| Fast Track Executives |
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Raquel Benitez, CEO, Comet Entertainment
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
series, features, groups of shorts
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Traditional animation, Computer 2D animation , 3D.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Family, preschool, adults.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
sam's seven seas
The Vegas
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Yes
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Yes
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Any with international projection
8. What are you NOT looking for?
commercials
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Pocoyo
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Our mission is to become a leader in the animation industry by providing our clients with quality content development in the animation production, and license sector that help them become more successful.
We are guided by our VALUES:
> Accountability
> Teamwork
> Initiative
> Innovation
> Knowledge
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Stephanie Betts, Director of Development and Licensing, Animation, Breakthrough Animation
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Breakthrough Films and Television is a major producer of popular drama, factual and lifestyle programming, as well as Children’s live action and animated series. Our animation production slate currently includes- Jimmy Two Shoes for Teletoon, Producing Parker for Canwest Global, My Big Big Friend for Treehouse, and the list goes on. We are coming to the Ottawa Animation Festival looking for new animated properties for our development slate.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
We use a variety of animation techniques, depending on what the series requires. We have used Harmony, Flash, CGI, and Maya to name a few.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
We don’t have a target audience, we produce for all demographics from preschool to primetime.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
We’re currently working on a primetime animated family comedy series, which we’ll be announcing prior to the market. We’re also working on a new CGI preschool series and a comedy for 8-12.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Absolutely! We have partnered with several independent directors, writers and producers to build strong creative teams on each series.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Absolutely! As you’ll see from our track record, we have been apart of several international coproduction’s and with the current economic climate they’re more important than ever.
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
We are looking for unique concepts that have sustainability for several seasons, not just a one note gag. We don’t limit ourselves to looking for certain genres at certain times of the year, we feel a good idea is a good idea and we’re always open to hearing a pitch whatever demo or genre it fits into.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
Projects that people aren’t passionate about.
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
My favourite TV show right now is Phineas and Ferb, the music is terrific!
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Breakthrough Films and Television has produced over 2000 half-hours of programming over the last 20 years and we pride ourselves on having established a high level of trust and confidence amongst the broadcasters and talent pool here in Canada and Internationally. We feel our success is routed in great story telling and empowering the creative teams behind each show.
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Mary Bredin, Development & Acquisitions, Guru Studio
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
WE PRODUCE COMMERCIALS, SERIES AND SHORTS. WE HAVE A FEATURE PROJECT IN DEVELOPMENT.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
WE USE 3D BUT OUR NEW SHOW IS '2 AND A HALF D' AND WE ARE ABOUT ANIMATION NOT THE TECHNOLOGY.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
KIDS.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
WE HAVE A PRE-SCHOOL SHOW GOING INTO PRODUCTION THIS FALL CALLED 'JUSTIN TIME' FOR FAMILY CHANNEL. WE HAVE SEVERAL BOYS ACTION SERIES THAT COULD WORK WELL FOR CARTOON NETWORK OR DISNEY XD.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
YES
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
YES. VERY MUCH.
7. Have you been involved in international co-productions/co-ventures in the past? If so, with which market(s)?
GURU HAS NOT YET DONE A CO-PRODUCTION.
8. What is your favourite animated show on TV/Web right now? (aside from your own work!)
WONDERPETS AND MAD MEN.
9. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
LIFE. ANIMATED. THAT AND EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY.
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Natalie Dumoulin, Producer/Development Executive, GALAKIDS
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1. What kinds of projects do you do? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Series-features-shorts- (but mostly series)
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Digital
3. What is your target audience demographic?
(4-8) (6-11) -(TWEEN) –FAMILY
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
Live action /CG Hybrid in development with Teletoon
Animation series 6-11 comedy in development with YTV
Live action Tween comedy in development with FAMILY CHANNEL
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
YES- always
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
YES
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Live action Tween (8-14) boy skewing comedies
8. What are you NOT looking for?
PRESCHOOL (0-5) animation
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV right now? (aside from your own work!)
