While formal, corporate-sponsored mentorship programs are well and good, they aren’t the only way to provide support. Naito stepped in and transformed the animation group with a pipeline of diverse talent and artists, overseeing the inclusive hiring of more than 700 artists spanning New York and Los Angeles.
Under her leadership, Nickelodeon held its first-ever virtual job fair this year. It had nearly 6,000 global attendees— once again deepening the pool for her group’s more than 40 productions running across preschool, big kids, movies, Nick’s Studio Business, theatricals and Nick’s Intergalactic Shorts Program. Some may fear the lack of an in-person event could dampen a job fair’s effectiveness, but Naito found the opposite.
“In some ways, the Zoom culture that we’re living in right now has allowed us to have more touchpoints that are seemingly more intimate because it’s very direct. We’re all in squares. Someone raises their hand and there’s a platform for them to have a direct conversation with Nick executives that allow for a great dialogue,” she says. “It helps us build upon the culture of inclusivity and that access. Access is really important at Nickelodeon. I am accessible and so is the leadership around me. The doors are always open, whether it’s on Zoom or in-person.”
That open-door policy has made Naito an organic mentor for her team, who she’s made sure share her mission to partner with groups such as Black Women who Animate, Latinx in Animation and LA Diversity in Comedy. And like any good mentor, she’s quick to share the spotlight, crediting one of her recent hires, VP of Nickelodeon Recruiting & Talent Development Camille Eden, as a driving force behind Nick Animation’s recruitment efforts. “Her experience, wisdom and appeal has helped her pivot over the past year and a half to go virtual and continue to connect with artists all over the world,” Naito says. “Camille was able to use her experience and create a network across the globe with artists who wanted to work here at Nick, and what we found werethousands of people across the globe excited to hear that Nick was hiring. They showed up.”
Naito also oversees the work Nick Animation does to increase pathways for underrepresented BIPOC talent within the animation industry with the “Nick Artists and Writers’ Program” and the “Nick Internship Program,” filtering through the hundreds of annual applicants with an emphasis toward diversity and inclusion. Emerging artists are selected for months-long programs.
“A big part of the Nickelodeon culture is all the great programs we offer to aspiring artists and writers, whether they’re training or career-pathing or mentorships,” Naito says. “The programs offer touchpoints with leadership, including myself, that allow them to get in front of those working at the studio and engage with them on their careers, their hopes and dreams, and share stories.”
She co-founded and co-leads Nickelodeon’s Inaugural Inclusivity Council, where she further strategizes and implements the company’s commitment to representative storytelling across different departments that inform and create Nickelodeon’s content. And did we mention she’s accomplished all this in a relatively short time, joining Nick Animation in 2018? She believes the reason she was able to affect change so quickly is because she started her career at Nickelodeon before moving on to other roles at Cartoon Network, Blue Sky Studios and DreamWorks.
“My foundation was based on my experience here and the culture that I was introduced to early on in my career. Having worked at so many places after Nick, I was always very nostalgic for all the things that Nick represented to me and gave me. So, when I had the opportunity to go back, all those cultural touchstones I loved were still there,” she says. “Some were dormant but it was very easy for me to pick up the pieces and awaken aspects of the culture that have always been there and build upon them–turn it up and make it even more than it was.”
