ACE Canada, in partnership with Women in Animation’s Vancouver Chapter announced the selection of their nine final participants for ACE Canada’s fourth cohort. The program is an immersive Animation Career EXCELerator training program for mid to high-level animation professionals who identify as women and non-binary. The goal of the program is to help these professionals break the glass ceiling and move into key creative and senior roles in the animation industry and also encourages the creation of intellectual property and the telling of authentic stories. The ACE Canada program is sponsored by Netflix Canada, with additional support from funding agencies Canada Media Fund, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, and Telefilm Canada.
Over the next year, the selected candidates will work together to create a short film, with mentorship and guidance along the way, to earn that essential ‘key credit’. They will also undergo a series of soft skills workshops to prepare them to move into senior and management roles. The success of the program is evident, with past participants now working in senior roles in the animation industry and the ACE Canada short films screening at animation festivals around the world. ACE 3’s short film, OSTINATO was an official selection at Comic-Con’s 2024 Independent International Film Festival and will launch on Netflix, Variety predicted that ACE 2 short PIVOT would be a short-listed candidate for the 2024 Academy Awards and had more than 1.4 million views on TikTok, a testament to authentic stories finding an audience.
“The caliber and number of ACE 4 applications was outstanding with over 150 applicants from coast to coast, shortlisted to 45. Each of the shortlisted candidates received workshops and pitch coach training with Jan Miller. Selecting the final 9 candidates was an extremely challenging task for our juries,” says ACE Canada Program Founder and Executive Producer, Rose-Ann Tisserand. “This years’ cohort will be the next leaders and storytellers in the animation industry, and we look forward to supporting their growth through ACE Canada.”
Top Row Left to Right: Nattasha Shrestha, Arlyn Bantog, Patricia Atchison, Crystal Woo, Airin Budiman; Bottom Row Left to Right: Katie Winchester, Anastasia Walker, Michelle Lorimer, Bec Cranswick
The finalists were selected by a jury of more than 35 creative and studio industry professionals from across Canada. This year, there are 7 of 9 final participants from B.C.:
Producer – Arlyn Bantog (Vancouver, BC)
An Associate Producer with 20 years of professional experience in the animation and VFX industry on feature films and series including “My Little Pony: The Movie” and “Marvel: What If”.
Director – Patricia Atchison (Vancouver, BC)
A storyboard artist and Annie nominated Production Designer and Art Director for features films including ADDAMS FAMILY and SMURFS.
Art Director – Crystal Woo (Vancouver, BC)
A Design Supervisor and Illustrator for series such as Netflix’s “Deepa & Anoop” and “StarBeam”.
Storyboard Supervisor – Airin Budiman (Vancouver, BC)
Airin’s storyboard work can be seen in films and TV series such as WILDWOOD (Laika), STAR WARS LEGO SPECIAL (Disney) and an award-winning student short film at TIFF and OIAF, QUARTERS. She’s currently shaping the story for GOAT (Sony Pictures Animation).
Animation Director – Katie Winchester (Vancouver, BC)
An award-winning 2D, 3D and traditional animator, Katie has worked on series such as “The Peanuts Specials”, “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” and “Tales of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”.
Production Manager – Anastasia Walker (Vancouver, BC)
A Sr. Associate Producer Manager, Anastasia has worked in all areas of production from development through to delivery on series such as “Psi Cops” and “Junk Bots”.
Editor – Bec Cranswick (Vancouver, BC)
An editor in animation & VFX, currently editing on animated show, Disney’s “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” with past credits on Netflix’s “Hello Ninja” and “The Mighty Express”.
For more information about the ACE Program, please visit the official website.
