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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. Simply go to www.animationmagazine.net/pitch_party_06_vote.html and vote for your favorites. 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! •WHAT'S A PITCH PARTY? For the fifth year in a row we're opening up an entire section of our publication (read by more animation decision-makers than any other) to 1/6th page advertisements that pitch new ideas. For less than the cost of a workshop on "breaking into the biz" you can get your great idea in front of our major readers. [NOTE: This opportunity is only available once a year. AND to help you out, we're offering these ads at a heavily discounted price!] PLUS! We've enlisted a panel of ten powerful development execs, producers and agents to judge your entries. The Pitch Party winner will receive a chance to pitch the judge of his or her choice. AND the winner will receive FREE Pitch Party Participation. • WHO'S JUDGING THIS THING? Wow! The call is just out and, already, we've got some of the most powerful people in Hollywood—make that "the world"—ready to judge the work of our Pitch Party Participants. Check back here everyday for the next two weeks to see what doors you could open just by entering our Pitch Party!!
CEO, McFarlane Companies and Spawn Creator Grammy- and Emmy-winning producer and director Todd McFarlane is best known as the creator of Spawn and founder and creative force of the award-winning McFarlane Toys, Todd McFarlane Entertainment and spawn.com. McFarlane is currently working on the return of Todd McFarlane's Spawn: the Animation and co-producing the upcoming feature film Torso, with David Fincher serving as director and Ehren Kruger as writer.
Executive Producer/ Producer’s Representative Radar Cartoons Rita Street is the managing director of Radar Cartoons, a boutique consultancy firm specializing in the development and sales of original animation content. Radar Cartoons clients include Mike Young Productions, Polygon Pictures, Gamania Digital Entertainment and Anima Estudios. Street is also the exec producer of the Mighty Fine/Nelvana series, Ruby Gloom: Happiest Girl in the World and co-producer with Frederator Studios of The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival. Before opening Radar, Street worked as a publisher, editor and journalist focusing on the industry of animation. She has served as the publisher of Animation Magazine, the editor of Film & Video Magazine and has also authored several books on graphic arts including the Rockport Publisher hardback, Computer Animation: A Whole New World. For the Art Institute of Pittsburgh she serves as a program advisory committee member for Game Art & Design. She has also served on several prestigious juries, most notably Austria's Prix Ars Electronica competition for excellence in computer animation and visual effects. Street is the founder of the international non-profit organization, Women In Animation and a board member of ASIFA-Hollywood.
Senior VP of Development, Sony Pictures Animation As senior VP of development, Nate Hopper manages the day-to-day process of developing both internal and external projects to feed the pipeline of Sony Pictures Animation. He is currently overseeing the creative development of the division’s first two features—Open Season (scheduled for release September 29, 2006) and Surf’s Up (June 2007) as well as slate of projects in development. Hopper joined Sony Pictures Animation as VP, creative affairs in August, 2002, from Twentieth Century Fox, where he was VP of production. While at Fox, he supervised production and development on the feature films such as Big Momma’s House, Black Knight and High Crimes and was responsible for the development of X2: X-Men United, Aliens Vs Predator and Stuck on You. Hopper began his career as an agent trainee at United Talent Agency, which led to him working as creative assistant to the president of Tri-Star Pictures. He also worked as a creative exec and director of development for Tri-Star Pictures. Prior to his stint at Fox, Hopper ran the day today operations and development for Apatow Productions, where he set up six pitches in one year at three different studios.
Senior VP of programming, Jetix Europe Michael Lekes is responsible for all aspects of Jetix Europe’s programming content, encompassing production, development, acquisitions and administration. Lekes was originally appointed as Jetix Europe’s director of creative and development in 2002 with responsibility for the assessment of all creative aspects of potential pan-European acquisitions; approval of all editorial content of co-productions or commissioned series; and for the development of all new programming projects. Lekes joined Jetix Europe from Chorion Intellectual Properties, where he was head of creative and brand development since 2000. He was responsible for producing the company’s animation projects, working across a portfolio of classic, international children’s brands including Noddy, The Famous Five, Blyton and Baron Bolligrew. Previously, Lekes worked as executive producer of children’s and entertainment at Granada/United; commissioning editor of children’s programs at Dorling Kindersley and in children’s program development and acquisitions for BBC-TV.
Director, Animation Development, Nickelodeon Peter Gal is director of animation development for Nickelodeon. In his current role, Peter develops new animated series for Nickelodeon and oversees the Nickelodeon cartoon shorts program. He joined Nickelodeon in late 2003 after serving as a development executive at Walt Disney Television Animation and at Disney Channel. Prior to entering the entertainment industry, Peter was a corporate attorney with the firm of Dewey Ballantine, a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney and Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender.
Founder, CEO, The Gotham Group Ellen Goldsmith-Vein founded The Gotham Group in 1994 and quickly grew it into the largest representation firm in the world focusing on creative talent in the animation and family entertainment business. Recognized as the powerhouse management firm in the animation industry, The Gotham Group boasts a roster of over 250 top directors, writers, producers, illustrators, artists and content creators, providing a full range of services in both live action and animated feature film and television including packaging, corporate consulting, strategic career planning, children’s programming, prime time television series, and animated and family entertainment content for emerging new media. This past year saw Goldsmith-Vein dramatically ramp up Gotham Group’s production arm in both features and television. Currently Gotham is producing a feature film based on client Doug TenNapel’s graphic novel Creature Tech at New Regency with Forrest Gump producer Wendy Finerman; The Spiderwick Chronicles, set up at Paramount with Nickelodeon Movies, based on the recently published best-selling series of fantasy books written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. On the television side, Gotham is executive producing Creature Comforts with Aardman Animations and Academy Award winner Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit) for CBS Television.
