Becoming a mother made me an efficient VFX Animator - Part 1 | TVAP EP35

The VFX Artists Podcast

This week, we have the amazing Christina Mandia, animator at Cinesite London, giving us an insight into how she tackles her maternal role, whilst being a better, more efficient animator.
Christina goes on to share some very important information on maternity leave pay for employees and freelancers through the government schemes, as well as employee entitlements. Some really useful info for employees and freelancers in any career.
Christina’s journey as a VFX animator, starts with an entry into the VFX industry as a runner, following the completion of an animator degree at Ravensbourne university, leading on to a progression into the matchmove department, and finally into the much anticipated department she’d always been aspiring for - animation.
In this two-part episode, Christina shares her journey, her expertise advice as an animator & mother, and gives invaluable advice for aspiring animators and aspiring & existing parents in the working industry, more specifically, the VFX industry.
We hope you find this episode useful as we did.
Special thanks to Christina for kindly taking time out to share her experiences with us.
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Find Christina on:
IMDB
LinkedIn
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Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:38 How it all started
00:07:04 Becoming pregnant as an artist
00:09:23 Deciding to speak to HR at 26 weeks of pregnancy
00:16:33 Confronting HR and recruiters about pregnancy
00:17:29 Maternity leave and pay laws in the U.K.
00:20:36 iAnimate during maternity leave
00:28:22 WFH - Mother's opinion
00:35:15 School!
00:39:36 Prove yourself and know your worth!
00:43:56 Hesitancy & Pressure on women choosing between work and starting a family
00:56:24 Getting back into work after Maternity leave

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1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. How it all started (00:00:38)

3. Becoming pregnant as an artist (00:07:04)

4. Deciding to speak to HR at 26 weeks of pregnancy (00:09:23)

5. Confronting HR and recruiters about pregnancy (00:16:33)

6. Maternity leave and pay laws in the U.K. (00:17:29)

7. iAnimate during maternity leave (00:20:36)

8. WFH - Mother's opinion (00:28:22)

9. School! (00:35:15)

10. Prove yourself and know your worth! (00:39:36)

11. Hesitancy & Pressure on women choosing between work and starting a family (00:43:56)

12. Getting back into work after Maternity leave (00:56:24)