Nancy Denney-Phelps is a journalist writing about European animation and festivals, as well as a producer of music for animation. Along with her composer/musician husband, Nik Phelps, she co-founded the Sprocket Ensemble dedicated to presenting live performances of original music with screenings of contemporary animation from around the world.
Nancy's writings have appeared in such publications as CARTOON and ANIMATOON, and she writes the Sprockets blog for AWN (Animation World Network). She is also a regular correspondent for ASIFA/San Francisco, a member of the ASIFA International Board of Directors, and an Ambassador At Large for the Emile Awards.
Nancy has served on numerous International Animation Festival juries and taught time management for animators at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Art and Design. She is the pitching coach at ANIMARKT in Lodz, Poland, and is a member of their Brain Trust Advisory Board. She also awards the annual Nancy Award at the Kaboom Animation Festival in Amsterdam. Her strong interest in the history of animation has led her to present programs on the history of animation traced through music at many animation festivals and conferences worldwide. She also works as an advisor to several animation festivals, and in 2019, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ANIMAKOM Animation Festival in Bilbao, Spain. In 2023, Nancy received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Paris International Animated Film Festival.