The obvious ones; Simpsons-Family Guy
10. What new shows/ technologies/ approaches are you excited about and maybe thinking of getting into?
Hybrid CG/Live action/Animation combo
11. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
GALAKIDS is about ideas- our expertise is development..
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Athena Georgaklis, Manager, Original Production, TELETOON
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1. What are your animation programming blocks and the audience demographic for each?
Superfan Fridays- male tweens and adults
Laugh riot- kids 6-11
TELETOON Detour 18+- male 18 +
TELETOON At night 14 +- male 14 +
Action Force- boys 6-11
3 Hours of Awesome- Kids 6-11, Tweens, teens
3 Hours of Really, Really, Really Awesome- Kids 6-11, Tweens, teens
Big ticket Movie- Feature length properties that the whole family can enjoy.
Themed Movie Night- Males 18-34
Action Movie- Males 18-34
2. How many hours of new programming do you acquire per year?
1643 hours (for TELETOON and TELETOON Retro Eng & Fre combined)
3. Where do you generally find your new shows?
We attend markets, producers pitch show ideas, we talk to other broadcasters.
4. What are some of your recent acquisitions? (title and production studio if possible)
Superhero Squad from Marvel (for Action Force), King of the Hill Fox (for TT at Night), New Scooby Live Action Movie, Ben 10 Live Action movie, Both for Big Ticket Movie
5. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
kid comedies, sitcoms and tween shows.
6. What are you NOT looking for?
Educational programs, shorts
7. Have there been, or will there soon be, any changes to your development/programming structure that producers should know about?
We now ask that producers fill out a submission sheet to send along with any pitches they may have. More details are on teletoon.com
8. What new shows/technologies/approaches are you excited about?
Our new video player on teletoon.com. We are really focused on making our great content available on all platforms: Linear Networks, videoplayer, TELETOON On Demand and iTunes and have some interesting projects coming up which integrate all platforms, from TV to web.
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Lisa Jones, Senior Coordinator, Cartoon Network
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1. What are your animation programming blocks and the audience demographic for each?
- Action-Adventure – kids 6-14, with our audience skewing more boy than girl.
- Comedy – kids 6-14, with our audience skewing more boy than girl
2. How many hours of new programming do you acquire per year?
- Truly depends on the year and the needs of the network.
3. Where do you generally find your new shows?
- We generally work with established artists and writers, both in-house and at other studios, to find our new shows. We’re definitely open to ideas coming from other sources, though.
4. What are some of your recent acquisitions? (title and production studio if possible)
- We’ve had a big hit with ‘Total Drama Island/Total Drama Action’ and are looking forward to the next installment in the series.
5. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
We’re looking for genuinely funny, unique animated comedies for kids 6-14, with an emphasis on boys. Above all, we want ridiculous, laugh-out-loud shows with iconic characters.
6. What are you NOT looking for?
We’re not looking for shows that feel like shows our competition would air. Because our audience skews more boy than girl, we need shows with a distinct boy angle. And lastly, we see a lot of shows that are ironic takes on superheroes and it’s not something we’re really looking for.
7. Have there been, or will there soon be, any changes to your development/programming structure that producers should know about?
None that we currently know of!
8. What new shows/technologies/approaches are you excited about?
We’re excited about a lot of the recent innovations in technology being adapted to create really fresh, unique animation. Some of the folks working today approach programs like Flash and After Effects with a creativity that produces visually arresting, cool content – and the web allows us the opportunity to check out shorts that might never have made it our way in the days of yore!
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Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos, VP Program Distribution, Bejuba! Entertainment
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Animation series, shorts for preschool and 6-12. Live action series for tweens and teens.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Flash, CGI, 2 D and 3 D, toon boom
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Preschool, 6-12, tweens and teens
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
A live-action series and an animation series that we are developing from the interactive platform WeMuv.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
sometimes
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Always
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Comedy with a twist. Action/adventure and creepy.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
Historical stories
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Curious George and WEMUV, our interactive series that promote good healthy eating habits, sports and fun.
