By SHOOT Staff
CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), a non-profit organization creating opportunities and driving success for Asian and Pacific Islanders in Hollywood for over 30 years, has announced the return of the CAPE Animation Directors Accelerator with Kevin Noel, SVP, creative, Sony Pictures Animation, taking the helm as program chair.
In collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the initiative identifies and equips the next generation of Asian and Pacific Islander animation professionals with the skills needed to become directors in feature film and episodic animation.
The Accelerator was co-founded by Justinian Huang (VP, creative, Sony Pictures Animation) and Michelle Wong (producer, K-Pop: Demon Hunters). Selected rising animation filmmakers in the program will hone both their artistic and leadership skills through a series of panels, workshops, and masterclasses from high-level executives, producers, and creatives in the animation industry, as well as receive one-on-one executive mentorship.
“With the global animation market size projected to surpass $600 billion by 2030, it’s astounding that we can count on roughly two hands the number of Asian American feature film animation directors (and zero Pacific Islanders),” said CAPE executive director Michelle K. Sugihara. “CAPE is excited to team up with Sony Pictures Entertainment once again to supercharge these creatives’ rise into the feature film director’s chair.”
Past program mentors and speakers include Maggie Kang (director, K-Pop: Demon Hunters), Arthur Fong (visual development artist, The Mitchells vs The Machines), Wira Winata, Galen Chu, Alyce Tzue, Henry Yu (director, Surf’s Up 2: Wavemania), Yori Mochizuki, Matt Braly (creator, Amphibia), John Aoshima (co-director, Ultraman), Daniel Chong (creator, We Bare Bears), Jay Hasrajani (creator, Boons and Curses), Domee Shi (director, Turning Red), Jude Weng (director, Finding ‘Ohana), Janet Wu (director, original animated film and family features, Netflix), Jason McConnell (director of development, movies & series, Nickelodeon Animation), Scott Sakamoto (creative development, Netflix), Jason Caparaz (VP, development, DreamWorks Animation TV), Larry Jonas (producer, Trollhunters), Kurt Albrecht (producer, The Mitchells vs The Machines), Tim Yoon (producer, Maya and the Three), and Osnat Shurer (producer, Moana).
Ideal candidates for the Accelerator will have five-plus years in the animation field and ambitions of being the creative lead for animation film or episodic projects. Prioritized levels of experience include head of story, episodic director, art director, CG director, technical director, VFX supervisor, editor, and production designer.
As part of the CAPE Animation Directors Accelerator, CAPE will also be holding a panel at Lightbox Expo in Pasadena on Saturday October 28 centering on comic book adaptation featuring Randall Park (director, Shortcomings), Karen Gaviola (director, The Boys) and Steve Maeda (co-showrunner, Netflix’s One Piece).
The CAPE Animation Directors Accelerator is part of other industry-renowned CAPE initiatives such as the CAPE New Writers Fellowship, CAPE Leaders Fellowship, Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, and CAPE Emerging Executive Committee, as well as the soon-to-be-launched CAPE Database, a public-facing database for Asian and Pacific Islander talent, executives, reps, and more.
Josh C. Kline joins Scripto as CEO
Josh C. Kline has been named the new CEO of Scripto, the innovative real-time, cloud-native platform designed for remote collaborative scriptwriting and production. Kline will steer Scripto into its next phase of growth. Plans call for Scripto to further transform collaboration throughout the writing and production stages, enabling creative teams to accelerate their workflow and enhance teamwork.
Emmy®-winning programs such as “Late Night with Stephen Colbert,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Daily Show,” and the Weekend Update on “Saturday Night Live” rely on Scripto’s advanced workflow tools to allow show writers and production teams to work together seamlessly from any location.
“Late Night” host Colbert, co-founder of Scripto, said of Kline, “His deep background in entertainment technology will help take our groundbreaking platform to new heights, and also ensure we are on the winning side when the AIs finally make their move, which we all know is coming. I can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together.
Kline brings a wealth of experience in technology and media. He previously served as head of media & entertainment at Box. Kline co-founded Sample Digital, where he developed Digital Dailies™, revolutionizing the review and approval process for film and TV production and earning him a Primetime Engineering Emmy Award. His entrepreneurial spirit continued with the launch of Secure Path Technology, a cloud-based content ID and metadata services company. Kline was chief strategy officer at Final Draft before joining Box as head of media & entertainment, and has consulted for major global clients including Microsoft, Avid, and Motion Picture Domain Registry.
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