2025 Recap

Léo is a French animator who trained in traditional animation techniques before specialising in 3D at ATI (Art et Technologies de l'Image) at the University of Paris 8. He began his career on the project 'Les Contes de la Nuit', by Michel Ocelot, with whom he later collaborated on all his works.

In parallel, he worked on various animated series, shorts and features, developing his expertise and taking on new responsibilities. It was on the project 'Dilili à Paris' Michel Ocelot that he discovered Blender, a software that would become central to his practice. He then expanded his skills on other productions at Mikros and Autour de Minuit and other studios.

More recently, Léo was animation director on Flow by Gints Zilbalodis, a multi-award-winning animated feature film co-produced by Sacrebleu all made in Blender software, where he applied his artistic skills and technical expertise.

Currently the Chief Operating Officer at Blender, General Manager and Producer at Blender Studio. He has a professional background in industrial design and has made important contributions in 3D art and open source film projects.

Francesco Siddi is a key figure in the fields of 3D animation and open source filmmaking, best known for his work in the open source 3D creation software Blender. Over the years, he has participated in numerous Blender projects, contributing both in technical development and creative production. With a background in digital art, design, and computer graphics, Siddi's early exposure to Blender laid the foundation for his career, prompting him to deeply participate in the open source community and promote the development of collaborative projects. His career took off through his extensive work with Blender Institute, the creative arm of Blender, where he worked on several animation projects such as the 2012 sci-fi short film Tears of Steel, the 2013-2016 animated series Caminandes, which fully demonstrated Blender's animation capabilities, and the ambitious 2015 project Cosmos Laundromat, which showcased Blender's potential for complex storytelling and visual effects.

On the entrepreneurial side, Siddi co-founded Blender Cloud with Blender founder Ton Roosendaal, a platform that provides resources and tutorials for Blender users. In addition, Siddi founded Cineca, a company focused on immersive and interactive media production. His contributions to the creative and technical aspects of animation, especially in the open source movement, have solidified his key position in the field.