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
We are a boutique company. We love what we do and we cherish the special relationship we have with broadcasters and producers. We care for our projects . YES WE CAN!
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Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content, Treehouse and Discover Kids Canada, Corus Entertainment
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1. What are your animation programming blocks and the audience demographic for each?
At Treehouse, we don’t have blocks per say but are looking for programming for young children 2-5 years.
2. How many hours of new programming do you acquire per year?
Just looking at acquisitions, we have about 90 hours of programming this past year (outside of co-productions)
Fall 2008:
Sesame Street, Bert & Ernie’s Great Adventures, Odd Jobbers, Zigby
Spring 2009: Chuggington, Big & Small,Toot & Puddle, Olivia,
Postman Pat
3. Where do you generally find your new shows?
- At international marketplaces
- pitches from creators and independent producers of kids’ content
- for acquisitions, we work with many of our established producing partners
4. What are some of your recent acquisitions? (title and production studio if possible)
Timmy Time
3rd and Bird
Noddy
5. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Shows that delight, entertain and promote positive values for young children. We tend to favour character driven shows that make kids laugh.
6. What are you NOT looking for?
Overly earnest instructional shows.
7. Have there been, or will there soon be, any changes to your development/programming structure that producers should know about?
No.
8. What new shows/technologies/approaches are you excited about?
Standard linear broadcast remains primary to us, but secondary support content (shorts or interactive) for non-linear formats, like broadband VOD, wireless technologies, USB Key technologies on iPhone or Blackberry, are always of interest.
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Ken Faier, El Presidente, Nerd Corps Entertainment
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Concepts for television series, primarily aimed at kids 2-14
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
we are a 3d animation house with a style that takes full advantage of the best of 2d and 3d.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
preschool, 6-11 and 8-12/14 with some interest in adult animation in the action genre.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
Endangered Species, animated comedy, 52x11 eps in development
Subterrainea, action comedy for 6-11, 52x1/2 hours in development
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
sometimes, although generally we mentor internally but we have hired outside directors at times.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
it isnt a high priority, but we do consider all opportunities for the right property
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
preschool, 6-11 comedies and boy action comedies
8. What are you NOT looking for?
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Sponge Bob.
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Quality, character driven properties that are fun, action filled and most importantly funny!
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Melissa Wolfe, Director of Development, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Our projects range from preschool and early school animated and live action projects to comedy 6-11, boys action, primetime animated, and live action primetime and tween properties. Our development slate is very diverse. We have just started an entire primetime division here at Cookie Jar called The Jar.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
We animate a lot of our shows in Flash, but also do some in 2d, and also CG. Many of our upcoming shows will mix techniques (BGs in CG, animation in 2d or half live action half CG)
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
We target our shows based on the audiences our broadcasters are targeting.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
We partner all the time with independent animation studios. We often use several studios to do our Flash animation and pre production (boards, turnarounds, etc), and we also form co-productions with countries who have co-production treaties with Canada.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
We are incredibly interested in co-productions.
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
We are on high alert for a great boys comedy/action property, as well as comedy action for a slightly older boy audience (9-14). And we're always looking for that fantastic, funny, well executed comedy character for the 6-11 year old audience.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
We get a ton of pitches for preschool shows. unless it's incredibly well executed, it's going to be a very tough sell at this time. We are also very full on straight action shows.
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
South Park for its point of view, and SpongeBob for the way his character trumps the concept (and the fantastic board driven animation). Wow Wow Wubbzy is a terrific preschool property that combines lovable characters with some stellar design.
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Being an independent studio who finances many of our own productions through partnerships and co-productions, Cookie Jar's philosophy is one of collaboration on a global scale. At the end of the day, our most important job is identifying projects that hit the highest levels of creativity, are in line with the needs of our broadcasters, and are ultimately able to be financed and produced.
