AnimationWorld Magazine — October 1, 2018
‘Breaking the Glass Frame’: Women in the Spotlight at USC Symposium
This weekend’s Breaking the Glass Frame: Women and Animation, Past, Present, Future symposium, set to take place at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts October 5-7, promises a full program of talks, panels and presentations designed to spotlight female contributions to the field of animation and explore solutions to sexual harassment, bias, and lack of diversity that challenge working women within the industry and academia.
The three-day symposium, presented by the University of Southern California in partnership with UCLA, CalArts & Women in Animation, comes amid turmoil — within the industry and elsewhere — exemplified by the burgeoning #MeToo movement that has seen the not just the downfall of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein but also the dismissal of Pixar chief creative officer and animation legend John Lasseter.
“Breaking the Glass Frame is shaping up to be a formidable event which promises to not only bring to light the obstacles women and the LGBTQ+ community face, but also to serve as a catalyst for change and provide an environment for women and the LGBTQ population to network and develop strategies to diversify and transform the animation industry,” Sheila M. Sofian, Professor at the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Art at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and one of the event organizers, comments.