Panel Discussion
Women in Animation

LIVE: Sunday, February 20, 2022
3pm ET
Online



Co-presented with Women in Animation
Moderated by Ashley Gerst, animator, illustrator, filmmaker, and professor

The discussion will bring together women in their mid-career who work in different positions in the animation pipeline in France and the US. They will discuss the state of the industry, what is currently at stake for women in the field, the challenges, successes, and later-career strategies for these professionals. They will shed a particular light on the too rarely highlighted women animators in mid-career.

Panelists:
Eleanor Coleman – Head of Feature Film Animation at Indie Sales and co-vice president of Les Femmes s’Animent
Angela De Vito – Animator, storyboard artist, and graphic novelist
Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec – Animator
Claire Matz – Artist and producer
Joanna Quinn – Animator
Taili Wu – Animator

In English

60 min

About Eleanor Coleman

Eleanor Coleman is a Paris-based American producer.

  • Learn More
    • During her tenure as head of in-house production across all platforms at TF1 Jeunesse she was responsible for conceiving and implementing the first truly profitable 360-degree strategy for children’s programming and digital content in France. Eleanor then joined Indie Sales, a Paris-based distribution and co-production partner for animated and live action independent feature films and transmedia projects. Indie Sales has bought 4 superb animated films and is actively seeking transmedia projects with a feature film component. Eleanor is co-vice president of Les Femmes s’Animent a french association devoted to promoting women in animation.

About Angela De Vito

Angela De Vito is a freelance animator, storyboard artist, and graphic novelist working in NYC.

  • Read More
    • She graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in Animation in 2014. Since then she has worked on animation for commercials and series. Angela has worked for such studios as Hornet, Inc.; Titmouse, Inc.; Nathan Love; Click 3X; CHRLX; and Disney Digital Network. Her debut graphic novel, Heartless Prince, has been published with Disney Hyperion. She lives with her family and her two adorable, rambunctious cats.

About Ashley Gerst

Ashley Gerst is a 2D, 3D and motion graphics animator living in Brooklyn, NY.

    • She has created animation and VFX for broadcast commercials, TV shows, and feature films. Some of the companies she has created work for are: Fast Company, Behane, Credit Suisse, Nivea, Nissan Redwood, CBS, Red Bull, Amex, JBL, and more. She has created title sequences for two feature films: The Con is On (2018) and Can You Keep A Secret? (2019).

      She is a full time professor of Animation and Game Design at William Paterson University and an adjunct at School of Visual Arts.

      As of January 2019, Ashley has finished her independently created animated short film: The Spirit Seam and has submitted it to film festivals worldwide. It has been accepted into over 40 and has won several words including Best Animation and Artistic Excellence. She is currently working on a new film titled Being Pushed Down by Shadow.

      As of December 2019, Ashley has been named Co-Leader of the Women in Animation Organization’s New York City Chapter.

About Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec

Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec is a French animator. She directed the film The Swallows of Kabul in 2019.

  • Learn More
    • After graduating in Applied Arts, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec joined the Ecole des Gobelins in Paris in 2003. Her first two short films, Madame (made during her studies in 2006) and Escale (2010) were selected at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

      In addition to her work as a graphic designer on television sets and advertising for luxury brands, she also worked as an animator on short films like Bang Bang ! by Julien Bisaro, nominated at the 2015 César Awards for Best Animated Film, and Smart Monkey by Vincent Paronnaud (Winshluss) and Nicolas Pawlowski. Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec continued her career as a character animator for feature films such as Ernest and Célestine, The Rabbi’s Cat, The Day of the Crows and April and the Extraordinary World. In 2016, she collaborated as a cartoonist on the animated series Lastman, an adaptation of the comic strip created by Bastien Vivès, Balak and Michaël Sanlaville. In 2019, she directed her first feature The Swallows of Kabul.

About Claire Matz

Claire Matz is an animation artist and creative producer currently based in France, where she created her company, Yabunousagi.

  • Learn More
    • After multiple experiences in music, multimedia and video games, three domains where she could exercise her passion for storytelling, Claire Matz graduated from Gobelins (Paris) in animated filmmaking in 2019.

      Then, she worked for Netflix and multiple animations studios in Tokyo for two years, and actively participated in Netflix’ diversity projects in Japan to bring international and local talents to work together. She worked as an animator and designer on short movies (Fuse), series (Spriggan, Granblue Fantasy, B: the Beginning) and features (Little Vampire). During her time at Netflix, she collaborated closely with producers ; influenced by what she learned, she decided to become a Creative Producer.

      Claire has now started her business in France, providing a World Building service for IP expansion to international companies. Developing original projects at the same time, she contributed to create the transmedia storyworld Altertopia, which has been selected at Cartoon Springboard 2021 and is now in development.

About Joanna Quinn

Joanna Quinn is one of Britain’s most distinctive animators.

  • Learn More
    • Her first film, Girls Night Out (1987), featuring working-class heroine Beryl, was a humorous riposte to machismo and a celebration of uninhibited female sexuality that won three major awards at Annecy. Since introducing audiences to Beryl, Joanna and her writing and producing partner, Les Mills, have created three more personal films about her: Body Beautiful, Dreams and Desires: Family Ties, and Beryl’s newest adventure, Affairs of the Art. The politics of gender and oppression, along with Joanna’s obsessive fascination and delight with exploring the eccentricities of the female body, remain the central themes of their work together. Joanna’s dynamic, fluid style makes her animation vibrant, energetic and unique. Her films—including Britannia, a savage indictment of British imperialism—have won just about every major international award, including BAFTAs and Emmys, in addition to receiving two Oscar® nominations. A committed educator, Joanna lectures at major colleges and universities around the world.

About Taili Wu

Taili Wu is a NY-based stop-motion artist, illustrator, and educator.

  • Read More
    • She is passionate about sharing stories with playful design and tactile illustrations, creating work that sparks the imagination, curiosity with a sense of humor.

      Taili enjoys teaching and sharing stories, she has been a guest speaker at Pictoplasma NYC 2018, School of Visual Arts, Parsons, and New York Asian Women Center. She is currently a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts.

      Her stop-motion short film, Animal Alphabet, has been screened at Lisbon’s International Kids Film Festival in Portugal (2020), Modern Art museum Centre Pompidou in France (2019), TED x UQ in Australia (2019), Equity Gallery in NY (2019), Lisbon’s International Kids Film Festival in Portugal (2020), and Big Cartoon Festival/Moscow in Russia(2020).