Venice, California-based Blur Studio has added four artists to its creative staff -- character animator Noel McGinn, visual effects designer and 3D animator Ed Lee, animator Paul Taylor and animator Asier Hernaez. Previously, McGinn served as a character animator for Pacific Data Images. He has worked on ANTZ and the upcoming SHREK. "I wanted to join a company where I would have an opportunity to be involved in all facets of computer animation and work on a variety of projects," said McGinn.

Sari Rosen has joined new York-based ATTIK, a leading all-media creative solutions firm, as executive producer. Previously, Rosen worked at the broadcast design and media company Pittard Sullivan. Rosen started as a production coordinator and within a year was producing projects for ABC, VH1, Lifetime, TNN, The Netherlands' RTL4, Germany's DSF and Discovery Kids Latin America. ATTIK's New York managing director/group executive producer, Jim Moran, said, "I couldn't be any happier about Sari joining ATTIK.

Icebox.com, an Internet animation content creator, has named entertainment industry veterans Cheryl Parnell as chief operating officer and Christos Garkinos as senior VP and chief marketing officer. Previously, Parnell served as executive VP and chief operating officer for Roger Corman's production company, Concorde-New Horizons, where she oversaw shows such as Showtime's ROGER CORMAN PRESENTS. "Cheryl is a passionate and talented entertainment executive who has a tremendous breadth of experience," said Icebox CEO Steve Stanford.

Montréal-based KliK Animation, a worldwide leader in motion-capture and 3D animation, has appointed Vincent Ethier as director of business development. Previously, Ethier served as Canadian sales manager for Softimage. He will oversee sales in the services and production segment.

Cartoon Network Netherlands has promoted Bas van Putte to senior marketing manager and hired Erma van Lamoen as senior programme manager. Van Putte has been with Cartoon Network Netherlands for three years. He will continue to oversee all marketing and brand development in the Netherlands, in addition to directing the administration and marketing the channel's multimedia activities. Van Lamoen will work closely with the programming team in London and will oversee the on-air look of the channel.

German children's production company EM.TV & Merchandising AG has named Rolf Rickmeyer chief financial officer. This move comes in light of deputy chairman Florian Haffa's stepping down from the position. EM.TV's stock has lost more than two-thirds of its value since an accounting error in the acquisition of the Jim Henson Co. and Formula One cut earnings for the first quarter. Previously, Rickmeyer served as CFO for Lahmeyer AG, a German utility and machinery company.

ATTIK, an all-media creative solutions company, has named Ian J. Cohen director of client services. In his new post, Cohen will oversee the management and development of current and potential clients. Cohen comes to ATTIK from New York-based Artustry Partnership, which he helped launch with commercial director Bob Giraldi and managing partner David Sklaver.

Toronto-based TOPIX/Mad Dog, a computer graphics and animation facility, has signed New York-based Richard Fink and The Richard Fink Agency to head East Coast sales. Specialists in character animation, special effects, film titling, type and broadcast design, TOPIX creates photo-realistic, computer-generated animation for the advertising, feature film, broadcast and music video industries. At the same time TOPIX's post-production arm, Mad Dog, is one of Canada's leaders in the high-end post industry, using inferno* and flame*.

As part of DIC Entertainment's plan to restructure is international arm, the company has appointed Patricia Ryan as executive vice president of international sales and Dan White as vice president of international sales. Ryan will handle Western Europe and Canadian broadcast and video sales, head up property acquisitions and help oversee international co-productions. Waite will handle sales for Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Previously, Ryan headed DIC's international sales as vice president before the 1996 acquisition by Disney.

Spontaneous Combustion, a New York digital studio specializing in the creation of visual effects and design, has named Roe Bressan managing director. In her new role, Bressan will be part of the management team, which includes executive creative director Tony Robins and general manager Marc Schwartz. Bressan will be responsible for the company's continued growth, accessing new outside talent and further coordinating the internal workings of the firm.

