William Edward Joyce (born December 11, 1957 American) has achieved worldwide recognition as an author, illustrator and pioneer in the digital and animation industry. He has written and illustrated over 50 bestselling children’s books and novels which have been translated into over 40 languages. He began his film career on Toy Story and has since been a producer/director/screenwriter/production designer in both animation and live action. Among his many awards, Bill has won 6 Emmys, 3 Annies and an Academy award for his short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore (2011). Bill was named by Newsweek magazine as “one of the 100 people to watch in the new millennium. His feature films, all based on his books, include Epic, Rise of the Guardians, Robots and Meet the Robinsons. His television series include the groundbreaking Rolie Polie Olie for which he was creator and showrunner. His new company, Howdybot Studios, is focused on Bill’s stories in a variety of mediums and media. He’s just released his newest short film Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat which has so far won awards at a number of festivals. He is also in pre-production on an animated version of the Great Gatsby. Both projects are in collaboration with DNEG studios and Epic games. His novel “Ollie's Odyssey” will be aired as a live action/CG limited series on Netflix in August of 2022. Bill hopes to someday serve as the first "Secretary of Cheerful Endeavors" for the United Nations .