A series of presentations focused on diversity and inclusion.
Co-produced with Women in Animation Vancouver.
This program will be available to stream on Sunday, 31 October. Tickets will go on sale then.
Women In Animation Vancouver (WIA) present a focused discussion on personal experiences from diverse talent in the entertainment industry. Joining us will be members and active allies of the Disability community speaking on their unique journey in front and behind the camera.
SPEAKERS
Bonnie Sherr Klein (she/her)
Bonnie Sherr Klein was one of the pioneer women documentary filmmakers at the NFB (Challenge for Change,Studio D.) She had a catastrophic brainstem stroke in 1987, and eventually applied her skills to disability activism, particularly representation.
She co-founded KickstART Society for Disability Arts and Culture. As one of the few filmmakers with a disability, she made her first film in 18 years: Shameless: the ART of Disability, an intimate look at the creative lives of five artists.
More recently, she wrote the children’s picture book, Beep Beep Bubbie, about a grandma who navigates the world in a Scooter.
David Roche (he/him)
David Roche is a pioneer of disability culture, an inspirational humorist who has transformed the challenges and gifts of living with facial difference into a compelling message that has won standing ovations from New Zealand to Moscow, across Canada and the USA including at the White House, the Kennedy Center and the Sydney and Vancouver Olympics Arts Festivals.
He was featured in Shameless: the Art of Disability, the iconic film from the National Film Board of Canada directed by Bonnie Sherr Klein, and also had a featured role in the recently released Happy Face, directed by Alexandre Franchi.
David’s first book, The Church of 80% Sincerity, (based on his signature stage show of the same name) was published by Penguin and is available on Amazon. David and Marlena Blavin’s recently released Love at Second Sight is based on almost 15 years of live presentations to students across the US and Canada (and it is available to view at no cost at loveatsecondsight.org). They live on the Sunshine Coast of BC.
Amy Amantea (she/her)
Amy Amantea is an artist, actor and disability advocate with 15+ years of lived experience of blindness. Amy has spent her career in accessibility largely focused on arts and culture and increasing access for patrons, staff and performers as well as looking for systemic ways to increase the level of representation of disability within all aspects of the industry. “If people with disabilities don’t see themselves represented on our stages and big screens, we cannot begin to dream about our place in that world.”
A professional in the access industry, Amy combines her lived experience with knowledge of standards, guidelines and building code and a continuous connection with the disability community in order to keep up to the best practices of accessibility. A strong believer in the disability motto “Nothing About us Without Us”, Amy believes that people with disabilities should be involved in all things access, from the beginning of the conversation and take ownership over their various access needs.
Erica Miles (she/her)
Animation Director // WIA Vancouver ACE Program
(Pivot, Trolls: Trollstopia, 101 Dalmatian Street, Hilda)
Erica Miles has been drawn to the world of animation from a young age, and after seeing The Lion King on the big screen at the age of 6, knew she wanted to become an animator and help to bring stories to life. She has worked on a number of productions both in 2D and 3D across a wide range of animation styles.
Most recently she animated on the award-winning Hilda for Netflix and 101 Dalmatian Street for Disney, and is currently a Lead Animator on Trolls: TrollsTopia for Dreamworks Television at Atomic Cartoons. Upon learning that she was on the autism spectrum as an adult, Erica has spent the last few years learning about the unique ways that her brain works and about how important diverse minds and perspectives are in media.
Erica was selected as the Animation Director of the 2020/2021 ACE Program through WIA, and the short film Pivot that they created through the program will be premiering at Spark this year.
IMDb // Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Alka Dumont (she/her)
Alka is a Senior Implementation Manager in the Marketing Operations & Technology team, but is currently taking part in the MCP Leadership Rotation Program with secondments in the American Football Brand team and a TBD role in the Commercial org. When she is not exploring various parts of the MCP org, she is heavily involved in Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion initiatives at EA. Previously she served as an EARS Operations Leader for the Women’s Ultimate Team and as Global Communications Board Leader for Aspire, as well as an active participant in all other ERG activities.
