Markus Manninen has been promoted to Deputy Head of FrameStore’s 3D department. Manninen joined FrameStore in 2000 from Film Tecknarna in Sweden and has since worked on numerous commercials, including British Gas’ “Mexican”, BT Cellnet’s “Animation”, Shell’s “Whale” and Fiat’s “Volcano.” He also recently directed campaigns for Cingular Wireless and Richard Burbidge. The company also announced that Paul O'Brien has recently joined FrameStore's Henry team.

Wild Brain, Inc., in conjunction with The Irv Schechter Talent Agency, announced their representation for commercial work of animator and director David Feiss. As creator, director and animator, Feiss just completed his first Wild Brain campaign for BBDO/NY, a Frito-Lay Cheetos Whirlz spot titled “Cool Cat”, currently airing, and a Cheetos Mystery Colorz Snacks PSA, which aired on May 7, 2001. Feiss may best be known as creator and director of his own TV series, the overwhelmingly popular COW & CHICKEN for Cartoon Network.

Sierra On-Line, Inc., a division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, recently announced the addition of two seasoned executives to its management team. Thomas K. Hernquist, takes the reigns as president & CEO, and Michael A. Ryder steps in as COO and senior vice president of product development. Hernquist will be reporting to Vivendi Universal Games CEO Hubert Joly.

London, UK’s Egmont Imagination has appointed Caroline Stephenson as their new territory manager for Southern Europe and Latin American markets, announced Tatiana Kober, managing director for Egmont Imagination UK Ltd. After starting her career as part of the international sales team at Hearst Entertainment, Stephenson joined Team Dandelion as manager of European broadcast sales.

Edgewater, New Jersey’s RefacDesign, a design firm specializing in product and graphic design, named Stephen Russak vice president in charge of design operations. Russak joins RefacDesign from Smart Design, a nationally prominent design firm where he was a partner and served as vice president, design and operations for 16 years.

NewTek has named Jim Plant to the newly created position of executive vice president of business and strategic development. NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools. The company's products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home video, broadcast television and feature films (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, X-MEN). "Jim is a proven executive who is very familiar with the video and 3D marketplace," said Tim Jenison, CEO and founder of NewTek.

Continuing the vigorous expansion of its presence in New York, the Click 3x Group has hired Michael Porte, the co-founder of Mad River Post, to serve as managing director of its digital studio. The move to Click 3x heralds a return to visual effects for Porte, who previously was a producer at Intercom, CPC and Coast Effects. Porte will supervise all day-to-day activities at Click 3x, New York, with particular emphasis on growing the studio and reinventing its role to suit the future needs of the advertising and broadcast industries.

Attracted by his passion for film and food, and a design aesthetic beyond his years, Black Logic has signed Alessandro Swainston as a designer/director, announced vice president and executive producer Karen Stewart. Black Logic is a comprehensive, creative collaboration company offering full-service visual effects, graphic design, high-end compositing, 2D and 3D animation, and complete live-action production.

David Forbes, former executive vice president of Orion Pictures Corp. and president of MGM/UA Distribution Company, has been named CEO of Global Animation Holdings, whose family of companies includes Los Angeles-based Spectrum Studios and Manila, Philippines-based ImagineAsia and VirtualMagic Asia. Forbes assumes the new post immediately.

Michael Garner and Laura Lockwood have been named producers at PDI/DreamWorks’ commercial division, transitioning from the company’s feature animation division after their completion of work on SHREK. Immediately following his work as production supervisor for the SHREK character development department, Garner began work for the commercial division, jumping directly onto the production of a Kool-Aid spot shooting in Australia.