Women in Animation has announced its lineup for this year’s WIA World Summit at Annecy, themed “Frame by Frame: A Global Celebration of Women and Nonbinary Creators.”
The summit will feature producer Bonnie Arnold, who will take part in a fireside chat.
“As we celebrate 10 years of the summit, we’re also asking what comes next, how we continue creating opportunities, supporting talent, and ensuring a wide range of voices are represented in our industry. Closing the day with Bonnie Arnold feels particularly fitting,” Jinko Gotoh, WIA Vice President, told Variety.
“Bonnie has been a champion of both animation and WIA for many years, and her perspective on leadership, creativity, and the work still ahead for our industry will be a wonderful way to conclude the celebration.”
According to Marge Dean, WIA President and head of Skybound Entertainment Animation, this year’s event is a chance to celebrate “10 years of working hard with an amazing group of people to make a significant impact on an industry and community that we love.”
She added: “It’s giving us the opportunity to stop and reflect on everything that we have collectively accomplished.”
That includes “hundreds, maybe thousands of women” who got jobs in animation because of WIA’s advocacy and talent development programs, she said.
“Anywhere WIA shows up, we hear anecdotal accounts of our programs opening doors.”
“We are still working towards our 50-50 goal but over recent years we have expanded our reach beyond the U.S. Our next goal is to be in a position with emerging animation industries where we can influence the foundation with regards to gender balance. We want them to start out right and not have to fix it later.”
This year, underlined Dean, the team wanted to reflect on their past while also looking ahead.
“I’m looking forward to our session ‘Enduring Voices, Essential Work,’ which highlights creators over 60 who continue to make bold and meaningful contributions to animation. We’re also bringing together directors from around the world to discuss the realities of directing today.”
The question about A.I. and gender equity is a “huge” topic for WIA, noted Gotoh.
“We would welcome the opportunity to talk about [it] more. It’s vital to protect the human creative process, but we also cannot ignore the impact A.I. will have on our industry. We need to educate ourselves and direct how best to use the technology to elevate our creativity.”
Dean and Gotoh also got to reminiscence about some of their favorite moments over the years.
“In 2018, for a moment, the heads of the major US animation studios were women. We brought them all together on a panel for the WIA World Summit,” said Gotoh, also mentioning signing a partnership agreement with UNESCO in 2023, facilitating the USC Annenberg Study on gender balance in the animation and VFX industries, and Rebecca Sugar’s conversation with Linda Simensky.
“Rebecca sang a song about creativity,” she said.
Dean noted that WIA was always designed to be “flexible and responsive.”
“When the pandemic hit – and the world was reckoning with the murder of George Floyd – we were in the middle of our planning for the 2020 WIA World Summit and we needed to quickly pivot. We restructured the panels to run entirely virtually and refocused our theme to be about unifying a community against racism in a matter of weeks.”
“For 10 years, the WIA World Summit has maintained and promoted the discourse on gender equity. This has kept the issue of representation in the forefront when it is being challenged from all directions.”
You can find the full schedule of the WIA World Summit here:
SESSION 1 | 10 a.m. Enduring Voices, Essential Work
This panel spotlights creators over the age of 60 who are producing bold, relevant work in animation. In an industry that often centers emerging voices, the conversation highlights artists whose creative output remains vital and evolving. Panelists, including Florence Miailhe (Director), Imogen “Mo” Sutton (Animation Masterclass, Producer/Director) and Joanna Quinn (Beryl Productions International Ltd, Director), will share insights into their current work and creative practice, and how they continue to contribute to the medium today. The conversation celebrates the creative force of artists whose work spans decades.
SESSION 2 | 11 a.m. Directing Animation Today
This panel brings together feature animation directors across the globe whose work reflects a range of creative and production approaches. Elshadai-Gabrielle Dawit Tedesse (Arma, Creative Director, Writer, Editor), Matisse Gonzalez Jordán (Director), Lauren Montgomery (Director at Paramount Animation) and Alyce Tzue (Netflix, Director) will share insights into their current projects, creative process, and the ways they develop and realize their vision through different pathways. The conversation explores how these varied approaches shape the work itself, offering a look at both the creative and practical journeys behind directing feature animation today.
SESSION 3 | 2:30 p.m. Short Films and Fresh Perspectives
Moderated by Meredith Shea (Chief Membership, Impact, and Industry Officer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), it brings together directors of short films selected for this year’s festival, spotlighting a range of creative approaches in animation. Karla Casteneda, Catherine LePage, Kat Messing and Agnes Patron (Sacrebleu Productions) will share insights into their creative process and how they use short form to explore ideas and experiment. The conversation highlights the short film as a space for fresh perspectives, creative risk-taking, and original work.
CLOSING FIRESIDE CHAT | 3:30 p.m. From Then To Now: A Conversation with Bonnie Arnold
This closing fireside chat features two-time Academy Award nominee Bonnie Arnold, a prolific producer and past elected Board of Governors and Vice President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose leadership and vision helped shape a pivotal chapter in WIA’s evolution. In conversation with Justin Johnson, Head of Programme for the British Film Institute, Bonnie will reflect on both her creative journey and her role in WIA’s transformation, as well as the changes across the industry and the work still ahead as WIA marks its 10th World Summit at Annecy.
WIA will be also hosting a picnic meet-up at Jardins de l’Europe the afternoon of Wednesday, June 24.
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