Mr. Subrata Roy chairs and runs Hi-Tech Animation and Moople Institute. Coming from a bong not so business minded family it was not so easy for him to start up a business. However, that had never been a hindrance for Mr. Roy as he spearheaded the creation of an animation company with a dream to transform Kolkata to India’s Animation hub. The veteran industry leader guides the overall creative and aesthetic aspiration of his organisation. It is the zeal of this self-made businessman which has been the primary motivating force and the backbone behind all.

Sanjeev Sahoo is a multi-skilled creative professional with over 25 years of work experience in animation, visual design, IP development and in leading creative teams for projects ranging from feature films to commercials and television series. In-depth experience and artistic expertise in all aspects of creative production design from concept to post-production. He has a strong educational background in fine art (BFA, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha) and a three years Diploma in Animation Film Making (ZICA 1995 batch).

Megha Tata is the Chief Executive Officer of Cosmos Maya where she oversees the firm's operation and is leading the animation studio into its next phase of growth. She has held leadership roles at organisations such as WB Discovery, BTVI, HBO, Turner International and Star TV. In an illustrious career spanning over 3 decades, Megha has had a consistent record of increasing sales, effective negotiation, profit and loss analysis and strategic implementation of business operations. Ability to overcome obstacles and capture opportunities by closing exclusive deals, creating and implementing savvy marketing strategies has been her forte. An industry veteran, she leads multiple national as well as international industry forums and is an esteemed member of the National Media and Entertainment Committee of FICCI.

Megha has been on the board of IBF (Indian Broadcasting Federation). She served as the Vice President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter from 2016-2018 and as President of IAA - India Chapter (2020-2022). The second woman to hold that position. Currently she is the Immediate Past President of IAA. Megha has been instrumental in launching several marquee projects in the Indian broadcast space. She has been bestowed with multiple industry accolades during her career.

Megha is recognized amongst the top 50 influential women in media, marketing and advertising and was also conferred 'Women of the decade in media' by the Women Economic Forum in 2018. She was also adjudged amongst Asia's Most Inspirational Women in Leadership for 2022 by House of Rose Professional.

In addition to being actively involved in industry initiatives, Megha is energised by engaging with young minds through guest lectures at leading educational institutes including IIT, IIM, ISB, UBS, and is passionately involved as a Volunteer with Isha Foundation - a non-profit organisation started by Sadhguru.

With over two decades in the animation industry, Veerendra is one of India's most influential creative executives. He co-founded Paprikaas Animation Studios (now transformed into Technicolor India) and Xentrix Studios, building them up to teams of 1000+ artists. He has delivered over 2000 hours of TV, DVD, feature films, games and Ride Films. As studios head & creative director, he has played a pivotal role in transforming the Indian animation scene and bringing Technicolor, DreamWorks, EA, Rockstar, MPC and others to India. He now runs Zebu Animation Studios as Founder/Creative Director and is currently fulfilling his lifelong dream by creating three original IP’s with Indian inspirations and a universal allure. Ultimately, the heartwarming sound of his two children’s laughter as they watch the shows he helps make is his biggest reward.

Another venture close to his heart is the Datsi Foundation. Founded on the audacious idea of bridging industry and academia, the Datsi School for Storytellers serves as a community of collaborators, innovators, and artists dedicated to pushing the boundaries of storytelling in the digital and transdisciplinary space.

The school is all set to launch in July 2023, offering short-term courses tailored to artists of varying skill levels, enabling them to gain an edge in their careers while offering a holistic learning experience. Since May 2023, Datsi has already hosted several creative workshops at its campus in Thiruvananthapuram and plans to organise more events in the coming year, with the aspiration of establishing itself as a global creative hub.

