For those with a deep interest in the field of Animation, either as entertainment or as a profession, one event that should be on your radar is the CTN (Creative Talent Network) Animation Expo held annually in Burbank.

For those like myself, with a recreational interest in animation, the eXpo offers a variety of panels and discussions with some of the top animators working today. At last year’s convention, I was able to see, among other things, a presentation on the making of Frozen; a group interview of veteran Disney animators Mark Henn, Bert Klein, Tony DeRosa; and an interview/Q&A with past Disney animator Andreas Deja.

There was also a showing of the Ted Thomas documentary “Growing Up With the Nine Old Men,” that was included in the recent Diamond edition re-release of Peter Pan, along with a Q&A (moderated by Andreas Deja) and dvd signing afterwards.

This was, of course, only a tiny amount of what’s available to be seen at the eXpo–at any given time there are not only the larger presentations, but smaller live demonstrations and workshops.

A large area is also designated for exhibitors, selling anything from art supplies, to art itself.

The main focus of the eXpo is on up-and-coming animators however, so to that end there was a myriad of studio booths recruiting animators and affording them opportunities to network and make professional connections.

While there was certainly more activity presented than any one person could take in, it was at times a little logistically difficult to navigate secondary to the large numbers of attendants. The hotel parking was pretty limited, requiring the overflow to drive around looking for street parking or park in the airport lot across the street. Most of the demos and drawing models were placed around the lobby corridors making it difficult to pass through to the next area.

The main difficulty I found was just trying to get into the panels as the lines were fairly formidable for the larger talks, and the rooms relatively small. You can circumvent the lines by way of either purchasing a VIP ticket for the weekend or picking up a “fastpass” which are available for select presentations in limited quantities.

While a lot of the weekend’s content may seem a little technical for the average animation enthusiast, there is probably not another meeting that puts such a focus on animation talent or provides potential animators with as many career opportunities. If you already harbor a vested interest in this field, I strongly encourage you to check out this year’s eXpo.

Information on the 2014 CTN animation eXpo can be found at http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/. It will be held at the Burbank Marriott Convention Center, from November 21-23. Early Bird registration is now open.