George Port has joined Whamo as their new head of business development, the company recently reported. With the recent rapid expansion of Whamo, which includes the opening of an office in Spain as well as the establishment of partnerships with Canada's Cambium Entertainment and Australia's Burbank Animation Studios, company president Joseph Szew opted to bring in Port. According to Szew, "We need someone who will be able to help us manage the company's aggressive strategy and growth.

Richard Morris, vfx designer behind the "Jackals Forge" animators’ resource site (www.jackals-forge.com), has joined the BBC under a 10 month contract to design and supervise the graphics for a forthcoming science series entitled HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN. Prior to this move, Morris worked at London's Moving Picture Company (www.moving-picture.co.uk) and was designer and CG supervisor behind the recent LEAF award-winning series BODY STORY. His interest in biomedical subjects dates back to his work for Red Post Production on the BBC's THE HUMAN BODY.

Inferno artist Jean-Luc Azzis has recently joined Sea Level, a digital effects boutique specializing in visuals for high-end television commercials. His first project with the company involves compositing and visual effects services for a Jeep spot titled, "Red Light, Green Light" out of PentaMark Worldwide, Detroit, and directed by Headquarters' David Cornell. While previously freelancing at Method Studios, Azzis' credits included a series of spots promoting Intel's Pentium III chip featuring performance artists Blue Man Group.

IMAX Corporation appointed veteran motion picture production and marketing executive Greg Foster to the newly created position of president, Filmed Entertainment, on Tuesday, March 27. Foster will work out of the company's Santa Monica, California office, and be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's filmed entertainment activities including creative development, production and business affairs. He will also have a hands-on role in the marketing and distribution of the large-format motion pictures produced under the IMAX banner.

Production, acquisition and distribution company, Harmony Gold has promoted Alan Letz to the newly created position of executive vice president, business development, and hired Judy Gold as vice president, sales and acquisitions. Letz has been with the company since 1985 and moves from his most recent post of senior vice president, sales and acquisitions to concentrate on pioneering Harmony Gold's emergence into the business aspects of new media, Internet, e-commerce, licensing, merchandising and sponsorships tied to Harmony Gold programming.

Brooks Jewell has been named senior publicist, trade and media relations for Showtime Networks Inc. In her new position, Jewell will be responsible for securing consistent placement of Showtime Networks Inc. programming, marketing, business and new media initiatives in national cable and Hollywood trade publications as well as appropriate technology and business-related publications. Prior to joining Showtime, Jewell served as publicity director for Blue Sky Studios, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment.

Click 3X has expanded its creative staff by adding two new designer/directors Michael Wiehart and Christine Lin and a senior inferno* artist Steve Zourntos. Wiehart is one of four artists that formed Zurich-based motion-graphics design firm, Frame by Frame. He has won a Gold Lion at Cannes for his work on a spot for Pioneer. Wiehart said, "Early in my career, I tended to be involved in every aspect of my projects, from developing the idea, the concept, through production and post, and I've held onto that. I still like to do work on the machines.

R!OT has added 3D animator and visual effects artist Dominic Daigle to their animation staff. Prior to R!OT, Daigle worked at Montreal-based Ice Storm Digital, where he worked on the 22-episode series THE SECRET ADVENTURES OF JULES VERNE. His other credits include the films THE SOUND OF THE CARCERI and THE RED VIOLIN, the TV series THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST and spots for Coke, Molson Dry and Chevy's Venture. Daigle said, "My favorite projects are those where the effects are invisible.

PDI/DreamWorks has named Michael Garner and Laura Lockwood producers at the company's commercials division. Both have just finished their duties as production supervisors on PDI's 3D animated feature SHREK. Previously, Garner worked as production coordinator on PDI's first feature ANTZ. Prior to PDI, he worked at Digital Domain, where his credits include TITANIC, DANTE'S PEAK and THE FIFTH ELEMENT. "I've always gravitated towards the more technical, multi-tasking types of production," Garner said.

Pixar executive vice president and two-time Oscar-winning director John Lasseter has signed a ten year contract to provide his services exclusively to the studio. "John Lasseter, more than anyone else, has shaped Pixar into the world-class animation studio it is today. With John leading our creative team for the next decade, our dream of nurturing a golden age of animation at Pixar may come true," said Pixar CEO Steve Jobs.