AnimationWorld Magazine — October 9, 2018
‘Breaking the Glass Frame’ Celebrates Diversity, Seeks Strategies

This past weekend animators, students and educators gathered at the USC School of Cinematic Arts for Breaking the Glass Frame: Women and Animation, Past, Present, Future, a three-day symposium spotlighting female contributions to the field of animation and exploring solutions to sexual harassment, bias, and lack of diversity that challenge women, people of color, and those in the LGBTQ+ community working within the industry and academia.

Presented by USC in partnership with UCLA, CalArts & Women in Animation, the symposium kicked off on Saturday with a keynote address delivered by Oscar-winning director Brenda Chapman, who shared her story about her education and early years as an entry-level cleanup artist, before breaking into story and becoming the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt. Chapman also recounted her experiences working on Pixar’s Brave, including how she was removed from the project a year before its release but fought to retain credit on the film, becoming the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

“It was the hardest rejection of my life,” Chapman said. “It wasn’t pretty, and if I hadn’t fought back I wouldn’t have received credit on my own film.”

(Read more at AnimationWorld Magazine…)