R. Street

Rita Street: Computer Animation / Visual Effects Jury Member

You have founded the international organization, Women In Animation in 1993. Why? What is your goal? What is women's position in the computer animation industry? Why are there no women among the big names in this industry?

Street: I actually have a rather long history with animation and with Animation Magazine in particular. I originally worked for the pub and the film distribution company that founded it, Expanded Entertainment, as far back as 1991. By 1994, I was working as editor and observing the animation industry from sort of a mountaintop perspective. In other words, everything that was going on, all over the world, came to our attention.

From that viewpoint, I noticed that, although women were working in the field, they did not have a strong central voice. At the same time, I noticed that the art of animation was seeping into all areas of entertainment and culture and although this was admittedly a good thing, it also worried me. What, I wondered, was the future for an industry that was suddenly so fragmented? I wanted to make sure that the powerful foothold that animation had gained over the past twenty years did not disappear and I wanted to discuss my concerns with peers. Then I put two and two together. The best listeners and action-takers I knew were my gal pals. So Women In Animation began - in my living room - as a way to create a forum for women to speak out and unify and to protect and support the art and industry of animation as a whole.

Today, women are beginning to break the glass ceiling the industry has imposed on them in terms of job opportunities and salaries. I like to think that this is, in part, due to the confidence many have gained as WIA members. But it is also because - in the last five years especially – women have proven themselves to be masters of the craft. There are still more women in executive positions than artistic positions and that is a concern, especially in computer animation and visual effects, but I believe that will slowly change. Happily, there are standouts heroines in CG animation; standouts like Vicky Jenson, the co-director of Shrek and an amazing example to all women who aspire to careers in 3D.

Recently I asked her why there aren't more women in the ranks of CG and Jenson replied, 'I think it goes back to the 40s when women [artists] were discriminated against in the business. That put a stop to a lot of careers. But, I also think it has to do with an interest in comic books [which often leads to careers in animation]. Comic books are more boy oriented, male dominated, like rock 'n roll, and it just took a while for girls and women to break into those worlds. Now there a lot more women coming up through the schools, studying animation.'

You have started your career in a time when there was very little off-the-shelf software, and work was being done mainly on proprietary systems. How did the software itself change the whole animation industry? What about creativity?

Street: As the publisher of Animation Magazine and as a freelance writer and book author (Computer Animation: A Whole New World, Rockport Publishers) covering the field, I have seen CG houses evolve from proprietary production pipelines to off-the-shelf set-ups and that transition has been fascinating to watch. One of the interesting things about the late 1980s and early 1990s was the 'thumbprint' of each major proprietary house, studios like Pacific Data Images and Rhythm & Hues. Because each in-house system was developed to serve the needs or particular jobs and the interests of company artists each computer animation house tended to have it's own 'look,' or to be remembered for doing a particular type of animation. If you needed a 'morph' you went to PDI. If you needed early 'fur,' you went to Rhythm & Hues. Or, back when they were still doing commercials, and you needed a more character-based approach, you went to Pixar.

Off-the-shelf software changed all that, I think, for the better. It democratized the competition between houses and improved the overall quality of the art form. Now, for the price of a car loan, anyone can make feature quality animation on the desktop. Of course, this doesn't mean that research and development departments at studios like Industrial Light + Magic are going away. It just means that they are able to focus more energy on increasingly more difficult processes. At the same time, studios can work directly with high and low-end application manufacturers to enhance their toolsets. And, everyone wins. As software packages become more user-friendly and more capable, artists are able to work in more intuitive ways. As artists begin to work in more intuitive ways, audiences get to enjoy more and more fantastic imagery ­whether they be fantastically real ­ or fantastically unreal.

Several years back I said that the 21st century would be the era of Animation and I strongly believe that still. Computer animation is changing the way we look at and enjoy our entertainment, but it is also changing the way we look at and enjoy our world. Over the next twenty years, I believe, CG will infiltrate every element of pop culture and even, our everyday lives. We'll see computer animated characters in holographic movies but also on our refrigerators asking us what we want to order from the store and in our operating rooms, helping doctors perform life-saving surgeries.

It is the first time that you are member of the Prix Ars Electronica Jury. What kind of work would you like to award the Golden Nica to?

Street: This is the first time I have served as a juror for the Prix Ars Electronica. I am extraordinarily honored to participate in such a well-thought out and critically acclaimed event. I hope to help award a Golden Nica to work that pushes both the boundaries of art, animation and technology.




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