Hidden Pigeon Company (HPC) announced that kids and family entertainment executive Karen K. Miller has been named CEO, bringing a wealth of development and distribution experience to the organization. Kathy Franklin, who joined HPC after 12 years as President, Franchise Development at Lightstorm Entertainment, will step into an advisory role.
Hidden Pigeon Company, which launched in early 2023, is a multiplatform company created by celebrated children’s book author and Emmy winner Mo Willems, Stampede Ventures and RedBird Capital Partners to expand Willems’ children’s books and IP across all entertainment platforms.
Miller joins HPC from Cyber Group Studios, where she served as President & CEO of its U.S. division and led all operations from the Paris-based company’s LA office. Previously, Miller was SVP of Content for NBCUniversal’s Universal Kids linear network, where she oversaw strategy, development, co-productions and acquisitions across all content, and was responsible for audience growth and global franchise development. Prior to her role at NBC Universal, Miller spent eight years as VP of Acquisitions, Co-Productions & Global Content Strategy for Disney Channels Worldwide, where she created and executed global acquisition strategies and oversaw co-productions for Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. Miller had a 17 year tenure at Warner Bros, as a producer for both animated and live-action family content and as an acquisitions executive within the Consumer Products business.
“There is enormous potential to grow the impact of Mo Willems’ beloved characters and properties around the globe and introduce them to families everywhere,” said Miller. “I have long been a fan of Mo’s books and productions, and it is a privilege for me to step in at this time and build on HPC’s existing foundation as we help to scale this business to the next level.”
The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional global honorary society, named acclaimed producer & VFX producer Joyce Cox, VES, as the forthcoming recipient of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her valuable contributions to visual arts and filmed entertainment. The award will be presented at the 22nd Annual VES Awards on February 21 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The Society will honor Cox, a venerated VES Fellow and multiple VES Award winner, for her dedication to the industry and advancement of unforgettable storytelling through cutting edge visual effects. With credits that include Titanic, The Dark Knight, The Great Gatsby, Men in Black III, Avatar and The Jungle Book, Cox has been instrumental in shaping popular culture for decades. The Society also recognizes Cox’s dedication and vision in working to create a unified visual effects budgeting system, through her work on the Curó VFX budgeting tool.
Twenty-four-year, multi-award winning (VES, AEAF, Canes Lions) visual effects industry veteran Franck Lambertz has joined Rodeo FX to lead its recently opened studio in Paris. Known for the VFX of Stranger Things and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the company has won recognition from the Oscars, Emmys and VES Awards since its establishment in 2006. The new European outpost will cater to film, episodes, advertising and experience projects.
Throughout his career, Lambertz has collaborated with directors such as Frederik Bond, Rupert Sanders, Damien Chazelle, François Rousselet and Cary Fukunaga, while leaving his mark on award-winning campaigns for prestigious brands such as Chanel, Perrier, Ubisoft and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Moving between films and commercials, he worked with Hybride on Sin City and Spy Kids and then joined MPC in London to specialize in advertising. Lambertz has also been part of the launch teams for MPC Los Angeles in 2008, MPC Amsterdam in 2013, MPC Paris in 2015, and in the creation of the French section of the Visual Effects Society.
Opened in June 2023, Rodeo FX’s Paris studio marks the creative company’s fifth office after Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, and Los Angeles.The company employs 900 international artists, with recent projects including Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon (Netflix) and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV+).
Dr. Samantha Moore has been appointed as Head of Program for MA Animation within the School of Communication at the Royal College of Art (RCA). The program cultivates critical thinking to examine social and cultural issues by embracing experimentation and creativity, and is renowned for its artistic excellence, director-led approach and innovative risk-taking.
“I am delighted to lead RCA Animation, after having worked as Senior Tutor on the program with Professor Suzanne Buchan for two years. I look forward to consolidating development in this vibrant and exciting form, where the only constant is interdisciplinary curiosity, and the wide-ranging nature and impact of the animated outcome,” said Moore, whose research and practice used animation to document the invisible, particularly in the scientific arena. (Her PhD explore how animation can document perceptual brain states.)
“Animation may provide singular perspectives but it is essentially collaborative. Together with an amazing team of internationally recognized and artistically engaged staff — tutors, technicians and guest speakers — I want to create an inclusive and diverse educational space where students can transform their research-led studio-based practice.”
DNEG announced hiring of Emmy-nominated producers Ron Ames and Jesse Kobayashi in Los Angeles. Most recently, Ames and Kobayashi led the delivery of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for Amazon Studios, managing the delivery of 9,000 shots and nearly nine hours of content across multiple vendors.
In their new roles as In-House Filmmakers, the pair will draw on more than 50 years of combined industry experience to provide filmmaking, production, and technical expertise and advice, working directly with DNEG’s in-house teams to improve and advance the company’s service offerings. Additionally, the pair will collaborate with DNEG’s filmmaking partners to help navigate the digital production process, recommending technology approaches and providing creative solutions to filmmaking challenges.
Ames has been a filmmaker and storyteller for his whole career. From producing and directing television commercials in the golden age of advertising, to his first feature film experience with Martin Scorsese on The Aviator to The Rings of Power, Ames has been involved in every phase of film production, as a first AD, producer, VFX producer, post-production supe and producer of film technology on more than 20 productions, including Avatar, The Departed, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Star Trek: Beyond and Avengers: Age of Ultron. On The Rings of Power, he produced all the technology departments, from camera capture to final exhibition, including VFX, post-production and sound.
With more than 20 years in the post and VFX sectors, Kobayashi also began his career as a filmmaker, directing a series of short films before shifting his focus to the integration of creativity and technology and, more specifically, the transition of dailies from film to digital at both Laser Pacific and Warner Bros. post facilities. As an executive for Legendary Pictures, Kobayashi oversaw VFX production on over a dozen features and television shows, and as a client-side VFX producer he has worked on a diverse array of projects, including Krampus, Warcraft and Pacific Rim Uprising. Kobayashi also has experience in the video gaming sector, having held the role of Producer of Cinematic Entertainment at Riot Games.
More Exec Moves in Animation & VFX:
- Blue Ant Media unveiled new leadership across its yet-to-be-named studio and rights business, including animation ops, led by Co-Presidents Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg. Among several appointments, AJ Trauth (Armadillo Avalanche, Generation Mars) leads the expanded Kids, Family and Young Adult division, based in the studio’s LA office, while Josh Bowen (Doomlands) will lead the business’ animation studio in Toronto and its planned expansion.
- Atlanta-based design and animation studio Primal Screen has promoted Fumi Yozawa to the position of Creative Director.
- The Yard VFX announced the appointment of Tom Fonvillars as Head of the CG department.
- Annegret Richter has joined Heike Mozer in the new leadership of the Stuttgart Int’l Festival of Animated Film (ITFS), taking on the post of Artistic Director.
- Moonbug Entertainment (part of Candle Media) has tapped Peter Stone as its new Chief Marketing Officer, reporting to CEO Rene Rechtman.
- DeAPlaneta Entertainment has hired on Estíbaliz González as Head of Franchise & Marketing for Kids & Family.
- Blinkink welcomes NYC-based Zach Tavel and Canadian Cole Kush to its global director’s roster.
