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Bent Image Lab Promotes Paul Diener

Bent Image Lab promotes Paul Diener to head of production.

Paul Diener has been promoted to Bent Image Lab’s new head of production. Diener who joined Bent in April of 2012, brings a wealth of animation and production experience to his new role as Bent’s H.O.P.

“We are thrilled to have Paul Diener head up our production team,” says Bent Executive Producer Tsui Ling Toomer. “His creative eye and confident management style help keep everything running smoothly at Bent.”

Diener’s impressive list of producing accomplishments include the Emmy Award winning “Claymation Easter Special” for Will Vinton Studios, the Grammy Award winning music video for Michael Jackson’s “Leave Me Alone” and the MTV Award winning music video for Tears for Fears “Sowing the Seeds of Love”.  He also worked as a development executive at Laika Studios for several years.

“Paul Diener and I teamed up on several ground breaking projects during my first years in Portland, long before he joined Bent,” says Bent Director and Partner David Daniels.  “He would produce my work with an eye to the creative, and always made things better on screen.” 

Diener grew up in New York City, where he was influenced by a couple of his uncles in the biz. One uncle worked Mad Men style at an advertising agency and educated him in motion picture advertising. Another uncle was a film curator, critic and teacher, and helped introduce the avant-garde film movement to the states.

“I was fascinated by filmmaking as an impressionable youth,” says Diener. “When my uncle projected a 16mm copy of Saul Bass’s Why Man Creates on the wall of his Greenwich Village apartment, I was hooked.”

After graduating from USC Film School, Diener spent his early career working in Los Angeles post-production houses. After he moved to Portland, he ran into an old college friend who got him started at Will Vinton Studios.  He later left Vinton to work on music videos with the venerable Jim Blashfield, but eventually returned to produce half-hour specials and commercials. After Vinton transformed into Laika Studios, Diener worked on developing Laika’s feature film The Boxtrolls which is currently in production.

“Paul is a great asset to our team. His wealth of experience in production and animation speaks for itself,” says Bent Partner and Executive Producer Ray Di Carlo. “Plus his March Madness brackets are unmatched.”

Diener started at Bent as a senior producer where he produced multiple commercial projects. He later transitioned to the role of visual effects producer to oversee the company’s work on NBC’s Grimm. He was promoted to H.O.P. in February.

“I have a long and varied experience with filmmaking, animation and artists,” says Diener. “Sharing that experience and putting it into action on a studio-wide basis is both rewarding and challenging.”

Source: Bent Image Lab

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.

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