The digital arts festival Trojan Horse was a Unicorn (THU) has announced several top animation and VFX companies will feature in their September 2015 recruitment day, days after early bird tickets sold out.
This massive recruitment focus reflects THU's steady rise as the most artist-centred event of the year, being described by Digital Domain co-founder and ex-head of Industrial Light and Magic Scott Ross as, "Burning Man meets TED".
An informal event located on the small, luxury Portuguese peninsula Tróia, THU offers its 500 attendees unique access to, and advice from, its speakers and special guests.
This year's sophomore event featured guests such as Bladerunner art legend Syd Mead and Avatar Oscar-winning Andrew R Jones, as well as lead creatives from ILM, MPC, Blizzard and Framestore. The first special guests announced for 2015 is Star Wars artist Iain McCaig, and Brazillian artists Mike Azevedo and Kris Costa.
With a happy hour of free beer each day, life drawing sessions of Suicide Girls, art battles, talks and parties spilling into the early hours, attendees can network, plan projects or just chat with the best creatives working in the industry.
"Our goal with THU is to create a way of life, where artists help each other, with passion and honesty,” says co-director André Luis, "Its a family, a tribe, where you are protected if you have the same values and vision."
Voted the third best event in the world for animators and 3D artists by Creative Bloq earlier this year, below Siggraph and Siggrah Asia, tickets for the four day event went on sale last Friday.
Take a look at some of the speakers of THU 2014, and get tickets for THU 2015.
For more on the event, including interviews with many of the guest speakers of 2014, get the new issue of ImagineFX magazine this Friday.
