DreamWorks Animation has been ahead of the curve.
The first female and first Asian director at DreamWorks says she was able to bring a new type of collaborative leadership.
“Certainly one thing that was nice about being the first Asian female director was that there were no expectations of what I would be doing, about what my style would be, so I could make my own,” Yuh Nelson told reporters in Seoul, Monday.
The Korea Times has it a bit wrong on the "female" angle. Jeffrey Katzenberg has run animation studios and divisions that have put women in positions of authority for quite a little while.
There was Brenda Chapman as story director on Beauty and the Beast (and then co-director on Prince of Egypt.) There was Vicki Jenson on Shrek and Shark Tale, and Lorna Cook on Spirit. Kathy Altieri as production designer on How to Train Your Dragon and multiple other DWA features.
And then of course Jennifer Yuh Nelson as story director on Kung Fu Panda and now director on Number Two.
Say what you like about Katzenberg, he's pretty much the only animation studio top-kick with the balls to put women in the high seat over and over again, and actually leave them there to finish the job. There might be somebody else somewhere who's done it, but I can't think who they are*.
Long and short of it, nobody comes close to Jeffrey's record on this score.
* Add On: Now that I think of it, Ms. Jenson also served as Production Designer on the Bill Kroyer film Fern Gully.
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...and Alan Menken doing his first musical at Dreamworks(Lidsville). Wow, so much talent there.
Is Mr. Keane leaving Disney finaly?
Please--no more menken. At least not without a strong lyricist.
Lidsville????!!!!!????!!!!
“Certainly one thing that was nice about being the first Asian female director was that there were no expectations of what I would be doing, about what my style would be, so I could make my own”
I don't understand the quote by Jen Yuh-Nelson here.
What does she think the "expectations" would be if it were "merely" a female director or an asian director as opposed to a "first female asian director"? How would expectations be "different" than if she were a white male? Huh??
She was the Head Of Story on the first Kung-Fu Panda film and the Dreamworks people knew her style very well indeed, which is why she got the promotion & the gig in the first place, NOT because they had "no expectations". She was there to meet their expectations exactly.
"...and actually leave them there to finish the job."
I agree. That takes balls.
"Is Mr. Keane leaving Disney finaly?"
Hopefully, with a quick swing up north to grab Ms. Chapman and bring her back to DWA, where female directors are actually allowed to direct.
May is almost over, so I guess we'll find out soon if Glen Keane has decided to stay with the mouse.
What does May have to do with anything?
"What does May have to do with anything?"
Contractual situation.
Thanks for your answers.
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