Jeani Varty is a young director and visual development artist who has been active in the industry since 2016. Having worked as a freelancer turned trainer for the past 4 years at Mollo animation academy, she has gained an appreciation for the developing artist and community at large. Jeani has since struck out on her own as a freelancer, working on multiple shows and developing her own IP. Her main focus now is shifting to building digital communities, networks, and spaces for freelancers and young animators looking to learn - this is done through her discord server, SADAC - the South African Digital Arts Community.

Daniela Del Castello is currently an animation and visual development trainer at the Tshimologong Precinct in Johannesburg South Africa, where she directs short films and upskills local artists to help them gain a footing in the industry and help further develop their artistic journey. Prior to becoming a trainer she worked for Minds Eye Creative for 4 years as an animator and character designer. Some of the clients she worked for included Netflix, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. She  Co-directed, character designed and animated for the CTIAF 2023 trailer. She has an honours degree in Fine Arts and a Masters Degree in Digital Art from Wits University. Her Masters involved studying the 3D animation pipeline and a research and creative project where she used stop frame, painting on glass animation to explore the relationship between animation and Queer aesthetic. She presented her paper and series of animated works at the Queer/ing animation Symposium 2017 and at the 2016 Turbine Art Fair.

Tim was among a handful of animators who pioneered the South African animation industry in the early 90’s. As there were no local schools at that time, he learned the craft from books, observation and heaps of practice. He began his journey in 3D with the first release of Maya in 1998 doing character animation and visual-effects for film, then founded his own studio, Bugbox in 2003. Bugbox focuses on character animation and has produced animated brand characters and commercials for giants the likes of Kelloggs, Nestle, Lego and Coca-Cola.   Tim believes we never stop learning this multifaceted craft. In 2000 he did a course with the late Richard Williams (director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and author of the acclaimed Animator's Survival Kit) and in 2010 he studied online through Animation Mentor. Later he completed the ‘SEDIBA Spark’ screenwriting course and enrolled for Honours in Digital Arts at WITS in 2017. Tim is passionate about heart-felt storytelling and intrigued by animation’s capacity to infuse a character with a soul. He was Animation Director on Triggerfish’s Seal Team (2021) and Herderboy (2023 - part Disney’s anthology Kizazi Moto - Generation fire!)