Women in Animation will have its first-ever regional summit, spearheaded by the new Vancouver, BC chapter, in partnership with Spark CG Society, and supported by Emily Carr University of Art & Design. The Women in Animation Vancouver Summit will take place ahead of SIGGRAPH 2018 on August 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the university (520 East 1st Ave.), and will be free to attend.
The event follows on from the successful Women in Animation World Summit at the Annecy Animation Festival in June.
Molly Mason-Boulé, WIA Chair of Interactive and Chair of WIA Vancouver said, “WIA is an organization that truly drives diversity and inclusion around the world and the Vancouver Summit, like the Women in Animation World Summit in Annecy earlier this year, is another way for WIA to bring people together around this important mission.”
Primarily sponsored by Electronic Arts, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Animal Logic, the Women in Animation Vancouver Summit will feature panels, presentations, TED-style talks and discussions with leading speakers. Inclusion will be the core theme of the Summit with topics such as “Developing Diverse Talent” and “What 50/50 Means to Male Allies” highlighting fresh insights and new voices from both Vancouver and abroad.
“Spark CG Society is partnering with WIA Vancouver and we are thrilled to be supporting the first ever Women in Animation Vancouver Summit , building on our common goals of diversity and inclusion,” said Sylvain Provencher, President of Spark CG Society. “We wish WIA the very best of success in this vital event.”
The symposium will commence with a keynote introducing the topic of “Inclusion,” followed by a series of panels and talks, including:
+ Multigenerational Futurist Forecast: Signals of Change
A multi-generational panel, from millennial to boomer, will discuss how change is currently happening in the industry, and how they view the past, present and future of inclusion and intersectionality.
+ What 50/50 Means to Male Allies
The panelists will define what ally means and how to be an influencer for a more equitable future.
+ TED Talk on Inclusion
Presentations by inspiring speakers on incorporating inclusion across different aspects of entertainment.
+ Developing Diverse Talent
Industry leaders discuss their views on the importance of finding, developing and nurturing diverse talent.
“We are thrilled to bring the vibrant and creative Vancouver animation, VFX, games, VR/AR community together for the WIA Vancouver Summit. It will be an inspired day of events, just before the kick off of Siggraph 2018, celebrating our industry,” said Molly Mason-Boule.
Register online here. Additional announcements coming later this month.
