When Clare Kitson announced that she was resigning from her post as Commissioning Editor of Animation for the UK's Channel 4, the news moved like wild fire, bringing with it tremendous sadness. Animation World Magazine is proud to host this forum for the many who wanted to thank Clare for her support, inspiration and contributions to the animation industry.
Everyone knows the Bob Clampett of Termite Terrace, but what about the Bob Clampett that received 3 Emmies for one of television's first daily live puppet shows, Time for Beany? Robert Story was there and tells us this and other stories.
Jamie Thomason is one of the busiest people in the directing/casting industry, responsible for Walt Disney Television Animation's entire line-up. Read what he has to say on celebrities, demo reels, acting and more.
Cartoon Network has promoted James Porges to vice president of off-channel commerce. Porges will manage the businessdevelopment of consumer products and off-channel presence of all CartoonNetwork-branded multi-character efforts, including publishing, music, homevideo, and theme parks. He will also manage all original Cartoon Networkcharacters such as The Powerpuff Girls and Johnny Bravo. Prior to becomingdirector of brand management, Porges was director of Cartoon Network Clubsat Turner Home Entertainment.
WARREN LITTLEFIELD, president of the Littlefield company, and CRAIG HUNEGS,Executive Vice President at Warner Bros. Television, will join theATOMFILMS advisory board. Littlefield, former President of NBCEntertainment, and Hunegs will act as advisors in the areas of contentprogramming for the AtomFilms web site as well as for its distribution andsyndication sites. They will also offer advice on building strongrelationships with traditional media companies for broader distribution.
MARCI SELSBERG has returned to WILL VINTON STUDIOS, a Portland,Oregon-based production company, as their east coast producer. Selsberg wasmost recently the president and executive producer of her own smallbusiness, Peek-A-Boo Productions which represented animation productioncompanies such as Curious Pictures.
Patty Wooton has resigned as vice president, head of production at PaloAlto-based PDI (PACIFIC DATA IMAGES). Wooton was recently producer with Brad Lewis and Aron Warner on ANTZ.
New York City-based commercial production company SHELTER FILMS has signeddirector TODD FACTOR. Factor has directed spots for Coca-Cola, Budweiser,and Nice Skate Shoes.
Santa Monica, California-based production company STEAM has signed LAWRENCEWYATT as motion designer/director. Wyatt recently directed "Innerlevel," atheatrical commercial for Los Angeles-based KCRW, a National Public Radioaffiliate.
STEVE BLEVINS has joined New York-based TIS/MAGNET as seniordesigner/animator. Blevins' duties include designing and creating(primarily 2D) animation for broadcast and the web, art direction, creativedevelopment, and research. Besides free-lancing for Magnet, Blevins hasdone traditional 2D and 3D CGI art and animation for companies such as SanFrancisco-based Wild Brain, New York-based Blue Sky, and Connecticut-based,Ball&Chain.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS has appointed WILLIAM A. SUTMAN as senior vice presidentand chief financial officer. Sutman will be responsible for overseeing allworldwide financial activities for the Universal Studios Group. Sutman mostrecently served as chief financial officer for Universal Pictures. Sutmanjoined Universal in January 1997 from Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, where heserved for three years as vice president of auditing.
DAVID MCFARLAND has been named to the newly created position of vicepresident of Affiliate Sales for FOX FAMILY CHANNELS. McFarland willoversee all aspects of affiliate advertising sales and play an integralrole in developing strategic direction for Fox Family Channels'distribution efforts. McFarland joins Fox from Comedy Central where heserved as director of Affiliate Advertising Sales. Previously he served asregional sales manager for Cox Communications where he was responsible forselling cable advertising.
SKIPPER KIRSCH has joined the client services department of Washington,D.C.-based computer animation and special effects house INTERFACE MEDIAGROUP. Kirsch comes to Interface from Austin, Texas-based 501 Post where hewas operations manager.
CARTOON NETWORK ONLINE has promoted POLA CHANGNON to executive producer.Changnon will manage the Atlanta, Georgia-based team of producers, writers,and technical staff of CartoonNetwork.com, as well as New York-baseddevelopers Funny Garbage, and other developers. Changnon came to CartoonNetwork Online from San Francisco-based Colossal Pictures where she was aproducer. Prior to that she was a creative executive for Nickelodeon Movies.
