| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Stephanie joined Breakthrough Animation in 2004, as Co-Producer on the international hit series Atomic Betty. She later produced the CGI pre-school series Miss BG for TVO/TFO/France 5. Currently Stephanie is working on Breakthrough's first adult animated property, Producing Parker, a prime time series for CanWest Global. As Director of Development and Licensing Stephanie manages Breakthrough's development slate of animated properties - working with creators, writers, directors, and co-production partners for both domestic and international broadcasters. |  | |
Mark Bishop, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia
| Launching into Online Space: Ins and Outs of Web Series | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As partner and co-founder of marblemedia, Mark plays a key role in developing both television and interactive projects which tell unique stories across multiple platforms. Mark is responsible for building strong relationships with broadcasters, content developers, technology partners and investors. Mark is the Executive Producer and Producer of This is Emily Yeung (Treehouse) and This is Daniel Cook (Treehouse, TVO), now both airing in over 75 countries. |  | |
Helen Brunsdon, Broadcast and Development Manager, Aardman Animations
| Behind the Aardman Curtain | ||
| Sunday, September 21, 9:00 am, National Gallery - Lecture Hall | ||
| The Business of Shorts | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 4:30 pm, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Since graduating in 1992, Helen has worked extensively in the animation industry, firstly joining the BBC as a production co-ordinator and then as an assistant for the Cardiff International Animation Festival. Joining Aardman in 1993, she established herself within admin and production and was approached by S4C to produce two ‘World Faith’ animated films. In 1999, Helen returned to Aardman Animations as Development Manager. As well as Broadcast development, Helen is also responsible for Short Form Content and oversees Aardman’s mobile and new media strategy. |  | |
Patricia Burns, Producer, Leap2ns Inc.
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Patricia Burns has worked in the animation industry for over 25 years; most recently as VP International Production for Corus Entertainment/Nelvana Ltd. During her 20 year tenure with Nelvana as an award winning producer and an integral part of senior management, Pat produced and/or supervised innumerable animated series. In 2007 Patricia established her own company (Leap2ns Inc.) is currently producing the prime time animated series Bob&Doug with Dave Thomas for Canwest Global. |
Peter Burton, Director, Animation, 20th Century Fox
| The Search for Properties: New Approaches | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Animation has always been a passion of mine - from The Smurfs to The Simpsons to Frisky Dingo. I Started at Fox in the spring of this year and have been actively seeking out new talent nationally and internationally. I must say it has been wonderfully exciting. My background is in music, though I've been a writer on the side since my early years. With the rise of the internet and rapidly advancing technology, we're seeing incredible artists emerge. It's truly an amazing time to be alive. |  | |
Eric Calderon, CEO/Concept Creator/Script Writer, Wild Boar Media
| Japan in Focus | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom |
Jason Chaney , Executive Producer of Content, Corus Television Interactive
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
| Launching into Online Space: Ins and Outs of Web Series | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As Executive Producer, Interactive, Jason Chaney oversees the strategizing and planning of all online content for Corus Entertainment’s Television brands. Having worked in interactive media for the past 12 years, Jason has extensive experience in interactive marketing and advertising. |  | |
Jonas Diamond, Executive Producer, Smiley Guy Studios
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Smiley Guy Studios (SGS) is an award-winning full-service production company with expertise in animation, design, writing, sound, music, and multi-media. Founded in 1998 by 3 graduates of the Canadian Film Centre, SGS has since grown in size and capability, with expertise in vector-based animation and computer-generated imagery. It has been successfully producing its own Gemini-nominated TV series, “Odd Job Jack,” for the past 6 years, while also collaborating with clients on a variety of animated TV, film and new media projects. |  | |
Ken Faier, El Presidente, Nerd Corps Entertainment inc.
