Los Angeles Animation Festival

LAAF is LA's only International Animation Festival running since 2007. Previous guests and honorees include Pixar Director Brad Bird, Sean Lennon (also Artistic Director), Bill Plympton, ‎Peter Chung, Chris Prynoski, Tom Kenny, Jerry Beck and the late great Will Vinton.

LAAF is the country's leading international animation festival since 2007 dedicated to helping indie and student filmmakers.

As it has been for so many of us, 2020 and at least the first half of 2021 have been tough and filled with obstacles. As a festival our primary concern was to keep the event going and to try to make it a live event as soon as possible, in whatever way we could. The real success of any festival is in getting filmmakers together in-person, to celebrate their work and be able to network - with colleagues and industry insiders.

Having said that, we were recently led to believe that our previous venue and home was going to close permanently due to the economic impact of the pandemic. With so many similar venues also closing, we thought we would have to close for good too. But, after a long and hurried search, and at the 11th hour, we were lucky to find a new venue, the Burbank Moose Lodge. We were able to secure it for our celebratory Awards Night and screening. We will be hosting our live return with a celebratory Awards Night on Saturday Dec 4th 2021.

For the winners there'll be a full bar and snacks available, live music, celebrity guests, prizes and complementary winners photo ops on the festival step and repeat.

We will be giving out awards for both 2020 and 2021 on the night and screening highlights from both year's entries. Having changed venues at such very late notice and considering our continued concerns with regard to the pandemic, we won't be able to screen all 'official selections' in their entirety this year or add more screenings and panels to our event. But we hope you understand and will join us in celebrating our live return at our special party. We're just very thankful we've found a new home at such late notice.

And as a "Thank You" to all our winning 'official selections' for both years, entry will be free (RSVP required - as space is limited). We will reach out to everyone as we get closer to the date.

We continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation from a global perspective. Our priority is to create a safe environment for all attendees, following the health and safety protocols set forth by the state of California.

Be safe and well.

The LAAF Team