This Month's Contributors

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazinecontributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.

Mike Amron is a computer graphics instructor at DHIMA. He has worked for a number of leading visual effects companies, including Digital Domain, VIFX and Industrial Light & Magic.

Rick DeMott is the associate editor of Animation World Network. Previously, he served as media coordinator for Hollywood-based Acme Filmworks. He holds a B.A. in Film/Video from Penn State University with a Minor in Comparative Literature.

Ron Diamond is co-founder and co-publisher of Animation World Network, in addition to being executive producer at his commercial production company, Acme Filmworks.

Maureen Furniss, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor and Program Director of Film Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. She is the founding editor of Animation Journal and the author of Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics (John Libbey, 1998).

Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.

Heikki Jokinen is a freelance critic and journalist based in Helsinki, Finland. He specializes in comics, short films and animation. He is chairman of the Finnish Art Critics' Association and the former president of ASIFA Nordic, the ASIFA regional body for the five Nordic and three Baltic countries.

Heather Kenyon is editor-in-chief of Animation World Network. After receiving her B.F.A. with honors in Filmic Writing from USC's School of Cinema-Television, she went to work for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Currently, she is an International Board Member of Women In Animation and on the Board of Trustees of Trees for Life.

Joan Kim received her B.A. in English Literature from UCLA and currently is the editorial administrator for Animation World Network. Previously as a graphics consultant she produced several company reports and manuals and continues to pursue an education in computer graphics.

Jacquie Kubin, a Washington, DC-based freelance journalist, enjoys writing about the electronic entertainment and edutainment mediums, including the Internet. She is a frequent contributor to the Washington Times and Krause Publication magazines. She has won the 1998 Certificate of Award granted by the Metropolitan Area Mass Media Committee of the American Association of University Women.

Katie Makal, prior to joining creativePLANET as editor of Design in Motion, contributed to the realignment of Film & Video magazine as a target trade publication with in-depth coverage of the film, television and interactive entertainment markets. Her efforts helped launch the magazine into the digital age. Before that, she was senior associate production manager and editor at Dorenfest Associates in Chicago, a leading source of information about the health care information technology industry.

Fred Patten has written on anime for fan and professional magazines since the late 1970s.

Chris Robinson is the artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Brett D. Rogers is a freelance writer and law student based in Baltimore.

Will Ryan won an Annie Award for the series Elmo Aardvark: Outer Space Detective! in November. Co-produced by Renegade Animation and Snappytoons Amusement Company, it will soon be distributed by Mondo Media. He was recently nominated for a Writer's Guild Award and an Emmy for his work with Jim Henson Productions. His new book, Unsung Songs of the American People, will be published in November by Oxnard University Press.

Gregory Singer is a freelance writer and amateur scientist, in feverish midnight pursuit of a cure for the common pun.

Glenn Vilppu teaches figure drawing at the American Animation Institute, the Masters program of the UCLA Animation Dept., Walt Disney Feature Animation and Warner Bros. Feature Animation, and has been sent to teach artists at Disney TV studios in Japan, Canada and the Philippines. Vilppu has also worked in the animation industry for 18 years as a layout, storyboard and presentation artist. His drawing manual and video tapes are being used worldwide as course materials for animation students.

Paul Younghusband is editor-in-chief of Visual Magic Magazine, a publication focusing on the 3D graphics and digital effects industries.