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC has hired ANDY HENDRICKSON as director of systemsdevelopment, and promoted DAN MCNAMARA to director of film and editorialservices. Hendrickson returns to ILM after two years, following a stint asthe Director of Computer Systems at San Francisco-based Advanced PathologySystems. In his new role, Hendrickson will be working with the architectureof existing digital infrastructure systems at ILM, as well as shaping thefuture innovations in this area. In addition, he will be primarily
DONNA TEGGART has joined ALIAS|WAVEFRONT as manager of the global marketingteam. Her primary responsibilities will be to act as the companyspokesperson and to manage the industry and public perception ofAlias|Wavefront and its brands. Teggart was formerly in the publicitydepartment at Side-Effects Software.
New York City-based Cyclotron@Post Perfect has signed Alex Seiden asCreative Director. Seiden will direct commercial projects. Seiden comesfrom ILM where he was a Director & Visual Effects Supervisor on such filmsas JURASSIC PARK, DRAGONHEART, and STAR WARS: THE SPECIAL EDITION. He alsodirected a PSA for the American Psychiatric Association, and numerouslive-action second unit and special effects shoots.
Mark Lasoff has joined Stan Lee Media Inc. as executive vice president tooversee production of the Web-based company's upcoming super hero projects.Prior to this, Lasoff created visuals for Disney's upcoming CGI featureDINOSAURS, which will mix live-action backgrounds with animated characters,and was part of the visual effects team for TITANIC.
Gold Coast, Australia-based EA Australia, a subsidiary of Redwood City,California-based Electronic Arts, has hired Steve Dauterman to head a newdevelopment studio located in Australia. Dauterman, formerly Director ofDevelopment for LucasArts, had been with the Lucas group for ten years,initially as Financial Analyst for Lucasfilm before moving across toLucasArts in 1992. Since working at LucasArts he has overseen thedevelopment of such worldwide interactive titles as "Rebel Assault," "Dark
TIME WARNER INC. has named Warner Bros. current chief operating officer BARRY MEYER as the new chairman and chief executive of the film studio, and Castle Rock Entertainment Chairman ALAN HORN as its president and chief operating officer. The new team, which takes over October 4, replaces Warner Bros. co-chairmen Robert Daly and Terry Semel, who announced last month that they would step down from the studio they have run together for nearly twenty years. Meyer joined Warner in 1971 as a director of business
Culver City, California-based advertising consultants Random/OrderInformation and Entertainment has hired Robert Abel to oversee severalaspects of its consulting services, as well as to develop new content andprogramming. CGI-pioneer Abel has created many landmark titles, includingcommercials for Apple Computer, IBM, the Smithsonian Institution, and theMayo Clinic. His many technical innovations include: the first "motioncontrol" camera system, "streak photography," and the first algorithms forcomputer animated human movement.
The Surrey Institute Of Art & Design has awarded an honorary fellowship toClare Kitson, Channel 4's animation commissioner, for her contribution toBritish Animation. Films commissioned by Kitson at Channel 4 include AlisonSnowden and David Fine's BOB'S BIRTHDAY and ACHILLES by Barry Purves.
North East Calgary, Canada-based Chromacolour International Limited, aninternational leader in the manufacture and sale of traditional and digitalanimation materials, software, and equipment, has appointed John Munro tothe position of Vice-President of Marketing and Sales. "Since joiningChromacolour, John has made great strides towards developing andimplementing a strong marketing and sales strategy for the Company's coreanimation business. John has introduced a number of programs and systems
Toronto-based NELVANA has hired Cathy Laughton as managing director of itsLondon-based operations. Laughton will be responsible for the overallmanagement of the UK office. Her responsibilities include the acquisitionof new properties for production/licensing development, sales to the UK,Germany, Scandinavia, and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemborg),and securing co-production opportunities. Laughton joins Nelvana from theJim Henson Company where she served as director of international televisiondistribution.
Marvel Enterprises has hired Peter Cuneo as president and CEO. Cuneo wasCEO of Remington Products, president of the security hardware group ofBlack and Decker, and president of Clairol's personal care division. FormerCEO Eric Ellenborgen resigned to head a media investment concern.
