[photo credit: ArtCenter]
The expo, known as ENTX, opens the Hillside Campus to the public for a full day of gallery exhibitions, game playtesting, animation screenings and interactive experiences featuring work from more than 200 ArtCenter students and alumni. General admission is free with advance registration. Two industry panels — including Appelhans’s talk — require $15 tickets.
Appelhans, who graduated from ArtCenter with a bachelor of fine arts in 2002, co-directed KPop Demon Hunters with Maggie Kang. The animated film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released on Netflix, became the streaming platform’s most-watched film in history, according to Netflix, and swept awards season with wins at the Golden Globes, the Annie Awards and the Grammys before taking the Oscar on March 15.
His talk and audience Q&A is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in the Ahmanson Auditorium. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.
The film’s ArtCenter ties extend beyond its co-director. Art director Angela Sung, cinematographer Gary H. Lee, visual development artist Celine Kim and painter Simon Baek are all ArtCenter graduates who worked on the production, according to the college.
The free portions of ENTX include a concept design showcase, a production design gallery, a model gallery, a stop motion studio preview, an alumni gallery and a KPop Demon Hunters fan art gallery. Visitors can also playtest games designed by ArtCenter students.
An Animation Shorts Showcase runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and includes “Boy, I’m Scared,” a capstone short by ArtCenter graduate Lindsey Tenaglia that was named a semifinalist for the 2025 Student Academy Awards in the animation category. Also screening is “Feathers and Fur,” directed by Frenchie Mariñas, which was a finalist at the Fine Cut Festival of Films on PBS, according to ArtCenter.
A second ticketed panel, the ArtCenter Alumni Industry Panel, runs from 4 to 5 p.m. and features professionals from Blizzard Entertainment, Netflix, Sucker Punch, Bad Robot Games, House of Cool Inc. and Kalpana Studios. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.
ArtCenter’s Entertainment Design department offers tracks in game design, concept design and animation, and confers a bachelor of science degree. Graduates have gone on to work at Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Animation, according to the college.
The inaugural ENTX, held in November 2023, drew more than 500 visitors, according to an ArtCenter press release.
ENTX 2026 runs today, Sunday, March 22, from noon to 5 p.m. at ArtCenter’s Hillside Campus, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena. Doors open at 11 a.m. Food trucks will be on campus. Free registration and ticket purchases are available at https://www.artcenter.edu/connect/events/entx.html. Contact: Domenic Morea, ArtCenter Associate Vice President of Communications and Media Relations, Domenic.Morea@artcenter.edu or 323-273-5662.
Netflix announced earlier this month that a KPop Demon Hunters sequel is in the works, with Appelhans and Kang returning to direct under a new multi-year deal, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