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As President of Nerd Corps, Ken Faier is responsible for the business management and administration of the company's roster of intellectual properties, including arranging financing, co-production partners and distribution, as well as licensing and merchandising deals. He also worked with senior management to spearhead the expansion of the company’s infrastructure in order to become a full service global player in the children’s market. |  | |
Jonathan Freedman, Professor, University of Toronto
| Responsible TV: Gender, Child Development and Violence | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Received his BA from Harvard and his PhD from Yale in psychology. Has taught at Stanford, Columbia and is now at the University of Toronto. He has done research on many aspects of social influence and on psychology and the law. The work most relevant to this conference are his reviews of research on the effect of television violence and video game violence on aggression and violent crime. He has always concluded that there is no convincing evidence that there is any effect. |  | |
Athena Georgaklis, Manager, Original Production, TELETOON Canada Inc.
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
| Tween is the New Teen | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Athena Georgaklis is the Manager, Original Production for TELETOON Canada Inc., the country’s first and only 24-hour animation station, with English and French language networks. In this role, she is responsible for supervising the development and production of original programming for both the English and French networks. |  | |
Michael Goldsmith, Director of Original Content, TELETOON
| The Search for Properties: New Approaches | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Michael is the Director, Original Content for TELETOON Canada Inc. the country’s first and only 24-hour animation station, with English and French language networks. In this role, he oversees the development and production of original content including multiplatform distribution. |  | |
Seth Green, Producer/Writer/Director, Feldman Public Relations
| Seth Green and Matt Senreich | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 8:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Seth Green is co-creator, executive producer, writer, director, and main voice talent for the Emmy-nominated Robot Chicken series, now wrapping up their third season on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Green directed George Lucas in the Robot Chicken: Star Wars special last year and the stop-motion animated show was the #1 TV DVD upon release. Green has starred in films starting with Hotel New Hampshire and his acting credits include stints as Scott Evil in all three Austin Powers films, The Italian Job, Party Monster, Without a Paddle, Can't Hardly Wait and dozens more, including Disney's upcoming Old Dogs with Robin Williams and John Travolta, and Sex Drive released this fall. He's been voicing Chris Griffin on Fox's hit Family Guy since the animated show's debut 10 years ago. |  | |
Alan Gregg, VP International Production, Brown Bag Films
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Established in 1994, Brown Bag Films is an Irish animation studio producing high quality children's television programmes and television commercials for international markets. Brown Bag Films employ more than 55 talented animators, directors, designers and production staff in a state-of-the-art studio in Dublin, Ireland. The company recently established an office in Toronto, Canada. |  | |
Clem Hobbs, Director of Post Production, Decode Entertainment
| Pushing the Limits of Technology | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 9:45 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Clem Hobbs, Decode’s Director of Post Production, has been with Decode for 8 years now. He has filled many roles such as senior compositor on The Undergrads, supervising editor on Bromwell High and Technical Director on Blobheads. With a solid understanding of technologies linked to 2D/3D animation, compositing & post production, Clem designs & maintains many of the co-production workflows established with our productions partners around the world. He is currently working as an Animation Producer on a Canada/UK co-production for the BBC. |  | |
Matt Hornburg, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Named Producer of the Year at the 2007 Canadian New Media Awards, Matt is Executive Producer, partner and co-founder of marblemedia. Matt is responsible for leading creative teams to execute both television and digital media projects. Currently Matt is producing The Adrenaline Project, coming this fall on YTV. The live action teen/tween extreme competition series that pits contestants against one another and tests their own physical and mental limits. |  | |
Leah Hoyer, Director, Development , Walt Disney Television Animation
| Tween is the New Teen | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Ms. Hoyer is a former attorney who left that field to pursue her passion for cartoons. After completing her MFA coursework at UCLA's Animation Workshop in 2001, Leah began working at Disney Television Animation, where she is currently the Director of Development for Disney Channel Animated Series. During her tenure at Disney, Leah has worked on numerous series, including “Recess,” “Kim Possible” and “Phineas & Ferb.” |  | |
Philippe Ivanusic - Vallee, Series Concept Creator and Writer
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
