Meet Your Pitch Party Winners! The network execs voted. Our staff voted. You voted! Now we have the results of the 5th Annual Animation Magazine Pitch Party! Thousands of votes have been calculated and we are proud to announce this year’s winners, including our grand prize finalist who will be given the chance to pitch to the judge of their choice and perhaps become the next big thing animation. For their top pick, our judging panel of industry execs chose Happy -go- Lucky from pitcher Heath Cecere of Los Angeles. Cecere’s ad promotes the project as “The delightful stories fo a boy named Happy, a dog named Lucky … and how they're both neither.” DIC Ent. chief creative officer Michael Maliani notes that it could be a hard sell, but likes the humor potential. [adult swim] director of development Nick Weidenfeld likes the character design, while the slightly dark, goth artwork got the attention of Kids’ WB! senior VP/GM Betsy McGowen and Jetix Europe senior VP of programming Michael Lekes. Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein also likes the art and finds the premise fun, while Spawn creator and toy tycoon Todd McFarlane comments, “Nice play on words. Going against type has a potential. I'd like to see a better LOGO.” McFarlane no doubt gave high marks to Monster in a Box, created by Brian Smith and produced by EggPlant, Prods. of Toronto. Placing second with the judges, the series of two-minute shorts has various poor saps opening the box and unleashing wild, unpredictable, destructive and disgusting hilarity. “Imaginative idea!” says Goldsmith-Vein. The third-place winner is Surgeon Sturgeon from Academy of Art University student Leo Antolini of San Francisco. However, most of the judges found this one to be more appropriate for adult audiences. Radar Cartoons exec producer Rita Street noted, “It’s super hard to sell an adult comedy show, but this one, if it’s well-written, might have a chance. I like that it appears to be a super over-the-top soap opera.” Animation Magazine employees liked Surgeon Sturgeon even more, making it the No.1 staff pick. We all agreed that the retro art style is fun and concept has the protential of being the next SpongeBob SquarePants if tailored to appeal to both kids and adults. Placing second with the staff is Happy-go-Lucky, while third place came out a tie between Out of Order from Ben Bayouth, Gabe Barrere and Dillon Oleata, and Piddles & Chubba, also from Heath Cecere (Happy-go-Lucky). Online reader votes favored Grandpa from Samule T. Nelson. The adventures of an elderly gentleman with “nutty squirrels and a mean ol’ wife” took top honors, followed by Buck Woodall’s Bucky & The Hui, about a surfing karate kid living in Hawaii. Getting the third highest amount of online votes is Alice Lin’s Best Enemies, in which a cat named Pumpkin tries to be friends with fellow cat Fetti, who wants Pumpkin dead. Congratulations to all of our 2006 Pitch Party winners! We hope to hear great news from you down the road, and wish all of our participants much success in their animation adventures. Pick up the August issue of Animation Magazine, coming soon to Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers. Sorry, the polls have closed! Check back Friday to see the winner!     Vote for Your Pitch Party Faves! We’ve received a lot of great animation ideas for the fifth annual Animation Magazine Pitch Party, and now it’s your turn to decide who gets a thumbs up! As our judging panel of industry execs deliberates, you too can help discover new talent and fresh ideas for animated television. Results of the online reader poll will be announced along with our judges’ picks and staff favorites in the August issue of Animation Magazine and live at the San Diego Comic-Con. The Pitch Party offers independent artists an opportunity to advertise their animated properties for a greatly reduced rate in the pages of Animation Magazine, which is read all over the world. Our esteemed panel of judges then reviews all entries and selects one winner for the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the participating execs of their choice. This year’s official judges include Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, Radar Cartoons exec producer Rita Street, Sony Pictures Animation senior VP of development Nate Hopper, Nickelodeon animation development director Peter Gal, Kids’ WB! senior VP/GM Betsy McGowen, Exodus Film Group exec producer Max Howard, DIC Ent. chief creative officer Michael Maliani, Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jetix Europe senior VP of programming Michael Lekes and [adult swim] director of development Nick Weidenfeld. As an online voter, you too can help get someone noticed by the animation community and possibly get their big break! You only have one week to get your votes in, so get started today! Sorry, the polls have closed! Check back Friday to see the winner!