, panels, talks, workshops and masterclasses at VIEW Conference 2026. Explore cutting-edge thinking with a stellar line-up of stars from Hollywood and Silicon Valley, celebrate the latest achievements in animation, VFX, games and AI, and share inspirational visions of the future. VIEW Conference 2026 is an English speaking event.
The conference’s vibrant and inclusive atmosphere is designed to energize and enlighten, with an extensive live program of talks, presentations, workshops and masterclasses embracing cutting-edge thinking on such diverse topics as Storytelling, Virtual Production, Computer Graphics, Interactive & Immersive Media, VR/AR/Mixed Reality and the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Real-Time Rendering and much, much more.