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Jeff Trammell, head writer of Craig of the Creek.
Finally, Some Progress! More women and people of color are creating and overseeing animated shows than ever before. By Karen Idelson
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n recent years, we’ve witnessed a much-needed effort to have women and people of color play more prominent and influential roles as creative forces in animation. While change hasn’t come easily or overnight, a quick look at the types of shows being made and the artists who are making them are indications that a shift is finally happening. Recent TV series such as Nickelodeon’s The Casagrandes and Disney Channel’s Mira, Royal Detective feature characters from diverse backgrounds, and the creatives behind the scenes are often just as diverse. When hiring, many shows seek out writers who can speak to a culture based on their own background or personal history. Other times, consultants are brought in to make sure the details included in a story are correct and reflect the authentic culture. Netflix has brought on animation powerhouses such as Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins) and Jorge Gutiérrez (Book of Life, El Tigre) to develop a slate of projects for the streamer. Cartoon Network, Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney +, Apple TV+ and much all the other streamers and cablers have several shows created by and featuring people of color in their pipelines in 2021. L.A.-based animation veteran Elizabeth Ito has seen the
animation industry become more inclusive in recent years. Over the last 15 years, Ito worked as a supervising director on Adventure Time and a feature storyboard artist on Hotel Transylvania, Astro Boy and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. She’s currently developing City of Ghosts, a much-anticipated hybrid documentary-style show about Angeleno ghosts for Netflix. “There have definitely been some big changes,” says Ito. “There are women creating and running shows, and more women writing, storyboarding and directing in general. We’ve had more diverse characters on screen, in both design and substance. We’ve also seen more minority directors. Studios are finally being more conscious about who voices characters, and whether they could make better choices when casting.”
Real Representation Another industry veteran, Sascha Paladino, believes there is greater awareness of the need for diversity and inclusion. Paladino is currently executive producer on Mira, Royal Detective, where aside from himself, there is an all-female
‘I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a lot of writers’ rooms, but more often than not I’m the only POC in the room and I’d love to see that change going forward.’ — Jeff Trammell, head writer, Craig of the Creek
writers room. The show’s cast is also made up of performers who are South Asian or of South Asian descent. “I’ve been working in TV for 20 years and I feel like almost all of the shows that I’ve worked on, [diversity] has been top of mind for the creatives behind it,” says Paladino. “But in the last couple of years it’s definitely become a much more important topic, something that’s baked in. To me, it’s really the most important thing that shows are discussing these days. There’s such a movement in the culture toward better and more fair representation, and I think that is reflected in kids’ TV both in the content and by the people making it. He adds, “For Mira, Royal Detective, we’re portraying South Asian culture, which is a first for Disney Junior so it’s a huge responsibility. It’s something that I, as executive producer of the show, think about and wrestle with a lot because we want to portray this culture in an authentic and thoughtful and sensitive way so that South Asian kids really see themselves on screen and so that non-South Asian kids learn about the culture in a way that makes them want to learn more.”
The Only POC in the Room? While there has been concentrated effort to bring in voices that can authentically speak for a culture or perspective in some cases, it’s part of a long process. Jeff Trammell, head writer on Cartoon Network’s hit show Craig of the Creek and a voice actor, points out there’s still work to be done. “I do believe that rooms have become slightly more in-
february 21 19
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