On October 12, the Animation Guild and See Jane will host a panel discussion, "Where The Girls Aren't". Scheduled to appear on the panel, hosted by TAG President KEVIN KOCH, are GEENA DAVIS, actress and founder of See Jane; BRENDA CHAPMAN, Pixar director and story artist; DEAN DE BLOIS, writer and co-director of Disney's Lilo and Stitch; JENNY LEREW, DreamWorks story artist and creator of the Blackwing Diaries blog; and FRED SEIBERT, president of Frederator (other panelists to be announced.)
The panel is scheduled for 6:30 pm at the Burbank Public Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St. in Burbank. The panel will be open to the public and there will be no charge.
See Jane describes its mission as "engaging professionals and parents in a call to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters -- and to reduce gender stereotyping -- in media made for children age eleven and under ... Geena Davis says, "By making it common for our youngest children to see everywhere a balance of active and complex male and female characters, girls and boys will grow up to empathize with and care more about each others' stories.'"
In June, Kevin Koch posted messages on the TAG Blog about a study commissioned by See Jane. Their research examined the one hundred and one top-grossing G-rated films of the last fifteen years, most of which were animated, and found that the vast majority of characters in these films were male. Strikingly, the disparity was even greater in background characters than in was in main characters. This study can be found on the See Jane website. To find the blog posts, go to the TAG Blog and search on "Where The Girls Aren't".
The ensuing blog discussion was the longest and most involved and passionate of any in the seven months since the blog was started. It was noted that of those employed in creative and rendering categories under the Guild's jurisdiction, only 16.2% are women.
These issues, and others related to the role of women in animated movies and TV shows, will be the focus of this panel. We anticipate a lively and informative discussion.
*Please note that this is the branch north of Olive near Disney, not the main branch on Glenoaks. This event is not sponsored by the Burbank Public Library.