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.
This year ACE 4 also expanded to include a 9th role with Production Manager. This addition was in direct consultation with studios from across Canada.
Patricia Atchison
Katie Winchester
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 finalists
The finalists were selected by a jury of more than 35 creative and studio industry professionals from across Canada. Here are this years’ final ACE 4 participants.
Writer – Nattasha Shrestha (Toronto, ON)
Nattasha Shrestha
A story editor and storyteller, Nattasha has multiple shows in development and is a past winner of the Bell Media X VAFF Series Development Program and a graduate of the CFC Comedy Story Room Intensive.
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 Deepa & Anoop and Starbeam.
Airin’s storyboard work can be seen in films and TV series such as Laika’s Wildwood, Disney’s Star Wars Lego Special and an award-winning student short film at TIFF and OIAF, Quarters. She’s currently shaping the story for GOAT at 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.
Composer – Michelle Lorimer (Toronto, ON)
A composer for screen & stage, arranger, and pianist. She has worked on documentaries such as Loud & Here and Bug Sex, It’s Complicated featured on CBC’s The Nature of Things.
Editor – Bec Cranswick (Vancouver, BC)
An editor in animation & VFX, currently editing on Disney’s animated show Spidey and His Amazing Friends with past credits on Netflix’s Hello Ninja & The Mighty Express.