A Concordia university graduate in Film animation, Phil Ivanusic started his animation career as creator and writer for the League of Super Evil. Phil has as been working closely with Nerd Corps entertainment and L.O.S.E co-Creators Davila LeBlanc and Peter Ricq since 2005 developing the series for its broadcast debut. He is now working on L.O.S.E as well as exciting new projects including Pirate Zoe (currently in development with Cartoon Saloon.) |  | |
Anthony Jiwa, Director of Marketing, Studio B Productions
| Japan in Focus | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Anthony joined Studio B in 2006 as Director of Marketing. In this role he oversees marketing, licensing, publicity and online iniatiaves - working with production partners, international and domestic broadcasters and agents. Prior to Studio B he held positions at VIZ Media and Mattel Interactive/The Learning Company. |  | |
Brown Johnson, President Animation, Nickelodeon (Nick Jr/Noggin)
| Brown Johnson | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 8:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Brown Johnson is President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. Johnson spearheads development and production for all animated programming across Nickelodeon, the largest provider of television animation in the US, while continuing to oversee development and production for all preschool programming. In addition to supervising the creative direction of contemporary classics such as SpongeBob Squarepants, The Fairly OddParents and Nick’s latest hit Back At The Barnyard, Johnson is the driving force in shepherding upcoming Nicktoon series The Mighty B! starring Amy Poehler and The Penguins of Madagascar in partnership with DreamWorks SKG. She supervises creative executive teams on both the East and West Coasts, managing the creative direction and coordination efforts between series production, on-air promotions, marketing and consumer products. Johnson has been the driving force behind Nickelodeon Preschool and the success of the number-one preschool brand Nick Jr. Her creative leadership nurtured and grew groundbreaking properties for Nick Jr., including Blue’s Clues, Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans, Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets!, Yo Gabba Gabba! and most recently, Ni Hao, Kai-lan. Johnson spearheads all preschool content across Nickelodeon networks, including Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s programming block dedicated to preschoolers seen over 96 million homes, and NOGGIN, Nickelodeon’s commercial-free digital educational network for preschoolers seen in 64 million homes. As General Manager of NOGGIN, her leadership has driven double-digit ratings growth for the digital network which recently expanded from 12-hours into a 24-hour preschool network. NOGGIN will offer more of the network’s award-winning, quality, educational children’s programming, including original series Jack’s Big Music Show, Obie award-winning The Upside Down Show, Pinky Dinky Doo and Oobi. |  | |
Chuck Johnson, SVP Production, Nerd Corps Entertainment Inc
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Chuck brings more than a decade of CGI animation experience to his role as Senior VP of Production at Nerd Corps, where he heads up production and studio operations. His background in production, education and business management has played an integral part in assembling Nerd Corps’s highly talented team of artists and technicians, and creating one of the industry’s most productive and dynamic animation pipelines. In the fall of 2002, Johnson was approached by Nerd Corps CEO, Asaph Fipke to help build a studio capable of significantly raising the bar in 3-D animated television. The realization of this vision can be seen in Nerd Corps’s successful boys action series Storm Hawks, the Gemini award-winning series Dragon Booster, as well as the company’s two newest properties, League of Super Evil (L.O.S.E.) and Team Awethum!!!!. |  | |
Curtis Lelash, Director, Comedy Animation, Cartoon Network
| The Search for Properties: New Approaches | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Curtis joined the Original Series department at Cartoon Network in Atlanta in 2005, and has just relocated to Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank as Director, Comedy Animation. Currently his goal is to seek out the best comedic voices and projects for the network as well his continuing work on current series. Previously he worked in development at Dreamworks Animation and Storyopolis Productions. |  | |
Ira Levy, Executive Producer, Breakthrough Films & Television Inc.
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Ira Levy is Executive Producer and Partner at Breakthrough Films & Television. Ira, alongside partner, Peter Williamson, oversees development, finance and production on a variety of documentary, lifestyle and drama series, as well as comedy and animated programs. Ira has executive produced popular animated kid series ATOMIC BETTY (Teletoon), MISS BG (TVO) and CAPTAIN FLAMINGO (YTV). |  | |
Xiangzhong Liao, Dean, Animation School, Communication University of China
| Partnering with China: Opportunities in a Rapidly Growing Market and Industry | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:45 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room |
Marie McCann, Executive in Charge of Production, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Marie McCann joined CBC's Children's and Youth Department as Executive in Charge of Production and Development in early 2007 where she spearheaded the creation of "Kids'Canada" - Kids'CBC's own preschool brand. Marie takes proposals from independent producers, is currently overseeing the development of several co-productions and acts as CBC's Executive for projects such as "The Mighty Jungle" and "Razberry Jazzberry Jam". |  | |
Tom McGillis, Executive Producer, Fresh TV Inc.
