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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4.4 - JULY 1999
People
Women In Animation Names Jan Nagel Interim President.
Jan Nagel has been named Interim President of the non-profit, professional
organization Women in Animation. Nagel replaces Women In Animation founder
Rita Street until elections are held later this year. Nagel, formerly Vice
President of the organization, has worked hand-in-hand with Street since WIA's
inception in 1994. "As the Interim President, I will work with everyone in
Women in Animation to help nurture the organization through this transition,"
commented Nagel. "I intend to follow in the footsteps of our Founder, Rita
Street, to uphold the mission statement and expand the role and scope of WIA
in the animation industry." Jan Nagel has been in animation for eight years
and is the Director of Business Development for VirtualMagic Animation, Inc.,
a service producer of digital ink, paint and compositing for 2D animation.
She has held similar positions at Calico Entertainment and Dream Quest Images.
Prior to entering the animation industry, she worked in account management
for major advertising agencies such as NW Ayer and McCann-Erickson. On February
16, 1999, Rita Street presented a letter of resignation from the positions
President and Board of Directors of Women in Animation, Inc. to the Executive
Committee. She noted, "WIA is still a very young non-profit and needs a great
deal of attention that I can no longer give. I leave the organization in the
hands of great leaders. I will keep watch over the exciting changes to come,
and wish everyone involved my sincere gratitude. My tenure with WIA has been
a wonderful experience." Street remains on the organization's Advisory Committee,
and will also naturally retain the title of Founder. Other appointments include
Producer Libby Simon, who was named Interim Vice President, and Julie Van
Hove as an Interim Board Member. Hope Parker of Baer Animation and Jessie
Nagel of Hype will retain their titles of Treasurer and Secretary, respectively.
The Board and Executive Committee organized an election for a new Board of
Directors in June. Soon after, the new Board will elect new officers. Women
In Animation is a non-profit, professional organization founded in 1994 to
promote the concerns and advancement of women involved in any and all aspects
of the art and industry of animation. For more information call (818) 759-9596;
or visit www.women.in.animation.org.
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Steve Galloway.
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David Harleston.
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Musical Chairs. Steve Galloway has been recruited for
Vice President of Development for Nelvana Communications. He comes from Universal
Studios/Music Group where he served for eight years as Vice President Longform
Programming & Production. He will be responsible for overseeing the development
of Nelvana's new animated series for television. . . David Harleston
has been named Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs for Nelvana Communications.
He was formerly General Counsel for Carter Entertainment Group, Senior Vice
President for MCA Records, and President of DEF JAM Recordings, Inc. He will
be responsible for the business and legal affairs for Nelvana's television,
film, and video development and sales. . . Kristin Hawley has been
promoted to Manager of Television and Video Sales and Longform Development
for Nelvana Communications. She was previously Development Coordinator, and
joined Nelvana as an intern while attending USC's Cinema and Television School's
Peter Stark Producing Program. . . Phil Lofaro has been promoted from
Vice President to Senior Vice President of Production for Walt Disney Feature
Animation. He will continue to oversee production for the studio's animated
features and shorts, including scheduling, budgeting and new technologies.
. . Carol McGovney has been recruited for Vice President, U.S. Licensing
& Merchandising by BKN, a US broadcast kids network. McGovney was formerly
Director of Domestic Licensing & Promotions at the Harvey Entertainment Company;
Director of Licensing at Leisure Concepts, Inc.; and Senior Sales Manager,
Licensing & Merchandising for Saban Entertainment. . . Nadia Nardonnet
has been promoted by BKN to be President of International Sales & Coproductions.
She will be responsible for managing all staff and operations of the International
office, which handles worldwide television sales, licensing and merchandising,
home video, and marketing. Previously to joining BKN in 1994, she was Vice
President of Finance and Human Resources for France-based Eliance, a French
hotel and restaurant company. Prior to that she worked at Alsys, a high-tech
company which created Ada Software. . . Pamela Harris has been appointed
Director of Licensing for Hearst Entertainment. She will be responsible for
the sales efforts on key King Features licensed properties managed by Hearst
Entertainment, with emphasis on The Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, and Hagar
The Horrible. Previously, she was a senior Licensing Manager at Art Impressions.
