View Conference Director Maria Elena Gutierrez on Mixing Oscar Winning Masters and Beginners, the Power of Human Imagination and Staying in Turin

When Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez talks about the growth of VIEW Conference, she rarely starts with attendance figures, marquee speakers or the expanding number of disciplines represented on its stages.

Instead, she talks about family.

“What touches me most deeply is the consistent growth of what I like to call the ‘VIEW Conference family,'” says Gutierrez, CEO and executive director of the Turin-based gathering. “A large number of our speakers come back year after year, not only to share their wisdom and experience, but also for the opportunity to meet their peers in an informal setting which allows for new ideas to foster and collaborations to develop.”

The idea that the value of the onstage talks is amplified between sessions has become key to VIEW’s identity as it prepares for its 2026 edition.

Its predecessor, Virtuality, launched in 2000 as a forum where Italian animation and visual effects professionals could exchange work and experience. Gutierrez took over as director in 2005 and expanded the concept into VIEW Conference, opening it to an international audience of filmmakers, animators, VFX artists, game developers, technologists and students.

More than two decades later, the conference has evolved into a meeting point between established creative figures and people still trying to find their way into the business.

For younger attendees, Gutierrez says, the key question has stayed the same: “How can I break into the business?”

These students are entering an industry undergoing rapid technological and economic change. They want to understand which skills will remain valuable, what kinds of careers will exist and how they can distinguish themselves in a production environment that seems to change almost month by month. VIEW’s answer is to be broad.

“There is something for everyone,” Gutierrez says of this year’s program.

That philosophy can mean access to advanced production tools one day and an intensive lesson in traditional craft the next. “I’ve seen a huge upsurge in interest in old-school tools and techniques,” she says.

Among the most striking examples at is a four-day hands-on Puppet Lab led by filmmaker Chris Lavis, who won an Oscar for “The Girl Who Cried Pearls,” giving participants an opportunity to delve into stop-motion filmmaking.

The conference has never been built around a single definition of what animation, visual effects or digital storytelling should become. Its programming puts approaches beside one another: major studio filmmaking and independent work, emerging technology and traditional technique, Oscar-winning masters and first-time attendees.

Gutierrez believes the mix is one reason so many speakers return.

“The famous VIEW Conference buzz is real,” she says. “Just ask anyone who’s been.”

And then there is Turin, Italy’s first capital and a Baroque marvel with the Alps to its west and north.

Although it has grown into an English-language international event, Gutierrez is adamant that its host city will always be its home. She says the organization has received approaches about taking the conference to countries including India, Japan, Uzbekistan and the United States.

Yet the conference remains deeply tied to Piedmont.

“Turin has always had cinema in its DNA,” she says.

The city played a foundational role in the development of the Italian film industry before much of that activity shifted to Rome, and is still home to Italy’s National Museum of Cinema.

“People come to VIEW Conference not only to meet their heroes and mingle with award-winning creatives and technologists,” Gutierrez says, “but also to experience this vibrant European city blessed with a rich cultural heritage, beautiful architecture and delicious food.”

She has led through dramatic changes in the industries it serves: the expansion of digital animation and VFX, the growth of streaming, disruption to theatrical distribution, labor disputes, the pandemic and repeated shifts in how creative work is financed and produced.

“Every year is a surprise,” she explains. “Despite all the challenges faced by our industry over the years, the ingenuity and optimism of storytellers remains unshaken.”

The strategy is simple: Put talented people in the same place and give them reasons to talk to one another.

“As long as we continue to respect and harness the power of human imagination,” Gutierrez says, “the future of animation, VFX and digital storytelling is bright.”