INTERVIEWS
Angela Hanna Goulene
French writer, director, actress and illustrator with roots from the Dominican Republic. She lives in Montreal and wrote her first novel, “SITUATIONS”, at the age of 14.
She is a production coordinator at Playstation Visual Arts, in the cinematography area. She has written poetry, shot stories, short films, scripts, and songs.
The novel “Situations” and the short story “A second Chance” were in the quarterfinals at the 2019 Screencraft Cinematic Book and Short Story Competition. She worked on the preschool series The Game Catchers, produced by Sardine Productions Inc. She is a writer for Flyos Games, where she worked on Vampire: The masquerade IP.
In Not Another Serial Killer, she was the lead, a short film she wrothe and co-directed, selected to be produced by Kino Kabaret in 2021. It was also selected for the Fantasia International Film Festival and has aired at the Fantasy Filmfest in Berlin. It was also shown at the Blood in the Snow film festival in Toronto and on MAtv and will air until July 2023.
THERE ARE MANY WAYS to take advantage of women in the industry. Although there is an enormous opportunity for women in the arts, with inclusion programs and scholarships, which represents equality to develop their capacities, wheter as a writer, director, actress, illustrator or in the technological field, gender prejudices persist.
“But even worse “like usin a woman for her benefits”. For example, a producer approached me about collaborating on the adaptation of my short film Not Another Serial Killer. I realized that this man only wanted to work with a woman to have acces to all the monetary aid that exists and also, he wanted to change my project in a dictatorial way”.
Women have to defend our ideas, creativity and our itellectual property. I found a great producer and we are in the process of adapting the series. Networking is important, participating in events and not being afraid to look for the jobs, salaries and partners that correspond to us”.
“Discrimination and hypocrisy at some film and animation festivals and what happens at many awards: another challenge”.
A difficult thing for me with Not Another Serial Killer (NASK) was the hypocrisy of “inclusivity”. Some festivals refused to include “NASK” in their list for having jokes about the physical and sexual violence experienced by women. In “NASK” she humorously and transgressively mocks “toxic men”. There is no nuance. But if a man deals with these matters in a conventional and typical way, he will not have it so difficult. The same thing happens in many awards, favoritism, discrimination, and machismo are evident”.
As the creator of Oddly Kids, an animated series in development at Global Mechanical Media, her ambitions are very high. “The series was very popular with French broadcasters, but not with the English, because educational programs are more popular”.
Angela considers herself “neuro diverse” and is sure that Oddly Kids will soon find fans in Canada and France. The series is based on the lives of two autistic but gifted children. “There is much more neurodiversity in the world than we think, and it is important to me that these children are seen on TV and multiple platforms and other similar children receive empowering messages.”
NOT all women’s associations are effective. “Many associations are not as effective as they say or as we hope. The important thing is that women support each other with generosity and respect for the capacities of others without selfishness and, to do so, it is not necessary to belong to an association”.
Lastly, she thays that women must lose their fear of venturing into what they want. “I don’t have this fear because I grew up with a single father. When at school or people told me no, my dad always told me “if the close the door, he come in through the window.” And to this day I appreciate this advice.
Her company Hannagie Productions will open doors for live action, animation, and video games. A company specialized in creating original IPs that are bold and transfressive, but that yes, that are fun for all targets. The focus is black comedy, horror, drama, thriller and educational.
And to the women who are fighting for their dreams, I wish you all the best! See you at the top!
Redacción TVMAS