. . Jenene J. Wilson has been appointed Vice President, Human Resources
by Pacific Data Images. She will be responsible for directing the company's
corporate human resource initiatives, including organizational design, employee
compensation and benefits, corporate recruiting and training. Previously,
she was Director of Human Resources for Mattel, Inc. Prior to that she was
Vice President, Compensation and Employee Benefits for Los Angeles-based Carter
Hawley Hale Stores, Inc. . . Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation has announced
the appointment of Robert H. Ard to the position of Group Executive,
Applications, and Shanker Munshani to be General Manager of its Workstation
Graphics Division. Ard will be responsible for the Digital Studio, Digital
Theater, and Pixel Products divisions. He will also continue as the General
Manager of the Pixel Products unit. Ard is a veteran software industry executive.
Prior to joining Evans & Sutherland in 1998 as the General Manager of the
Pixel Products Division, he was President of Model Technology, Vice President
and General Manager at Mentor Graphics, and President of ITI Software. He
holds a BS in civil engineering and an MS in structural mechanics from Brigham
Young University. Before joining E&S, Munshani was President & CEO of Micronics
Computers, Chairman and CEO of Orchid Technology, and President and CEO of
ByteLink. In addition, Munshani has held senior management positions including
11 years at Intel Corporation and Wyse Technology. Munshani has an MS in electrical
engineering from the University of Kansas. . .
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Rick Ramirez.
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Rick Ramirez, an executive with broad legal, financial
and program development experience, has been named to the new position of
vice president of the three-month-old Phil Roman Entertainment Company in
Studio City. As previously reported, Phil Roman recently departed the animation
company he founded in 1984, Film Roman, to create his own animation firm.
Ramirez' responsibilities will include all areas of business affairs, financing,
and development both in the English and Spanish language markets as well as
general management responsibilities. Ramirez began his career as an attorney
in corporate practice with Smith, Underwood, Carmichael & Floyd in Dallas,
Texas and most recently served as a producer for Galavision, the largest Spanish
cable network. . . The Harvey Entertainment Company has named Meyer Gottlieb
to its Board of Directors. Gottlieb co-founded Samuel Goldwyn Films in 1998
and remains its President and Chief Operating Officer. Gottlieb became the
Chief Operating Officer of The Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1979 and its President
in 1987, having assisted Mr. Goldwyn in the founding of the company. Prior
to 1976, Gottlieb was a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP with
extensive experience in the entertainment industry. . . Gerry Lewis,
currently the co-head of international distribution and marketing for DreamWorks,
will retire from that post in September 1999 to play a new role for the company,
it was announced today by DreamWorks principal Jeffrey Katzenberg. Lewis has
entered into a three-year agreement, under which he will consult on the international
marketing activities of all films directed by Steven Spielberg (for DreamWorks
and other studios), as well as any sequels to or other versions of projects
originally produced under the Amblin Entertainment banner. Jonathan Chissick,
who has served as co-head of international distribution and marketing with
Lewis since August 1997, will take over sole responsibility for DreamWorks'
international operations, working in partnership with international film distributors
United International Pictures (UIP) and Cheil. DreamWorks SKG was formed in
October, 1994, by its three principal partners, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey
Katzenberg and David Geffen, to produce live-action motion pictures; animated
feature films; network, syndicated and cable television programming; home
video entertainment; records; books; toys; consumer products and interactive
entertainment. . . Oxygen Media has named several senior executives to its
sales and marketing team. Mary Murano, who joins Oxygen as the Senior
Vice President for Affiliate Sales, was formerly Executive Vice President,
Distribution and Affiliate Marketing at AMC Networks; Laurie Benson,
who is the new Senior Vice President for Advertising Sales, was formerly Vice
President, Advertising Sales of Home & Garden Television; Tricia Melton,
who has been named Vice President for Consumer Marketing, joins Oxygen from
the Food Network; and Michael Boyd, who is the new Vice President for
Distribution Marketing, comes to Oxygen from Discovery Communications. . .
