一个讲故事人的动画之旅

The animated film industry is notoriously challenging, requiring the efforts of dozens of artists 和 technicians, 常常在看不见的地方劳动, 让一切顺利进行. 1974年的琳恩·南兰德就是这样一个人, 在过去的几十年里，她在洛杉矶的各种工作室里留下了自己的印记. 一路走来, she has made a point of helping others break into this competitive field, especially people who have been historically underrepresented in animation.

南兰德对讲故事的热爱很早就开始了. 在费城长大, 她过去常常偷偷溜到楼梯间的顶端，在父母招待客人时暗中监视他们. 伴随着笑声, 音乐, 还有冰块掉进杯子里, 她能听到父亲主持朝廷时的声音, 讲故事. “我喜欢听他说话，无论是在我们之间，还是在周六深夜我本该睡觉的楼梯上,她说。. Looking back, she remembers her dad as “something of a beacon.”

她还从银幕上获得了灵感. An avid movie fan, she would spend the weekends binge-watching whatever was on TV.

瑟兰通过她朋友的母亲发现了贝洛伊特，而她的母亲恰好是她的指导顾问. 从一开始, 她被这所学院独特的结构所吸引, 当时正处于伯洛伊特计划的中期. “我喜欢以不同的方式看待大学四年的想法,她回忆道。. “这不仅仅是关于教育……这是关于我们将在哪里出生进入我们生命的下一个阶段。.”

贝洛伊特 was also where she got to further explore her passion for film. 她在教授古典文学和电影研究的阿特·罗布森教授的指导下独立学习. 罗布森带领南兰德和一个同学观看和讨论各种各样的电影. 通过每周与1974年的梅格·哈格雷夫(Meg Hargrave)见面，瑟兰也扩大了自己的电影知识, 她的室友. 每个星期天晚上, 他们会草草地做一顿饭——有时是一整块芝士蛋糕——然后去史密斯大楼的伯洛伊特学生会看电影. This was where she was introduced to such artists as Ingmar Bergman 和 Jean Cocteau, 和 where she experienced the magic of seeing her favorite film, 绿野仙踪这是第一次用彩色的. 这次经历“真的帮助我打开了对电影可能性的认识,Southerl和回忆道.

她还在伯洛伊特交了许多牢固的友谊. 在成为她的室友之前，哈格里夫和瑟兰住在奥尔德里奇大厅的同一层. “I just remember her being so friendly 和 easygoing … She just seemed so sure of herself,哈格里夫谈到南方时说. Although they were only at 贝洛伊特 together for a year, 他们俩有过许多冒险经历, 他们一直保持着联系. Southerl和 is godmother to Hargrave’s oldest daughter. 哈格里夫解释说:“我们在一起的经历让这种联系更加紧密。.

另一个朋友, 西德尼·托马斯74年, gravitated to Southerl和 right away because of a shared interest in the arts. “她是一个很好的资源，让我了解了电影、文学和其他我没有真正接触过的东西,他回忆道. 他们参加了民谣蓝调等伯洛伊特的主要演出，还去麦迪逊听音乐会. “Lynne just had a presence … but she was also very humble, very kind,” Thomas recalls.

In true 贝洛伊特 fashion, Southerl和 pursued multiple passions. 就在申报专业截止日期之前, she flipped through the course catalog 和 l和ed on the comparative literature page. “I started reading it, 和 I thought, ‘Oh my god, that’s me!’”回想起来，那是一个完美的发射台. “If you’re reading literature, you’re reading storytelling,她说。. 我让自己跟着面包屑走.”

到L.A.

在转向动画项目之前，南兰德开始为真人电影剪辑电影. 在为迪士尼工作后，她加入了美泰公司，帮助为他们的两个玩具系列开发故事.
来源:约翰·戴维斯摄影公司

毕业后在附近的简斯维尔工作了一段时间, 以及她的家乡费城, Southerl和 decided to fully commit to the creative life. 她搬到了洛杉矶，目标是成为一名电影编辑，并在一家旅行社找到了一份工作, while looking for ways to break in to the film industry. 在一次随雇主去古巴的旅行中，机会来了，她在那里遇到了一群纪录片制作人. She worked for them free of charge, while learning about the nuances of film.

20世纪80年代初，南兰德参与了各种各样的项目，并试图加入电影编辑协会, 有封闭的名声吗. 她的第一份主要带薪工作是在比尔·伯鲁德制作公司，该公司以《 动物世界. Southerl和 had grown up watching this show, so working with them was a dream come true. 事实证明, 她担任这个职位也是在开辟一条道路——她是该公司第一位黑人女性员工. “It speaks to how narrow the industry was,Southerl和回忆道. “我打碎了一扇小门.”

The company was also where she met a mentor who finally got her into the Editor’s Guild. 南兰德曾拍摄过真人电影，如 《裸枪》 和 姐妹幕2. 当她在做 把妈妈扔下火车， 在朋友的聚会上偶然遇到两位动画师，使她涉足动画领域. 她编辑了一部低成本影片, 给他们拍的真人恐怖电影, 不久之后, they asked her to come work with them on an animated movie for Paramount Pictures. She suggested approaching the animated film with live-action editorial techniques. 这种创新的冲动, 还有她的整体动力, 为southl和赢得了副制片人的称号. 贝贝的孩子 这部电影于1992年上映，是第一部全黑人主演的动画电影. 这是整个行业更大的进步, the editorial team she worked on was composed entirely of African-American women.

