Annecy 2017 to host first ever Women in Animation World Summit
The first ever Women in Animation World Summit – presented by Women in Animation (WIA) and Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA), alongside The Walt Disney Studios, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD) and Hiventy – has been announced to take place at this year’s Annecy International Animated Film Festival and MIFA on Monday, June 12th at the Impérial Palace. The summit will boast a day-long symposium of presentations, discussions and panel events on a wide variety of topics (listed below).
Annecy has always been a place of debate and exchange, and we are proud to support and welcome such great dialogue during the first-ever WOMEN IN ANIMATION WORLD SUMMIT at Mifa. Our support of this initiative carries on from our festival theme of honoring women in 2015, and the two years of rich collaborations with WIA and LFA that have followed.
-Mickael Marin, CITIA Managing Director, Head of Economic Development & Mifa
The French association Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA) works to “encourage equal opportunity for women in the creation, production and distribution of animation” alongside other international women’s organizations whose combined efforts hope to insure a 50/50 world come 2025.
During Mifa 2014, we invited Marge Dean and other women from WIA to present their work promoting women in the animation industry. This inspired a group of women in France to launch a sister organization in 2015, Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA). This year in Annecy, LFA is thrilled to co-host the first WOMEN IN ANIMATION WORLD SUMMIT, as well as a series of breakfast meetings each morning promoting dialogue and consciousness raising. We look forward to welcoming everyone interested in our joint efforts.
-Corinne Kouper, LFA President
We are honored to co-host the first WOMEN IN ANIMATION WORLD SUMMIT at Annecy, with Mifa’s continued support of our advocacy. Our big focus for this year is on recognizing and understanding unconscious bias, an achievement which will help everyone work together towards WIA’s goal of bringing equity to creative leadership in our industry by 2025.
-Marge Dean, WIA co-President
Women in Animation’s main goal is “to bring together a global community of animation professionals to empower and support women in the art, science and business of animation by increasing access to resources, creating opportunities for education, encouraging strong connections between individuals, and inspiring excellence”.
Women in Animation World Summit’s day -schedule and speaker lineup:
Monday, June 12th
Exploring Unconscious Bias
9:30am -10:30am
Introduction by Julie Ann Crommett (Vice President of Multicultural Audience Engagementat the Walt Disney Studios and WIA Chair of Industry Relations) introduced by WIA co-president, Marge Dean.
50/50 by 2025 – How Are We Getting There?
10:30am – 12:00pm
Discussion on reaching WIA’s gender balance goal by 2025 led by Lindsay Nadler (Director, Human Resources, Walt Disney Animation Studios) featuring Jinko Gotoh (Producer, Warner Animation Group and WIA Secretary), Alison Mann (Vice President of Talent, Illumination Entertainment), Corinne Kouper (Director of Development of TeamTo and president, Les Femmes s’Animent) and Lindsay Watson (Animation Producer, CANUK Productions Ltd. and president, Animated Women UK).
Artist Experience
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Panel featuring: Dorota Kobiela (Co-director, Loving Vincent), Jorge Gutierrez (Writer/Director, ReelFX), Wendy Rogers (VFX Supervisor/Creative Executive, Cirrina Studios), Celine Sciamma (Writer/Director) and Xin Yu(CEO & Creative Director of ShangHai Left Pocket Studio and ShangHai Left Pocket Media).
Moderator: Karen Dufilho (Executive Producer, Google Spotlight Stories)
Developing Diverse Stories
3:00pm – 4:30pm
Panel on project development and authentic cultural storytelling featuring: Jessica Julius (Creative Executive, Walt Disney Animation Studios),Emilie Blezat (Studio Canal China) and Melissa Cobb (Head of Studio and Chief Creative Officer, Oriental DreamWorks).
Moderator: Julie Ann Crommett (Vice President of Multicultural Audience Engagement at the Walt Disney Studios and WIA Chair of Industry Relations)
A series of informal breakfast meetings will be open to festivalgoers throughout the week (Tuesday June 13th – Friday, June 16th) from 8:30-10:00am at the Brasserie du Parc (12 Rue Centrale, 74940 Annecy-le-Vieux):
Tuesday, June 13th
Women Directors in Annecy
Featuring: Léa Krawczyk (À Perdre Haleine), Katrin Rothe (1917 –Der Wahre Oktober), Anne Magnusen (The Men Who Knew 75 Languages), Lucrèce Andreae (Pépé le Morse).
Wednesday, June 14th
Women in the Chinese Animation Industry
Featuring Jie Chen (Producer, Big Fish & Begonia), Jiajia (Director), Xin Yu (CEO & Creative Director of ShangHai Left Pocket Studio and ShangHai Left Pocket Media), Monica Huang (Producer), Chao Wang (Jury Annecy films des fin d’études).
Thursday, June 15th
The Women of: My Life as A Zucchini & The Man Woman Case
Featuring Armelle Giorennec (Producer, My Life as a Zucchini), Marianne Chazelas (First Assistant Director, My Life as a Zucchini), Kim Keukeleire (Director of Animation, My Life as a Zucchini), Christel Grandchamp (Costume Designer, My Life as a Zucchini), Vanessa Riera (Costume Designer, My Life as a Zucchini), Joëlle Oosterlinck (Scriptwriter, The Man Woman Case) Anaïs Caura (Writer/Director, The Man Woman Case) and Hélène Gendronneau (Producer, The Man Woman Case).
Friday, June 16th
Engaged & Emerging Filmmakers dialogue with Bonnie Arnold
Featuring Bonnie Arnold (President, DreamWorks Animation), Anca Damian (Director, Crulic, The Magic Mountain), Iryna Kosttyuk (Producer,Mavka, the Forest Song), Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec (Co-director, The Swallows of Kabu) and Dorota Kobiela (Director, Loving Vincent).
The 2017 edition of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival and Market takes place from June 12th to 17th. Keep your eyes on Skwigly for further updates and visit annecy.org for more info