LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator fellows announced
Skwigly
The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) and LAIKA, the acclaimed animation studio behind Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and the upcoming Wildwood, announced today the inaugural fellows for the LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator, a new initiative designed to support early-to-mid career animation creators in refining a production-ready pitch for an animated short film. They are Ben Ellebracht, Emily Ann Hoffman, and Searit Kahsay Huluf.
About the 2026 LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator Fellows
Ben Ellebracht is the writer/director of Celestia. He is best known for his visual development work for films and TV with companies such as DreamWorks TV, SpinMaster, Sans Strings Studio, Lucasfilm and more. He also cofounded the boutique animation studio, Cafe LaBobo LLC in 2023 with his wife, fellow filmmaker, Fu Yang. Together they codirected and produced stop-motion animated segments for Yo Gabba GabbaLand on Apple TV+. Ben was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, before moving to California in 2013. Cutting his teeth in the video game industry as an artist, he slowly began to work towards his true passion of telling stories and the art of film by taking workshops and mentorships in the film industry to get his foot in the door.
Ben’s project is Celestia, a dark fairytale of a mysterious young girl who was born alone in a forest. Raised by nature, she sees the moon for the first time and falls in love. What will she sacrifice to see her dreams realized?
Emily Ann Hoffman is an animator, filmmaker, and visual artist telling stories exploring intimacy, vulnerability, and sexuality. Emily has written and directed 6 award-winning short films across animation and live action, screening at festivals such as Sundance, Slamdance, and SXSW. She has participated in programs such as Warner Bros. Discovery Access Directors Program, Sundance Institute and Adobe’s Sundance Ignite Fellowship, Gotham’s TV Series Lab and Market, Film at Lincoln Center’s Artist Academy, and New York Foundation for the Arts Film/Video Fellowship. In addition to her own films, Emily’s work as an Animation Director can be seen on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and more. As a painter, Emily has exhibited in New York, Rhode Island, and Manila, Philippines. Emily has a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and serves as an Assistant Professor of Animation at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Emily is a 2021 Project Market alum with the narrative series Between the Lines.
Emily’s project is The Pond Prince. 20 years ago, Big Mike was the star of the frog reality dating show The Pond Prince. Today, he’s a washed up bullfrog bachelor with communication issues.
Searit Kahsay Huluf is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker with a deep love for coffee and anime. She studied screenwriting and animation at UCLA before joining Pixar Animation Studios, where she worked on Incredibles 2 and Turning Red. Alongside her studio work, she has written and directed several independent short films, including BARK!, buna, GAMERS, Exploring Blackness and 19th Amendment Doc. Her films have screened at renowned festivals such as SXSW, SFFILM, HollyShorts, Frameline, Cinequest, CAAMFest, and the Pan African Film Festival. She directed Self through Pixar’s SparkShorts program, an Oscar-qualifying stop-motion short now streaming on Disney+. The film earned her a 2025 NAACP Image Award nomination and recognition on Variety’s Top 10 Animators to Watch list. Searit has served as a juror for SIGGRAPH, Voices With Impact, and AfroAnimation, leads international workshops, and recently directed an immersive play for the 2025 Bay Area Singapore Festival.
Searit’s project is Fuzzy. After the world is overtaken by a strange phenomenon that turns humans into soft, floating fuzzballs, a reclusive man clings to isolation and routine until an unwanted companion disrupts his solitude and forces him to confront his fear of loneliness.
The inaugural LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator selected fellows stood out due to their remarkable visual creativity, deep respect for storytelling, and genuine passion for animation as an artform. Alongside the incredible LAIKA team, we’re proud to offer critical mentorship, visibility, and industry access that can elevate their promising careers.
-Jeffrey Sharp (Executive Director, The Gotham Film & Media Institute)
The future of animation will be shaped by artists with distinctive voices, ambitious ideas, and the courage to push the medium forward. Our partnership with Gotham reflects a shared belief in supporting creators as they develop original animated short film projects from early vision to production-ready work.
-David Burke (CMO/COO, LAIKA)
The LAIKA x Gotham Animation Accelerator represents the first collaboration between two organizations deeply committed to championing original storytelling and elevating bold new voices in filmmaking. The fellows will participate in a six-month intensive program featuring:
- Individualized monthly mentorship sessions with industry professionals
- A curated one-day visit to LAIKA’s Portland, Oregon headquarters, including tours of LAIKA facilities, discussions with key team members, conversations about handcrafted and hybrid animation techniques, sessions on LAIKA’s filmmaker-led creative approach, and case studies inspired by Wildwood
- Preparation for and participation in Gotham Week programming elements (September-October 2026), with fellows presenting their work during a pitch event
- Visibility through Filmmaker Magazine features
The cohort was selected with LAIKA’s core values in mind: Be Brave, See Beyond the Norm, Thrive Through Community, Respect the Quest, and Bring Your Story. These principles reflect both organizations’ commitment to supporting diverse voices and fostering innovation in storytelling. They will receive mentorship from an established group of animation creators including Shawneé and Shawnelle Gibbs (Emmy and Annie-nominated writing team with backgrounds in television, animation, and comics), Cami Kwan (director, producer and stop-motion animator located in Los Angeles, CA, and co-owner of independent animation studio Apartment D) and Stephen P. Neary (Hoosier-born writer, director, and storyboard artist living in Los Angeles, and the director of the Sundance-winning animated short Living with a Visionary).