Pixar's Liz Gazzano, Roger Gould to Speak at TEA's SATE '13 Conference in Savannah October 3 - 4

"The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) proudly welcomes Liz Gazzano and Roger Gould of Pixar Animation Studios as featured speakers in the SATE '13 Experience Design conference presented by Christie October 3 - 4 in Savannah, Georgia," says TEA president Christine Kerr of BaAM Productions. "As innovators who played critical roles developing Pixar's Cars into Disney's Cars Land, Gazzano and Gould are helping create the future of our industry and well-positioned to address "What's Next" in keeping with this year's conference theme. When a great story becomes both a great film and a great theme park attraction, it touches all the SATE buttons: Storytelling, Architecture, Technology, Experience."

Registration for SATE is now open at the TEA website at the URL below.

"Gazzano and Gould will be at SATE '13 to share insights and experiences about how Pixar collaborates with Walt Disney Imagineering to manifest Pixar films in theme parks and other attraction settings," adds Kerr. "There are many industry lessons to be learned here, in areas such as branding, licensing, transmedia, and how to maximize digital assets. There has long been a close, symbiotic relationship between film studios and theme parks, and now digital tools have enhanced the opportunities and the way projects are conceived. We invite all members of the visitor attractions industry to join us October 3 - 4 in Savannah for a fascinating and rewarding industry dialog."

Commented SATE '13 co-chair Stefan Lawrence of Stefan Rules!: "One thing we've been talking a lot about -- and in particular with Pixar coming on board -- is what the future of creative collaboration looks like. Increasingly, creatives and techs are working hand-in-hand to create the future of themed entertainment. A big theme with Pixar's talk will be Pixar's culture of collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas, and how to encourage that playful exchange of creativity in the way we work now. This is a big part of 'What's Next' as we've been developing our conference content."

Liz Gazzano is executive producer of theme parks at Pixar Animation Studios, where she works closely with the creative director of theme parks to oversee and extend the stories of Pixar characters and environments within a Disney theme park setting. Her most recently completed project is "Cars Land" at Disney's California Adventure, which opened to the public on June 15, 2012. She has also worked on "Toy Story Playland" for Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris Resort, "Toy Story Midway Mania" attraction for Tokyo Disneyland and "Undersea Magic Nemo Show" for Animators Palate Restaurants aboard the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy Cruise Ships.

Roger Gould is the creative director of theme parks at Pixar Animation Studios and works in deep collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering in the creation of theme park attractions and lands inspired by Pixar's films. His largest and most recent accomplishment in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering and Pixar's Theme Parks team is the creation and opening of "Cars Land" at Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California.