Film Roman, the animation house behind The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Tripping the Rift, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and a number of other series, has promoted Jay Fukuto to oversee all of the studio’s animation production. He will be in charge of television, feature film, home entertainment, commercial and visual effects operations, working out of the Burbank, Calif. headquarters of the Starz Media company.
Reporting to Starz Animation CEO Kent Rice, Fukuto will be busy with three primetime network toons. In addition to Simpsons and King, Film Roman is animating The Goode Family, Mike Judge’s latest animated series set to air on ABC. The studio is also producing 26 episodes of Marvel Super Hero Squad for air in 2009, as well as 26 installments of Marvel’s The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for broadcast in 2011. Beyond TV, Starz is entrenched in the direct-to-video market with the animated Hellboy films and the recent animated horror pic Dead Space: Downfall, based on the Electronic Arts video game.
Fukuto joined Film Roman two years ago as head of production. He previously served as VP of entertainment for MGA, where he oversaw development of the Bratz and Alien Racers series. He also worked on Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa and other shows for Walt Disney Television Animation. Other gigs included key creative and managerial roles at Netter Digital Entertainment and MGM Animation where he worked on All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series, RoboCop: Alpha Commando and The Lionhearts.