Preeti Vyas is the president and CEO of Amar Chitra Katha Private Limited, publishers of the iconic Amar Chitra Katha comics and Tinkle magazine. She is also the founder of FunOKPlease Publishing that creates contemporary Indian content for children. Through her 28-year-long career, she has been a retailer, publisher, editor, author and entrepreneur. Preeti is a seasoned bibliophile who believes the solution to any problem in life can be found within the pages of a book somewhere. She believes passionately in the power of children's books to shape the future of India and the world. She is a practicing Buddhist and lives in Mumbai with her 14-year-old son.

A distinguished figure and a much-admired thought leader in the media and entertainment industry, P. Jayakumar has spearheaded the success story of one of Asia’s most pioneering animation studios – Toonz Media Group. Joining Toonz as the Chief Finance Officer, Mr Jayakumar went on to take additional responsibility as the COO before taking up the reins of the organisation as CEO in 2003. Under his inspirational leadership, Toonz expanded from its home ground in India, growing its global footprint, diversifying business, and making strategic international acquisitions, such as the Spanish distribution company Imira and Ireland-based studio Telegael. Today, Toonz has emerged as a global force in kids and family entertainment, and a one-stop-shop for content production, distribution, and digital media exploitation.

Jayakumar is a member of the prestigious International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Committee on Media and Entertainment of CII; the Entertainment Committee of FICCI and Governing Council of MESC. He is also the Co- Chairman of the National Council on Animation & Sports Technology of ASSOCHAM, as well as president of Society of AVGC Institutions in Kerala (SAIK). He has also been the jury member at the elite Emmy Award panel.

Few Executives can call themselves truly Global Leaders. Owen Hurley's Emmy nominated, diverse career has taken him from London and Sydney, to Vancouver, Los Angeles, from Bangalore and Mumbai, to Paris and now Bangkok with extensive experience as an inspiring Creative Studio Head, Director and Producer in episodic animation, games and feature projects; balancing both innovation and excellence.

Owen’s 25 years of proven success and recognition comes with focused, intentional delivery, specializing in

• Leadership – Building, empowering and leading strong, culturally diverse teams in pursuit of the creation of the extraordinary.

• Imagination – Delivering impassioned Creative Excellence in all genres of Animation – TV, Games, Film and Commercials. Owen drives the full range of Storytelling, Narrative structure Creative Direction, Extensive CGI Animation direction experience, motion capture, live action, editing, (and occasional bass playing).

• Production - Directing and Producing experience; building, leading and mentoring teams and guiding and managing overall studio direction, in many corners of the globe. Owen delivers high quality entertainment on time, on budget.

• Collaboration – Highly collaborative, mediation focused and conflict resolution geared decision maker. Experienced in relationship building and management between clients and corporate, supervisors and employees - execs and studios – managing creative expectations with budget restraints.

A doyen in the animation industry, Milind D. Shinde’s career boasts of close to two decades of experience and is spread over diverse domains namely Project Management, Production and New Studio Set up. He was part of the core team involved in setting up the production of the India business unit of DreamWorks Animation Studios. During his stint with DreamWorks Animation Studios, Milind played a crucial role in the production work executed in India for some of their successful movie franchises such as Madagascar, Puss in Boots and How to Train Your Dragon to name a few. He also was one of the key members involved in setting up the production for Dreamworks Animation Studios in Shanghai called as Oriental DreamWorks and worked on Kung Fu Panda 3 which was one of the highest grossing animated features in China.

Through his astute management skills, unflinching vision and a zeal for quality and creativity, Milind has successfully established 88 Pictures as a key player in the arena of Animation and premium content delivery services with several reputed projects to their credit. Their clientele boasts of studios such as Dreamworks Animation Studios, Warner Bros Animation, Nickelodeon, Lucas Film, Gaumont and Netflix to name a few. The company recently made a successful foray into the domain of VFX with the Siddharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna starrer Mission Majnu.

Prior to starting his entrepreneurial journey with 88 Pictures in the animation field, Milind also worked in various industries and comes with a degree in engineering and management.

