The Writers Guild Foundation joins forces with the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Bureau and Women in Animation for a discussion about how diversity is not only an integral part of storytelling, but essential, from the cast to the crew.
Our panelists of entertainment professionals will explore the landscape of animation and how we can create authentic and nuanced stories while still complimenting studios’ brands, creating a reciprocal relationship.
Panelists:
Paul Abadilla - Art Director, Soul, Luca
Camille Eden - VP of Recruiting and Talent Development, Nickelodeon
Yoriaki Mochizuki - Director/Producer, Final Space, Magic: The Gathering; Story Artist, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, The Lego Batman Movie
Kristine Songco - Showrunner on TBA Dreamworks show; Co-Executive Producer, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous
Moderated by Irma Ikram, Production Coordinator, Octopie Studios. Opening Remarks by Sue Obeidi, Director of MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau, and Marge Dean, President of Women in Animation.
Panel starts at 4:00pm Pacific time.
Space is limited so RSVP now. After signing up, you’ll receive information on how to access the Zoom panel.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at events@wgfoundation.org.
Our Partners
Our Panelists
PAUL ABADILLA
Paul Abadilla is an animation art director and illustrator, living and working in California’s San Francisco Bay Area.
Since 2008, Paul has designed environments for many films at Pixar Animation Studios. His recent works include serving as sets art director on Luca (2021), and Academy Award©-winning film Soul (2020).
Additionally, Paul’s illustration work has been recognized in juried annuals by American Illustration (AI), The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles (SILA), and Society of Illustrators.
Paul has spoken at schools, companies, and organizations, both domestically and internationally. He was a featured speaker at South By Southwest (2019) and Adobe Max Conference (2020). Paul has also taught design workshops at The Animation Collaborative, and his alma mater, San Jose State University.
Born in Manila, Philippines, Paul immigrated to the United States at the age of seven, and was raised in Milpitas and San Jose, CA. Prior to joining Pixar, he was a visual development intern at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Aside from creating art, Paul loves to surf, cook, and scratch on the turntables.
CAMILLE EDEN
Before joining Nickelodeon as its new VP of recruiting and talent development in 2020, Camille Eden had spent nearly a decade at Walt Disney Animation Studios as a talent acquisition and outreach manager. There, she built a reputation for promoting diverse and inclusive hiring practices while helping staff projects like Frozen and Frozen 2, Wreck-it Ralph, Moana and Big Hero 6.
YORIAKI MOCHIZUKI
Yoriaki Mochizuki is a director currently in development on his original animated feature at Sony Pictures Animation. His previous credits include director on the animated series “Final Space” for TBS and supervising director on the upcoming animated series “Magic: The Gathering” for Netflix.
Before making the jump to directing, Mochizuki worked in various roles including associate producer on "The Lego Ninjago Movie," head of story on "The Lego Movie 2," and story artist on "The Lego Batman Movie," "Storks," "Smallfoot," and the Academy Award®-winning feature film "Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse."
Mochizuki began his entertainment career as a production assistant and later became a storyboard artist on live-action projects such as "Pacific Rim.” After joining the story team on "The Lego Movie", he "fell in love" with the creative process of animation and its community.
Mochizuki was born in Tokyo and raised in Saitama, Japan, and is a graduate of Temple University in Tokyo, Japan and Philadelphia, PA, where he studied film and media arts. He currently lives in Reseda with his wife, two daughters and their cat.
Our Moderator
IRMA IKRAM
With a background working in companies like Buzzfeed, 21st Century Fox Television, and Universal Studios, Irma followed her passions into the world of animation in a desire to share new and untold stories. She currently works as a production coordinator for Octopie Studios.
Opening Remarks
SUE OBEIDI
Since the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)’s Hollywood Bureau was launched in 2011, Sue Obeidi has blended the love of her faith with her love of film, television, and digital series to change and expand the narrative of Islam and Muslims in the entertainment industry.
Obeidi and her team ensure that MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau is a partner with the entertainment industry. Behind the scenes, Obeidi engages decision-makers and creatives to improve the quality and number of authentic, nuanced, and inclusive presentations of Islam and Muslims so that audiences can see Muslims as vital contributors to creating social and cultural change in America and around the world. She also enriches the pool of Muslim talent in Hollywood by nurturing and connecting them to those who can assist with their careers, both on the creative and business sides of the industry.
MARGARET DEAN
Emmy-Award winner Margaret Dean is the Head of Studio for Crunchyroll, the world’s most popular anime brand. In this role, Dean is responsible for the development and production of original content, operating from studios in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Prior to Crunchyroll, Dean was the General Manager of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the largest stop motion studio in Southern California, where she supervised production of Emmy award-winning “Robot Chicken” (Adult Swim) and “Buddy Thunderstruck” (Netflix) as well as expanded Stoopid Buddy’s range of work to include 2D and 3D CGI.
Known for building studios and animation pipelines, Dean has been responsible for the design or re-design of several studios large and small, including Columbia-TriStar TV, Warner Bros. Animation, Mattel’s Playground Production, Omation (Steve Oedekerk), Technicolor Animation and Wildbrain Entertainment.