Round Two of Women in Animation Vancouver’s Animation Career EXCELerator Program (ACE) will have their film, Pivot, premiere at Spark Animation Festival, starting October 28th, and streaming throughout the festival. 

Growing up isn’t easy, and it’s no exception for 12-year-old Ashley whose well-meaning Mom has her own ideas about who Ashley should be. Finding herself in an impossible situation, Ashley must decide whether to wear a gaudy dress she hates or find the courage to stand up for herself and fight the inner monster that is holding her back. The animated short film Pivot is a defining moment in Ashley’s quest to be herself at the risk of disappointing the person she loves the most, her Mom.

The team will also be presenting a panel as part of the D&I Summit; a series of presentations focused on diversity and inclusion. Widening our Lens; Advancing Women in Key Creative Roles, A Focused Discussion. The case study features ACE 2 participants as they discuss the program, Director Ana Gusson, Art Director Cindey Chiang, Animation Director Erica Miles, Composer Eva Pekárová, Screenwriter Robyn Campbell and Producer Tini Wider. ACE Executive Producer’s, Rose-Ann Tisserand and Tracey Mack, will also outline plans for ACE 3, which expands nationally across Canada with the generous support of Netflix Canada.  ACE 3 opens for applications on October 29, 2021.

There will also be a Meet the Filmmakers discussion titled Women Behind the Scenes: Meet the Pivot Team with Big Bad Boo Studios & Oznoz Co-Founder & President, Shabnam Rezaei. 

Tickets for the Premiere of Pivot can be found at: https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/61625d7695b07a009e6c5df4

Advancing Women in Key Creative Roles, A Focused Discussion with the Pivot Crew will be presented live on October 29 at 12PM PT and is free to attend. For more information on the event visit: https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/6165c7bd07efd7005a99a107 or REGISTER NOW 

Meet the Filmmakers: “Women Behind the Scenes: Meet the Pivot Team” with Shabnam Rezaei: https://sparkanimation.eventive.org/films/616f812404eccd00a971c2f8

ACE Program Applications: https://www.wiavan-ace.org/

WIA ACE: Website / Instagram / Facebook

WIA: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / linkedin

WIA Vancouver’s ACE Program would like to thank current sponsors for making the ACE Program possible. Current sponsors include Creative BC, Telefilm, Toonboom, Atomic Cartoons, Autodesk Foundation, Canadian Media Producers Association – BC Producer’s Branch, Spark CG Society,  Boughton Law, National Film Board, Flying Kraken Creative Studios,  Urban Safari Entertainment, Koko Productions and  Sound Studios, Lindsay Productions, The Research House Clearance Services, Producer Essentials and Pender PR. 

ABOUT WOMEN IN ANIMATION: 
Women in Animation (WIA) envisions a world in which women share fully in the creation, production and rewards of animation, resulting in richer and more diverse entertainment and media that move our culture forward. The mission of WIA 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. For more information or to join WIA, please visit http://www.womeninanimation.org

ABOUT THE ACE PROGRAM
The goal of the ACE program is to advance women and those who identify as women into key creative roles in animation, providing mid-level career professionals targeted and focused mentoring, workshops, support and training. Through the program, participants are given the opportunity to develop, create and own original intellectual property. Currently in its second term, the ACE program has proven extremely successful as all of the women in the first cohort have gone on to become leaders at Animation Studios across the country.

WIA and Netflix Canada announced a new grant in June that will see the current ACE program expand to applicants across Canada and will allow for two additional key creative roles to be included in the program’s offering. After surveying up to 60 studios across Canada, the two new ACE 3 key creative roles are Storyboard Supervisor and Editor. Currently six roles are covered in the program including Writer, Producer, Director, Art Director, Animation Director, and Composer. The initiative is open to all women, or those identifying as women or non-binary, with a special focus on inviting  creators from BIPOC or underrepresented groups.