Celebrating International Women's Day: Honoring Broken Glass Ceilings

Boldly stepping into the month of March, Chocolate Tribe proudly celebrates International Women’s Day—a moment to honor the numerous contributions made by women in our industry and the broken glass ceilings that would have required immense strength and resilience. Innovation and collaboration are at the core of progress in Animation, VFX, and Interactive Technology. Yet, none of this would be possible without the women who silently, behind-the-scenes push boundaries, challenge societal norms, and redefine what is possible in this industry.?

Spotlight on Nancy St. John: A Trailblazer in VFX

Nancy St. John is a pioneering VFX producer known for her expertise in integrating digital effects, managing teams, and ensuring seamless visuals. Her key contribution was as a VFX producer on Gladiator, where she coordinated complex effects, including the digital recreation of the Colosseum and the resurrection of actor Oliver Reed after his passing. Her leadership in CGI, compositing, and post-production played a crucial role in the film's Academy Award-winning success.

St. John’s career includes collaborations with major studios like Paramount Pictures . She has served three terms as Vice Chair of the Visual Effects Society and is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America . Most recently, she contributed to Netflix A Series of Unfortunate Events, further cementing her trailblazing legacy in the industry.

Chocolate Tribe’s Commitment to Women in VFX

Nancy St. John’s journey continues to inspire us, not only to spotlight women who are pioneers but to rigorously follow the path of? excellence and innovation. Research shows that women remain underrepresented, often limited to support roles with fewer growth opportunities (USC Annenberg Study on Women in VFX).

Step-by-step, we have been intentionally and conscientiously creating women-friendly spaces, so that they can take on key creative and technical roles by:?

Fostering Career Growth: We continue to prioritise mentoring talented women into lead positions and mentoring upcoming women through internships in both creative and technical departments.

Leadership & Representation: In our own ranks, we are hugely proud to be led by a visionary woman Nosipho Maketo-van den Bragt who sees the value of opening spaces for other women across Chocolate Tribe’s ranks as well as the industry at large.

Technical & Creative Impact: When it comes to projects, this is how most artists cut their teeth and reach heights of excellence. Recognising this, we ensure that our women artists are given opportunities to shine during productions and are nurtured to explore all aspects including character animation, rigging compositing, and pipeline development. Areas that are traditionally very male dominated.

Chocolate Tribe continues to participate and support Women in Animation (WIA) as members and mentors ensuring that we walk the walk locally and internationally.? Chocolate Tribe’s CSR initiative AVIJOZI will continue staging a Women’s Summit to highlight the need for designated spaces for women in the industry.?

In honoring the many broken glass ceilings, and the women pioneers who dared to shatter those glass panels- not only for themselves, but also for the next generation of women.?

Happy International Women’s Day!