Moderator
Panelist
Join NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) for a conversation with Chelsea Itaya, Creative Executive at Sony Pictures Animation. Chelsea will discuss development for animated projects, her experience at Sony Pictures Animation and across the animation industry, and advice for emerging creatives in animation, as well as her passion for lifting underrepresented voices in the animation space with her work at organizations like BRIC Foundation and Women in Animation. Recent Sony Pictures Animation releases include the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and the Academy Award-nominated The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021).
About the Moderator
ALISON MANN is a Talent Manager and Co-President of Fourth Wall Animation at FourthWall Management. In her role, Mann is responsible for managing talent and strategizing the development and talent for the feature film, international and series-based projects, collaborating with business affairs, recruiting, and the creative team to foster new relationships with key creatives within the animation industry. She is also the co-founder of BRIC Foundation, an organization set up to solve how to create new access points for women and people from underrepresented groups so they can excel at creative leadership and to enable culture change through engaging and empowering talent. As creative and supporter of talent, Mann is passionate about storytelling and identifying and working with inspiring creators that can continue to elevate the animation industry.
About Chelsea Itaya
Chelsea Itaya is a Creative Executive at Sony Pictures Animation. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business but quickly realized that she wanted to work in the animation industry after interning at DreamWorks Animation. Prior to joining Sony Animation, she worked at Warner Bros. Entertainment and Paramount Animation before moving to Montreal to work as a script/story coordinator and eventually a feature development coordinator at ON Animation. Chelsea is passionate about helping underrepresented groups get those coveted Director/Writer/Producer positions and has worked with organizations like Women in Animation, BRIC, Native American Animation Lab, Good City Mentors and Rise Up Animation in an effort to make that happen.
