This Mentoring Program for Female Creators, which aims towards contributing in building a more gender-equal and diverse animation industry, had its second edition with the support of the Institut Français d’Argentine, Annecy International Animation Film Festival and its Market MIFA and Quirino Awards of the Iberoamericana Animation as strategic ally.
The selection committee, made up of Delphine Nicolini and Christophe Erbes, chose the 5 finalist projects, among the 56 registered in the call of Animation! 2021, with women in the directing role.
The directors of said projects, who came from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Perú and Uruguay, agreed to participate in a training program taught by specialists focusing on production, script and pitching. The team of mentors, comprised of Eloa Sahiry, trainer and coach of pitching – L.A. Conselis (France), Irene Weibel, Executive Producer (USA) and Carlos Bleycher, Content Manager – The Guy Who Writes Content Development Studio (Spain), provided the necessary tools to help the projects grow and become ready to be presented at various festivals and international markets.
In addition to this, the teams got the chance to meet with renowned professionals of the animation field, who gave them feedback and advice to improve their projects, such as Yago Fandiño Lousa, RTVE (Spain), Soledad Yañez, Discovery Kids (Argentina) and Edino Israel Ferreyra, Ikartoons (USA).
The Mentoring Program took place from the 17th of January to the 8th of March of 2022 and was held virtually.
Thanks to the brand new alliance with Quirino Awards of the Iberoamericana Animation, all 5 projects will receive an accreditation (which includes meals), that will give them the opportunity of participating in the Coproduction Forum of Quirino Awards in May of 2022.
Additionally, the 5 projects will be presented at Ventana Sur 2022 in December in a special pitching session for the market audience.
As closing of the Mentoring Program and thanks to the support of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and its Market MIFA, the jury has picked the project “Gato Ocho” from Bicicleta Casa Audiovisual (Perú) directed by Grace Cárdenas Cano and produced by Rebeca Venegas Gonzales, to be presented at MIFA 2022 on Focus La Liga, together with the winning projects of Animation! Pitching Sessions 2021.
The jury also gave a special mention to the project “Witch’s Business” from Gigante Azul (Chile), directed by Alejandra Jaramillo Fanta and produced by Paulina Sanhueza, providing it with a complimentary accreditation to participate in MIFA / Annecy 2022.
On this note, we successfully end the second edition of the Mentoring Program for Female Creators, which aims to encourage exchange between international experts and generate a space that allows for the potential of female creators to develop, in a medium where few women get to the directing role. The 5 projects are ready to tour markets and festivals in search of co-production, funds and partners for their full realisation.
Scriptwriter, content consultant and story editor specialized in animation and children’s content with 16 years of experience. Highlights among his work: “Paper Port”, “Pocoyó”, “Filly Funtasia” & “Horatio and the Plasticines”. He also has developed content for Disney xD, Cartoon Network LA, Discovery Kids & NatGeo Kids.
For 17 years, she has worked in production and in post-production studios and gradually has become a Studio Manager. In the meantime, she performed as a dancer, a discipline that revealed to her as an important toolbox for pitches to manage breath, rhythms, depth, presence, energy. She has worked as a trainer and coach for Airbus Group senior executives, ATR and the Toulouse Hospital. She also works for the MIFA as Pitch Coach Expert for all the project holders and she has coached some producers for the Cartoon Forum.
Irene is an Emmy Award winning executive creating and producing compelling content built for the kids and family audience. She has held a senior leadership role as Head of Studio at Nelvana, part of Corus Entertainment in Toronto and has co-founded the company Sutikki which served as the Co-Producer of “Moon and Me”. Her credits also include “Hotel Transylvania The Television Series” for Disney and “Little Charmers and Mysticons” for Nickelodeon.
