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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4.1 - April 1999
People
MUSICAL CHAIRS. Chicago-based Tricky Pictures has added Frank
Anderson to its roster of directors and will be repped exclusively by
the company. Anderson, a 17-year veteran of the commercial production business,
has worked on animation campaigns for McDonalds, UNICEF World Fund and Procter
& Gamble. Anderson's diverse styles range from "photo-mation,"
a technique employing cutout photographs animated like stop motion puppets,
to pixilation (animating humans frame by frame). "Frank shares our philosophy
of integrating a variety of production techniques, manipulating textures and
mediums, and linking them closely to music," said Bruce Alcock, co-owner
of Tricky Pictures. . . . Boston-based LoConte Goldman Design has named
five-time Emmy Award-winner Scott Pressler to Senior Design Director.
Pressler has worked as an independent designer for the last 10 years with
a number of high-profile clients. Pressler was a broadcast designer for NBC
Sports from 1989-1996. While at NBC, he was the creative director and senior
designer of the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, and designer and creative director
for the 1992 summer Olympic games, Wimbledon `92-`94, NFL Live and NBA Showtime
among other projects. LoConte's President/General Manager Patrice Goldman
said about Pressler's new position, "As Senior Design Director, Scott
will also help cultivate LoConte Goldman's young creative talent and nurture
our design staff so that we can continue to grow and evolve." In addition,
LoConte Goldman has named Christopher Scott Campbell as Coordinating
Producer. Campbell's responsibilities will include project production, business
development and corporate promotion, as well as serving as a liaison between
creative personnel and the operations department to facilitate productions.
. . . Comedy Central has promoted advertising executive Larry Divney
to president and chief executive. He replaces Doug Herzog, who left the channel
last month to become chief of Fox Broadcasting. Divney has directed Comedy
Central's advertising sales since the network's inception in 1991, and has
worked at CNN, MTV and the A&E Network. With Herzog's initiative, the
network has found tremendous success with original animated programming like
South Park, Bob And Margaret and Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist.
. . . Disney Interactive has appointed Frank Evers to vice president
of product development and production. Evers assumes overall responsibilities
for the development of all Disney Interactive products. In this role, he will
oversee staffing, long range product planning and the development of policies,
processes and quality assurance procedures for product content. He will report
to Jan Smith, Senior VP and general manager of Disney Interactive worldwide.
Prior to joining Disney, Evers was VP of production at Activision, spearheading
production efforts for the Mechwarrior 2 and Vigilante8/Interstate
franchises. Prior to that, he was a producer/director with Sierra On-Line.
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| Jane Hartwell. |
Pixar has announced that its Chief Financial Officer and executive
vice president, Lawrence Levy, will leave his post at the end March
to take personal time off. No replacement has been announced yet. Levy will
continue to be involved with Pixar as a member of the company's Board of Directors.
Pixar also announced that it has appointed Chief Technical Officer Ed Catmull
to its Board. . . . Commercial director and graphic designer Jay Vigon
has joined 3D animation and effects company Rhythm & Hues Studios.
His most recent projects in the broadcast video graphics arena include spots
for Ericcson Cellular, Miro's Wearever line of pots and pans, Deloitte Consulting
and Janus Mutual Funds. His long history of work in the graphics field ranges
from designing the logo for Gotcha Surf Wear and the third Star Wars
film, Return Of The Jedi, as well as authoring two books on logo development
and design: Marks I and Marks II. In addition to directing at
Rhythm & Hues, Vigon is expected to play a significant role in Rhythm
and Hues' new design division. . . . Digital ink, paint and compositing house
VirtualMagic Animation has hired Chrisie Russell as Production
Manager and promoted Ryan Robertson to the same position. Russell joins VirtualMagic
from Warner Bros. Feature Animation where she was Assistant Production Manager
on their last three features, The Iron Giant, Space Jam
and The Quest For Camelot. Ryan Roberston, previously the production
manager and art editor of the bi-monthly magazine Hot Lava, joined
VirtualMagic in 1997 as an Administrative Assistant. . . . Spontaneous
Combustion, the New York-based digital studio specializing in visual effects,
has added desktop artist Bryan Keeling to its graphics team. Keeling,
27, specializes in Adobe After Effects and other desktop paint-and-animation
packages. Keeling makes the move following a four-year stint at Pittard Sullivan.
. . . Pacific Data Images (PDI) has promoted Jane Hartwell
to associate producer of their second DreamWorks/PDI animated feature co-production
Shrek. Previously, Hartwell was Senior Production Manager on Shrek
and Production Manager on the first of PDI's animated features, Antz.
Her expanded responsibilities include involvement in creative, technical and
financial aspects of the production. Hartwell is also responsible for the
creation of the overall schedule for Shrek and oversees the story,
character, lighting, effects and technical director departments. "Her
expertise was crucial to the production of Antz and that will be increasing
dramatically on Shrek," stated the film's producer Aron Warner.
A native of the Bay Area, Hartwell was previously an associate production
manager at Skellington on James And The Giant Peach. . . .
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| Arnauld Lamorlette. |
PDI has hired Arnauld Lamorlette, 34, formerly vice president and director of R&D at the Paris-based studio Buf Compagnie, to join PDI's visual effects team. Lamorlette has been named a Senior Visual Effects Developer on Shrek. Aron Warner, Shrek producer, said, "He has been brought on to PDI's team to oversee the creation of computer-generated human characters and the rich organic world they will inhabit in Shrek. Arnauld will be instrumental in developing new animation systems and unique technical applications." As vice president of Buf Compagnie, Lamorlette was involved in the production of the company's film projects including The City of Lost Children and Batman & Robin. Lamorlette also contributed to Buf Compagnie's commercial spots for such clients as Coca-Cola, Michelin, Loreal, Perrier, Reebok, Ford and Hewlett-Packard, as well as music video projects for Bjork and The Rolling Stones. . . . Art director, designer and effects compositor Anne White has joined the Hollywood-based broadcast design and creative marketing agency 3 Ring Circus as executive producer. White will serve as a go-between for the clients and the creative team, as well as overseeing branding, marketing and promotional campaigns for broadcasting, cable, commercial and multimedia markets. She joins the company from Minneapolis-based HypeHouse, a marketing communications and design agency she co-founded in 1996. Prior to that, she was a creative director and graphics producer at HDMG Post & Effects in Minneapolis where she implemented concept-to-content strategies in film, video and print for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, 3M, Aveda, Rollerblade and Best Buy. . . . Eliza Mclatchy has been named associate producer at Boston-based LoConte Goldman Design. In this post, McLatchy will work with senior producers and operations to develop and maintain the structure of projects. She will also serve as the liaison between creative personnel and the operations department. Prior to joining LoConte Goldman, McLatchy, 24, freelanced for the company on a variety of projects including "ESPN Speedworld," Romance Classics Network "Fire & Ice Valentine's Special," and a corporate image video for Lotus Development Corporation. She has also freelanced as a production coordinator and/or production assistant for commercial production companies in the Boston area including Picture Park, Premiere Huere, Reactor Films and Propaganda Films.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.