The Los Angeles Times has released a multimedia report listing 100 people making a difference in increasing diversity in Hollywood, submitting the names to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The list pairs candidates with their applicable Academy branches, including “Short Films and Animation” — for which LAT named four influential figures.
The Animation luminaries tagged include director Jorge Gutierrez (The Book of Life for Reel FX, TV’s El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera), who cites legendary filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Inarritu as relatable inspirations. He is listed with Oscar-nominated director and Pixar animator Sanjay Patel (Sanjay’s Super Team, Monster’s, Inc.), Rosa Tran (Robot Chicken, MAD, Anomalisa), and Josie Trinidad (head of story, Zootopia; Wreck-It Ralph; The Princess and the Frog).
“My life mission as a filmmaker has always been to do things that deal with my culture. Early on, people warned me, ‘You’re trying to sell things no one’s buying. That’s not something audiences are interested in.’ I saw things change as the economic realities of new audiences began to dawn on executives. It’s still not easy, but now my culture is viewed as a strength,” Gutierrez says in his LAT interview.
You can read the complete list, which includes supplementary interviews, online.
