David Pritchard, former president/ceo of Film Roman has joined animation and visual effects studio GigaPix Studio as president, replacing John Savage who recently vacated that position.
Chris Blauvelt, founder/ceo of GigaPix Studios, said: David is a rare executive who combines creative instincts and industry relationships, with strong financial acumen as well as Wall Street relationships. Davids reputation for creating and attracting creative talent and ideas is also a real strength for the studio. This combination is exactly what GigaPix needs to launch our first slate of projects into production and distribution. At Film Roman, shortly after it went public, Pritchard reorganized and reinvigorated the studio (including launching a feature film division).
Pritchard is a five-time Emmy award-winning exec producer of such successful animated television series as THE SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY and DR. KATZ-PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST.
Pritchard also worked on MISSION HILL and THE OBLONGS (for primetime on The WB), GARFIELD, BOBBYS WORLD, FELIX THE CAT, MR. POTATO HEAD, C-BEAR AND JAMAL (for Fox Family and Fox Kids) and the films, JOHNNY TSUNAMI and Motocross (for the Disney Channel). TRIPPING THE RIFT, an animated short he exec produced, is in its second season on SCI FI Channel.
In the past six years Pritchard has been a board member, advisor to the board and interim ceo of several publicly traded media & entertainment companies. He is currently an advisor to the board of a new multi-million dollar hedge fund and advisor and principal of a large China real estate venture. During this period he has been involved in raising more than $100 million for various entertainment companies.
Pritchard has begun production on BEN & IZZY, a CG series he created and helped finance, which is being produced in Amman, Jordan and Manila. Pritchards partners in the series include King Abdullah of Jordan and several other prominent U.S. and Arab investors.
I am excited to be joining Chris Blauvelt and GigaPix, Pritchard said. The studio has the infrastructure and the creative talent to deliver top quality animation at the right cost. Its a great opportunity for me to bring in all the projects I have been developing on my own and leverage these ideas and my financial, distribution and creative relationships under the GigaPix banner.
GigaPix will announce plans for a slate of projects in the coming months, according to Pritchard.
Chatsworth, California-based computer-animation house GigaPix Studios (www.gigapixstudios.com) recently opened a visual effects department to provide complete, high-end visual effects design and post-production for feature films, television, commercial spots and music videos. Blauvelt founded GigaPix Studios on Dec. 20, 2002, in a modest 2,300 sq. ft. office in Canoga Park, California. GigaPix opened a new 32,000-square-foot facility in 2005 to move from shorts to independent computer-animated features.
