In November 2023, Netflix and Women in Animation Vancouver (WIA) presented the world premiere of Ostinato, the latest short film from the Animation Career EXCELerator Program (ACE), produced with the support of the Canada Media Fund, Creative BC, and Telefilm Canada. The ACE Program is an immersive career mentorship program for animation professionals who identify as women or non-binary. The program was designed to advance the careers of women in the animation industry by giving the opportunity for directorial and supervising role experiences in creating their own short film.
Ostinato follows Nuha, a composer who sees the world as a vibrant soundscape. She is having a relaxing morning when her music is interrupted by a mysterious “tone.” Nuha struggles to get rid of it, and it instead grows larger and louder, drawing out her own music. The film follows Nuha as she learns to stop fighting the change happening in her life, and instead, embrace it.
The team behind Ostinato includes artists across British Columbia, Ontario, Québec and Vancouver. We caught up with animation director Molly Lacoursière (lead animator on Pinecone & Pony), and director Sonia Furier (storyboard supervisor on Unicorn Academy), to learn more about Ostinato, and hear about their experiences in making the film as part of the ACE Program.
What are your animation backgrounds? How did you get into animation and what do you love about it?
Molly: When I was in college I was in visual arts, and I didn’t know anything about animation. My university had a program for 2D\3D animation. When I looked at it, I was curious about it because it involved a lot of drawing, and it looked fun. So I decided to take it, and immediately fell in love with animation. After that course, I stayed in the animation industry. I didn’t go back to visual arts.
In watching cartoons, like Looney Tunes for example, I found it really fun to look at each individual image, frame-by-frame. When you see the animation this way, you can start to understand the ways that animators make the characters move.
I found smears (images that stretch, blur, or multiply the characters or parts of it to make it move faster) particularly interesting in the work of Chuck Jones. This is what I love so much about animation; there’s so much creativity behind every movement of those animated characters.
When I was finishing up my bachelor degree in 2D and 3D animation at Laval University of Québec City, there was a studio nearby that needed animators for a new project they were starting. I interviewed, and got the job, along with some of my classmates. It was a great first job because they taught us quite a lot about actually working in the animation industry. There’s a gap between school and the industry, and they really filled that for me. It’s in that studio that I learned how to do 2D rigs in Toon Boom Harmony.
Sonia: In elementary school, I drew a lot for fun. I would use Looney Tunes stickers I had as a reference, or I would draw based off of Disney movies I was watching. When I got to highschool, I started buying special edition DVDs that had behind-the-scenes content. These DVDs helped me learn a bit about the animation process, and about how a whole, collaborative team works together to create something. The Lion King‘s making of the film featurette truly inspired me.
I started looking into animation school. From the beginning, I was really attracted to traditional animation, because I thought it was so magical how drawings can create movement. To prepare for applying to school, I joined a course called the Animation Portfolio Workshop. That course really helped me learn to draw, and put together my portfolio for applying to colleges. I really wanted to go to Sheridan, but actually got waitlisted the first time I applied. I took a year off, worked as a TA at the Animation Portfolio Workshop, practiced my drawing, and applied the following year. That time, I got in!
In my second year at Sheridan, I had a teacher named Nancy Beiman. She’s a veteran of the industry, and she inspired my interest in story. After that course, I focused a lot on storyboarding, and when I graduated, I took my first role as a storyboard revisionist at Brown Bag Films.
How did you find the ACE Program, apply and ultimately become a participant?
Molly: At the time I was working at Atomic Cartoons, and I had been telling them that I wanted to move up into a supervisor position. From what I knew, that was the highest position I could move into. The creative director at Atomic Cartoons, David Gerhard, told me about the ACE Program, and about how it could support me in learning about animation directing. He showed me the requirement sheets that Atomic Cartoons had for different roles, and when I looked at the animation director sheet, I realized that was exactly what I wanted to eventually do.
I decided to apply to ACE, which is a process of three rounds. First, they review your CV and your work. The next round is a group interview with the other potential candidates for the same role. And in the final round you meet with the jury and mentors that ask you questions. It was at the second stage that I started to doubt myself, because I felt that the others up for the position had so much more experience than me. But I powered through the self-doubt and decided to enjoy the process.
As English is not my first language, sometimes it creates misunderstandings and with the stress of the interviews. This added another layer of difficulty for me. At one point in the process, we were given a 2-part assignment, and I totally misunderstood the first part of the instructions. I was totally honest with ACE, and told them I had misunderstood. I thought that this would be it for me, and I wouldn’t get the position. But I think they liked that I was honest about it, and that I was willing to be vulnerable – because I got the position!
Sonia: At the time, I was working at House of Cool. The recruiting team there set up a call for women at House of Cool to join a virtual presentation about the ACE Program. In that call, everything I heard really resonated with me. I felt that the program would be a place where I could learn, grow, and be challenged.
I started putting my application together, and wrote out my letter of intent for the story supervisor position. But two days before the application deadline I had a moment of doubt. I have two kids, a husband, and a demanding job. I thought really hard about what would make it worth it. And I realized I needed to go for a role that would be more challenging for me. So the day before the deadline, I wrote a brand new letter of intent to apply for the director position.
Like Molly, I was shortlisted, and went through all the interviews and workshops alongside the others who had been shortlisted for the director role. It was overwhelming. And to be honest, I felt underqualified, because so many of the others shortlisted were so accomplished.
