Women in Animation Vancouver discuss diversity, mentorship, and the future of Canadian animation.
Women in Animation (WIA) Vancouver is a chapter of WIA Global, with its headquarters based in Los Angeles, California. The female industry leaders in Vancouver, B.C. felt a need to create a chapter in Vancouver because there was an obvious opportunity gap for marginalized folks seeking creative roles in our animation community.
The popularity of animation has grown and has a diverse audience. As the growth continues, so does the need to ensure that the content represents the world we live in, which means equal representation on and behind the screen.
WIA’s global mission is 50/50 gender parity by 2025. To support this mission, one of WIA’s goals is to help advance women in key creative roles. A personal goal was to see more intellectual property created in Vancouver. We needed data to quantify how many women held key creative roles in the animation industry in Vancouver. We collected data on the roles of director, writer, art director, animation director, and producer. The results were very clear — our key creative numbers were very low.
Mentoring and training are key to setting women up for success and providing them with the skills to excel in their roles. It also helps studios to be more confident in taking the chance to hire women into new positions, as they know they have the background and experience for them to be successful.
We see the future of Canada’s animation as being rich — rich with diversity, rich with content, rich with passion, and growth for everyone. There are so many hard-working individuals and organizations creating programs like this one, all with the goal of advancing BIPOC, 2SLGBTQQIA+, women, and Canadians in our industry.
