Women of Nickelodeon celebrate creator-driven content
Writing and Graphics by Ashley Wehrs
Chloe Linscomb, a SCAD animation student, encouraged SCAD to invite female executives from Nickelodeon to AnimationFest after viewing The Women of Nick Animation last March. Chloe’s initiative came to fruition in the form of the “Women of Nickelodeon Animation Studio” panel. The virtual panel highlighted five women from the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, including Senior Vice President of Current Series Development Claudia Spinelli, Vice President of Originals Development Kari Kim, Vice President of Current Series Development Kelley Gardner, Senior Vice President of Casting and Talent Development Liz Paulson, and Senior Vice President of Features Development,Darlene Caamaño Loquet. SCAD Professor of animation Jenna Zona moderated the panel.
The five panelists spoke on the importance of representation, creator vision and work culture, while identifying the steps they’re taking to maintain these positive values at Nickelodeon.
Although each speaker had a different path to Nickelodeon, the evolution of representation and opportunity in their careers fostered collective hope and empathy. “I’ve gone through days, earlier times in my career, where I was in a room with writers, directors, and board artists, and I’d be the only woman, or there was only one other,” said Spinelli, who has worked at Nickelodeon for more than 20 years.
“It’s been a long road to get here but comparing it to where it was back in 2000, it’s happening, it’s sticking, it’s normal.”
Claudia Spinelli on female representation in animation
This positive atmosphere and current company direction was evident to the panelists who hadn’t worked at Nickelodeon as long. “[Nickelodeon feels] safe and like a home,” said Kim, who started in Jan. 2019. Paulson has spent twenty years in casting but joined Nickelodeon Feb. 2020. “From an executive standpoint, I definitely see a shift in the last decade towards what feels more like humanity in representation in the workforce,” Paulson said.
Nickelodeon has historically been ahead of the curve in creating diverse and representative content, but this more than 20 year process didn’t casually come together. “The first few series I worked on we really worked to move up that pipeline,” Gardener said. Gardener is currently on a council at Nickelodeon creating systems to support this representative mission. The council emphasizes supporting black and indigenous people of color, LGBTQ+ people and differently-abled people.
Caamaño Loquet and Paulson joined the Nickelodeon team early 2020 and have noticed standout attributes in the company’s creative process. “An attention to creator vision is number one,” Caamaño Loquet said. “The decisions are made from the actual creative content we’re examining. Audiences know when something feels formulaic and crafted in a way that doesn’t come from a creator vision.”
This creator-driven process is highly influenced by collaboration and authenticity. As Nickelodeon continues production, they plan to focus on evolving alongside their audience. “They have so many different voices, thoughts, and feelings and the way they identify with who they are… all of that stuff we want to capture,” Spinelli said.
