Michael Stojda has beenappointed managing director of Softimage, Avid's Montreal-basedanimation and special effects subsidiary. Stojda, who will providestrategic business and operational leadership for the company, willreport to Joe Bentivegna, vice president and general manager of AvidMedia Solutions, located in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Commenting onthe announcement, Bentivegna said, "With more than 14 years ofindustry and high-tech experience, Mike has an excellentunderstanding of virtually all aspects of today's integratedproduction solutions for the film, broadcast and games industries.Additionally, during the seven years he has worked at both Softimageand Avid, Mike has become intimately familiar with the people,technology and culture within our organization, as well as in theindustry, which will serve us well as he helps Avid establish anincreasing presence in animation and 3D content creation." "Softimagehas long been synonymous with innovation and excellence in animationand effects. We recently introduced a new version of our 3D contentcreation product, SOFTIMAGE|XSI, which enables animation facilitiesto redefine the way they work," said Stojda. "I'm looking forward toworking closely with our customers and the many talented developmentengineers and sales, marketing and support staff who give Softimageits distinct personality and who embody an absolute passion formaking the best animation and effects products on the planet." Priorto this promotion, Stojda was director of product marketing for theAvid|DS family of nonlinear production systems, which are developedin the engineering labs in Montreal and Tewksbury. Along with hisexpanded duties at Softimage, Stojda will continue to direct productmarketing efforts for the Avid|DS product. Stojda also has extensiveexperience in defining customer requirements, coordinatingdevelopment efforts and successfully launching new products, as wellas understanding the customer support requirements to make theseproduct introductions successful. Prior to Avid and Softimage, Stojdaworked as an industry segment manager at Digital EquipmentCorporation, where he also held positions in customer support,program management and business development.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
