New Leadership for Women in Animation

LOS ANGELES: Women in Animation, a non-profit organization for females involved in the audiovisual industry, has relaunched with new executive leadership, under co-presidents Margaret Dean and Kristy Scanlan.

Dean is the director of production for Mattel's newly formed Playground Productions. Scanlan is the VP of business development, animation and games at Technicolor

In addition to Dean and Scanlan, WIA's new executive committee also includes Barbara Cimity, the line producer of Robot Chicken, as treasurer, and Dawn Rivera-Ernster, the director of talent development and recruitment at Walt Disney Animation Studios, as secretary.

The new WIA board of directors includes all four of the executives named above, along with Jinko Gotoh, the executive producer of The Little Prince for Onyx Films; Tracy Campbell, senior manager of studio training for Walt Disney Animation Studios; Anna Jordan-Douglass, interactive partner at The Jim Henson Company; and Karen Kirkland, the executive director of talent outreach and development for Nickelodeon.

The new advistory committee includes retiring co-presidents Rita Street and Jan Nagel, along with Bonnie Arnold the producer of DreamWorks Animation; Jenna Boyd, the senior VP of animation development at Nickelodeon; Ann Le Cam, the VP of human resources and production planning for Walt Disney Animation Studios; Lenora Hume, production and planning executive for Shut Up! Cartoons and the L.A. representative for TeamTO; and Adina Pitt, the VP of content acquisitions and co-productions at Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

"It is our goal to engage WIA members through a variety of online and offline events, small collegial gatherings and large networking events in an effort to create new opportunities of connection and inspiration. We understand how broad the animation market is today from games to web to the traditional film mediums," Scanlan and Dean jointly stated. “The organization also looks to inspire women to excel in the animation industry by encouraging artistic excellence through WIA awards and by educating its members about technology advances and career growth in continuing education classes.”  They added, “WIA advocates for women in animation in an effort to improve access to opportunities; foster new talent by offering scholarships and mentorships to students; and pays tribute to the female pioneers of animation.”

“Women have always played a vitally important role in animation in spite of history’s having overlooked or underplayed many of their contributions,” said Dean. “I’m looking forward to collaborating with Kristy and WIA to organize and represent the collective interests of women engaged in all aspects of animation, whether as independent filmmakers, studio artists or business executives, and believe that by working together we can create greater opportunities for us all.”
 
“There’s power in numbers, especially when we speak with a strong, unified voice,” added Scanlan. “As co-presidents of WIA, Marge and I are proud to represent such an accomplished group of women who, regardless of the specific roles they have in animation, share our concerns and interests in improving the quality of work, influencing other aspects of the entertainment industry and inspiring creative minds to join our ranks.”