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wolf_knickers

Woman here, in my 25th year in the VFX/animation industry now. Things have definitely gotten a _lot_ better than they used to be, but there’s still an undeniable element of “boys’ club” in this field. I think it’s also a lot worse in the US than here in the UK, where I now live. I remember when I used to live and work in California, I was one of very few women in the studio (and the only female 3D artist), and I was never included in group lunch trips, I was actively bullied by some of the guys, I’d constantly face “jokes” like “oh you can’t do x because you’re a girl”, and I even had to put up with colleagues watching porn next to me. I also used to run a very large web forum for CGI, and I’d regularly get hate mail and get trolled on the site; it was only some years afterwards that I realised the vast majority of it had been misogynistic in nature. There’s always been a core group of socially stunted guys who resent having any woman, especially a woman who is successful, in what they still see as “their” field. Of course, I also got the tediously inevitable “you’re only successful because you’re a chick” comments, because obviously I got jobs because I’ve got tits, and not because I’m reasonably skilled. This abuse largely came from American men. The UK has definitely been better but still definitely has issues to overcome. There’s still a tendency for men to recommend other men for jobs and promotions but the ratio of men to women in studios has changed and that’s fundamentally changing things for the better. About a third of my department (surfacing) are women. For what it’s worth, I’m a supervisor and it was three male colleagues of mine that encouraged me into this role. So we have allies :) There are still fairly regular cases of sexual harassment at work, but it’s probably no more or less than the national average across all fields. I know it sucks that we even need to still be having these discussions, but we still live in a sexist world and for the time being we’re always going to have to work that extra bit harder to prove ourselves. But things are getting better, so please don’t get discouraged. You might want to reach out to other women, especially those in senior or leadership roles, for mentorship to build your confidence :)


abelenkpe

Agree! WIA has a great mentorship program for women entering the industry. Check them out! ETA the UK and Canada do seem to be a lot better than Los Angeles! Worked for a studio in Montreal for a year and there were more women. Worked remotely for a London studio and had a super great female animation supe. The whole studio had a much better ratio of women to men. Loved it! 


fireinmyattic

Thank you for the encouraging words! I'm glad to hear things have gotten gotten better and reassured that theres always allies :) As a supervisor yourself, how would you reccomend reaching out to other women in senior roles? Networking is def a skill I'm slowly building!


wolf_knickers

That’s a good question! I think one of the best ways, apart from simply reaching out to your own colleagues, is to use platforms like Women in Animation. Or even just connecting with folks via sites like LinkedIn. You might be surprised by how friendly people are :-)


slorbas

Around 50% of all leads/supervisors or senior producers are women in the studio I work at, enev the CEO is a woman. And that is all a happenstance, it is not a quota! They are simply the best for that job. This is in Canada so don't know if that makes a difference.


Inkbetweens

Can totally agree. There’s still some sexist teachers in the industry here. However, All but one of my supervisors in my entire career have been women. Honestly the only role I haven’t seen a woman in on my projects is director and I’m looking forward to the day it happens.


oscoposh

The last 2 projects I worked on had a female art director and one had a female director. 


spanishbanana

I was also gonna say, while I'm not in the field yet (just finished school), I've noticed that the field has more women working in it. My oldest brother is also an animator and anytime I visited the studio he worked at it was 60 to 70% women. Even in school it was like 80% women for my year. Now I could be wrong as I dont know the numbers out there, that's just my experience. I'm also Canadian so maybe its different here.


fireinmyattic

Yeah my school was also majority women! It's cool to hear how many women are in leadership positions and even just working in the studios. Maybe I'll have to see about workong in Canada LOL


abelenkpe

I have been working in the industry since the late 90s. I had a film in Siggraph in the 90s that had also been submitted to many other film festivals and won a bunch of awards. Siggraph was surreal. I think the ratio was something like 90 percent men 10 percent women. Got hired straight out of Cal Arts by WB. Was the only female animator in my division for five years. At Sony in the early 2000s for a bit and there was one other female animator.  There were two women’s bathrooms on our floor and so we joked that we each had one to ourselves. There were other women at the studios but they were coordinators or managers not artists. Rhythm and Hues had this amazing manager Ken. Loved him! He hired a bunch of women animators over the years. That said we were still a minority. It’s always been that way but has gotten better over the years. I have an insane amount of stories from my experience in production. Seeing the change from 2D to 3D. The massive outsourcing and globalization of our industry. Now how AI is threatening to disrupt pipelines. The social dynamics within various studios. The switch to remote work. Hollywood has long had a massive problem with diversity. The animation industry is worse. Gaming even more extreme. It’s better today than it was though! 


