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J. J. Sedelmaier Animates Reph for ESPN SportsCenter Classics

As part of its 25th Anniversary celebration, ESPN has brought back some of its classic SportsCenter promo spots, featuring a new animated character named Reph, which was produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Prods. The commercials, which won numerous creative awards, were created by ESPN's longtime agency, Wieden + Kennedy. The Reph characters helps viewers know they're watching a classic spot by fruitlessly attempting to get into the ESPN vault. The character was designed by J. J. Sedelmaier, who produced and directed the animated segments.

"The sensibility of the character is kind of a cross between Donald Duck, who used to launch the opening of each old Mickey Mouse Club show by hitting a gong, and the Coyote in the ROAD RUNNER cartoons," Sedelmaier explains. "All he wants is to get the vault door open, but it gets the better of him each time."

The SportsCenter classic spots will run through the summer as part of ESPN's Silver Anniversary celebration. The animated segments were produced by Temma Shoaf for Wieden + Kennedy/New York, with Paul Renner as creative director/art director and Kevin Proudfoot as creative director/copywriter. Additional credits at J. J. Sedelmaier Prods go to animator Dan Madia and assistant animators Andrea Gonzales, Claire Widman and John Bonarrigo. Reph is the studio's second project produced exclusively in Macromedia/FlashMX.

J. J. Sedelmaier Productions is located at 199 Main Street, White Plains, New York 10601. The animation production house creates work for commercials and television. For more information, visit www.jjsedelmaier.com.

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Rick DeMott
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