ANIMATION
WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.8 - November 1998
Business
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| Jiri Trnka Studio's stop-motion animated series, Fireflies. © Kratky Film. |
Kratky Film Restructures. Czech production and distribution company Kratky Film Praha
a.s., which owns the Bratri v triku and Jiri Trnka animation studios, has
been substantially restructured. The company has been struggling financially
since 1994, and has been facing possible bankruptcy since 1997, a measure
prevented by a recent investment from insurance company Ceska Pojistovna,
now the majority shareholder in Kratky Film. The restructuring has also caused
a management shake-out. At Kratky Film, Karel Hajek is the new general manager
and CEO, replacing Jan Knoflicek; Jiri Porubsky is the new executive and financial
director/COO, and Alexander Jerie is the new sales director, replacing Jiri
Busek. John Riley, who was in charge of international sales, has also left
Kratky Film. Prague Academy of Performing Arts animation professor Jiri Kubicek
has replaced Jiri Sojak as head of the Bratri v Triku cartoon studio, and
Michal Havlik has replaced Jiri Vanek as head of the Jiri Trnka puppet film
studio. "I am very happy to realize that with all the changes in the
company, there has also come an enormous enthusiasm from all employees,"
said general manager Karel Hajek. "I am sure that it will help us to
manage the prospective problems which might still come." Kratky Film
owns rights to hundreds of animated films it has produced or co-produced at
Bratri v triku and Jiri Trnka animation studios since 1945, yet due to financial
circumstances these films have hardly been distributed internationally. Now,
with new investment capital, the company hopes to utilize the library, as
well as to sell revived animated productions such as Zdenek Miller's cartoon
series The Mole and the stop-motion Fireflies.
Hahn Expands Into Asia. Berlin, Germany-based animation studio, Hahn
Film is launching production studios in Taiwan and Vietnam. Each studio will
employ about 150 people, and will be devoted to digital ink and paint services,
initially for Hahn projects, but may branch out to service other studios in
the future. The first studio, called Saigon Graphics Enterprises, in Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam, is already up and running, working on the production of
the animated series Wild Life, which is being distributed by Hit Entertainment
and is pre-sold to the Fox Family Channel (U.S.), the BBC and Nickelodeon
(U.K.). The second studio, in Taipei, Taiwan, is a joint partnership with
local entrepreneurs, and will be called DigiMation. It will open for business
in mid-November. Commenting on the expansion in the Hollywood Reporter
[10/6-12/98], Hahn Film CEO and founder Gerd Hahn said, "I want to ensure
better quality. If you go to a major animation studio (in Asia) that works
for Saban or Disney, you get pushed around and the quality goes down. If I
have my own studio, I can control the quality and I know who's working for
me."
SAG Singing New Toon. A new three-year agreement between the Screen
Actors Guild (SAG), representing voice-over performers working in television
animation, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP),
representing 108 television animation producers, has been approved by the
Guild's National Board of Directors. The deal is a final version of one that
was announced in August [AF 8/11/98], when it represented only 60 animation
producers, and was still pending approval by SAG member performers. The contract
gives voice-over performers immediate wage increases, starting with the basic
session fee, up from $559 to $576. In addition, the residual formula payable
for prime-time re-runs on Fox will immediately increase by 10% and then another
10% beginning the second year of the contract. The definition of an "interstitial
bit" was expanded from 90 to 120 seconds, granting producers greater
flexibility in the right to use excerpts in "generic" promos or
in "re-caps." Animation studios represented in the deal include
Disney, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks Television Animation. The deal has no
impact on voice-over performers working in theatrical animation, as their
work is covered by SAG's Basic Theatrical Agreement.
Toon Union Holds Elections. At its membership meeting on September
29, the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists and Affiliated Optical Electronic
and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE re-elected the following officers, who were
nominated without opposition: President: Tom Sito, Vice-President: George
Sukara, Business Representative: Steve Hulett, Recording Secretary: Jeff Massie,
Sergeant-At-Arms: Jan Browning. In addition, 17 nominations were received
for 11 positions on Local 839's Executive Board, including eight incumbents
(marked with a *): Román Arámbula, Bronwen Barry*, Ben Berkman,
Dave Brain*, Pat Connolly-Sito*, Elena Cox, Martin Forte, Bob Foster, Warren
Greenwood, Jim Hillin, Earl Kress*, Craig Littell-Herrick*, Greg Manwaring,
Enrique May*, Karen Nugent, Ann Sullivan* and Stephan Zupkas*. Current Executive
Board members Sheila Brown, Tom Ray and Dave Zaboski did not run for re-election.
Ballots have been mailed to active Local 839 members in good standing, and
were counted on October 24. The results will be announced on Local
839's information page.
For more information on the M.P.S.C. union, visit Animation World
Magazine's July 1998 issue for president Tom Sito's article, "The
Hollywood Animation Union (M.P.S.C. #839)."
Creative Capers Opens Digital Doorway. Glendale, California-based animation
and development studio, Creative Capers Entertainment has partnered with Dallas,
Texas-based content delivery system company, Rapture Technologies, to form
a new company. The 50/50 joint venture, called Digital Doorway, will be based
in Glendale and focus on production and marketing of interactive gaming, entertainment
and educational titles for the PC, console, hand-held and online markets.
Digital Doorway management will be headed by Creative Capers founders Sue
Shakespeare (CEO), Terry Shakespeare and David Molina (both executive vice
presidents of creative design), and Rapture Technologies founders Doug Gillespie
(president) and Jeff English (vice president of research and development).
Creative Capers, which has had an exclusive development deal with Disney since
1996 (They created the game-turned-cartoon series Nightmare Ned), is
maintaining it's status as an independent studio. Creative Capers is currently
working on game projects for Disney Interactive and co-producing two live-action
TV series and a feature film with Jersey Films. Digital Doorway has not yet
announced new projects.
Take a look back at Animation World Magazine's December
1996 issue to read Harvey Deneroff's article, "Visioneering:
Interactive Animation at Creative Capers."
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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