Half Rez press kit
Half Rez is Chicago’s annual gathering for motion designers, animators, and creatives who want to learn, connect, and be inspired. Now in its 12th year, the event brings together industry leaders, local talent, and an energized community for talks, networking, and a night that celebrates all things motion.
This page is your go-to resource for event information, logos, images, and press materials. Whether you’re writing about Half Rez, covering our speakers, or helping spread the word, you’ll find everything you need here.
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mission statment
Half Rez's mission is to advance the motion design industry in Chicago and the Midwest by creating educational opportunities, curating spaces for professional networking, and celebrating the community through welcoming and engaging events. Half Rez is the place to meet, greet, learn, and party. Put on for artists, by artists.
What is half rez?
Half Rez is Chicago’s one-day celebration of motion design, built for artists, by artists. Each year, hundreds of motion designers, animators, producers, students, and studio teams gather for a split-day format: Creative Sessions in the afternoon for presentations and industry insights, followed by the Half Rez Party at night. The goal is simple: help people learn something useful, meet collaborators, and feel at home in a community that’s friendly, nerdy, and welcoming.
The evening party is unapologetically about connection and fun: a Main Stage keynote and studio talk, food included with every ticket, a 20-cube scavenger hunt, Realtime C4D Cube Races, giant Half Rez Jenga, pinball (with a Maxon One high-score prize), Polaroid photobooth and vendor booths, plus special drinks and plenty of space to mingle. Since 2012, Half Rez has been where the Midwest’s motion community meets, learns, and celebrates together.
Quick Facts:
Date: September 12, 2025
Location: Chop Shop 2033 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
Schedule:
Creative Sessions / Doors open at 1:00 PM CST
Main Event Half Rez Party / Doors open at 5:30 PM CST
Details:
Tickets: Party only $75 | Creative Sessions only $85 | Full Rez combo $125 | Patron Ticket $249 | T-shirt add-on $25
Attendance: ~300+ motion-design professionals, students & vendors
Highlights: Live C4D cube races, 20 hidden Half Rez Cubes scavenger hunt, giant Jenga, Half Rez pinball (Maxon One for high score), food included, vendor booths, vintage Polaroid photobooth
Main Stage Speakers: Donnie Bauer (Keynote), Kevin Gautraud of OddBeast,
Creative Session Speakers: Host EJ Hassenfratz and presentations from Untitled Army, Casey Gu, and Elijah Sheffield.
Half Rez Committee: Chris Schmidt, Amador Valenzuela, Kate Smith, Mike Kislovsky, EJ Hassenfratz, Bradley Naugle, Miqui Crespo, Gavin Morrissey
Press check-in: Main Check-in at Chop Shop, ask for Chris Schmidt or Amador Valenzuela; request interviews in advance halfrezchicago@gmail.com
Donnie Bauer
Director, Creative Director, and Designer with over a decade of experience. He leads cross-disciplinary teams on projects from arena tours to animated spots for Starbucks and Amazon. Currently adjusting to life as a first-time dad. Half Rez 2025
Kevin Gautraud – Head of Animation, OddBeast
Motion artist and 3D animator based in Newport, KY. Discovered his passion in 2010 while studying for a BFA in graphic design. His work has been featured in Stash and Best of Behance. He now serves as Chief Creative at OddBeast, which he co-founded. Half Rez 2025
Creative Session Speakers
EJ Hassenfratz (Host)
Multi-Emmy winning 3D artist and educator based in Denver, CO. With over 15 years of industry experience, he’s presented at NAB, Adobe Video World, SIGGRAPH and is Creative Director at School of Motion.
Casey Gu
Multi-award-winning motion designer blending 2D, 3D, and mixed media. Recognized by Stash Annual Pick, Red Dot, and Young Ones Gold Cube. Self-taught via YouTube videos and now devoted to sharing her knowledge with the community. Session: Flowing Between 2D and 3D: Transitions, Morphs, and Shading Tricks.
Untitled Army (Lucas Camargo)
Illustrator, animator, director, art director, and artist known for surreal, playful, and thoughtful animations with exquisite design.
Elijah Sheffield
3D artist, educator, and orange-belt taekwondo practitioner. Builds characters, tools, and shorts—and teaches them all. His whimsical animations double as R&D for intuitive tutorials (like translating rocket science into IKEA instructions). Session: Modular Thinking for Learning New Skills.
IG: @halfrezchicago
X: @HalfRezChicago
Speakers
Meet the Half Rez Team!
Half Rez wouldn’t be what it is without a little help from our friends:
Izana Nordhaus – Web design
Chad Lynn & Alison Kim – Animation magic
Garrett Appelton – Web + code heroics
Exploding House – T-shirts!
Thanks to all of you for jumping in and helping bring this to life.
Half Rez 2025
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Press kit
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Half Rez 2025 ■ Press kit ■
“ Half Rez is kinda like the culmination of every conference throughout the year put into one day.”
Nick Hopkins
“Have Fun, go get a beer, 30 minutes and we’ll see you right back here for some prizes, and some more great presentations.”
Andrew Cramer
“It’s the best industry event of the year. It’s so much fun. It’s a mix of meeting new people, and just having a great time.”
Erik Jensen
“It’s a great community to get involved with. I’ve met a ton of work contacts and freelancers that I reach out to all the time when I have extra work.”
Clark Stanton
“ I’m looking forward to Half Rez for all the new speakers and lineup this year. It’s going to be an awesome show.”
Noah Schloss
OUR WONDERFUL HALF REZ SPONSORS
We couldn’t do it without them!
Interested in supporting Half Rez? Please reach out!
HalfRezChicago@gmail.com
Half Rez 2025
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press kit
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Half Rez 2025 ■ press kit ■
past events
half-rez history
2012 - Half Rez 1. Sept 19. Founded. Revolution Brewing. Created by Chicago C4D + Greyscalegorilla. Chris Schmidt / Nick Campbell / Jack Bransfield were key early organizers. 62 attendees.
2013 - Half Rez 2. Oct 9 at Haymarket Pub & Brewery. 124 attendees.
2014 - Half Rez 3. Nov 5. Bottom Lounge
2015 - Half Rez 4. Sept 9. Outgrew bars and moved to Lincoln Hall
2017 - Half Rez 6. Sept 13. Still at Lincoln Hall.
2018 - Half Rez 7. Sept 12. Venue change to Chop Shop. 320 attendees
2019 - Half Rez 8. Sept 18.Chop Shop. Half Rez moved from Wednesday to Friday.
2020 - Pandemic pause.
2021 - Quarter Rez. Sep 15. Alarmist Brewing. Scaled-down post-pandemic experiment
2022 - Half Rez. 9 Sept 9. Returns in-person. Flavor opened with the “Long Live MoGraph” film; event ran Sept 9 at Chop Shop.
2023 - Half Rez 10. Sept 9. 10th anniversary. Chop Shop. Partnered with the Design and Animation Tour to have educational content in the morning. 364 attendees.
2024 - Half Rez 2024. Sept 20. Chop Shop. Introduced Creative Sessions in addition to the Main Event.
2025 - Half Rez 2025. Sept 12. Chop Shop; A one-day mini-conference. Part meetup, part presentations. Featuring creative sessions, cube scavenger hunt, real-time C4D “cube races,” pinball, keynote/studio talks, food, and prizes! ~300+ attendees typical