Dan Romanelli has signed a new long-term contract with Warner Bros.,
extending his tenure as president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Consumer Products.
Along with continuing responsibility for all the business units within the
Warner Bros. Consumer Products division, such as Warner Bros. Licensing and
Warner Bros. Studio Stores, Romanelli adds to his charter the ability to acquire
properties intended primarily for the creation of licensing and merchandising
franchises. . . Balmur Entertainment has appointed
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Tony Baylis. Photo: Denise Grant.
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Tony Baylis as CEO. Baylis joined Balmur in February
1996 as Executive Vice President/COO, and was appointed President/COO in October
1998. Prior to Balmur, Baylis served as Vice President, Finance for Skyvision
Entertainment, the television production arm of the John Labatt Entertainment
Group, from 1993-1996. He began his entertainment industry career with the
BCL Group, where he served as Director of Finance. . . Erik St. Anthony
has been appointed Director of Multimedia at Interactive Television Entertainment
(ITE)-USA. St. Anthony will be responsible for developing and implementing
retail, on-line and ancillary distribution of the company's CD-ROM, PlayStation,
and Game Boy formats in North America. St. Anthony founded Adventure Media
Group and Trinidad Entertainment, which together acquire DVD rights, create
interactive formats on DVD and DVD-ROM, and distribute programming. ITE's
library includes Hugo Saves Christmas, Thomas And Tim, and the Edutainment
series of The Magic Oak. . . Clive Jenkins has joined Atlanta-based
Crawford Communications, Inc. as a 3D animator. Jenkins previously worked
for Crawford from 1989 to 1994, but left to join Varitel in San Francisco
where he launched that company's design and 3D department. Most recently,
he worked for Video Navigation Company in Atlanta as a 3D animator and compositor.
. . Catapult Productions' Kim Davidson and Arnie Zipursky, executive producers
of Monster By Mistake, have promoted Rob Smith and Mark Mayerson
to producers for the second season of the computer animated TV series. Smith
and Mayerson will join Julie Stall, who was the first season producer. Mayerson,
who created the series, and Smith each directed five episodes of the first
season. Smith will continue to direct while Mayerson will be more involved
in stories and scripts. Monster By Mistake began as a Halloween TV special
which aired on Canadašs YTV in 1998. It is about a boy who gets mixed up in
a magic spell by mistake, and whose sneezes, as a result, turn him into a
seven foot tall monster. The series will begin airing in September in Canada
on YTV and in Europe on various Disney channels. . . Universal Studios has
appointed Kenton Low senior vice president of corporate marketing and
Universal Studios Online. In the newly created position, Low reports to Hellene
Runtagh, Executive Vice President, and is responsible for developing and executing
corporate strategic marketing programs globally. This includes brand management,
leveraging Universal's global franchises, and expansion of the company's corporate
partnerships program. Low will also oversee Universal Studios Online, the
business unit responsible for web site development and e-commerce initiatives.
Low joins Universal Studios from The Walt Disney Company. He most recently
served as vice president, synergy, Buena Vista Internet Group, where he spearheaded
the efforts to develop and execute cross company synergy programs to leverage
and build Disney's Internet businesses, including GO Network, Disney.com,
ABC.com, ESPN.com and ABCNews.com. Prior to that, he was vice president, international,
Walt Disney Imagineering, where he led a multi-disciplinary team in identifying
and developing product and location alternatives for international theme park
resorts. Low joined Disney in 1995 as vice president, marketing and consumer
sales for the education division at Disney Interactive.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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