Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1276583
many great ideas including one that saved my butt like when I directed the "Cornholio" episode when Beavis eats a lot of candy and turns into this lunatic alter ego, sprouting gibberish, like a kid on a sugar high. We finished the episode; it came back from post and we're screening it for the whole crew. Everyone's hysterically laughing and I'm so proud. I look into the group and there's this one very experienced, grouchy, older guy with his arms crossed. I went, "What, you didn't like it?" He's like, "I'm confused. Why was he going crazy?" And I said, "What are you talking about? He ate all the candy. Don't you realize when he went to the cabinet..." Then all of a sudden, I just stop and realize, "Holy shit!" I never had a close- up of the candy in the cabinet. I yelled, "Stop the presses." And, immediately added a held close up of candy. Marty Polansky saved me and "Cornholio" both. ASHLEY: It's important to be willing and able to admit that you're super busy, you're super tired, and you might have missed something. All of us make mistakes. Even the people at the top. I was determined to be the type of boss who I would have liked to have. The people I respect the most are the ones who invested their time and energy in me, even when they had nothing to gain from it. And so I try to do that. Even if I'm very busy, I try to invest time and energy into my people to help them reach their goals. They can't work for me forever. They need to move forward and up. I think a good supervisor advocates for their people and is willing to get back down in the trenches and work if they need to. Do you think there are ways that women can serve as mentors to one another to help each other succeed? YVETTE: I'm available to be a mentor to anyone who asks. Seriously, though, I noticed something during a meeting with women discussing mentorship that gave me pause and I think we have to acknowledge, unfortunately, that there is a competitive streak. We've had to fight for attention our whole lives so when we finally get it, we want to hold onto it. I think that it's going to take some really deep self-reflection and honest, brave conversation for women to love and really support each other, you know? ASHLEY: Woman on woman rivalry in the industry is a very real thing and I've had some negative working experiences. I think that insecurity is at the root. I agree that a lot of girls are raised to second guess themselves. How young were you when you first became aware of the idea of being popular or the idea of beauty pageants? Then being in a male-dominated industry, maybe that cranks up the pressure even more. What people have failed to realize is there's room for more than one woman, especially now. My friend, Sidney Clifton, has this saying: "Empowering my sister does not disempower me." If I invest in you, that doesn't take anything away for me. So I am going to encourage the women on my crew to negotiate for higher wages so they can assert some control over their futures. I encourage them to speak up in meetings and I make sure they get identified and heard in those meetings. These are super small things that we can do to be supportive and non-competitive. My work life has become so much richer now that I have a circle of women who I trust. YVETTE: I think irreverent comedy, adult content is the place to shine a spotlight on society and humanity and human weaknesses. So, that's the responsibility. It's a challenge. But I know that the best writers are up to it and we visualize what they've written to help that. ASHLEY: You're right. Good, irreverent comedy reflects the world back at itself, and that's something you've mentioned to me, that a lot of people didn't get about Beavis and Butt-Head. On Paradise, we do a lot of jokes about farts and erections. I'm not going to tell you we don't do those, but we do some very smart social commentary too. Come for the toilet humor, stay for the enlightened conversation! And, hopefully, you get some people to think about topics they would not have otherwise. We don't, as supervising directors, have control of the content. But if you're lucky, like I am, you have a relationship where your showrunners are willing to have a dialogue. YVETTE: Geena Davis has an organization. I forgot what it's called now, but it's kind of a watchdog. I've heard her speak about things like making sure your crowd shots are a realistic representation. ASHLEY: I'm glad you brought up the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. After attending a discussion about that, I made better onscreen inclusion and representation a real priority in season two of Paradise. I thought, well, that's such a simple thing that we can do, because I have absolute control over who my crowds are. That's been a mandate for my designers, my board artists, and my directors. They're all really wonderful at featuring women and people of color in the world of Paradise and giving them positive portrayals. There's so much more we can do to change the culture for the better in real life and on the screen. There was an episode where we needed a featured sexy woman, and the director and I were adamant about making sure she wasn't just white and blonde. Breaking that mold is a bigger deal than you would think it should be. YVETTE: Irreverent comedy always breaks the mold. ASHLEY: Well, I'm proud to be a mold breaker with you! 18 KEYFRAME D I A L O G U E