Animation World Magazine, Issue 2.12, March 1998



People

Lee Berger and Deborah Giarratana both recently
joined Blue Sky|VIFX's Los Angeles office.
Lee Berger recently joined Blue Sky|VIFX's Los Angeles office.Deborah Giarratana recently joined Blue Sky|VIFX's Los Angeles office.
Musical Chairs. Fox Kids Worldwide will have to wait at least until July 1, 1998 for Rich Cronin to join the company as president and CEO of Fox Family Channel and Fox Kids Network, according to a ruling issued by the New York State Supreme Court. On February 5, a judge ruled that the former MTV Networks executive breached his contract, which ran through June 30, 1998, when he signed a deal with Fox in October 1997 (AF 11/4/97). Meanwhile, Fox is required to pay Cronin under the terms of his prior MTV Networks contract. . . . Blue Sky|VIFX has created two new positions in the company, and has hired executives who will be based in the bi-coastal company's Los Angeles office. Lee Berger has been named vice president, Production [division] and executive producer. Berger's background includes work with Blue Sky|VIFX as a visual effects producer, and with Apogee Productions. In addition, Deborah Giarratana has been hired as vice president, Filmed Entertainment. She was most recently director of marketing for the Feature Film and Theme Park division at Digital Domain, and prior to that she was head of sales and marketing at PDI. . . . Iain Greenaway has been named vice president, creative director of the New York-based broadcast design studio TZ (formerly known as Telezign). He was previously creative director for the BBC. . . . Kenneth Abrams has joined Marvel Entertainment Group as vice president of the company's consumer products division. In this role, he will concentrate on domestic licensing for Marvel's film and TV properties such as Silver Surfer and The X-Men. Previously, Abrams was director of domestic licensing for Viacom Consumer Products. . . . MGM Animation has hired writer Ruth Bennett as executive producer and head writer for The Lionhearts, an animated series to run in syndication this fall. Bennett's credits include live-action TV sitcoms, writing experience which MGM expects to bring an edge to the show, which features characters in the entertainment industry. . . . John Andrews, formerly vice president of animation at MTV Networks in New York, has joined Klasky Csupo Commercials in Los Angeles as executive producer. Also recently promoted to executive producer for the division is Liz Seidman, who has been with the company for three years. . . . Jackie Edwards has been promoted from merchandising manager to producer at London-based Hibbert Ralph Animation, filling a position vacated by Karen Davidsen. Edwards, who joined the studio in 1995, will produce The First Snow of Winter, a half-hour film currently in production. . . . Christopher Oarr has been chosen as the new executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), succeeding Susan Alston who resigned in September 1997. He is currently director of the Small Press Expo (SPX) and will begin as director of CBLDF in March 1998. . . . Visual effects supervisor Doug Smith has joined Rhythm & Hues as senior visual effects supervisor. His credits include an Oscar for effects work on the feature film, Independence Day. . . . Hot commodities Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the very "in-demand" co-creators of South Park, have signed a $1.5 million deal with New Line Cinema to write a prequel script to the live-action feature film, Dumb & Dumber.. . . . Curious Pictures' San Francisco studio has signed Holly Edwards as producer and added directors Nick Hewitt and Steward Lee to its roster. Hewitt, 25, graduated from Emily Carr and Sheridan College and joined Curious in 1996 as assistant animator. Lee, 35, is a Cal Arts graduate who was previously an animator at neighboring (Colossal) Pictures. . . . Laura Citron has been named creative director at Crawford Intermedia, not production manager, as was mistakenly printed in AF 1/13/98.

Menken Signs For a Decade at Disney. Eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken has entered a long-term contract with Walt Disney Studios to compose songs and/or scores for animated and live-action films. Menken has composed music for six Disney animated features: The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Hercules (1997). His four Oscar-winning Disney songs from those films are: "Under the Sea," "Beauty and the Beast," "A Whole New World" and "Colors of the Wind." Menken also composed the score for the Broadway production, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. While the contract is exclusive with Walt Disney Feature Animation for a total of ten years, it does allow Menken the option to compose scores for one non-Disney live-action project every two years.

Margaret Loesch has been named president
of Jim Henson Television Group.
Margaret Loesch has been named president of Jim Henson Television Group.

Loesch Joins Henson TV Unit. Margaret Loesch, former CEO of Fox Kids Network, has joined The Jim Henson Company as president of its new Jim Henson Television Group. In this position, she will be responsible for the company's worldwide television operations, including development, production, distribution, acquisitions, video, and a soon-to-be announced general entertainment cable channel. She will report directly to Brian Henson, president and CEO, and Charles Rivkin, COO of The Jim Henson Company. "I've long admired the integrity and passion of the team at the Jim Henson Company," said Loesch. "One of the most gratifying experiences of my career was the six-year collaboration I enjoyed with Jim Henson while we were producing Muppet Babies," she added. Alex Rockwell, previously executive vice president of creative affairs at Henson, will remain with the company in a long-term exclusive consulting and producing relationship. The Jim Henson Television Group will also include Marcy Ross overseeing prime time television, Halle Stanford Grossman heading up children's development, and Angus Fletcher who will be responsible for international television development. "Margaret is a visionary," said Rivkin, "We are confident that having Margaret as part of the team will greatly accelerate the growth of our company on a global basis." Brian Henson added, "There are few people in the television industry who can claim the extraordinary success that Margaret has...Her energy and spirit have been instrumental in shaping today's family television industry."

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