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Linda Simensky, Vice President, Children’s Programming, PBS
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1. What are your animation programming blocks and the audience demographic for each?
We have programming for preschoolers 2-5 and programming for kids 6-8.
2. How many hours of new programming do you acquire per year?
We usually add one or two series.
3. Where do you generally find your new shows?
Through pitches. We tend to work closely with our existing partners, but we are also open to talking to any experienced producers.
4. What are some of your recent acquisitions? (title and production studio if possible)
Dinosaur Train, Craig Bartlett and The Jim Henson Company
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Random House and Portfolio Entertainment
WildKratts, Chris and Martin Kratt
5. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Any shows for kids 2-5 or 6-8 that are fun and funny narratives but are also educational.
6. What are you NOT looking for?
Interstitials or other short form pieces, shows without a curriculum.
7. Have there been, or will there soon be, any changes to your development/programming structure that producers should know about?
8. What new shows/technologies/approaches are you excited about?
We are excited about the new PBS broadband channel and the various multiple platform approaches to series.
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Alan Gregg, VP International Production, Brown Bag Films (Canada)
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Shorts, commercials, series and features
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Chiefly CGI (Maya) and some flash
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Preschool, 6-11, 8-12, Family
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
We don’t publicly discuss projects in development as a policy
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Yes, although we have several in-house
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Yes
7. Have you been involved in international co-productions/co-ventures in the past? If so, with which market(s)?
Yes, with Canada
8. What is your favourite animated show on TV/Web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Clone Wars
9. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Brown Bag Films is a creative-driven company. We look at the quality of a given project first and we are always sensitive to the needs of our primary audience ie kids.
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Frank Saperstein, Senior Vice President, Animation & Children, E1 Entertainment
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
We produce Television which is our primary focus but we distribute across TV & Theatrical platforms.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Flash, Tune Boom, After Effects & CGI
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
E1 cuts across all genres and demographics from preschool, Kids 6-9, pre-teen, ‘tween as well as late night.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
1. The Dating Guy- an all new hooked up comedy about four 20-somethings and their dating quests, sex and friendships served with a twist. Premiering in the US on Mark Cuban’s HDNet. The Dating Guy will premier in Canada on Teletoon in 2010.
2. Eric the Tiny- the most veered, meanest Viking in all the world. His life parallels ours today if we bowled with human heads, used teeth as currency and chained our mentally challenged relatives in the basement. Created by Russell Marcus (Brandy & Mr. Whiskers, Married with Children) the series is in current development.
3. Kid Chipmunk- The wild, weird and wacky video game inspired adventure of Kid Chipmunk and his friends as they defend their neighborhood against ecological disaster. Created by Stephen Holman & Josephine Huang (Life with Loopy, Shorty McShorts’ Shorts).
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Yes, we partner with other production companies, writers, directors, animators. We are open to distributing third party produced projects as well.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Yes.
7. Have you been involved in international co-productions/co-ventures in the past? If so, with which market(s)?
Ventures with E1 include: United Kingdom, United States
Previous ventures for Frank Saperstein include: France, Hungary, Singapore, Philippines, Korea, China & India
8. What is your favourite animated show on TV/Web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends & Family Guy for the smart writing.
9. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Quality programming with the ability to promote and distribute our projects worldwide.
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Eric Homan, VP of Development, Frederator Studios
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
No commercials, but we’ve got series, features, shorts, and web cartoons in production and/or development.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
It’s up to the filmmaker, but we’ve worked in traditional, CG, Flash, stop-motion, etc.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
While most of work has been for six to eleven-year-olds, we’ve produced the gamut, from pre-school with Wow! Wow! Wubbzy to more adult-oriented cartoons, like The Meth Minute 39.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
On the front burner are Fanboy and Chum Chum with Nickelodeon and Adventure Time with Finn & Jake with Cartoon Network.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Sure.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Sure, again.
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Anything, as long as it’s a cartoon.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
If it’s a cartoon, we want to look at it.