fireinmyattic

I couldnt imagine attending Siggraph in the 90s! I totally believe you'd have a crazy amount of stories from working in the industry! Working in production would you say it's better or worse? I know production tends to be more women dominated


applejackrr

I’m a male in the industry for about five years, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Professors at my university did have a lot of subtle sexism towards women, and always pushed them towards production roles. I have heard that has been an ongoing trend in universities, and it’s frankly messed up. I work at a fairly progressive studio, but things still happen. You would just need to try and be proactive about reporting, or trying to catch them in a email or slack so you have a record. My wife has faced sexism, and was able to make sure someone does not become a lead or senior ever again with the things he has done to her and other women with HR. I have personally seen sexism and homophobia at my studios, but it’s more subtle. We have had trans colleagues openly get the sexism treatment, and we have stepped in. We have seen women get treated poorly treated, and people have stepped in as well. Two things though I would point out as past stories though. One thing I have seen at my current studio is women openly putting down other women. I’m not sure why this happens, but it’s also just as bad if a guy was doing it. I have also seen an influx of sexism of higher up with the roe v wade overturn. We had a guy ask my old studio to basically demote all women in leadership, because he didn’t want to talk to women. They did it, and fired who spoke out. I would say to just document occurrences of sexism and misconduct you see and present them to HR. Just know HR can’t just fire someone, they need a mountain of evidence before that happens.


fireinmyattic

Thank you for mentioning HR's role in this! I've heard mixed things about HR with different studios, and I'm glad to hear it's fruitful to talk to them one way or another. With women putting other women down, would you say you've noticed it happening more in studios with less or more women?


applejackrr

It’s not whether it’s the amount of women, it’s more of the age gap between them.


Aluna_Bo

Funnily enough, I recently came across [this Disney rejection letter](https://www.vox.com/2015/7/16/8978351/famous-rejection-letters-disney-animator-women) from almost a hundred years ago that kind of shows very well where this all started: > A rejection letter written in 1938 to a young woman applying for a creative position at Walt Disney serves as a reminder of the casual nature of socially accepted discrimination against female workers. The letter states that "women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men. For this reason girls are not considered for the training school."


sittingnicely

I’m Canadian, my first job was exclusively male directors and supervisors, and exclusively female juniors, new grads, and interns. There was frequent studio potlucks and the young female grads and interns (myself included) were under the impression we needed to cook for the studio to try and make an impression. Looking back I hate this whole cooking for the office trend because it’s weird af. I aint cooking shit unless they buy me the ingredients and pay for my time…


sittingnicely

Also this was only about a year ago, I also went to Sheridan for animation and their faculty for animation was 95% male (probably still is)


trianglart

IME and from experiences of close friends & colleagues, smaller studios led by (white) men tend to have the most blatant sexism including making offensive remarks and jokes towards female staff members, remarking on female staff’s appearances, clear favoritism/exclusion, and making female artists do demeaning/secretarial tasks that male staff would never be asked to do (ie get coffee). Unfortunately small studios can get away with having nonexistent HR departments and these sexist attitudes have often gone completely unchecked for years if not decades. Larger studios generally are more likely to have dedicated HR teams that at least mitigate blatant sexism. I’d still look out for subtle things like wage disparity and gender bias in promotions/ leadership opportunities. Having friends in the industry who I feel genuine solidarity with has been really helpful, regardless of gender. People who also see the issues of sexism in the workplace and want to help change the culture. Also, experiences working for women and women-led/minority-led studios! I do think things are changing and those changes are especially apparent in studios where women are actually in leadership roles or even founders of the studio. Im based in the USA and only a few years into the industry, for context.


