Youth Media Alliance (YMA) and Women in Animation Vancouver (WIA) are proud to unveil the eight candidates who will take part in the third edition of the Art Director Master Class initiative. WIA Vancouver and the YMA have combined forces to present an intensive workshop for women who show a talent and passion for animated children’s content and who wish to explore the field and understand what it takes to build a career as an art director.
The selected candidates are (in alphabetical order by last name): Francine Delgado-Alvarez, Jackie Droujko, Courtney Jenkins, Nicola Kwit, Maya Patrich, Prinita Svati, Zora Wang and Janna Wong.
A Day in the Life of an Animation Art Director is intended to inspire women to pursue careers in an area of the animation industry where women are underrepresented as department heads. In addition to growing the numbers of women in leadership roles, a larger pool of women art directors can inspire other women to seek creative roles and enjoy more fulfilling careers and stronger professional networks. The underlying goal is to empower and advance women in the animation industry, leading to greater diversity and equality in the workforce.
Workshop mentors:
- Following an Annie Award Nomination for Best Production Design for MGM’s animated feature film The Addams Family, Patricia Atchison is currently the production designer for the sequel, The Addams Family 2. Her skills and knowledge come from the 20+ years of experience starting as a graduate from Capilano University with fundamentals in 2D animation. Atchison’s career has ranged from supervising layout and posing on popular 2D shows like Arthur and Caillou, to storyboarding for hit series like Pound Puppies and Thomas and Friends, and art direction and production design for the Netflix and Mattel properties Spy Kids and Barbie, thus garnering her as a well-respected artist in the Vancouver animation community.
- Maisha Moore is a Vancouver based Production Designer for series, features and short films. As a graduate of Capilano University for 3D animation, she quickly found her way into Vancouver’s flourishing animation industry. Early in her career, Moore focused on CG modeling, shading and texturing. She went on to lead and supervise various CG animated properties at both the series and feature level. Seeking a new challenge in 2013 Moore focused on delving into design. In recent years she has gone onto design and art direct a number of properties from shorts to feature films. Moore is looking forward to many more years creating imaginative worlds and characters.
The third edition of the initiative will be taking place online February 20, 21 and 27. It is followed by an online coaching workshop led by Jan Miller in early March, and a virtual pitching session to studios made up of supervisors, creative directors and creative heads.
“WIA and YMA are proud of our continued collaboration on this project. Even though we had to modify this year’s format in response to COVID measures, we are thrilled to be able to offer this initiative for the third year, thanks to the support of our sponsors.” said Chantal Bowen, Executive Director of the Youth Media Alliance.
“WIA is overjoyed to be partnering with YMA for the third installment of the Art Director Masterclass. The purpose of this Masterclass is to accelerate the careers of the participating artists towards a very bright future as creative leaders in our industry! This program has generated real, concrete progress towards our goal of 50/50 by 2025,” said Kylie Ellis, Chair, Women in Animation, Vancouver Chapter. “This year’s applicants are a fantastic array of talent and we are excited to announce the participants!”
The Master Class: A Day in the Life of an Animation Art Director is an initiative presented by the Youth Media Alliance (YMA) and the Women in Animation (WIA). Thank you to our funding partners and sponsors: Atomic Cartoons, CEA, WildBrain, Creative BC, Shaw Rocket Fund, MainFrame Studios and CineSite.
