Opening the 6th edition of TAC this year is Josh Selig, Founder and President of Little Airplane Productions - the company behind preschool hit The Wonder Pets!. Day Two starts off with David Silverman from the series that recently celebrated its 20th year on the air, The Simpsons. (TAC AnimaPass or TAC Only Pass required.)
Keynote: Josh Selig
Founder and President (Little Airplane Productions)
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Josh Selig was born in New York City in 1964 on Manhattan's Upper West Side. As a preschooler, Josh was a child-actor on Sesame Street during the show's first two seasons. In the early 70's, Josh, along with his mother and brother, moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico for a year before returning to the U.S. and moving to the town of Woods Hole on Cape Cod. Josh returned to New York as a teenager and attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York where he studied poetry and theatre and became a juggler, unicyclist and fire-eater. After college, Josh worked briefly as a street performer and Circus Arts Instructor before returning to Sesame Street at age twenty-four as a writer. While at Sesame Street Josh became a filmmaker for the series and began working as a Producer for Sesame Street International. He won ten Emmy Awards as a member of the Sesame Street writing team and was the Resident Producer of the historic Israeli-Palestinian co-production of Sesame Street (winner of The Japan Prize, 1998). | |
| Josh founded Little Airplane Productions, Inc. in 1999 with the simple
goal of creating the most innovative preschool television programmingin
the world. Josh was the Creator and Executive Producer of Oobi! on Noggin (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents’ Choice Award). Josh was also the Creator and Executive Producer of Go, Baby! for Playhouse Disney.
Josh is currently Executive Producer of The Wonder Pets! the critically acclaimed series he created for Nick Jr. The Wonder Pets! has been airing on Nick Jr. since 2006. Josh is also the Creator and Executive Producer of the new series 3rd & Bird, a co-production of Little Airplane Productions and the BBC. The show premieres on CBeebies in 2008. Josh's short film, The Time-Out Chair, was included in the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003, and has since been acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art. |
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Keynote: David Silverman
Animation Director
| Born on Long Island, New York, and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland,
David Silverman began drawing at age four, and he’s never found a good
reason to stop. Winning several student film awards during his academic
career helped him to focus on developing his abilities. Attending the
UCLA Animation Workshop brought his talent to the attention of others
in the animation community. Much of David’s career has revolved around The Simpsons. After receiving his M.F.A from UCLA in 1983, he freelanced in illustration and animation. In 1987, he landed a job animating on The Tracey Ullman Show – where The Simpsons got their start, as short segments. Animating on all 48 shorts led to David directing many of the first episodes when The Simpsons became a series, including The Simpsons Christmas Special in December, 1989, and the premiere episode a month later. David becameSupervising Animation Director as well as a producer on the show. To date, he has directed 22 episodes of The Simpsons, winning 4 Emmys along the way. |
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| In the midst of his success with The Simpsons, David was wooed away first to DreamWorks (The Road to El Dorado – co-director), and then to Pixar (Monsters, Inc. – co-director), and Blue Sky (Ice Age, Robots– writing and storyboarding). He returned to the series at the end of 2003, and was chosen to direct the much-anticipated film, The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. Presently, David has a number of projects in development, including directing a live-action feature. | |