The intersection of artisanal stop-motion craftsmanship and independent filmmaking has found a new conduit for growth. The Gotham Film & Media Institute and LAIKA, the studio renowned for the tactile worlds of Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings, have unveiled the inaugural fellows for the LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator.
The program is specifically designed to bridge the gap for early-to-mid career creators, providing them with the technical and strategic scaffolding needed to transform a creative vision into a production-ready pitch for an animated short film. This first cohort consists of three filmmakers: Ben Ellebracht, Emily Ann Hoffman, and Searit Kahsay Huluf.
By pairing the institutional resources of The Gotham with the specialized expertise of LAIKA—which is currently preparing for the release of Wildwood—the initiative aims to diversify the voices shaping the future of the medium. The partnership focuses on a high-touch, six-month intensive that prioritizes storytelling over mere technical proficiency.
Meet the 2026 Animation Accelerator Fellows
The selected fellows bring a wide array of professional backgrounds, ranging from major studio experience at Pixar to academic leadership at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Their projects reflect a lean toward the surreal and the emotionally resonant.
Searit Kahsay Huluf, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, joins the program with a pedigree that includes work on Pixar’s Incredibles 2 and Turning Red. Huluf previously directed the Oscar-qualifying stop-motion short Self through Pixar’s SparkShorts program, a project that earned her a 2025 NAACP Image Award nomination. Her project for the accelerator, titled Fuzzy, explores themes of isolation and loneliness in a world where a strange phenomenon transforms humans into soft, floating fuzzballs.
Emily Ann Hoffman, an animator and Assistant Professor of Animation at NYU, focuses her work on intimacy and vulnerability. With six award-winning short films that have screened at Sundance, Slamdance, and SXSW, Hoffman has already established a footprint in both animation and live-action. Her project, The Pond Prince, offers a comedic yet poignant look at “Massive Mike,” a washed-up bullfrog bachelor and former star of a frog reality dating show struggling with communication issues.
Ben Ellebracht brings a deep background in visual development, having worked with DreamWorks TV, Lucasfilm, and SpinMaster. In 2023, he cofounded the boutique studio Cafe LaBobo LLC with filmmaker Fu Yang, where the pair produced stop-motion segments for Apple TV+’s Yo Gabba GabbaLand. Ellebracht’s project, Celestia, is described as a dark fairytale centered on a girl raised by nature who falls in love with the moon.
A Roadmap from Vision to Pitch
The LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator is not a traditional grant, but rather a mentorship-driven pipeline. The fellows will undergo a rigorous six-month process designed to refine their narratives and visual styles before presenting them to industry leaders.
| Program Component | Key Objective |
|---|---|
| Monthly Mentorship | Individualized guidance from established animation professionals. |
| LAIKA HQ Visit | Immersion in hybrid animation techniques and filmmaker-led creative approaches in Portland. |
| Gotham Week Pitch | Presenting refined projects during the September-October 2026 programming. |
| Industry Visibility | Featured profiles in Filmmaker Magazine to elevate career profiles. |
A centerpiece of the experience is a curated visit to LAIKA’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon. There, fellows will study the studio’s unique blend of handcrafted and hybrid animation techniques, using case studies from the upcoming Wildwood to understand how to scale a creative vision into a finished production.
Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute, noted that the cohort was chosen for their “remarkable visual creativity, deep respect for storytelling, and genuine passion for animation as an artform.” He added that the goal is to provide the “critical mentorship, visibility, and industry access” necessary to elevate their careers.
Guidance from Industry Veterans
To ensure the fellows receive a balanced perspective on both the art and the business of animation, the program has assembled a diverse group of mentors. This includes the Emmy and Annie-nominated writing team of Shawneé and Shawnelle Gibbs, who bring expertise in television and comics.
They are joined by Cami Kwan, a stop-motion animator and co-owner of Apartment D, and Stephen P. Neary, the Sundance-winning director of Living with a Visionary. These mentors will help the fellows navigate the “quest” of filmmaking, aligning with LAIKA’s internal core values of bravery and community.
David Burke, CMO/COO of LAIKA, emphasized the importance of original voices in the current landscape. “The future of animation will be shaped by artists with distinctive voices, ambitious ideas, and the courage to push the medium forward,” Burke said, noting that the partnership reflects a shared belief in supporting creators from “early vision to production-ready work.”
The program’s emphasis on “Seeing Beyond the Norm” suggests a desire to move away from the homogenized styles often found in big-budget feature animation, instead championing the bold, idiosyncratic storytelling typical of the independent circuit.
The next major milestone for the fellows will be their participation in Gotham Week, scheduled for September and October 2026, where they will present their final pitches to a curated group of industry executives and producers.
We invite you to share your thoughts on the future of stop-motion and independent animation in the comments below.