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
The Simpsons, still.
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Frederator is a creator-driven studio. We bet on talent.
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Robin McLeod, Development Executive, Fresh TV Inc.
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
We produce series, although we're going into production now on our first MOW.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Fresh TV has produced all its shows so far in 2D Flash, although our sister company, Elliott Animation, also has the capacity for 3D, 2D Harmony and traditional.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Fresh's shows to date have targeted a tween, largely girl-skewing audience. We're breaking into boy a bit, though, and we're really keen on diversifying - so getting into more boy, and other age demos. Preschool is of particular interest to us right now.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
We currently have some live-action/animation hybrid projects on the go, including tween sitcom In Maya's Opinion, in development with YTV. Our first MOW, tween horror/comedy My Babysitter's a Vampire (with TELETOON), is in the early stages of production and picking up speed fast.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
We're open to partnering with anyone who has good ideas and is great to work with.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Absolutely - especially with foreign partners, to capitalize on international broadcaster relationships and co-pro treaties.
7. Have you been involved in international co-productions/co-ventures in the past? If so, with which market(s)?
No, not yet - but it's a possibility we're actively exploring.
8. What is your favourite animated show on TV/Web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Even though it's one of ours, I have to say that I AM really into Stoked right now. But I'm excited to see that one of my favourites, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, is returning to TELETOON with new episodes this Fall.
9. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Everybody says they believe in quality shows, but we're real perfectionists about it. The word "Fresh" really defines us - we believe in ideas that are truly original, fun, genuine, and that seriously resonate with our audience. Our work environment is extremely entrepreneurial, and we want to work with the most creative people we can find on all aspects of production.
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Louis Fournier, VP, Business Development, Tribal Nova
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1. What are your animation programming blocks and the audience demographic for each?
We operate an online virtual world called WoozWorld targeted at 9 to 12 y.o. We look for game and video content that can fit in 4 areas: urban/contemporary, fantasy/medieval, manga/futuristic, or goth/spooky.
2. How many hours of new programming do you acquire per year?
Last year we acquired over 600 half-hours of animated content. Volume won’t be as high this year so selectivity will be more significant.
3. Where do you generally find your new shows?
We usually acquire from established producers and developers.
4. What are some of your recent acquisitions? (title and production studio if possible)
Roiworld dress-up games from Lifetime TV. Animations series from Mediatoon.
5. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
We’re looking to acquire more games than videos going forward.
6. What are you NOT looking for?
Content that hasn’t been financed for production yet. Preschool.
7. Have there been, or will there soon be, any changes to your development/programming structure that producers should know about?
Since our online platform will be geared for 9 to 12 y.o., we will look for content that speaks more specifically to this age group.
8.What new shows/technologies/approaches are you excited about?
Games that are simple in design but with a high re-playability are always interesting for our needs. For now, we’re looking at Flash 2D but 3D is fast approaching.
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Romen Podzyhun, President & CEO, Channel Zero Inc. (Movieola - The Short Film Channel)
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No description available at this time. |
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Heather Kenyon, Vice President, Starz Animation
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Feature, DVD and Series
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Starz Animation Toronto is solely high-end CGI. However, through our sister studio Film Roman, we produce 2D, 3D and Flash animation.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
While we are not beholden to any one age group or demographic, we do make sure that every project is marketable to a certain strong demo.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
We are currently just building our proprietary slate and are actively looking for projects.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Yes!
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Yes
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
I am predominately looking for strong feature ideas that possess a unique world, appealing characters and strong narrative. However, a good series is always worth looking at as well.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
I actually can’t answer this! As long as it is interesting and compelling, then I will take a look. We currently don’t have any boundaries. However, really take a look at your projects and have an idea of a market/demo where they could sell.
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Oh brother....I have to choose just one? Uh....I just re-watched “Please Say Something” the other night since it won the Cartoon D’Or. It is so awesome.