| Tween is the New Teen | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Tom McGillis is a writer-producer and co-founder of Fresh TV - one of the world's leading content producers for tweens. Together with Jennifer Pertsch, McGillis created the hit animated reality series Total Drama Island (TELETOON, Cartoon Network) as well as 6TEEN (TELETOON, Nickelodeon.) Both series are seen around the world and are still in production. Also on Fresh TV's production slate is McGillis' and Pertsch's new animated surf comedy Stoked (TELETOON.) Fresh is currently developing two new CGI assisted live-action tween comedies: In Maya's Opinion (YTV); and My Babysitter's a Vampire (TELETOON.) |  | |
Dan Meth, Writer / Director / Animator, Frederator
| Launching into Online Space: Ins and Outs of Web Series | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Dan Meth is a cartoon director working out of New York City. In the past year, he has launched a new cartoon every single week on the internet. First, there was the Webby-nominated original series "The Meth Minute 39". Following this was a spinoff entitled "Nite Fite". Both series have gained a large following of fans and have been have viewed millions of times on the web. They were produced and distributed by Fred Seibert's Frederator Studios, which Dan has worked closely with since 2006. |  | |
Doug Murphy, President, EVP and GM of Corus Kids, Nelvana Ltd.
| Japan in Focus | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Doug Murphy joined Corus Entertainment Inc. in December of 2002 and is currently President of Nelvana, EVP and General Manager of Corus Kids. In this role, Doug is responsible for overseeing Corus' global kids business, including the specialty networks YTV, Treehouse and Discovery Kids Canada as well as Nelvana Studios, Nelvana Enterprises, Kids Can Press, KidsCo and qubo. Prior to this position, Doug was President, Nelvana Enterprises. |  | |
Rachel Nelson, Director Drama Content, CanWest Global
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Rachel Nelson is the Director, Drama Content for Canwest Broadcasting. In this capacity, she oversees original programming (drama and comedy) for seven of Canwest’s channels including Global, E! and Showcase. Rachel has a background in development and production having previously held the position of Production Executive for Global Television and Director of Development at Salter Street Films. |  | |
Birk Rawlings, Director, Animation Development, Nickelodeon
| The Search for Properties: New Approaches | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Birk Rawlings is the Executive Director in charge of developing animated series for Nickelodeon Animation. It is his job to seek out talent and ideas to bring into the network, as well as to work with writers and artists as he shepherds projects through the creative process from concept to completed pilot. Prior to joining Nickelodeon, Birk was the Director of Creative Affairs at Walt Disney Feature Animation. |  | |
Jillianne Reinseth, Director of Development, Studio B Productions
| Tween is the New Teen | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Jillianne joined Studio B in 2006 as Director of Development. Previously, she worked in development at leading international broadcasters and producers: Jetix Europe, Chorion, Walt Disney TV Animation, ABC Cable Network Group (Disney Channel) and Nickelodeon. Jillianne shepherded such successful titles as ‘Make Way for Noddy’, ‘Maggie’, ‘Kim Possible’, ‘Lilo & Stitch W.I.T.C.H’. Jillianne heads up Studio B’s new in-house content creative division called BHive, as well as, evaluating and developing projects from external pitches. |  | |
Frank Saperstein, Senior Vice President, Animation & Children, Blueprint Entertainment
| Tween is the New Teen | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As the newly appointed Senior Vice President of Animation & Children's Programming, Frank Saperstein will head up all of Blueprint's animation and children's development and production, as well as all related ancillary businesses. Mr. Saperstein has an eclectic and varied background as an award winning writer, producer, director and development consultant with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of media creation, development, production and distribution, and has worked on over 350 episodes of television, feature films, video, pilots, new media, shorts and commercials. |  | |
Dan Sarto, Publisher, Co-founder, Animation World Network
| Launching into Online Space: Ins and Outs of Web Series | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Dan Sarto is co-founder and publisher of Animation World Network, AWN.com, the largest, most comprehensive and respected source for animation news and information resources on the Internet. Key publications and industry portal websites include Animation World Magazine, Animation World Network Television (AWNtv.com), VFX World Magazine (VFXWorld.com) the Animation Blogspot (Animationblogspot.com), the Animation Industry Database (AIDB.com), the Animation Flash, AWN Spotlight, AWNtv Spotlight and VFXNewswire newsletters. |  | |
J.J. Sedelmaier, President / Director, JJ Sedelmaier Productions, Inc.
