Representation in the Animation Industry

Alison Mann
Talent Manager & President of Fourth Wall Animation; Co-Founder of BRIC Foundation

As an artist, Alison Mann always knew she wanted to work in Animation. She began her career at Nickelodeon Animation Studio as a finance department intern while attending Columbia College Chicago. After graduating, she was offered the amazing opportunity to continue working with Nickelodeon/ MTV as their Recruiter/ Coordinator of Talent Relations.  Through her 20 years in the industry, she gained experience in TV, Film and Gaming while working at Walt Disney Animation Studio, Zynga, Disney Interactive,  Paramount Pictures Animation, Illumination Entertainment and Sony Pictures Animation.

Mann is the co-founder of the BRIC Foundation, an organization set up to solve how to create new access points for women and people from underrepresented groups so they can excel at creative leadership and to enable culture change through engaging and empowering talent. As a creative and supporter of talent, Mann is passionate about storytelling and identifying and working with inspiring creators that can continue to elevate the animation industry.

Sam Goff
Talent Manager, Fourth Wall Management

Self-proclaimed "animation activist" Sam Goff serves as a Creative Talent Manager with Fourth Wall Management. She has a long history with the animation industry: graduated from Loyola Marymount University with an Animation B.A., worked in TV and Feature production management at Dreamworks, and was an integral member of Netflix Animation's Outreach & Engagement team. She originally joined FWM as a recruiter, but eventually pivoted into her current role - after all, managing is just "reverse recruiting". Outside of her day job, Goff is a mentor and educator in the animation space. She regularly volunteers her time to mentor with BRIC and Women in Animation where she specializes in helping those looking to break into the industry make their applications “recruiter friendly”. She teaches her personal animation DEI activism course, Animated Perspectives at her alma mater, Loyola Marymount University. She is also teaching an animation practicum course with Cal State Long Beach. She lives in Los Angeles with her wife and 12 beloved pets.