Intro

ASIFA Portland is the Portland, Oregon chapter of the International Animated Film Society: Association International du Film d’Animation. Our mission is to celebrate the art of animation, and to foster a local community for professionals, students, and enthusiasts. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, we organize events, resources, and networking activities for both members and the public. We believe we all grow as a community by promoting a free exchange of ideas both locally and internationally.

Our History

Our chapter was founded in 1990 by Joanna Priestley and Marilyn Zornado. Under its original name, ASIFA Northwest, the group encompassed both Portland and Seattle; later, it split in two to better serve each city. In 2007, ASIFA Portland incorporated as a non-profit under Oregon law.

30 years later, ASIFA Portland continues celebrating an animation scene known for groundbreaking independents, big-budget feature filmmaking, and a blossoming freelancer community.

Award-winning independent animators based in Portland include:
Joan C. Gratz
Rose Bond
Joanna Priestley
Will Vinton
Chel White
Webster Colcord
David Daniels
Laura DiTrapani
Marilyn Zornado
Sven Bonnichsen

The Portland area also boasts studios and institutions ranging from boutique to behemoth.
Bent Image Lab
Shadow Machine NW
LAIKA
Northwest Film Center

Meet the Board

The ASIFA Board is composed of volunteers who are passionate about the local animation scene. Learn more about us below:

Board Members

Sophya Vidal

President & Membership

Sophya is an artist, animator, improviser, and writer based in Portland Oregon. Animated works include projects with Starburns Industries, Shadow Machine, Bent Image labs, Happy Trails Animation, and Awesome & Modest. She is the founder of ARCS (The Animation Resource Community Service project) and producer of the HOMEBREW PDX Indie Animation Festival. Upcoming designs include theatre work, sculptures and a second poetry chapbook.

Allyson Willsey

Vice-President & Social Media

Allyson is an animator with a passion for punching. As an animation director at Liquid Development with a focus on 2D animation, she has worked on animation, art, fx, and texturing on over 50 games, from mobile to AAA titles, as well as local game jam projects. When she’s not animating, she trains in martial arts including muay thai, jiu jitsu, and capoeira.

Cydoni Lane

Secretary

Cydoni graduated from the Art Institute of Portland in 2017 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts and Animation. Since then, she has worked in the video game industry as an animator, specializing in 2D animation in Spine and Unity. She loves collaborative projects of all kinds and regularly ropes her art friends into various art endeavors. Aside from animation, Cydoni often directs for the Roosevelt Theatre Alumni Group which she founded in 2013. 

Madison Russell

Treasurer

Madison Russell is a professional artist living and working in Portland, Oregon. She has over a decade of professional experience, both corporate and freelance, and has worked on Telly-award-winning projects. She specializes in 2D puppetted animation, portraiture, and paper carving (a technique of her own invention). In 2010 Madison graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation. She is conversationally fluent in Japanese and has worked domestically and abroad as a trainer. Madison also actively volunteers for the local animation community, currently as Treasurer for ASIFA Portland. She has also juried for the Northwest Animation Festival from 2014 to 2019, and for the POW Fest 2017 animation block.

Kelly Jensvold

Web Master

Kelly is a freelance animator and digital artist from Portland, Oregon. She is skilled in a large array of programs including Maya, 3DS Max, AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. Her specialty is Toon Boom Harmony.

Recently, she has worked as an Administrative Assistant and Shop Technician at RapidMade, a 3D printing and manufacturing company.Outside of that, she has pursued her passion for animation, working as a freelance animator and digital artist for local studios such as Big-Giant, where she worked on an animated web series entitled “Blubburbs.”

Kelly has dreamed of being an animator her whole life. In fact, she has animated on the computer ever since she first learned Adobe Flash when she was in elementary school.

KJ Murr

Board Member

Bio: KJ has done design and VFX work on television and feature film productions. His current ongoing project is his webcomic; Chickenface.

Jin Pharn

Board Member

A freelance Editor, Animator, and Illustrator. Jin has had a passion for drawing since childhood and is currently on the path to creating his own Comic and YouTube Channel.

Rob Bekuhrs

Board Member at Large