Her engagement with ERGs and DEI work stems from a belief that everyone deserves to exist fearlessly in spaces that cater to our true, authentic selves and those with privilege should use their power to expand those environments for others. She has grown to realize that there is no greater joy than building community in all spaces, all the time.
ORGANIZERS
Candice Dermo (she/her)
Candice has worked in the digital space for over a decade, supporting teams in the fields of marketing and advertising before focusing on the gaming industry.
Within those realms has been a common effort in managing events, engaging teams, and fostering positive studio culture. Currently a Production Coordinator at Electronic Arts, Candice supports EA Create’s Art, Audio and Operation teams. She is a Regional Steering Committee member of EA’s Women’s Ultimate Team and a board member for the Vancouver Chapter of Women in Animation. Through those roles, Candice is actively engaged in many D&I initiatives and ERG activities and is grateful for the privilege to further expand on building meaningful experiences that promote connection, community, and inclusivity.
Melissa Anderson (she/her)
Melissa Anderson has worked in the Vancouver film and television industry for over 25 yrs.
She started her career in live-action as an Assistant Director, for various independent films, MOW's and television series such as Gene Roddenberry's: Andromeda and the L-Word. She was also part of the
visual effects production team at Keystone Entertainment on the Air Buddies franchise. She made the transition to CG Animation in 2011, and is currently a Supervising Producer at Mainframe Studios.
Most recently, she joined the Vancouver Chapter board of Women in Animation, where she is grateful for the opportunity to give back by collaborating with such accomplished and inspiring individuals,
mentoring the future of the industry.
Roula Lainas (she/her)
Roula has spent over 25 years in the post-production and visual effects industry in areas that include producing, sales, marketing and business development for film, television, commercials and gaming cinematic projects for several markets including Latin America.
More recently, she has joined the virtual production realm as Marketing & Business Development Executive for Versatile Media. She has been part of the Women in Animation board for Programs for 3 years where she has had the honour of working alongside talented and strong individuals making a real difference for our entertainment sector.
A series of presentations focused on diversity and inclusion.
Co-produced with Women in Animation Vancouver.
This program will be available to stream on Sunday, 31 October. Tickets will go on sale then.
Women In Animation Vancouver (WIA) present a focused discussion on personal experiences from diverse talent in the entertainment industry. Joining us will be members and active allies of the Disability community speaking on their unique journey in front and behind the camera.
SPEAKERS
Bonnie Sherr Klein (she/her)
Bonnie Sherr Klein was one of the pioneer women documentary filmmakers at the NFB (Challenge for Change,Studio D.) She had a catastrophic brainstem stroke in 1987, and eventually applied her skills to disability activism, particularly representation.
She co-founded KickstART Society for Disability Arts and Culture. As one of the few filmmakers with a disability, she made her first film in 18 years: Shameless: the ART of Disability, an intimate look at the creative lives of five artists.
More recently, she wrote the children’s picture book, Beep Beep Bubbie, about a grandma who navigates the world in a Scooter.
David Roche (he/him)
David Roche is a pioneer of disability culture, an inspirational humorist who has transformed the challenges and gifts of living with facial difference into a compelling message that has won standing ovations from New Zealand to Moscow, across Canada and the USA including at the White House, the Kennedy Center and the Sydney and Vancouver Olympics Arts Festivals.
He was featured in Shameless: the Art of Disability, the iconic film from the National Film Board of Canada directed by Bonnie Sherr Klein, and also had a featured role in the recently released Happy Face, directed by Alexandre Franchi.
David’s first book, The Church of 80% Sincerity, (based on his signature stage show of the same name) was published by Penguin and is available on Amazon. David and Marlena Blavin’s recently released Love at Second Sight is based on almost 15 years of live presentations to students across the US and Canada (and it is available to view at no cost at loveatsecondsight.org). They live on the Sunshine Coast of BC.