Southerl和 later started producing animated projects such as 1995’s 《十大菠菜台子》 which retold classic stories in multicultural contexts. It was a bold approach in the 1990s, 和 netted its share of celebrity appearances. “If you think of a person of color who was happening then, 他们可能为我们发声了,Southerl和回忆道. 这也是她的第一个制片角色, the project represented a shift toward 更多的 child-friendly material. 瑟兰发现，她喜欢这个改变儿童娱乐格局的机会. “我喜欢并为自己从事的工作感到自豪，这些工作可以拓展孩子们的想象力，让人们开怀大笑, 和 for the most part have a kind of innocence about them,她补充道. After the series ended, she did some editorial work for DreamWorks in its early days.

然后迪斯尼打来电话. The studio was moving into an era of direct-to-DVD sequels, 南方在其中几起事件中扮演了重要角色. 她在工作室的第一个项目是制作 一部极其愚蠢的电影 2000年，不久之后，她联合执导了这部电影 木兰二世这是1998年热门电影的续集. 《十大菠菜台子》很高兴有机会在原电影的世界和坚强的女主角的基础上发展. As her first directorial position, it also exercised her creative muscles. “Directing really challenges you to be flexible of mind,她说。.

玩具的故事

The main characters 和 their kindred animal companions from the Enchantimals.
信贷:美泰

离开迪士尼后，南方乐园转投美泰，帮助其两个玩具系列制作节目: Enchantimals 和 怪物高. 作为制片人，《十大菠菜台子》能够在这些世界中扩展女性角色—以及他们亲密的友谊—在中心. 她特别喜欢做 怪物高 because of the opportunity to create 更多的 complex teenage characters, 并最终发展了这个想法 奇遇记 食尸鬼队, 这是一部迷你剧，主要的朋友都是著名怪物的孩子，他们周游世界帮助别人并解开谜团.

“我不需要弄清楚这些角色是谁……我可以扩展整个历史,她说。. 相比之下, Enchantimals, 这是为了推广一系列新的人兽杂交玩具和他们的动物朋友, 为创造性扩展提供了一个不同但受欢迎的机会:“你玩得越多, 它生长得越多.”

南兰德提出了这个想法 食尸鬼小队历险记这是一部迷你剧，改编自美泰公司的热门剧集 怪物高 特许经营.
信贷:美泰Southerl和’s work is powered by a belief in making human connections. Maude Lewis第一次和Southerl和在迪斯尼动画工作室工作，立刻被她的专业和个人慷慨所打动. “在这个巨大的机器里, 很难找到专注于人的人,她说。, 回忆起南兰德每月与有色人种女性员工共进午餐和进行指导会议. “She was really welcoming, a good teacher, 和 very patient.”

杰西卡·杜琴, 他是美泰的前同事, Southerl和’s broad range of experience was evident early on. “Lynne brought a lot of seniority 和 experience to her role, 很容易看出她是多么热情,她回忆道。. Durchin praises Southerl和’s awareness of a global audience, 以及她制作广泛可访问内容的能力. The stories she’s worked on have their roots in cultures all over the world, 和 that perspective has carried over into 更多的 recent projects. Durchin explains that you really had to think globally for shows like Enchantimals，以16种语文制作. Durchin says that she was very adept at using broader humor, 而不是双关语和其他语言标志, 来讲述这个故事. “琳恩有编辑的眼光，”她说.

These days, Southerl和 focuses 更多的 on the written word. She keeps a basket near her desk full of scribbled paper notes that might, 有一天,, 引出她的下一个故事. 到目前为止，她已经发表了几篇儿童短篇小说，并有两篇手稿在写作中. 离开印度桃花心木 follows the adventures of a biracial middle schooler who discovers that he is half human, 一半的卡通. 在《真人国际菠菜》中， a YA novel, stems from her fascination with Aboriginal culture. 这个故事以两个年轻的女主人公为主角, 出生8,相隔一千年, who are linked both by the l和 they live on 和 by the tragic loss of their mothers.

《菠菜白菜吧》的费利西蒂·福克斯.
信贷:美泰就像她所有的工作一样, the manuscripts center on diverse stories that place young people front 和 center. Although she did not initially seek a career in children’s media, Southerl和 relishes the chance to encourage valuable conversations through storytelling. 当涉及到家庭票价, “我一直觉得你不应该对孩子们轻描淡写……在他们熟悉的东西之外做点什么是可以的。,她说。.

Much the same could be said about diversity in the working world of animation. 作为先驱者之一，弥合了早期媒体有限选择与当前进步趋势之间的差距, 南兰德敏锐地意识到了这些变化. 以现在的娱乐格局为例，Netflix等媒体巨头越来越关注代表性不足的人群, 和 culturally diverse characters at the helm of many major animated films—she says, “I feel like we are in a pretty amazing place right now.”

Kiernyn Orne-Adams is a reader, writer, 和 roamer, currently based in Tacoma, Wash. 她喜欢发现新的故事, 探索太平洋西北部, 并且无情地滥用她的图书证特权.