‘Elio,’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Filmmakers at VIEW Conference

Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, two of the directors of the upcoming Disney-Pixar film “Elio,” and Dean DeBlois, director of DreamWorks’ live-action “How to Train Dragon,” are among the speakers set to attend the weeklong VIEW Conference this fall in Turin, Italy. The annual English-language conference, set for Oct. 12-17, brings together top creators and artisans across the film, television, games and technology industries for talks, presentations, workshops and masterclasses.

Shi and Sharafian will host a presentation on “Elio,” their animated film about a space-obsessed boy and his close encounter with aliens, which opens Friday, June 20. Shi has worked at Pixar since 2011 and won an Oscar for her short film “Bao.” She made her feature directing debut with 2022’s “Turning Red,” which was nominated for an animated feature Oscar. Sharafian started as an intern at Pixar in 2013 and began her full-time career there in 2015 as a storyboard artist and worked as a story lead on Pixar’s “Onward.” Shi and Sharafian directed “Elio” alongside Adrian Molina. Mary Alice Drumm produces.

DeBlois will be in Turin to discuss the live-action “Dragon” with VFX supervisor Christian Manz. DeBlois also directed the 2010 animated “How to Train Your Dragon” alongside Chris Sanders. The animated version was nominated for an Academy Award and won the best feature prize that year at the Annie Awards. The films follow a young Viking who forms a bond with a dragon despite his village’s distain for the creatures. DeBlois is the sole director and writer for the live-action version, which opened on June 13 and took in $83 million in its first weekend of release in the U.S.

“I am incredibly excited to welcome Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian to VIEW Conference 2025,” says conference director Maria Elena Gutierrez. “‘Elio’ is among the most eagerly awaited animated films of the year, and the dazzling talent of its directors is sure to light up the our stage in Turin.” Of DeBlois and Manz’s participation, she says: “Their live presentation on ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ will thrill our international audience, as they draw back the curtain on the making of this extraordinary new movie.”

The VIEW Conference is also hosting a three-day Creative Deep-Dive Workshop featuring multidisciplinary artist Liberty Worth and paper sculpture designer Megan Brain on June 19-21 at ITS Piazza dei Mestieri, Via Jacopo Durandi 10, in Turin.

Tickets are for the October VIEW Conference and the June workshop are on sale on the event’s website, https://www.viewconference.it/.