Amy Amantea (she/her)
Amy Amantea is an artist, actor and disability advocate with 15+ years of lived experience of blindness. Amy has spent her career in accessibility largely focused on arts and culture and increasing access for patrons, staff and performers as well as looking for systemic ways to increase the level of representation of disability within all aspects of the industry. “If people with disabilities don’t see themselves represented on our stages and big screens, we cannot begin to dream about our place in that world.”
A professional in the access industry, Amy combines her lived experience with knowledge of standards, guidelines and building code and a continuous connection with the disability community in order to keep up to the best practices of accessibility. A strong believer in the disability motto “Nothing About us Without Us”, Amy believes that people with disabilities should be involved in all things access, from the beginning of the conversation and take ownership over their various access needs.
Erica Miles (she/her)
Animation Director // WIA Vancouver ACE Program
(Pivot, Trolls: Trollstopia, 101 Dalmatian Street, Hilda)
Erica Miles has been drawn to the world of animation from a young age, and after seeing The Lion King on the big screen at the age of 6, knew she wanted to become an animator and help to bring stories to life. She has worked on a number of productions both in 2D and 3D across a wide range of animation styles.
Most recently she animated on the award-winning Hilda for Netflix and 101 Dalmatian Street for Disney, and is currently a Lead Animator on Trolls: TrollsTopia for Dreamworks Television at Atomic Cartoons. Upon learning that she was on the autism spectrum as an adult, Erica has spent the last few years learning about the unique ways that her brain works and about how important diverse minds and perspectives are in media.
Erica was selected as the Animation Director of the 2020/2021 ACE Program through WIA, and the short film Pivot that they created through the program will be premiering at Spark this year.
IMDb // Instagram // Twitter // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Alka Dumont (she/her)
Alka is a Senior Implementation Manager in the Marketing Operations & Technology team, but is currently taking part in the MCP Leadership Rotation Program with secondments in the American Football Brand team and a TBD role in the Commercial org. When she is not exploring various parts of the MCP org, she is heavily involved in Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion initiatives at EA. Previously she served as an EARS Operations Leader for the Women’s Ultimate Team and as Global Communications Board Leader for Aspire, as well as an active participant in all other ERG activities.
Her engagement with ERGs and DEI work stems from a belief that everyone deserves to exist fearlessly in spaces that cater to our true, authentic selves and those with privilege should use their power to expand those environments for others. She has grown to realize that there is no greater joy than building community in all spaces, all the time.
ORGANIZERS
Candice Dermo (she/her)
Candice has worked in the digital space for over a decade, supporting teams in the fields of marketing and advertising before focusing on the gaming industry.
Within those realms has been a common effort in managing events, engaging teams, and fostering positive studio culture. Currently a Production Coordinator at Electronic Arts, Candice supports EA Create’s Art, Audio and Operation teams. She is a Regional Steering Committee member of EA’s Women’s Ultimate Team and a board member for the Vancouver Chapter of Women in Animation. Through those roles, Candice is actively engaged in many D&I initiatives and ERG activities and is grateful for the privilege to further expand on building meaningful experiences that promote connection, community, and inclusivity.
Melissa Anderson (she/her)
Melissa Anderson has worked in the Vancouver film and television industry for over 25 yrs.
She started her career in live-action as an Assistant Director, for various independent films, MOW's and television series such as Gene Roddenberry's: Andromeda and the L-Word. She was also part of the
visual effects production team at Keystone Entertainment on the Air Buddies franchise. She made the transition to CG Animation in 2011, and is currently a Supervising Producer at Mainframe Studios.
Most recently, she joined the Vancouver Chapter board of Women in Animation, where she is grateful for the opportunity to give back by collaborating with such accomplished and inspiring individuals,
mentoring the future of the industry.
Roula Lainas (she/her)
Roula has spent over 25 years in the post-production and visual effects industry in areas that include producing, sales, marketing and business development for film, television, commercials and gaming cinematic projects for several markets including Latin America.
More recently, she has joined the virtual production realm as Marketing & Business Development Executive for Versatile Media. She has been part of the Women in Animation board for Programs for 3 years where she has had the honour of working alongside talented and strong individuals making a real difference for our entertainment sector.
