This Month's Contributors

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

Evan Backes, the creator of the late Stay Tooned (www.staytooned.com), who is now pursuing an interest with graphic design at Avant Guardian (www.avant-guardian.com).

Marie Beardmore is a U.K.-based freelance writer who specializes in writing and consulting in the animation industry. She has just written a report on the global animation business for Channel 21 magazine.

Paul Brizzi is an animation director at Disney Feature Animation. He and his brother Gaëtan directed the last segment of Fantasia/2000 "The Firebird." Previously, they both were sequence directors on The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Born in Paris, they began their career in 1973 as animators and created their own animation company in 1982. They directed and produced shorts, commercials, TV series and directed a feature for Gaumont in 1985, Asterix versus Cesar. In 1989, they sold their studio, Brizzi Film, to Disney TV and in 1992 began working for Disney Feature Animation until coming to live in Los Angeles to work in the Burbank studios in 1996.

James Dalby, before becoming a senior animator at AtomFilms, spent a year-and-a-half as the graphics manager for The Highlander, a student newspaper at the University of California, Riverside. He attended two years of study at the University of California, Riverside but gave it up to focus his attention on work. Soon after, James spent most of his time as a freelance Flash animator for various Websites, as well as a full-time animator at Pixelwave Corporation.

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.

Zahra Dowlatabadi, an award-winning producer, started her animation career in 1986. Since then, Dowlatabadi has worked in almost every major studio in Los Angeles along with many internationally acclaimed animation studios and talent. Dowlatabadi is the founder of an organization entitled Animation Team, which assists studios with production staff needs ranging from qualified line producers to experienced production assistants. She also has co-written a book entitled Producing Animation with Catherine Winder for Focal Press.

Sylvia Edwards is a former school teacher who made a career leap into animation eight years ago. She has worked at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, HBO Animation and Nickelodeon. Edwards has served as a production manager on a number of animated TV series, including: What a Cartoon!, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken, Oh Yeah! Cartoons, ChalkZone and Dora the Explorer.

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.

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 and founder and director of SAFO, the Ottawa International Student Animation Festival. He is a board member of ASIFA International and editor of the ASIFA magazine, ASIFA News. Robinson has curated film programs and served on festival juries throughout the world. He writes a monthly column ("The Animation Pimp") for Animation World Network and has written numerous articles on animation. His iconoclastic tendencies have led him to be called the "John Woo of diplomacy" and most recently, "the enfant terrible of animation" by Take One magazine. He is currently working on a documentary with Otto Alder on Estonian animation; a biography of writer, Richard Meltzer; and a book on animation entitled, Unsung Heroes of Animation. Apparently he's a Canadian.

Dan Sarto is an accomplished "hack" technologist and co-publisher of Animation World Network.

Jan Sawkins, Varga Holdings' Group Managing Director, is a respected international financial and investment executive. Sawkins has an extensive career in international media and finance. Whilst serving with Robert Fleming, the London Merchant Bank, she helped launch TEAM plc, an innovative group of independent production and distribution companies. She later joined TEAM as Joint Managing Director, before forming her own successful consultancy firm. As Group Managing Director for Varga Holdings, Sawkins is responsible for the overall management of the Group, as well as collaborating with CEO Andras Erkel in the areas of strategic planning, contractual negotiations and investor relations.

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.

Nag Vladermersky is one of the founding members of the Melbourne Animation Posse dedicated to organising animation events in Melbourne, Australia. The Posse have quickly established two festivals, the Melbourne International Student Animation Festival (MISAF) and the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF). Details can be found at www.miaf.net. He is also an award-winning animator currently on annual leave while setting up MIAF.

Steve Walsh has produced animated and live-action television and feature films. He began in TV journalism, then started making documentary and factual programming, producing a number of award-winning documentaries. From there he joined Goldcrest Films and Television as head of co-production and marketing. Two years later he became head of production at London-based Consolidated Productions. In 1986 he set up Steve Walsh Productions to develop, finance and produce for himself. Successful productions include animated feature The Princess and Goblin and a collection of four TV movies for France's Canal+ and Canada's Astral based on works by Mary Higgins Clark. In 1991 Walsh set up and ran EVA Entertainment, the financing and distribution arm of the first CARTOON-sponsored studio grouping, as well as producing and co-producing some 15 productions. His most ambitious animated project to date the feature film A Monkey's Tale was completed in 1999. Walsh was also executive producer of David Bailey's first theatrical feature The Intruder, completed in late 1999. He is currently producing three animated series.

Catherine Winder has worked as both an executive producer in television and feature animation. Her background in development, as well as production with studios from around the world has given her a rare global expertise in the field of animation. In her present position as vice president production for Fox Feature Animation, she is overseeing production of the studio's 2D traditional and 3D CGI animated movies. She has co-written Producing Animation with Zahra Dowlatabadi.

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