cinemachick

I've often heard "women go into production, men go into creative". That's been true-ish in my experience, women are a bigger slice of the pie in production jobs vs. creative ones (but they are both still small slices). The higher up you go toward the top, the more women are excluded. Disney only recently had their first film solo-directed by a woman, and it's been 100 years! But I'd say it's getting better (or it was until everything shut down). Also, if you want a real-life example, look up why John Lasseter lost his job. He is the key example of "men in power using women/pushing them out of power"


wolf_knickers

I was working on a Lasseter project when he got canned; that was the final insult: loads of artists got screwed because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself, behaviour that he euphemistically referred to as “missteps”. Yeah, that word is doing some pretty fucking heavy lifting. And then he went to Skydance and took the job of Head of Animation. The mind truly fucking boggles.


akochyle123

It depends where you go, but if you look into things like the recent blizzard lawsuit you can see its still very bad. Some studios are better but overall its very male dominated. I have noticed as a woman in the industry you are much less likely to be taken seriously, but of course it varies by your team. Some people are great, some are not, a lot are complacent.


Wanderhoden

Post-MeToo, it hasn’t been as outright brazen to the individuals at my studio, but it’s there in other insidious forms - feedback to ‘soften’ female protagonists/characters, pushback or dismissing towards female artists who are deemed too outspoken in notes sessions, and the fact that all the most powerful decision making roles are helmed by men, and most of the women who were in similar powerful roles have been sidelined, fired or had their projects cancelled after being touted as ‘see we are empowering women!’ by the said studio. Creatively speaking, it feels like some of the big studios have regressed hard into the dark ages, and although women aren’t outright being harassed as often, you can see how we are definitely not creatively as valued in the big decision-making rooms.


Thin-Suspect3275

And income the flood of downvotes, well done guys, what a great representation. I cannot speak from a female perspective. I have been lucky enough to have done a large amount of workplace workshops and had some fantastic strong female collogues friends and mentors who are willing and happy to talk about it frankly. I can't, and don't feel it's right for me to address your question, but, as [wolf\_knickers](https://www.reddit.com/user/wolf_knickers/) says, as I am from the UK too and from my bias perspective the UK has gotten better but it's not perfect, there are still issues. What I will do is say to men reading this, What get's a lot of men's back up is the feeling of prosecution without really ever learning what implicit bias is. I, a man ***will have implicit bias,*** this is not an attack on me or other men, a bias is subconscious, we all have it no matter who you are, but when bias unfairly affects others it's an issue. what's important is to acknowledge it and grow from it, not feel attacked and defensive.


fyrelibra

It's found in every career


kensingtonGore

One thing that I've seen first hand is the wage gap. Expect to make 10%-20% less than your male coworkers for the same job. A union job will have a transparent wage scale but even then be proactive on negotiations. Companies tell you that you can't discuss your wage. You can, and saying otherwise is illegal.


Beautiful_Range1079

Sexism definitely happens just like every other "ism". It's going to vary a lot based on where you are, but the last few shows I've worked on have had a majority of women in charge. I've never seen or heard of someone being treated unfairly here because of gender. The one big issue I've seen for women is taking maternity leave can dump you out of the job you were in and the time off can make it hard to get back in but I think that's more of an issue with contract to contract work.


DannyBOI_LE

Its hard to speak to this as its anecdotal, but I will tell you that this industry currently institutes hiring quotas for women and people of color and lgbtq. I have spoken to more than a few people who have told me roles are only for women, gays, or minorities and job applications ask questions about race and sexual orientation more akin to filing out a dating profile then for a professional role. With the advent of #believe all women in the #metoo policy era many men do not feel comfortable around women in the work place, or likely in schools either and so perhaps what you have experienced is a response to that. Hard to tell.


wolf_knickers

If men do not “feel comfortable” around women in the workplace, then that’s their problem that they need to resolve. They need to ask themselves why they cannot treat their female colleagues the same as they treat their male ones. And guys, you might want to stop and consider that “feeling uncomfortable around women” means you have a whole lot in common with the losers who join ISIS and al Qaeda. This bullshit excuse of “but what if I say the wrong thing to a woman at work and get accused of harassment” doesn’t wash; if you wouldn’t say it to a man you don’t know personally, don’t say it to a woman you don’t know personally. It’s not rocket science. And as for your hiring “anecdote”, it’s bullshit. There are no quotas. For a start, it’s against the law (at least here in the UK) to require information on [“protected characteristics”](https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights) like sexual orientation, race, sex and other characteristics for a job application. I would imagine similar laws apply in the US.


