Animation World Magazine, Issue 2.8, November 1997



Animation World News:Commercials

Acme Filmworks' roster of directors now includes (left to right) Peter Chung, Bill Kroyer,
Mark Osborne, Mike Johnson and Leslie Cabarga.

Acme Filmworks Adds 5 Directors. Hollywood-based Acme Filmworks, a production company which represents more than 40 directors, has signed five additional directors of animation for representation: Peter Chung, Bill Kroyer, Mark Osborne, Mike Johnson and Leslie Cabarga. Two of the directors have already begun work at the studio, while the other three are being pitched for various projects. Peter Chung, creator of MTV's Aeon Flux, is a veteran of Colossal Pictures, and has worked for Disney, Marvel Animation, Murakami/Wolf, and Klasky-Csupo. At Acme, Chung is currently directing animation on a commercial for Psygnosis' upcoming Sony PlayStation game, G Police, out of the agency Wong Doody in Seattle. Bill Kroyer is an Academy Award-nominee (Technological Threat) and director of the animated feature FernGully: the Last Rainforest. While he is currently working on feature projects at Warner Bros., Kroyer will be represented non-exclusively for commercial directing through Acme. Mark Osborne is a stop-motion animator who has worked independently on many animation projects since his graduation from Cal Arts in 1992. His credits include spots for E! Entertainment Television, Cartoon Network, TBS and Duck Soup Producktions, as well as the Jurassic Park-spoofing music video for Wierd Al Yankovic. Mike Johnson, a 1990 graduate of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), is also a stop-motion animator. His credits include work with Skellington Productions (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach.), Olive Jar Studios, Danger Productions, Curious Pictures and Passion Pictures, as well as several short films including the recent The Devil Went Down to Georgia with Fat Cactus Films. Leslie Cabarga is an artist whose graphics work includes several published volumes of clip-art books, as well as creation of artwork for a variety of Betty Boop products. With Acme Filmworks, Cabarga recently directed a 30-second graphical spot for Advocate Health Care, out of the agency, Coil, Counts, Ford & Chaney, Chicago.

George Cloney, J.J. Sedelmaier's illustrative spot for
Brown & Company.

Character Builders Builds Business. Character Builders, an Illinois and Los Angeles-based animation studio, has added a CGI division and expanded its commercial representation through a deal with a live-action firm. The studio is now being represented by Soft Gravity Pictures, a division of S.O.S. This non-exclusive arrangement with Soft Gravity will serve as an additional avenue for commercial work to come into Character Builders. The studio has been recently focused on subcontract work for feature films such as Anastasia and Space Jam. John Donkin, a computer animator based in Minneapolis, will serve as the start-up base for the company's CGI division, which the studio expects to expand in the future.

Renegade's spot for the California Prune Board.
© Renegade Animation.


Spotlight.
Will Vinton Studios created Bravefruit, a 30-second commercial for Tropicana FruitWise smoothie beverages. Blending stop-motion, live-action and computer animation, and directed by David Daniels, the spot depicts all kinds of fruit flying through the air into a blender, in a cinematic style inspired by widescreen epic films of the past. . . . .Renegade Animation created two 30-second spots for the National Prune Board, each depicting famous figures in history--Cleopatra and Napoleon-- eating the "energy packed super snack." Both spots were created in 2-D, cel animation and directed by Darrel Van Citters... . . . Wild Brain created the animated spokesperson, Net.Guy, in a campaign for TCI.net's Internet connection service, @Home. The campaign includes four 30-second spots, directed by Robin Steele, with animation composited over stock footage and computer animation . . . . Colossal Pictures created a 30-second spot for Denny's Restaurants, in the style of traditional, classic cat-and-dog chase cartoons. Charles Gammage directed the animation for the spot, combining live-action with 2-D cel animation. . . . . Loconte Goldman Design created four opening spots for Reuters Business Network. Each six-second sequence animates the Reuters logo. . . .Lee Hunt Associates and The Ink Tank created animated bumpers for ABC, packaging Disney's One Saturday Morning program block. The spots depict the program logo, designed by Lee Hunt Associates, animated by The Ink Tank in a lively, colorful style designed to appeal to kids ages 2-11. . . . Viewpoint Studios created three news and identity packages for Boston-area TV stations WMUR-TV, WNYT-TV and WHTM-TV, in preparation for the November sweeps. The spots depict the ABC logo animated in combination with regional film footage. . . . .

Colossal's Skillet spot for Denny's. © Colossal Pictures.

Curious Pictures created three spots for The Clorox Company, promoting Clorox 2 bleach. The one 30-second, and two 15-second spots were directed by Garrett Sheldrew, using multiple layers of 2-D, cel animation. . . .Curious Pictures also recently created three 30-second commercials for the U.S. Postal Service. Directed by Portland-based animator Chel White (Photocopy Cha Cha), the spots utilize animation and original techniques such as projecting live-action footage onto shipping boxes. Titled Price Zones, Different Places and Cross Country, the commercials promote the use of USPS' priority mail service. . . . Boston-based Loconte Goldman Design, working with Smash, another Boston studio, designed and co-produced a series of promotional spots for The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, featuring animated graphics and type. . . .New York-based J.J. Sedelmaier completed George Cloney, its' seventh animated commercial for Boston-based financial consulting company Brown & Company. The 30-second spot continues a series of commercials which feature an animated version of detailed caricatures by political cartoonist David Levine.. . . . AMPNYC produced four promotional spots for Primestar Satellite Television, featuring the service's on-air mascot, Eugene. The New York-based studio also recently completed production of an animated host for a new European syndicated show called Oops!, for Peter Leone Productions, as well as a holiday promotional spot for Showtime, with Slate, Inc. . . . Atlanta-based Crawford Communications created customized replacement animation for a series of international commercials for the Coca-Cola Company. Using Discreet Logic's Flame software and their own Mechanical Concepts Motion Control System, Crawford rotoscoped-out and replaced moving beverage cans (i.e a Diet Coke can was replaced with a Coca-Cola Light can) within the shots. . . .

Manhattan Transfer's Plenty to See. © Manhattan Transfer.

London-based Hibbert Ralph Animation is working on their eighth spot in a series of 2-D animated commercials for British Telecom. Titled Night Time, the latest spot will air on October 6 to U.K audiences, who have been following the campaign since May. . . . New York-based Manhattan Transfer and broadcast design director Micha Riss created two packages of open, segment and bumper animation for both CBS Sports and USA Network's recent broadcast of the 1997 US Open Tennis Tournament. The 25- and 40-second spots include 3-D animated logos and graphics cut with live-action footage. . . . Manhattan Transfer also animated graphics and effects for Plenty To See, a live-action/animation commercial for the Ford Motor Company, through the agency J. Walter Thompson. Promoting the Escort car, the 30-second spot features animated words and musical notes interacting with a live actress. The animation was created by digital artists with the Henry, Flame and Inferno systems. . . .

Animation World News is compiled daily for publication in the AWN Daily Flash, the weekly Animation Flash email newsletter, and monthly issues of Animation World Magazine.

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