Jack Liang is an Executive Producer, VP of Int. Bus. Dev. and Licensing at Emmy-winning Japan based CG animation studio Polygon Pictures Inc. as well as board member of its Malaysia subsidiary Silver Ant Polygon Pictures Inc. (SAPPI) and Polygon Studios India. Jack strives to continue and expand the legacy of Polygon Pictures and its mission of "to do what no other has done, in unparalleled quality, for all the world to see and enjoy," as the studio goes into its 40th year. Credits include producing Pacific Rim The Black, Stillwater, The Very Pulse of the Machine (a short in Love, Death and Robots) and many more.

Biren Ghose has been the Country Head for Technicolor Creative Studios in India for 14 years. He has taken the India studio to a peak strength of approx. 7000 employees. Technicolor’s business is conducted in marquee brands and India has the studios across them all - MPC (for film and TV VFX), The Mill (for advertising and experiential VFX), Technicolor Games; & Mikros Animation (for Episodic and Feature Animation). In 2022 he became a member of the Global Executive Committee of Technicolor Creative Studios.

Mikros Animation is the most prolific independent production studio for animated feature films. Similarly, no company in India can showcase the slate of episodic titles produced in India for the world like Mikros. Technicolor has won over 8 Emmy Awards for animation; 4 Academy Awards for VFX Films; over 24 Cannes Lions for advertising VFX; 28 VES; 4 BAFTAs; 90 D&AD plus the British Arrows and others for the prolific work of the team and their clients.

Biren is a thought leader and industry evangelist for the AVGC sector for the past 23 years. He is one of the 7 industry members in the National AVGC Task force to ideate and draft the national policy and prepare recommendations for the National AVGC COE. He is the Vice Chairman of the CII National Media & Entertainment Committee and President of ABAI.

In 2021, Biren received the National Order of Merit - a knighthood conferred by the President of France. Jazz, Photography, F1 and the arts remain his passions.

Ashish Kulkarni embarked on his journey in the field of arts and media in 1995, and is the founder of Punnaryug Artvision. Ashish is also the Chairman of the AVGC forum at FICCI and MCCIA, and has been persistently engaged with AVGC policy makers in India at central and state levels.

In the last two decades, Ashish's push for state level policies inclusive of AVGC skill development and creation has allowed for their successful implementation under IT ITES policies or independent AVGC policies in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Goa, MP, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Kerala. Moreover, states like UP, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat are actively considering the formation of AVGC policies to promote creative skill development and job creation.

Arjun Madhavan is the CEO of Assemblage Entertainment, India’s premium CGI animation House.

As a new-gen entrepreneur, Arjun has played a pivotal role in shaping Assemblage over the past decade, working with a global marquee clientele and producing premium and world-class animated content across multi-platforms, genres, and formats. He is a firm believer in the power of people and partnerships. He advocates investing in talent which will in turn help the industry to grow and flourish.

As a London School of Economics graduate, Arjun began his career as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in London. In 2019, he was featured in Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 Asia list in the media and entertainment category. He was also awarded the “AVGC 40 Under 40” title by AnimationXpress in 2020, to recognise the finest 40 individuals from the Indian AVGC ecosystem.

Part of Indian Television Group Anil Wanvari, is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of the Indiantelevision.com group. He has spent more than 37 years in the media industry and is considered India's foremost analyst, consultant and catalyst for the media sector. It achieves this through its various B2B and B2C portals: indiantelevision.com (for the cable, satellite, OTT, production, advertising, marketing, media industries), tellychakkar.com (TV show and actor news for TV fans), AnimationXpress.com (for the VFX, comics, gaming, and animation segments) and radionandmusic.com (for the FM radio, digital music and music industry). He is also a well known Television/Digital Producer known for producing The Indian Telly Awards for the last 16 years and oodles of digital content. It engages with industry by organizing thought leadership forums under its various verticals: Video and Broadband Summit, RadioConnex Awards, News Television Awards ,BrandVid, The Content Hub, Kids Animation & More, etc.