Animation Professionals Meet Up

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  "publish_at": "2025-11-03T16:30:00.000-06:00",
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  "date": "2026-03-16",
  "end_time": "2026-03-16T12:30:00.000-05:00",
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      "company": "Minnow Mountain, LLC",
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      "name": "Craig Staggs",
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      "details": "Craig Staggs, studio co-founder, partner, and director, brings his extensive background in art, theater, and film to the table. Renowned as an acclaimed independent producer and visual artist, Craig is the visionary behind Minnow Mountain’s celebrated rotoscope approach, emphasizing storytelling, character development, and exceptional acting.\n",
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      "name": "Steph Swope",
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      "details": "Steph Swope boasts a remarkable 27-year career in the independent film industry, earning\nrecognition as an award-winning producer of animated series and feature films. Steph’s no-bullshit\nauthenticity and a supernatural analytical ability has laid the foundation for Minnow Mountain’s success.\n\nMinnow Mountain LLC is an animation studio specializing in performance capture\nrotoscope character animation. Founded in 2012 by industry veterans Craig Staggs and\nSteph Swope, we are located in Austin, Texas.\n\nWith a strong focus on delivering exceptional animation services, we offer a range of\ncreative solutions for television and film producers that includes development and\nproduction of feature films, series, shorts, music videos, and project pitches. As Emmy-winning\nanimators, Minnow Mountain is proud to attract partnerships with the most\nprestigious producers in the adult animation industry.\n\nSome of our notable co-productions include the critically acclaimed \"Tower\" (dir. Keith Maitland) for PBS, the\ngroundbreaking series \"Undone\" (dir. Hisko Hulsing) for Amazon Prime, and the visually stunning \"Apollo 10 1/2:\nA Space Age Childhood\" (dir. Richard Linklater) for Netflix. We were proud to contribute to 2023’s\nunderground hit and film festival darling, \"Quantum Cowboys.\" We make short form animation like the opening sequence for YouTube-based DnD-playing juggernaut Critical Role, or the Black Angels' music video for their hit single, \"Empires Falling.\" We also produce the online course How To Rotoscope with Craig Staggs.\n\nIn 2024 we expanded the company in two exciting ways: developing Minnow Mountain\noriginal films (to be written and directed by studio co-founder Craig Staggs) and offering 2D\ncartoon style character animation production services.",
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  "description": "The Animation Professionals Meet Up is a chance to mix with animation industry folks and make some sweet connections. This event is hosted by SXSW veterans Craig Staggs and Steph Swope of Minnow Mountain, animators behind Tower (PBS), Undone (Amazon), and Apollo 10 1/2 (Netflix). Animation pros at any level are invited to join us for the third year of this epic exchange of business cards and social media profiles. Leave your mark on our huge live-drawing canvas featuring the amazing cutting-edge technology of a Sharpie. These are your people!",
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  "long_description": "The Animation Professionals Meet Up is a chance to mix with animation industry folks and make some sweet connections. This event is hosted by SXSW veterans Craig Staggs and Steph Swope of Minnow Mountain, animators behind Tower (PBS), Undone (Amazon), and Apollo 10 1/2 (Netflix). Animation pros at any level are invited to join us for the third year of this epic exchange of business cards and social media profiles. Leave your mark on our huge live-drawing canvas featuring the amazing cutting-edge technology of a Sharpie. These are your people!",
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