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
Starz Animation Toronto wants to be the home of independent feature animation. We pride ourselves on delivering on time, on budget and with the best quality possible on screen.
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Tanya Kelen, Executive Producer, Kelen Content
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce/acquire? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Series and TV Movies.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Flash, 3-D Studio Max, Toonboom, Houdini, Maya - really depends on the project as we work with a diverse range of creative talent/ animators and studios.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Pre-school, tweens, teens / youth and adults - I produce in all categories
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
Pids Puppets (13 x 30') - Puppet Animation for adults
Ivo & Lolo (13 x 30') - 3-D Animation for tweens
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
Yes
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
Yes
7. What kinds of shows are you currently looking for?
Comedy/action /adventure genres geared to kids 6-11 and family audiences is a main target right now. Ensemble characters, boy/girl friendly with an emphasis on boys.
8. What are you NOT looking for?
Not too much pre-school right now
9. What is your favourite animated show on TV/web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Jimmy Two Shoes is pretty funny!
10. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
We prefer taking a creator driven approach. Content is still the ruling king for us. We pride ourselves on hand picking each project based on its unique creative attributes that can offer up fresh and inventive new multi-platform brands to our production and broadcast partners.
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David Wiebe, Director of Content, YTV, Nelvana Ltd, Corus Entertainment
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David Wiebe is the Director of Content for YTV. In addition to overseeing the development and production of all animated, live-action and alternative content for YTV, David also reviews all commissions, acquisitions and interactive initiatives. David began his career in animation at Nickelodeon as a Network Coordinator, managing the hit series SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron. Prior to joining Nelvana, David was the Director of Development and Programming for Kids' WB! in Los Angeles.
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Sarah Muller, Head of Drama and Animation Development, CBBC
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No description available at this time. |
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Aron Dunn, Manager of Creative Development, Portfolio Entertainment
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1. What kinds of projects do you produce? (ie. commercials, series, features, shorts, etc.)
Preschool and tween animated series for television, 11 min. and 22 min. formats respectively.
2. What animation techniques do you commonly use?
Primarily flash mixed with a bit of 3d, but we're open to all forms of animation.
3. What is your target audience/demographic?
Tween and family audiences are our primary target. We have some interest in the primetime adult audience, but this is very limited.
4. What are you currently working on? (brief mention of 1 or 2 projects in development)
HOOD - (8 to 12 skewing comedy adventure) A secret society of hoodie-clad super-teens, seeks a new recruit to help them protect the earth from dangerous and mysterious threats. Enter Chuck: a wise cracking 15-year-old with a seemingly useless power ... one that could just save the world.
Chinatown Cops - (18+ primetime comedy) Self-proclaimed "super cops" Jay Walker and Rick Xia (Shaw) have Chinatown in their blood (literally, Jay insists, refusing to elaborate) where they inflict their specialized brand of "ginseng justice" on its crime-ridden streets. It's your weekly serving of Miami Rice.
5. Do you partner with independent directors?
We are interested in meeting creators working in the genres we're focused on who have a clear vision for their project, an inexhaustible passion for their work and are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty to see their show realized.
6. Are you interested in co-productions/co-ventures?
We look at every opportunity on a project by project basis. If the concept is strong and appeals to us, we'll make the business work.
7. Have you been involved in international co-productions/co-ventures in the past?
If so, with which market(s)?
We are currently partnered with a UK studio for an international preschool series.
8. What is your favourite animated show on TV/Web right now? (aside from your own work!)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, League of Super Evil, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Life and Times of Tim
9. What is your company’s philosophy? (ie. what values define your work environment and output?)
As a production/distribution company, universal themes and global potential are crucial to what we do. We want Creator driven projects that foreground emotionally engaging characters and timely hooks. This business runs on ideas and passion. So, we look for creators with ideas that will continually engage us and a passion for the work that will inspire us over the months and years it takes to launch a global hit.
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Kim Wilson, Creative Head, Children's, Youth Programming, CBC
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No description available at this time. |
