Women in Animation (WIA) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of furthering, promoting, and supporting female animators in the art, science and business of animation. WIA has chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Dublin, Pune, and Toronto. WIA feels that the lack of women in the animation profession is because "there has been very little work to intentionally change the status quo." In order to help women enter the animation profession, WIA has created a mentorship program, a voice over group, a scholarship, talks, and events. Marge Dean is the current co-president of WIA along with Kristy Scanlan.
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History
WIA was formed in 1993 by producer and journalist Rita Street. Phyllis Craig was one of the founding members. WIA created a scholarship to honor Craig after her death in 1997. Dean and Scanlan took over as co-presidents of WIA in 2013. Since 2013, the membership of WIA has increased from 120 to 800 active members in January 2015.
Events
WIA has hosted over 100 events. Examples of some of the events hosted by WIA include: "WIA Conversations" (Tara Strong gave this talk on Nov. 19, 2015), "Voices in the Room", "The WIA Mentorship Experience", as well as many other kinds of events and talks. WIA also has hosted movie screenings, panels, workshops, and "Monthly Networking Mixers".
In 2014, WIA kicked off its first mentoring program, which was open to members of WIA in the Los Angeles area. The mentoring program has continued into the present. The program is intended to help mentees have greater "industry knowledge and access to information through relationships with experienced professionals.
WIA hosts various activities and efforts aimed at raising awareness of women in the animation industry. In 2015, WIA hosted a panel on women in animation, presenting such statistics as while 60% of students studying animation in several Los Angeles animation schools are women, only 20% of working animators are content creators, rather than support staff.
On November 22, 2015, WIA had a booth and a talk at CTN. People interested in WIA signed their names on a huge poster featuring their logo behind their booth. Floyd Norman also showed his support for WIA by signing his name on the poster. The subject of the discussion of the talk at CTN was “50/50 by 2025” (#5050by2025) which discussed the subject of getting the ratio of female to male animators working in the industry to 50% (equal) by the year 2025. Another goal of 50/50 by 2025 is to "bring about more varied and positive representations on screen."
The Phyllis Craig Scholarship Fund (PCSF)
Phyllis Craig was the founding member of WIA. Her death inspired the creation of an annual $1,000 scholarship fund in her honor. Craig was, “... known throughout the animation industry for her commitment to young people interested in learning the art and techniques of animation". The deadline for the scholarship is April 29, of each year (Craig's birthday).