I had to allow myself to believe that I deserve to be considered, and put myself forward for that consideration. It’s really easy to just wait around for opportunities, or think to yourself, “I’ll apply later.” But as a professional and as a woman, just putting yourself forward for these kinds of experiences is so important. Being willing to go through the application process is meaningful in itself.
In the end, I did get the role, which was super validating. But if I hadn’t gotten the role, I would have been grateful for the experience of the application process in itself. It taught me the importance of putting yourself forward for consideration.
What inspired the film you both worked on, and what is Ostinato about?
Molly: Ostinato tells the story of a music composer who finds out she is developing tinnitus. The film is about how developing this disease has an impact on her life, and how she learns to cope with, and accept it.
The story was written by our writer, Sunita Balsara. She was inspired by her family’s experience with tinnitus, which is a condition that causes ringing in the ear. The name of the film, Ostinato, means “a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm”.
Could you share a bit about the animation style of Ostinato, and how you achieved it?
Molly: The animation style that we ultimately landed on for Ostinato actually isn’t the style we’d originally planned. At first, we thought the look would be cartoony. But the story evolved, and as it did, we decided to evolve the animation style as well.
The main character, Nuha, is animated in a more realistic style. Throughout the film she interacts with some magical, imaginary characters who are done in a more bouncy, snappy style. This is how we used animation style to separate the magical world in the film from reality.
I love technical stuff, and so achieving this look in Toon Boom Harmony was very fun. To help achieve it, we made a 360 rig that fully rotates. Usually people will make a 180 rig that is flipped, to save time. But with a 360 rig, we were able to create more realistic and smooth animation.
Master controllers were also incredibly helpful. Using them saved us a lot of time during the animation phase. And we relied a lot on deformers as well. I know they are a classic tool, but they really did support us in achieving the poses we needed to do.
Sonia: We also had FX animation, which was drawn. I don’t have personal experience with this, but I do know Flash isn’t particularly great for it. Aside from Toon Boom Harmony, I don’t know of any other compatible software that allows you to combine your rig animation and traditional animation. I think that was a huge plus of Harmony for this production.
What is your biggest takeaway or lesson in making the film that you’ll keep in mind for future animation projects?
Molly: There’s a lot I will take away from this experience for the rest of my career, because I learned so much. But the most transformative lesson I learned was to be confident in myself, put myself out there, and speak up. Especially in my early career, I was often nervous to speak up as I was afraid to make mistakes with my English sentences. Or to sound silly.
I think most artists struggle with wondering whether they are good enough, but this experience has pushed me to believe more in myself and my skills. I learned that it’s okay to not know everything – this is exactly why productions have a whole team. Everyone is there to bring their own knowledge and fill each other’s knowledge gaps.
Sonia: I learned so much on this production. But one of my main takeaways is the importance of collaboration. All the productions I’ve ever worked on have been collaborative, but this one was even more so.
We worked really hard to create a space where every person on the team knew that they could share their ideas, and we would test them out. Even when an idea doesn’t work out, we can learn from testing it. I will definitely continue to foster these kinds of spaces in future productions.
How has the ACE Program supported you, and how do you expect it will impact your future in animation?
Molly: In the animation industry, the higher you go in your career, the less formal training there is I feel like. The ACE Program has had a huge impact on me because it provided me with the training to be an animation director. I was mentored, and given a safe space to ask questions, to fail, and to learn.
I learned everything from the practical aspects of the role to more detailed aspects, like how to sell myself and have difficult conversations with an artist or client for exemple. Having finished the ACE Program, I now have all the tools I need to go on and work as an animation director.
Sonia: The ACE Program is basically a full production, but with the support of mentors. It felt like a job, but a job where it was safe to learn, and grow together. Like Molly, this program helped me develop a new sense of confidence in myself.
Having the completed film is a reminder of all that I’ve learned. It’s really nice to have this finished product from the program, which demonstrates the skills and growth that both me and the whole team have developed. I’ve also found that working on a part-time, short film project renewed my creativity and inspiration. It was a nice change from my usual work, and that has been super transformative for me.
What advice do you have for women who want to grow in their animation careers?
Molly: I think what’s most important is putting yourself out there. Women should not be afraid to voice exactly what they want, and they shouldn’t be afraid to sell themselves and their skills. Aside from that, I think mentorship is super important for women in animation.
It can be hard in this industry for women, and so we need to support each other. This can be through formal mentorship, or through simple discussions together, or through sharing opportunities with each other. Either way, we need to work together to help us all grow in our animation careers.
Sonia: It’s really important that women in animation apply for opportunities, and when there are no obvious opportunities, go out and find them. Do shadowing, ask to sit in on things like supervising sessions and editing sessions. Plugging yourself into these processes helps you learn, provides you a base of experience, and helps you understand what is actually involved in a position. By showing initiative, when an opportunity comes around, people will think of you.
For example, I found myself in my first lead position because I saw that there was a need for a specific role, and so I offered myself up for it. Because I’d already shown initiative, I was able to take on the role as demand showed up.
- Want to hear more about Women in Animation Vancouver’s ACE program? Learn more on the program’s official website.
- Ready to make your own animated short film? Artists can download a 21-day trial of Toon Boom Harmony.
