Mindy Johnson
Author/Scholar/Filmmaker
Award-winning author, historian, filmmaker, educator, musician and more, Mindy Johnson’s creative accomplishments reflect the diversity of her talents and experience. A leading expert on women’s roles in animation and film history, Mindy writes and speaks on early cinema, animation, women’s history, and creativity.
A recipient of the prestigious ASIFA-Hollywood June Foray "Annie" Award, given to individuals who've made a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation. Mindy's honors also include the Academy Film Scholar Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences/Oscars.org, and the ASIFA–Hollywood AEF Grant, for continued research and writing on the contributions of the earliest women within our collective animated past. With several forthcoming volumes underway, Mindy's groundbreaking discoveries continue to cast light on the invisible narrative of women’s presence within the first century of the motion picture industry. Her latest landmark breakthrough is the discovery of Bessie Mae Kelley and her surviving films believed to be the earliest surviving hand-drawn animation, animated and directed by a woman, forever busting the myth of women no longer present at the dawn of the animation industry.
1:00PM - 2:00PM
Opening Keynote: Mindy Johnson
Author of Ink and Paint's Mindy Johnson, the woman who literally wrote the book on the contributions of women in Animation, is coming IN-PERSON to Toronto to open our conference! A powerful speaker and visionary, Mindy's talk is one you can't miss!
2:15PM - 3:15PM
Trailblazing Women in Animation presented by Pipeline Studios
Since the dawn of the animation industry, women have always played an integral role in helping to shape the creative vision and execution of various projects– and even more recently, many have become leaders in their field, paving the way for even more talented women!
Join trailblazing female leads Deborah A. Anderson (BlkWmnAnimator), Marge Dean (Head of Studio at Skybound Animation, Women in Animation), Mindy Johnson (Animation Historian & Author), Sumira Dhawan (Head of CG, Redefine) and Shaleen Sangha (Vice President of Kids and Family Content at Boat Rocker Media) on Friday November 3rd for a roundtable discussion about the challenges women have historically faced throughout the industry, the successes of women rising to positions of leadership within animation, and the work still yet to be done to help create opportunities for women entering the workforce (and become trailblazers themselves!)
We’re ecstatic to have such a wide and wonderful array of talented and awe-inspiring panelists and can’t wait to learn more!