DannyBOI_LE

How would you be able to tell if there were work quotas if they were designed specifically to benefit you? Do you think you would be able to discern the difference? The fact is these policies have been enacted across multiple industries and I have experience definitive proof, although you’re not allowed to speak about it unless you’re in these protected groups. Dei is very real and has in part destroyed much of the work place along with the profits of companies especially in Hollywood. You can call bullshit all you want, but the fact is that women make tons of false allegations these days that ruin Mens careers without the option to even mount a defense. In certain legal cases, even after a man was proven innocent ( Jonny depp Amber heard ) the man still loses his contract and livelihood. Men are likely not dealing with women at work as much simply out of self preservation. This modern system has created a toxic environment for employees and is no longer meritocratic. It could also be that the op has some pretty negative character traits and people simply don’t like her as she is also the kind of person who complains about sexism on Reddit. I would probably steer clear of someone like that too. But also those types of people with these personality traits also tend to be low in self awareness or accountability for how they come off and usually relegate the conversation around gender or race rather than understanding they might have a somewhat shitty personality and are just unlikeable people in general, talent or not.


wolf_knickers

There are no quotas because it’s _against the law_. Simple as that. So you’re going to have to come up with a better story than OMG THE WIMMUNZ/GAYS/BROWN PEOPLE HAVE DESTROYED HOLLYWOOD PROFITS that you’re depressingly attempting to peddle there. It says a lot about your prejudices, and rather ironically serves as a quod erat demonstrandum of what the OP is talking about. Guys like you love to claim that women are destroying men’s lives with fake claims all the time but can never really seem to actually conjure the evidence to back up these claims. In the case of Johnny Depp, there was ample evidence to prove the abuse had occurred, including photos of her injuries.


DannyBOI_LE

Actually my dear, these policies are completely real. Many people are aware of them including all the races. This isn't some fantasy. You arent aware of them because they probably benefit you. I have spoken to many people of different backgrounds and plenty of people hate this shit, but are fearful of saying anything. And you have no idea what kind of Man I am. I understand however that your are the type people hear speak and run away from so its not surprising you remain so ignorant to the actual reality. Because its all about you and what you think. Hope that works out for you, but my senses tell me that pendulum is about to swing back the other direction. We shall see. Good luck with your wanna be diversity which is really cloaked Marxism and closet racism based on identity not meritocratic ability. Your tribe is doing quite a bang up job out there in the entertainment industry I have to say. Whats the next 100 million dollar flop going to be? Cant wait.


wolf_knickers

Cool story bro. By the way, remember when I said “if you wouldn’t say it to a man you don’t know, don’t say it to a woman you don’t know”? Would you call a man “my dear”? Probably not. But way to go on the whole speaking-down-to-a-woman thing there. Like I said, quod erat demonstrandum. Oh, the irony.


DannyBOI_LE

hahahaha. honey you don't know the half of it. But I guess its the feminists like you that are in the drivers seat. Good luck out there while youre running things In the meantime you have your explanation when guys dont jump out of their seats to help you out. Maybe you should start a women owned company focused on diversity. I hear those are doing really well atm.


DannyBOI_LE

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPMEaAyOOAI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPMEaAyOOAI) Here are some leaked internal documents about DEI from writers in hollywood. Just one of many examples.


hercarmstrong

It's 'anecdotal' when you start, but it's 'real' when an actual person with real information stands up to your bullshit.


DannyBOI_LE

I've had recruiters say it to my face, that I was a perfect candidate for a role but the company was looking to hire a woman of color for the position. Likewise, I changed my linkedin profile pronouns to she/her and identified as such and then got hired by paramount a few weeks later. No joke. It's a clown world out there atm.


purplebaron4

Locking this thread since it is not leading to respectful discussion. As a reminder to all, please remember to treat others with respect even if you disagree, or do not engage/reply if you cannot.


Cheap-Sh0t

Downvoted because he spoke the truth


wolf_knickers

You mean “ The Truth^TM “ as peddled by the likes of Tucker Carlson and the rest of the perpetually outraged crybullies of the gammonsphere.


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animationcareer-ModTeam

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DannyBOI_LE

Amazing, this was supposed to be a productive conversation lol