Editor Renny Maslow has joined New York-based Editing Concepts, following a two-year stint with New York City's Northern Lights Post. He has worked on a spot for Hellman's Mayonnaise, directed by Bob Giraldi, and spots for Knorr Forkfulls and Fat Cat Ale, which he directed. Maslow has also cut music videos for Lisa Loeb and Rufas Wainwright and two independent feature films, ENDSVILLE and THE COURT. "I wanted to be more involved with narrative work," said Maslow. "I really love the vibe here. Nelson (Leonard) and Owen (Plotkin) are great editors and strong mentors.

Disney vice chairman Sanford "Sandy" Litvack has decided to leave the company at year’s end. The move has been long rumored since the very public fight in court between Disney and former Disney executive and now DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. Apparently, the feud weighed a great deal on Litvack. Disney chairman Michael Eisner said, "I regret Sandy’s decision, but I accept it and respect his desire to pursue new ventures." Litvack did not announce any specific new business plans.

Honkworm International has signed entertainment industry veteran Carah von Funk as senior vice president, corporate development. In her new post, von Funk will oversee the development of strategic business and creative alliances. She will be based out of Honkworm's New York office. Prior to joining Honkworm, von Funk served as vice president, business development for Razorfish Studios, an award-winning multimedia solutions company.

Curt Roth has been named CEO and chairman of ExtraTainment.com, a content creator focusing on short cartoons for the Internet, WAP and third generation mobile phones. Before joining ExtraTainment.com, Curt Roth was founder and president of GSM Information Network (GIN), a service provider supplying information services to over 14 digital mobile phone operators worldwide. Hubert Roth, founder and COO of ExtraTainment.com, said, "I am confident that this company will become a stunning success and has all the ingredients available to become a world player within a short time."

German children’s content producer EM.TV’s Florian Haffa has stepped down from his position as chief financial officer. Haffa will remain with the company as deputy chairman to help his brother and founder Thomas Haffa run the day-to-day operations. Currently, EM.TV is seeking out Haffa’s replacement. Even though the move was planned in advance, it comes after the company announced Monday that it was adjusting its figures for the first six months of the year to fix an accounting error in their acquisition of the Jim Henson Company and Formula 1 Racing.

Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design has added award-winning director/designer Harry Dorrington to its team of digital artists. London native Dorrington has garnered numerous awards including two Clios, two New York International Awards, one BDA Award, one RTS Craft Award, one British Festival Computer Award and many more. The Dorrington addition complements former R/Greenberg executive producers Michael Miller and Rick Wagonheim's strategy of reuniting a number of digital artists that worked together at the now defunct company.

Sesame Workshop (the Workshop), one of the world's leading producers of children's television programming, announced the appointment of Jennifer Chrein as the company's new vice president of global media. In the newly created position, Chrein will oversee international television sales for the company. Prior to the Workshop, Chrein served as senior vice president of New York-based Telescene Film Group, where she was responsible for negotiating distribution and sales with sub distributors and bringing co-producers, partners and projects from the worldwide marketplace to Telescene.

Dotcomix, a San Francisco-based animation company, has recently added Beth Sandell as the chief operating officer, Edward Burke as general counsel and vice president of business affairs, Peter Katz as vice president of marketing, and BZ Petroff as head of production. "Dotcomix is committed to presenting the best in online entertainment and animation," said Damon Danielson, CEO of Dotcomix.

Eidos Plc, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, announced the resignation of the company’s chief financial officer, Jeremy Lewis. Lewis is leaving Eidos to pursue a range of other interests. The company has commenced an external search for a new CFO to replace Lewis. Michael McGarvey, Eidos COO, said, "On behalf of the Board, I should like to thank Jeremy for the positive contribution he has made to Eidos and we wish him well for the future."

Cornerstone Animation has hired Jason VanBorssum as their new executive vice president and COO, in addition Sutherland C. Ellwood Jr. has joined the company’s board of directors. Ellwood is a former VP/head of production, head of technology and producer/writer for firms such as DreamWorks, Fox and Disney. He currently serves as co-founder, CEO and producer/writer for FilmWarp, a special effects feature film company. "We’re excited and privileged to have Sutherland aboard," said Larry D. Whitaker Jr., Cornerstone’s CEO.