| Animation Education Report Card | ||
| Saturday, September 20, 9:00 am, National Gallery - Lecture Hall | ||
| Launching into Online Space: Ins and Outs of Web Series | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
J.J Sedelmaier, president of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, is responsible for many of the most talked about animated projects of the past 15 years. The launch season of MTV’s “Beavis and Butt-Head, SNL’s Saturday TV Funhouse series (The Ambiguously Gay Duo), the pilot for Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law, The Colbert Report's Tek Jansen, and over 400 TV commercials. He is a popular speaker on the art of animation and frequently contributes to books and journals on animation and design. |  | |
Matt Senreich, Producer/Writer/Director, Feldman Public Relations
| Seth Green and Matt Senreich | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 8:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Matthew Senreich is the co-creator, director, producer and writer of the TV series Robot Chicken. Matt began his entertainment career in 1991 at the early age of 16, when he worked as a summer intern for Marvel Comics. Throughout his attendance at Wesleyan University, Matt arranged other internships within the comic book community, like Defiant Comics, Broadway Comics and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, where he gained more personal hands-on experience. Finalizing his string of internships, Matt returned to Marvel Comics in December 1995. Upon graduating college in 1996, Matt secured a job as an editorial assistant at the New York-based Wizard Entertainment. After two years with Wizard Entertainment, Matt rose through the ranks and became editor of ToyFare. One year later, he was promoted to editorial director of all Wizard Entertainment publications. Matt soon met up with actor Seth Green, who was a fan of Wizard's magazines. This new found partnership between Matt and Seth spawned the creation of a series of stop motion animated shorts entitled Sweet J Presents for Sony's Screenblast.com in 2000 and 2001. Based upon these 'webisodes', Cartoon Network's Adult Swim committed to 20 episodes of Robot Chicken. Green and Senreich, through their production company Stoopid Monkey, have produced three seasons of the show and are also producing an upcoming stop-motion animated holiday movie titled Naughty or Nice and a live-action film as well. |  | |
Adam Shaheen, Owner & Executive Producer, Cuppa Coffee Animation
| State of Canadian Animation: Adults Only | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Under the helm of owner and Executive Producer Adam Shaheen, Cuppa Coffee has risen to become the largest stop-motion facility in the world. A new pilot - Nerdland is being shot for "Teletoon" and a new series called Glen Martin DDS is underway for Michael Eisners company, Tornante. Upcoming projects to debut internationally include the Cuppa Coffee original Life’s a Zoo, a reality television send-up starring a cast of wild animals living in a mansion in Saskatchewan. |  | |
Shuzo John Shiota, President & CEO, Polygon Pictures
| Japan in Focus | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Shuzo John Shiota graduated in International Law from Sophia University. Shuzo joined Polygon Pictures (Polygon) in 1999, and spear headed the company's transition from a boutique studio to a full-capacity animation service studio. Shuzo was appointed president and CEO in June 2003. Polygon now houses over 150 staff members, and is renowned worldwide for its animation prowess as well as for its efficient production pipeline. |  | |
Linda Simensky, Vice President, Children’s Programming, PBS
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
| Responsible TV: Gender, Child Development and Violence | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As Vice President of Children's Programming at PBS, Linda Simensky collaborates with producers, co-production partners and distributors throughout development, production, post-production and broadcast for existing and new series including “Martha Speaks,” “Super Why” and “Sid the Science Kid” for PBS KIDS, and “FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman,” “WordGirl” and “The Electric Company” for PBS KIDS GO! Prior to joining PBS, Simensky was Senior Vice President of Original Animation for Cartoon Network. |  | |
Beth Stevenson, Partner, Executive Producer, Decode Entertainment
| Responsible TV: Gender, Child Development and Violence | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Beth is in charge of all of DECODE's development and production activities and acts as Executive Producer of Decode's programming. She also oversees the communications and marketing division with Neil Court. In addition to producing or executive producing almost all of Decode's programs to date, Beth was responsible for licensing Franny's Feet to PBS which resulted in the worldwide master toy agreement with Playskool for this key DECODE property. Beth joined DECODE from Alliance Multimedia where she co-produced "Captain Star" and was the Alliance Executive for "Reboot" and "Beast Wars." |  | |
Liyan Sun, Consultant, Division of Art, Dept. of Film, State Adminstration of Radio, Film and Television of P.R.China
| Partnering with China: Opportunities in a Rapidly Growing Market and Industry | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:45 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room |
Frank Taylor, President, Title Entertainment Inc.
