Dani Bowman
Founder & Chief Creative Officer
Dani Bowman founded her company, DaniMation Entertainment LLC, at age 11. She has worked professionally in the animation industry since 14. Dani uses her passions of Public Speaking, Animation, Illustration, Fine and Visual Arts, and Teaching Animation to demonstrate to others on the autism spectrum that anything is possible.
Since age 15, Dani has led summer animation camps around the country, initially with Joey Travolta’s Inclusion Films, and then expanding out on her own to teach to over 1000 teens and young adults with autism and other disabilities. Dani not only teaches animation, but also works with her students as a role model and mentor, encouraging them to follow their dreams.
Dani is also a national speaker, speaking about “Autism and Employment” nationally since age 19, keynoting events such as OCALICON (by Ohio Center For Autism and Low Incidence) in Columbus OH, the Oklahoma Statewide Autism Conference in Norman OK by Oklahoma Autism Network, Temple Grandin and Friends in Los Angeles by Autism Works Now, and the Alaska Autism Resource Center Speaker Series by the Alaska Autism Resource Center (AARC), among others.
Dani also premiered 8 award-wining animated short films at San Diego Comic-Con each year for the past 7 years. Her shorts feature the voices of Joe Mantegna, Tom Kenny (The voice of SpongeBob SquarePants), June Foray, Debi Derryberry, and Stella Ritter, among others.
Dani graduated Woodbury University with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (BFA) in Animation in 2018–where she earned her WISE scholarship in Civic Engagement and Leadership, earned her Entrepreneurship Award, and took both her junior and senior thesis shorts to Comic-Con. Dani is currently working on getting a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus in Organizational Strategy and Leadership at Woodbury.
Patrick Eidemiller
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Patrick helped Dani Bowman launch her company DaniMation Entertainment in 2009 and provides strategic direction, executive leadership, technical and administrative expertise to the company.
He is also one of the founders of Direct Scripts, a pharmacy company. Patrick began serving as Vice President Operations and IT of Direct Scripts LLC In January of 2014 .
At Direct Scripts, Patrick leverages over 25 years of expertise in retail supply chain, operations and information technology delivering innovative solutions for procurement, forecasting, operations and demand management.
Patrick was previously at Boston Retail Partners Supply Chain Services Practice and, before that, led the consulting division of SDI Industries, where he worked to expand the company from a single US office to eleven country operations and a successful IPO in 2007.
Additionally, Patrick holds two utility patents for the application RFID in material handling systems.
Sandy Vielma
Social Media Director
Sandy Vielma was instrumental in the launch of DaniMation Entertainment in 2009.
Sandy assists on the development DaniMation’s social media following and at the same supports Chief Creative Officer Dani Bowman on her trips around the nation teaching animation and speaking at autism conferences.
Joe Westlake
Founder, DaniMation UK
Joe Westlake has been involved in the autism community now for over 8 years. In 2011, he co-founded Positively Autistic, which is a community interest organisation in Devon, UK.
Joe completed his bachelor’s degree in Education, specialising in primary and SEND and based a lot of his studies around autism and inclusion. Joe has mainly spent time teaching in primary education since completing his degree and spends the remainder of his time working in the autism community, as well as traveling, walking and photography.
Joe has a keen interest in animation and has taught previously to students in a summer camp in a school he once attended. Joe hopes that he can change the perception of inclusion and the power it has through such amazing initiatives like DaniMation Entertainment.
Andrew Pearson
Co-Founder, DaniMation UK
Andrew Pearson is joining the venture with Joe Westlake to establish DaniMation UK. Andrew has been learning all he can from Joe about autism.
Andrew is passionate about animals and making a difference to help improve lives of animals. Andrew is also very interested in the animation industry and the process of creating animations and being able to make a difference, develop his knowledge into autism, and help others along the way.
Joey Travolta
President and Founder Inclusion Films, Actor, Director
Born into a show business family, Joey began his career as a performer in 1978 as a recording artist with Casablanca Records and starring in the feature film, Sunnyside (1979). Joey has directed and produced over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed Enemies of Laughter (2000).
In 2005, Joey produced the documentary Normal People Scare Me, while mentoring a fifteen year old boy with autism who directed the film. Inspired by that experience, Joey developed the curriculum for Inclusion Films, a program that has served hundreds of aspiring filmmakers.
Before he made it on the big screen, Joey worked as a special education teacher in New Jersey.
Dori Littell-Herrick
Chair, Animation Department, Woodbury University (Retired), Animation Executive
Dori Littell-Herrick spent 28 years in the animation industry as an artist, production supervisor, assistant director, and creative executive.
As an animation artist, her credits include The Little Mermaid (Disney Studios), Ferngully the Last Rainforest (Kroyer Films), National Lampoon Christmas Vacation title animation (Kroyer Films), and various commercials including iconic characters such as Trix Rabbit, Keebler Elves, Tony the Tiger, Dig’m the Frog, and Raid Bugs.
As a production supervisor and assistant director, Dori worked on Osmosis Jones (WB), Quest for Camelot (WB), Ren and Stimpy (Metrolight Studios) and animated commercials for Disney classics characters including Winnie the Pooh and the Seven Dwarves (Simex Studios, Pepper Films).
As a producer in development at Warner Bros Feature Animation, Dori managed the creative development of feature films and short projects.
Dori joined Woodbury University in 2005 a chair of Animation, and was director 2007-8 of the new School of Media, Culture & Design. She helped write the Title V grant that launched the departments of Filmmaking, Media Technology and Game Art & Design, and was Activites Director from 2010 to 2014.
She has taught the team-based animation production class, Junior Studio, for the last 10 years, and now teachers the freshman course, Animation Principles. Currently, Dori serves on the board of ASIFA-Hollywood, the largest professional animation organization.
She is also a founding member of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educators Forum, which distributes scholarships to animation students around the world. Dori is committed to sharing the art and craft of animation with the next generation.
Dr Sylvia Diehl
Professor, University of South Florida (USF) Department of Communication Sciences (Retired), President of Knowledge Counts
Sylvia Diehl is currently the president of Knowledge Counts (www.knowledgecountsonline.com) which is an online school for parents of children with autism. She is retired from the University of South Florida (USF) Department of Communication Sciences in Tampa, Florida.
Dr. Diehl has supported children with ASD and their families for over thirty years and has a long history of clinical experience including public school settings, university settings, and clinical settings. She consults for school systems and conducts workshops locally, nationally, and internationally.
She has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters along with continuous education courses for Medbridge Education and the American conducts workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. She has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters along with continuous education courses for Medbridge Education and the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.