Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
Desirae Witte’s directorial debut started life as a 5-second project with no intention on growing into anything more but with the help of a talented group of collaborators who believed in the vision, The Fall turned into 3-minutes of joyous fun.
Listen in as Desirae shares how a small concept and a wicked sense of humour turned into the award-winning short film.
SPEAKER
Desirae Witte
Director & Story Artist // Independent
(The Fall, The Willoughbys, Gabby's Dollhouse, Madagascar: A Little Wild)
Desirae Witte is a Vancouver-based storyboard artist, and the writer and director of The Fall. She has created storyboards for a range of projects including The Willoughbys, Madagascar: A Little Wild, Devil May Care, and Gabby’s Dollhouse. Most recently she worked on an unannounced Dreamworks kids series at Doberman Pictures in Vancouver.
Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Desirae studied animation at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, earning a Bachelor of Media Arts in Animation in 2015. While working as a storyboard revisionist at Titmouse, she submitted a short animatic for the studio’s 5-Second-Day festival, which would lay the groundwork for The Fall.
Des hopes to continue honing her skills in the story department & creating more short films, with the goal of one day becoming a full-time director.
Website // Instagram // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Marina Antunes
Festival Director, Film Critic, Podcaster // Spark CG Society
Marina joined the Spark Computer Graphics Society as Festival Director in 2014. Throughout her tenure, the festival has grown into Western Canada’s premiere animation festival, featuring a number of specialty programming including the “Made in Canada” program celebrating Canadian creators, “Mother of a Medium” featuring works from female filmmakers, and “Spotlight on France” which celebrates the best of French animation. In 2019, the SPARK ANIMATION FESTIVAL became Academy Award ® accredited, the only festival in British Columbia to hold that distinction.
Marina is also a writer and podcaster with over 15 years of experience, first on a personal blog followed by a decade-long tenure on the now-retired Row Three. In 2008 she joined the writing staff at Quiet Earth, becoming Editor-In-Chief in 2014, a role she still holds. Over the years, she has also produced and hosted a number of podcasts including Before the Dawn, a long-running podcast on the Twilight franchise, Girls on Pop, a podcast on film and popular entertainment from women’s perspective and After the Credits, bi-monthly film podcast with nearly 300 episodes.
Marina is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Visual Effects Society is the President of the Vancouver SIGGRAPH chapter, and has served on juries for several film festivals including the DOXA, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Whistler Film Festival.
Conversations with filmmakers selected to the festival.
Desirae Witte’s directorial debut started life as a 5-second project with no intention on growing into anything more but with the help of a talented group of collaborators who believed in the vision, The Fall turned into 3-minutes of joyous fun.
Listen in as Desirae shares how a small concept and a wicked sense of humour turned into the award-winning short film.
SPEAKER
Desirae Witte
Director & Story Artist // Independent
(The Fall, The Willoughbys, Gabby's Dollhouse, Madagascar: A Little Wild)
Desirae Witte is a Vancouver-based storyboard artist, and the writer and director of The Fall. She has created storyboards for a range of projects including The Willoughbys, Madagascar: A Little Wild, Devil May Care, and Gabby’s Dollhouse. Most recently she worked on an unannounced Dreamworks kids series at Doberman Pictures in Vancouver.
Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Desirae studied animation at Emily Carr University of Art & Design, earning a Bachelor of Media Arts in Animation in 2015. While working as a storyboard revisionist at Titmouse, she submitted a short animatic for the studio’s 5-Second-Day festival, which would lay the groundwork for The Fall.
Des hopes to continue honing her skills in the story department & creating more short films, with the goal of one day becoming a full-time director.
Website // Instagram // LinkedIn
MODERATOR
Marina Antunes
Festival Director, Film Critic, Podcaster // Spark CG Society
Marina joined the Spark Computer Graphics Society as Festival Director in 2014. Throughout her tenure, the festival has grown into Western Canada’s premiere animation festival, featuring a number of specialty programming including the “Made in Canada” program celebrating Canadian creators, “Mother of a Medium” featuring works from female filmmakers, and “Spotlight on France” which celebrates the best of French animation. In 2019, the SPARK ANIMATION FESTIVAL became Academy Award ® accredited, the only festival in British Columbia to hold that distinction.
Marina is also a writer and podcaster with over 15 years of experience, first on a personal blog followed by a decade-long tenure on the now-retired Row Three. In 2008 she joined the writing staff at Quiet Earth, becoming Editor-In-Chief in 2014, a role she still holds. Over the years, she has also produced and hosted a number of podcasts including Before the Dawn, a long-running podcast on the Twilight franchise, Girls on Pop, a podcast on film and popular entertainment from women’s perspective and After the Credits, bi-monthly film podcast with nearly 300 episodes.
Marina is a member of the Online Film Critics Society, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and the Visual Effects Society is the President of the Vancouver SIGGRAPH chapter, and has served on juries for several film festivals including the DOXA, St. Louis International Film Festival, and the Whistler Film Festival.
