Dean is general manager for Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and Scanlan is VP of business development, animation and games at Technicolor.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Women in Animation Reaches Membership Milestone, Elects New Board
Dean is general manager for Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and Scanlan is VP of business development, animation and games at Technicolor.
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This article was pretty interesting, I didn't know how big the gender gap was in the animation industry. I actually went to the website for Women in Animation after reading this article to learn more about the industry and their 50/50 by 2025 goal. So around 60% of animation majors in the US are women, but only 20% of those working in the field as directors, producer, animators, and artists are women. I wish some more light was shed on why this gap has existed, what companies like Pixar and Dream Works are trying to do to correct this balance. It is a good start though that the WIA membership has been increasing so much over the past few years. I am hoping to learn more about animation myself and possibly do the IDEAte Animation minor here, and I hope the Women in Animation Organization can play a part in my education.
I did not actually know this organization existed, but now that I have had it brought to my attention via the article, it makes a lot of sense. America has recently been emphasizing the inclusion of women in computing through conferences and organizations such as the Grace Hopper Conference and Girls Who Code, so Women in Animation fits right in to the trend. The amazing thing is, there are so many women out there who have accomplished so much in animation (for example, Jinko Gotoh, WiA’s new secretary, who produced “The Lego Movie Sequel”, as mentioned in the article) and who are not properly addressed for their work.
The immensely high scaling of members is encouraging, though. The growth from 120 members to 1,500 in three years is a promising number, one comparable to Grace Hopper Conference’s, as it has grown from a couple thousand to 16,000 in a similar time span. I hope that more women are encouraged to do what it is they love regardless of what society believes to be right or wrong. I think that, in future years, women and girls will realize that there more females exist in the realm of computing than they may have originally believed.
I love that there are organizations and groups especially with big names tagged on like Disney that are setting goals for gender equality. I had an interesting conversation this past weekend with my Uncle who owns a business that installs audio and visual equipment. He was saying that he just hired his first female employ after 25 years of business. At first was was kind of horrified that for 25 years with around 10 employees at a given time, never once did he hire a women. However, he said this was the first of 3 women that have ever applied or been recommended to him. He never was against hiring a women, they just never were seeking the employment. I do think some of this is attributed to the idea that if you don't see women working in an industry you are implicitly teaching them that women don't belong in that field. So I hope other small companies like my Uncle's find the women for their employment, and I am glad large companies are leading the way.
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