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Fourth edition of Ann Awards celebrates animation galore; here’s a full list of winners

AnimationXpress Team

Animation Xpress drew curtains to the fourth edition of Animation & More Summit and Ann Awards on 13 September. The rebranded edition of the Kids, Animation & More (KAM) Summit was followed by the grand gala award ceremony titled Ann Awards bringing together students and the most esteemed professionals from the sector to celebrate and recognise the talent behind the Indian animation industry.

The AM Summit 2023 and Ann Awards was powered by 88 Pictures and co-powered by Zebu Animation. The creative technology partner was Autodesk; and Powerkids Entertainment, the lanyard and badges partner. The associate partners were Karco, ARK infosolutions and Moho. The support partners of the event are ETV Bal Bharat, Sony YAY!, Wacom, Eizo, Reliance Animation, Appu Series and Huion. DigiCon6 Asia was the event’s festival partner.

The jury for the Ann awards included: Charuvi Design Labs founder/director Charuvi P. Agrawal, CAKE production VP Ciara Breslin, Joan Vogelesang Consultants consultant Joan Vogelesang, Parle Products senior category head Krishnarao Buddha, Saffronic studio director Prabhakar Sambandan, MPC (Technicolor Creative Studio, India) creative director – VFX Rajarajan Ramakrishnan, Paperboat Design Studios founder and chairman Soumitro Ranade, Reliance Animation CEO Tejonidhi Bhandare, and AnimationXpress founder, chairman, editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari.

Last year, AnimationXpress in association with Graphiti Multimedia instituted the “Ram Mohan Award For Excellence in Animation” in honour of the father of Indian animation – Late Padma Shri Ram Mohan. This year, late Ram Mohan’s wife Sheila Rao, Graphiti Multimedia CEO & co-founder Tilak Shetty, COO & co-founder Munjal Shroff and Wanvari felicitated the recipient of the second edition of the prestigious Ram Mohan award: UID, Gandhinagar and New Delhi adjunct professor Prakash Moorthy, for his significant contribution to the Indian animation industry.

L-R: Prakash Moorthy & Late Ram Mohan’s wife Sheila Rao

Continuing the tradition, like previous editions, AnimationXpress hosted “The Arnab Chaudhuri Director’s Award” instituted in memory of creative genius and champion of the Indian animation industry, the late Arnab Chaudhuri. The winner of “The Arnab Chaudhuri Animation ACE Award” was Neeraja Raj, who received a digital tablet from the support partner Huion. Raj, whose amazing body of work left everyone impressed, is a film director and writer at Nexus Studios.

And for the second category “The Arnab Chaudhuri Young Ace Award,” Gaurav Pati emerged as its winner. Pati is pursuing his undergraduate in animation filmmaking from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Along with this award, Pati got a cash prize of Rs 30,000 from Ashima Avasthi, Vaibhav Studios and Animation Xpress. Along with this, he got an official license of Moho – a 2D animation software, from the event’s associate partner ARK InfoSolutions.

The Arnab Chaudhuri awardees were decided by an eminent committee consisting of people who worked closely with Arnab during his short lifetime. The committee consisted of: Srishti Manipal Institute of Art Design and Technology consultant, UPES School of Design distinguished professor Nina Sabnani; The Walt Disney Company Europe & Africa original programming, animation, media networks VP Orion Ross; filmmaker, animator & UCLAN part time animation lecturer Pete Bishop; UID, Gandhinagar and New Delhi adjunct professor Prakash Moorthy; On Air Promos Sdn Bhd creative director Rob Middleton, Anil NM Wanvari and Chaudhuri’s wife Ashima Avasthi.

The Arnab Chaudhuri Animation ACE Award winner Neeraja Raj
The Arnab Chaudhuri Young Ace Award winner Gaurav Pati

Here’s the complete list of the nominees and the winners of Ann Awards 2023:

DIGITAL & OTT

Best Animated Digital Series – 2D

Best Animated Digital Series – 3D

Best Use of Animation in a Music Video

Best Animated Short Film

 Best Animated Full Length Feature Film

LICENSING & MERCHANDISING

Best Animated Character Merchandise

Best Use of Leveraging a Character for Brand Marketing

Best Licensed Animated Series Programme

MEDIA ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Best Channel Packaging

Best Digital Campaign for an Animated Series

Best Experiential Marketing

Best Use of Animated Character in a Brand TVC

Best Animated Brand Film

Best Brand Collaboration

Best Innovative Campaign

Best Promo

PROGRAMMING

Best 2D Animated Series

Best 3D animated series

Best Preschool Show

Best Animated Short Film

Best Animated Full Length Feature Film

TECHNICAL

Best Animated Project in Metaverse

Best Music Composer

Best Title Song

Best Title Design

Best Character Design 

Best Production Coordinator

Best Compositor

Best Modeller

Best Editing in an Animated Film

Best Screenplay Writer

Best Dialogue Writer 

Best Producer

Best Director of an Animated TV Series

Best Director of a Digital Series

Best Director of an Animated Film

Best Animator – Male

TECHNOLOGY

Best Hardware Used in Animation 

Best Software Used in Animation 

Best Technical Innovation

PARTNERS/SERVICE

Best Effects

Best Character Design

Best Storyboard Artist

Best Concept Artist

Best Compositor 

Best Art Director

Best Producer

Best Animator – Male

Best Preschool Show

Best Animated TVC

Best Animated Digital Series

 Best Animated Series

Best Animated Short Film

Best Animated Full Length Feature Film

Best Partnered Animation Work

SOCIAL MEDIA

Best Reel With The Use of Animation

Best Social Media Content – Animated

Best Social Media Presence by an Animation Platform/Studio

STUDENTS

Best Student 2D Film

 Best Student 3D Film

SPECIAL AWARDS

Best Syndicated Content

Best Use of Animation in a Public Service Message

India’s Most Loved Animated Character

Popular Character (Global)

Best Bollywood Inspired Animated IP

Best Ensemble in an Animated Series

Young Animator of The Year

Hall of Fame 2023

Contribution to the Animation Industry

Animation Personality of the Year

Best Indie Studio

Studio of the Year

Ann Awards 2023 recognised and honoured the brilliant creative minds behind the amazing animated content that is being produced.

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