Celebrating 25 years of success, VIEW Conference 2025 attracted 6,511 attendees from 57 countries. Its carefully curated program of sessions boasted over 150 speakers – a 25% increase on last year’s event – who delivered 76 talks, 22 in-depth workshops, 14 panels, and nine masterclasses, plus portfolio reviews, screenings, keynotes and more, all designed to inform, educate and inspire the conference’s international audience.
Between sessions, visitors seized the opportunity to explore Italy’s scenic Piedmont Region, the only place in the world where the coveted white truffle can be found, and home to some of the country’s great red wines. Turin itself is filled with tourist attractions including the city’s world-famous Egyptian Museum, which houses the biggest collection of Ancient Egyptian art outside of Cairo.
The main VIEW Conference 2025 program took place in the spectacular Officine Grandi Riparazioni (OGR), where the legendary VIEW Conference vibe generated its customary energetic and inclusive atmosphere. Two full days of workshops took place on the Turin campus of the ITS ICT Piemonte technical academy.
Furthermore, VIEW Conference 2025, in partnership with Museo del Cinema di Torino, presented two special movie screenings at Turin’s historic Cinema Massimo. A singalong screening of “KPop Demon Hunters,” the hit musical animated feature from Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation, was introduced in person by its two directors, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Also shown was Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action “How to Train Your Dragon, with a live introduction by the film’s VFX supervisor Christian Mänz and animation supervisor Glen McIntosh.
“What makes VIEW Conference so successful year after year is the people,” says Conference Director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “Our incredible speakers, who give so generously of their time, their wisdom, and their experience. Our wonderful audience, drawn from all corners of the globe, who spread the love with their infectious enthusiasm. Our generous sponsors, partners and patrons, without whom none of this would be possible. Our amazing behind-the-scenes team who work so hard to make the magic happen. Best of all are the breathtaking presentations into which our speakers pour their hearts and souls, showing us their deepest humanity and the immense passion they have for their art.”
Leading the field of award-winning creatives at VIEW Conference 2025 was Oscar-winner Doug Chiang, senior vice president and executive design director at Lucasfilm, who collected this year’s coveted VIEW Visionary Award. Previous recipients of the award, presented for outstanding contribution to the visual arts, include Oscar-nominated president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Ramsey Naito, Oscar-winning cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins, pioneering visual effects supervisor and Oscar®-winner Dennis Muren, Oscar-nominated animated feature director Nora Twomey and Oscar-winning Pixar designer/director Ralph Eggleston. Chiang also delivered the conference’s closing keynote “A Life in Film Design.”
Matt Buehler, founder and CTO of 3D content specialists vrbn, presented an enthralling keynote entitled “The Purposes of Creativity & Art.” Shane Valdez, founder and CEO of Superfile, discussed the importance of digital security in a world dependent on global collaboration. The latest applications of AI were discussed by Rick Champagne, director of Global Media2 Strategy and Marketing at NVIDIA and Ian Massingham, head of developer relations at Griptape. John Canning, head of developer relations M&E, AEC, D&M, AMD, explored the impact of the latest technology and tools for small teams.
Alongside the directors of “KPop Demon Hunters,” VIEW Conference 2025 also welcomed film directors Madeline Sharafian and Academy Award®-winner Domee Shi (Disney and Pixar’s “Elio”), Alessandro Carloni (Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s upcoming “The Cat in the Hat,” due for release in theaters February 27, 2026) and Annie Award-winner Pierre Perifel (DreamWorks Animation’s “The Bad Guys 2”). Director Alex Woo took the stage with VFX supervisor Nicky Lavender and head of character animation Sacha Kapijimpangato to speak about Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation’s “In Your Dreams”.
VIEW Conference 2025 offered a sneak peek at some of this year’s most anticipated movies. In a specially recorded video interview, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dan Laustsen ASC, DFF, talked in depth about lensing Netflix’s new adaptation of “Frankenstein,” written and directed by his long-time collaborator Guillermo del Toro. Production designer Dylan Cole transported the VIEW Conference to the exotic world of Pandora, sharing futuristic visions from the upcoming “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Meanwhile, in his presentation “To Infinity… and RenderMan XPU!” Pixar’s Dylan Sisson presented exclusive footage from Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” out June 2026.
