Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1079787
F E AT U R E WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT TO BALANCE MOTHERHOOD AND YOUR CAREER? CAROL WYATT: I really needed to get back to work and have a creative job where I was making money. KC JOHNSON: The whole reason why I'm in LA is because of animation. I worked hard and there is sacrifice. I never thought of giving it up and kids didn't change that for me. FAWN VEERASUNTHORN: When I told people I was pregnant, they'd [ask], "Are you coming back?" And I was like, "Oh, is that even a thing?" I guess because I had kids later I couldn't imagine not doing it. MAIRGHREAD SCOTT: The question mark for me was why would I have kids? I went to school for this, I fought for it; I'm doing this because it's what I love to do. My husband is a real family guy and I was okay with kids if they happened. I love my son and now that I'm a mom, I can't see myself as anything else. KATYA BOWSER: When I had my daughter I was still hustling to get into animation. I was just doing random freelance here and there and I had to slow down a lot because I was at home pregnant [but] I couldn't let it go. I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT OF A DOUBLE STANDARD. BETH SLEVEN: I was asked if I was going to be returning and my answer was always, "Yes, of course." My husband [got] laid off while I was pregnant. We were close enough to my due date that I was like, why don't you just not look [for a job]. Five years later and he's a stay at home dad. So I'm the working parent. I guess a lot of people would see that as like a role reversal. But I have never heard one of my male coworkers be asked, "Are you coming back to work?" ANNA HOLLINGSWORTH: I was working on Bunnicula with Jessica [who was pregnant] and I was a big pregnant monster. So that was an amazing When you come back, do you want to be an animation director? just animation director? Haley Mancini and Ellen Harris 26 KEYFRAME