The Animation industry is booming and women from Africa are being encouraged to join the industry; SA’s Triggerfish partnered with WIA to encourage diversity.
South Africa (01 June 2021) – The African animation industry is being represented at the annual fifth Women In Animation World Summit this year. The theme of this year’s virtual Summit is “The Business Case for Diversity” and the African continent has ample opportunity to diversify the industry.
The Women in Animation World Summit will be viewable exclusively as part of the festival’s virtual programming and for WIA members from Monday, June 14th at 9:00am CAT through Saturday, June 19th. As of June 20th, the Summit will be available to the general public via the WIA website and YouTube Channel.
By offering the summit to non-members, it gives women with an interest in animation, the opportunity to get involved.
“At the last four Summits, WIA built shared vocabulary around diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity,” said WIA President, Marge Dean.
“As a global community, the organization traversed monumental paradigm shifts, challenges and opportunities this past year, including racial equity, a global pandemic, a rise in discriminatory violence and strong headwind toward inclusivity. As WIA marks its fifth Summit at Annecy, it’s important to ensure that our global WIA community continue to learn from each other and share not only the business imperative for DEI, but also the successes and failures we’ve all had in trying to move forward.”
Commenting on the theme, WIA Secretary/DEI Chair Julie Ann Crommett added, “The business case is not just that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are good for business empirically (they are), but that we each as businesses and individuals have a part to play in making change. Many companies, organizations and industries have committed to doing better – seizing the case for DEI. We get further faster by being more transparent with each other, more transparent as an industry and truly building a global community of practice and thought leadership. Our hope is this Summit begins to model what transparency and action can and should be in our industry.”
South African animation company Triggerfish, known for its excellent work, much of which has earned awards for the company and its team, has partnered to present this year’s summit. The partnership is a massive opportunity for the company as well as for the women of Africa who wish to take the next step in their animation careers.
Further to that, WIA Vice President Jinko Gotoh said, “We must democratize animation on all fronts: education, art, technology, and industry. I’m proud of the work WIA continues to do. We advocate sustainable change across the globe. Along those lines, we are thrilled to partner with Triggerfish to present this year’s Summit, as they have been doing such tremendous work over the years to diversify storytelling and bring better representation to the African animation industry.”
“We’re honored to be partnering with WIA on this important summit,” said Stuart Forrest, CEO, Triggerfish. “Triggerfish has a vision for a world where stories are told and created by the people the stories belong to, and WIA’s work in gender inclusivity and diversity takes huge steps towards that goal, particularly as it applies to the continent of Africa.”