| Not for the Faint-of-Heart: Financing Animation Production in a Multi-Jurisdictional Environment | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 4:30 pm, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Frank Taylor has executive produced over 250 half-hours of television programming with budgets totaling over $70 million, most of them international and/or interprovinical coproductions and co-ventures. Having served for many years in the business affairs departments of animation companies, he formed Title Entertainment Inc. in 2004 in partnership with Dulcie Clark. Over a 30-year career, he has also served as Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. |  | |
Zuhai Tuo, General Director, Dept. of Cultural Market's Admin, Ministry of Culture of P.R.China
| Partnering with China: Opportunities in a Rapidly Growing Market and Industry | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:45 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room |
Joan Vogelesang, President and CEO, Toon Boom Animation Inc.
| Partnering with China: Opportunities in a Rapidly Growing Market and Industry | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 9:45 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Acting as Chief Operating Officer since 1998, Joan Vogelesang was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Toon Boom in 2003. In 2004, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry honored Ms. Vogelesang with the Life Time Achievement Award for promoting the Indian Animation Sector on the global map. In 2001, Ms. Vogelesang was also nominated as one of the Top 25 Women in Animation by Animation Magazine. |  | |
David Watson, Director of Development, Nerd Corps Entertainment inc.
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
As Director of Development for Nerd Corps Entertainment, DAVID WATSON oversees the development process of the company’s portfolio of original and acquired series as they head into production; including design, scripts and all creative materials. He also liaises with agents and writers and acts as the first line of contact for pitches from outside creators, evaluating their series potential and determining if they would be a fit for the company. |  | |
David Wiebe, Director of Content, YTV, Nelvana Ltd, Corus Entertainment
| L.O.S.E.- A Case Study | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
David Wiebe is the Director of Development for Nelvana Studios. In addition to original animated kid-targeted programming, David oversees Nelvana's foray into adult-oriented animated properties. David began his career in animation at Nickelodeon as a Network Coordinator, managing the hit series "SpongeBob SquarePants", "The Fairly Odd Parents" and "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron." |  | |
Daniel Wineman, Director of Original Series and Co-Productions, JETIX EUROPE LTD
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Wednesday, September 17, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Daniel Wineman was appointed to the position of Director of Original Series and Co-productions in April 2008. He is responsible for all creative aspects of Jetix Europe’s original series and co-productions, ensuring that Jetix’ vision and brand consistency are carried throughout the development and production process. He reports to Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President of Programming for Jetix Europe. |  | |
Ramin Zahed, Editor-in-Chief, Animation Magazine
| The Search for Properties: New Approaches | ||
| Thursday, September 18, 3:45 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Ballroom | ||
Ramin Zahed is the Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles-based monthly publication, Animation Magazine. He has been covering the animation and visual effects world for over 15 years. Before joining Animag, he was a senior editor at Daily Variety. His articles have also appeared in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor. |  | |