Award-winning VFX maestros explored the fast-evolving world of visual effects. In a special fireside chat, Janet Lewin, senior vice president, general manager and head of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), discussed her 30-year career at the cutting edge of visual effects and virtual production. From the world of big-screen features came Oscar-nominated Pablo Helman and Framestore’s Dale Newton (Universal Pictures’ “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good”), David Seager (Disney’s “TRON: Ares”), BAFTA Award-winner David Vickery (Universal Pictures’ “Jurassic World: Rebirth”), Craig Hammack (Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch”), Oscar-nominated Ryan Tudhope (Apple’s “F1: The Movie”), Stephane Nazé (DC Studios’ “Superman”) and Michael Ralla (Warner Bros’ “Sinners”).
Also in the spotlight were the VFX for a range of episodic series including HBO’s “The Penguin” (with Johnny Han, Goran Pavles and Eugene Bondar), Apple TV’s “The Studio” (with Sandro Blattner and Wylie Co. VFX’s Jake Maymudes), Netflix’s “Wednesday” (with Rocket Science VFX’s Jethro Au and Kevin Buessecker), Netflix’s “The Sandman” (with Rodeo FX’s Martin Pelletier), HBO’s “Dune: Prophecy” (with Accenture Song VFX’s Apollonia Hartman and David Anastacio), Amazon Studios’ “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” (with Rodeo FX’s Ara Khanikian), HBO’s “The Last of Us” (with DNEG’s Melaina Mace and Roberto Rodricks), and HBO’s “House of the Dragon” (with Pixomondo’s Claudia Marvisi).
Twice Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Ian Hunter discussed not only his work on Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” but also his remarkable career creating miniature effects for award-winning films including “Interstellar” and “First Man.” Meanwhile miniature unit supervisor and props designer Simon Weisse looked back at his 30-year career, including his extraordinary work with acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson.
From the realm of games, Sucker Punch Productions creative director Nate Fox gave a presentation on the PS5 game “Ghost of Yōtei.” Jan-Bart van Beek and Jochen Willemsen from Guerrilla Games discussed how they created a family-friendly apocalypse with “Lego Horizon Adventures.”
Big ideas were discussed by a collection of award-winning panelists, including “The Future of Storytelling,” for which our line-up of award-winning film directors was joined by Kris Pearn, director of “The Willoughbys,” and Camille Balsamo-Gillis, co-founder of Pro Machina. Other panels included “The Future of Filmmaking,” “Innovation and Creativity at the Service of Audiovisual Production,” “Women in Animation: VFX and Live Action,” “Cinema 3: A New Era of Film,” and “Bridging the Gap in VFX: Collaboration & Innovation,” presented in partnership with the Visual Effects Society.
In-depth workshops included “Creating the World of ‘Game of Thrones’” with environment concept artist Kieran Belshaw; “The Purpose and Principles of Architecture” with vrbn’s Matt Buehler. A special highlight was an all-day walking workshop “Evolve from Seeing to Vision, from Watching to Storytelling,” where legendary photographer Asa Mathat took participants and their cameras out on the streets of Turin.
Setting its sights on business and education, VIEW Conference 2025 introduced young talent to top-level professionals, in a series of session designed to help nurture the talent of the future. These included dedicated portfolio review sessions with experienced creative professionals, and panels such as “Inspiring the Next Generation – AI and Innovation Technologies in Education.” Career development and project management was explore in talks such as “Is VFX a Sustainable Business Model?” and “Creative Careers Unfiltered: Motivation, Mentorship and Meaningful Networking.”
“The VIEW Conference 2025 program was more wide-ranging than any we have offered before,” says Conference Director Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez. “I offer my heartfelt thanks to our worldwide family of talented speakers, many of whom return year after year to help create the unique buzz that makes VIEW Conference an unforgettable experience for everyone. All that remains is to share this pledge for next year – VIEW Conference 2026 is going to be bigger and better than ever!”
VIEW Conference 2025 was made possible with support from Fondazione CRT, Fondazione Sviluppo E Crescita CRT, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Regione Piemonte, Camera di Commercio di Torino, Punto Impresa Digitale, Lenovo | Nvidia, Superfile, AMD, Accenture, Netflix, Industrial Light & Magic, Wylie Co. VFX, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Texas A&M University, vrbn, Claynosaurz, Iren, Alps Studios and Das Element.
