Women in Animation: Women Working Together

Leeds Animation provided a way for women to realize what was going on in the world and to empower themselves through learning about issues such as health and safety in the workplace, local government, unionization, and sexual harassment. Gillian Lacey reflects on the fact that when her animation workshop started, the women believed in some ideas very passionately, including opportunities for women, flat rate wage, no individual credits on the films, and a collective work process. But, she also learned a lot of things, while working there, that she did not want to know. They were quite negative, including that collectives can reduce everything to the lowest common denominator, unacknowledged hierarchies may emerge, equality is difficult to achieve, and commonly held political beliefs do not necessarily make for good working partnerships. She now works in less rigid structures with a variety of people and thinks that maybe the future of film lies within her students. One of her films, The Stain, was inspired by a news report of octogenarian twins who shot themselves after a violent family feud over a tiny gravy stain on a tablecloth. Who does that?! First of all, who has a violent feud over a gravy stain and second of all, who shoots themselves over it? That’s just crazy!