Larry Lauria is an award winning animator, director and teacher.

Larry Lauria is an animator/ director and educator who loves his craft.  His expertise in direction, animation, character design and layout has kept Larry trotting around the globe. His workshops at Festivals in London, Cologne, Dublin, Belfast, Los Angeles and Provence, have inspired and amused audiences from all over the world.

His animation career spans over 30 years and includes animation and direction on feature, television, commercial and interactive productions. The projects he has worked on have garnered over 50 awards, from Emmys to Addys to Codys and even a few BAFTA’s.

He likens his artistic life to being an air traffic controller with projects and films always ready to land. He has experience in every aspect of animation. He was the former head of animation at the Disney Institute in Orlando, Florida - where he was personal animation guru to folks like Andy Garcia, Joan London, and Gladys Knight. He has appeared on ABC, NBC, SPORTS CENTER, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, CNN and the BBC.

Prior to Disney, Larry also lived in Ireland for five years and taught and co-coordinated the world-renowned classical animation program at Senior College Ballyfermot, one of the top three animation programs in the world.

Socially conscious animation is a hallmark of Lauria’s career.

While in Dublin, he created the ANIMAGIC project, a cross-border North/South of Ireland film produced by 32 students which focused on their cultural heritage. The 15 minute film was seen as an innovative landmark in Irish cinema.

During his tenure at Disney, Larry produced a 30 second animated commercial for the UNICEF’s “Rights of the Child” project; almost 500 people participated in making the spot.

His OUR WORLD film project has a simple premise, “What do you have to say about this world?” The film utilized the skills of student animators supervised by professionals under the auspices of the Internationale Filmschule and Lauria’s Larry’s Toon Institute.

Larry and his wife live on Wilmington Island, Ga. He enjoys painting, drawing, reading and taking long walks on the beach.