| Good Vibrations: The Art of Composing Music for Animation | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Will graduated from UCLA with a BFA in Theatre Arts, where he also completed the highly regarded Don Ray Film Scoring Program. He studied Renaissance Art and Drama at Cambridge University, UK. He has experience in many styles of composition, and has scored almost a thousand episodes of animated programming. His music has been heard on many televisions shows, commercials, comedies, dramas, features, as well as interactive and radio projects. Some of the films and television shows Will has worked on include "You Kill Me", "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", "An American Tail III", "Hollywood Squares", "Dallas Reunion", and "The American Cinemateque Nicole Kidman Tribute". Will's many animation credits include An American Tail III, Beethoven, Krypto The Superdog, Spider-Man, The Save-Ums, and X-Men Evolution. |  | |
Jerry Beck, Animation Historian, Cartoon Brew
| Tried, Tested and True!(?) | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Jerry Beck is an animation historian and cartoon producer. His twelve books on the subject include The Animated Movie Guide, