Chris Landreth
JALI Research, the Toronto-based developer of high-end lip sync and facial animation software, returns as an exhibitor at the International Animation Film Market (MIFA), the premier global event for the animation industry, taking place June 10–13, 2025, in Annecy, France. As part of the official MIFA festival, JALI Co-Founder and Oscar-winning animator Chris Landreth will lead an exclusive live and interactive demonstration on emotionally driven character animation.
From AAA games to cinematics to feature films, JALI is redefining facial animation through intelligent automation. The platform delivers high-fidelity facial animation and multilingual lip sync at scale, empowering artists to create expressive, believable digital characters across animation, games, and immersive media. By elevating their lip sync solution from a technical utility to a creative powerhouse, JALI enables teams to achieve feature-quality results—on time, on budget, and on model.
JALI Research Co-Founder and CEO Sarah Watling emphasized the importance of participating in MIFA.: “Annecy is recognized for supporting industry transformation and highlighting emerging talent. We’re excited to return this year and showcase how JALI’s solutions are empowering animation studios and animators with powerful, high-end, scalable pipeline tools that support both large-scale production and craft-centric animation houses to deliver best-in-class animated stories," commented.
JALI’s software suite includes native plugins for Autodesk Maya and Unreal Engine. Its embedded Heart & Mask system, grounded in performance theory and psychology, enables animators to blend internal emotion (Heart) with external expression (Mask) to create emotionally rich performances across countless takes—without sculpting each frame. This streamlined workflow reduces repetitive tasks and gives artists the freedom to iterate quickly while exploring a broad emotional range.
Moreover, Annecy attendees are invited to join Academy Award-winning animator and JALI Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Chris Landreth for a live presentation at MIFA, titled “Animating Emotion: JALI’s Tools for Immersive Storytelling.”
Designed for industry professionals, students, and animation enthusiasts, Landreth will guide the audience through an engaging and emotionally resonant journey into JALI’s powerful lip sync and facial animation technology. The session will offer a unique look at how automation intersects with creativity to enhance modern animation pipelines. Attendees will experience live demos showcasing JALI’s Heart & Mask system and explore the advanced suite of intuitive animation and rigging tools that allow creators to deliver expressive, high-quality character performances efficiently—while maintaining full artistic control.
An acclaimed director and educator in facial animation, Landreth won the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film for Ryan in 2005. His masterclass, Making Faces, has been taught at DreamWorks Animation, Seneca College, the University of Toronto, and École Georges Méliès in Paris.