Senior Vice President/General Manager, Kids WB! McGowen oversees Kids' WB! on the new CW network, including current programming, development and scheduling, as well as marketing areas including brand, image and promotion. McGowen has been a key member of the team that has won 17 consecutive Saturday morning sweeps in the traditional 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. kids' broadcast block. Kids' WB! has been the #1 broadcast network since Fall 2000 and continues to reinforce itself as a unique destination for kids. McGowen works closely with the network's research department to find out what kids want. She also works with other divisions within Time Warner such as Warner Bros. Animation, Consumer Products, Warner Home Video, New Media, Publishing and Features in order to create synergistic programming that can succeed on multiple platforms.
Executive Producer, Exodus Film Group Max Howard is a veteran executive and producer in the animation film industry. He spent 12 years at the Walt Disney Company as one of the highest-level architects of that company's animation renaissance. He was involved at a senior level in the making of a number of Disney's animation successes, including The Little Mermaid, The Prince and the Pauper, Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas and Fantasia 2000. In the mid-’90s he became President of Feature Animation at Warner Bros., overseeing the award-winning animated feature The Iron Giant and the international hit Space Jam. He was also a producer on DreamWorks' animated feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. He is currently executive producing three animated films for Exodus Film Group—Igor, which is currently in production, The Hero of Color City and Amarillo Armadillo. Igor will be distributed by The Weinstein Co.
Chief Creative Office, DIC Entertainment Michael Maliani serves as the Chief Creative Officer of DIC Entertainment and has been with the company since 1983. In this capacity, Maliani overseas all creative activities relating to DIC, including design, development, production, talent, music, programming and advertising. Maliani worked with Disney, Marvel, Hanna-Barbara and Warner Bros before becoming an integral part of DIC’s award-winning creative team. In his 20 years with DIC, he has contributed to the 2,800 half-hours of programming in the company’s extensive library. As an executive producer on all DIC programming, Maliani has been the recipient of numerous industry recognitions, including Emmy Awards, Cable ACE Awards, Golden Reels, Humanitas and Environmental Media Awards. Maliani was born and raised in New York and moved to Los Angeles in 1976, where he attended The Art Center in Pasadena. He has been married for 21 years to his wife Lisa and has three children, Vincent, Marissa and Gianno, and too many rescued pets to name.
Manager of Program Development for [adult swim], Cartoon Network Formerly a magazine editor, Weidenfeld was offered the [adult swim] gig by the infamous Mike Lazzo while interviewing Lazzo for Esquire Magazine. This summer, Nick is busy working on the latest [adult swim] show Metalocalypse, a new series about the world’s most popular heavy metal band that causes mayhem and destruction wherever they go. Along with managing the development of other upcoming series, Nick and [adult swim] art director Jacob Escobedo are producing their own pilot for the block. In That Crook’d ‘Sip, the dysfunctional, Old South Beauregard family, is falling apart, much like their Mississippi Mansion. • AND WHAT DO I WIN? For one thing, a whole of print and online coverage! Not only do you get a 1/6th page ad in our print edition, if you're a winner, you'll get additional editorial coverage, a chance to pitch your idea to the judge of your choice and the cost of your entry reimbursed.BUT WAIT! There's more … (here's a big list of everything you could get just by entering).
1) Call 818-991-2884 or e-mail sales@www.animationmagazine.net to reserve your entry space. One of our great sales execs will contact you immediately. Entry Deadline is June 7, 2006.2) What you'll need to provide via e-mail: a JPEG or TIFF image from your pitch, a 30-word description of your pitch and your contact information.3) The entry fee is $375. • FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS How Do I Protect My Idea? Well, the easiest answer is "by entering the Pitch Party." If you're pitching your idea in our magazine then your idea has appeared in print with your name attached; your idea is no longer floating around out in the ether for anyone to pick up. To further protect yourself though, we suggest registering your idea with the Writers Guild. Go to www.wga.org for more info. WHAT KIND OF STUFF CAN I ENTER? Anything! As long as your idea has the potential to be animated, you can enter a television series, movie, game, whatever! Be forewarned, however, our judges are strictly from the movie and TV arena. WHEN DO YOU ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS? As soon as our August issue hits the newsstands, around July 1. We will also be hyping our winners online during the week of the San Diego Comic-Con, July 20 - 23 (www.comic-con.org). WHAT SHOULD I ENTER? Basically an idea that's different; something our judges haven't seen before. Most development folks want a show that is "character-driven" or "kid-relate-able." In artist-speak that just means they're looking for a show that has a strong character at the center of the action and, if it's a TV show, a character that kids can latch onto. Remember to pick a really strong image for your entry, one that describes your show or its main character in a striking visual manner. Concerning your 30-word description, all we can say is re-write, re-write, re-write. Don't just give us the first thing that trips off your fingertips onto the keyboard and into Microsoft word. Work it! Then read it to your friends. They'll tell you if they get it or not. (And, we know this sounds dumb, but run a spell check.) • LEGAL STUFF Animation Magazine is not responsible or liable for ensuring the images used in Pitch Party Participant advertisements are the property of the advertisers/participants. |
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