Now Available – VIEW Conference 2025 Online Archive
VIEW Conference is proud to announce that the 2025 On-Demand Archive is now open! Immerse yourself in hours of video as you take a deep dive into our exclusive collection of sessions not only from VIEW Conference 2025, but also from previous conferences. On-Demand tickets are available NOW from the registration page of the official VIEW Conference website:
viewconference.it/pages/registration
Save the Date – VIEW Conference 2026
VIEW Conference is delighted to announce 11-16 October, 2026, as the official dates for next year’s VIEW Conference. Further details will be announced on the VIEW Conferece website in due course:
viewconference.it
Praise for VIEW Conference
“VIEW Conference is a world-class event. I have never been surrounded by such a talented group of people. The maestros of the visual arts and animation make VIEW Conference such a special place. Can’t wait to return!”
Fede Alvarez – Director, Co-writer, Executive Producer of “Alien: Romulus”
“The amount of talent gathered is nothing short of miraculous.”
Jorge R. Gutierrez – Director, “The Book of Life,” “Maya and the Three”
“Set in the magical city of Turin, Italy, VIEW Conference was the most concentrated gathering of VFX, games, art, and film disciplines I had ever experienced. I was able to mingle with some of the most visionary engineers and storytellers working today, in an atmosphere of mutual camaraderie and curiosity, everyone generously sharing their knowledge and experiences with their own individual creative journeys. I sincerely hope to attend this event many times in the future, as there is no other like it in the world.”
Chris Sanders – Director, Co-writer of “The Wild Robot”
“What makes VIEW Conference truly special is the incredible community where speakers and visitors get to spend time with each other to talk and share.”
Jan-Bart van Beek – Studio Director, Guerrilla Games
“It was such a pleasure for ILM to participate in this year's excellent VIEW Conference. Our artists and supervisors enjoyed getting to share their experiences from shows like ‘ABBA Voyage’ to ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and to be inspired by other speakers and workshops.”
Rob Bredow – SVP, Chief Creative Officer, Industrial Light & Magic
“VIEW Conference in Turin is many things. It’s about creativity, innovation and connecting with creators and artists from around the world. But most of all it’s a celebration of storytelling, in its many forms. VIEW Conference is a beautiful place to share our love for the magic and power of story.”
Peter Ramsey – Director, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Lost Ollie,” “Rise of the Guardians”
“VIEW Conference offers the best speakers from around the world ... in animation, VFX and emerging technologies. It’s an amazing opportunity to learn from industry giants and discover the latest technological trends. It’s amazing how Maria Elena Gutierrez, VIEW Conference CEO, manages to raise the game year after year.”
Dylan Sisson – RenderMan, Pixar Animation Studios
“VIEW Conference is one of a kind. It's the agora, the pulsing heart of the industry where art, technology and culture converge to share and discuss the experiences of the present and the possibilities of the future about our common passion: storytelling.”
Alessandro Jacomini – Senior Director of Cinematography, Walt Disney Animation Studios
“VIEW Conference is a wonderful gathering of technologists and artists who share their stories and visions of the creative endeavors we are all a part of – it’s a must-attend event.”
Richard Kerris – VP of the Omniverse Platform and General Manager of Media & Entertainment, NVIDIA
“VIEW Conference inspires and delights! Thanks to the all-star roster of speakers and enthusiastic attendees, one can’t help but leave feeling creatively energized. Having face-to-face access to some of the brightest directors, producers, technologists, VFX supervisors and animation directors is a real gift for everyone who attends, whether a student or seasoned veteran.”
Kevin Baillie – Production VFX Supervisor, Disney’s “Pinocchio” (2022)
About VIEW Conference
An English language event, VIEW Conference takes place annually in the beautiful baroque city of Turin, Italy. Enjoy this unrivaled opportunity to network with award-winning film directors, animators, artists and game designers as they deliver an incredible program of keynotes, panels, talks, workshops and masterclasses. Explore cutting-edge thinking in a wide range of creative and technology-based fields as a stellar line-up of stars from Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
The next edition of VIEW Conference takes place from October 11-16, 2026, in Turin, Italy. Attending the event in person guarantees an unrivaled opportunity for people to soak up the atmosphere and meet their heroes and mentors.
The conference’s vibrant and inclusive atmosphere is designed to enlighten and inspire, 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.