DreamWorks Animation announced two new hires and a promotion, to support the company's strategy of producing two CG films a year plus direct-to-video movies.
John Batter rejoins DreamWorks Animation as a senior production executive; Jane Hartwell, a nine-year veteran with the company, has been promoted to head of global production and Nancy Bernstein joins as head of production for the studio's Glendale, California campus.
Batter returns to DreamWorks Animation after six years at Electronic Arts. At EA, he spearheaded the turnaround of the Redwood Shores studio as gm, overseeing the development of the JAMES BOND, LORD OF THE RINGS, KNOCKOUT KINGS, FREEKSTYLE and TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR franchises. He raised EA's profile in Los Angeles as the gm of the new Electronic Arts Los Angeles, where he oversaw development teams for the LORD OF THE RINGS BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH, GOLDENEYE, COMMAND & CONQUER and MEDAL OF HONOR franchises. He also worked with a cross-functional team on an international basis to establish EA Mobile in the mobile gaming space.
DreamWorks Animation coo Ann Daly said, "John is a dynamic executive with broad-based production experience, ranging from the creative side to finance and business strategy. His expertise will be a significant asset to our company and we couldn't be happier to have him back."
Hartwell will oversee all aspects of physical production for the studio.
"Jane has been an integral and dynamic part of the DreamWorks Animation evolution," Daly said. "She was intimately involved in developing the studio's unique capability to deliver two computer-animated films per year and expanding our production operations for our upcoming direct-to-video projects. As DreamWorks Animation continues to experience significant production growth, her leadership will be more valuable than ever."
Hartwell joined PDI in 1996, which became DreamWork's Redwood City campus. She was a production manager on ANTZ, the company's first CG animated film, and later took on the role of assoc producer on SHREK. Hartwell was promoted to head of digital production for Glendale in 2001 and became responsible for the digital aspects and needs of all the animated projects in production and pre-production in Glendale. She helped spearhead the company's transition from traditional 2D animation to computer-generated animation. In 2004, Hartwell became responsible for production at the Redwood City campus, as well.
As the new head of Production at DreamWorks Animation's Glendale campus, Bernstein will oversee all aspects of physical production in Glendale and reports to Hartwell. Previously at Digital Domain, she led the studio's feature effects production on the Academy Award-winning WHAT DREAMS MAY COME and the Academy Award-nominated I, ROBOT. She has worked as the vfx exec producer on more than 30 films, including THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, A BEAUTIFUL MIND and AEON FLUX. She oversaw vfx production on Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard's last seven films.
"Nancy is a true industry veteran with an impressive background in effects and animation," Hartwell said. "Given the number of creative projects we have concurrently in production, we're confident that Nancy's experience and enthusiasm will provide us with strong, additional leadership so important to our success."
Prior to joining Digital Domain in 1997, Bernstein spent 10 years at R/GA Digital Studios, as head of production, responsible for feature films, commercials, and new media, and served as vfx producer on such films as "In the Line of Fire" and "Last Action Hero." She was also instrumental in transitioning R/GA from optical imaging to digital production.
DreamWorks Animation (www.dreamworksanimation.com) is principally devoted to developing and producing computer-generated, or CG-animated, feature films.
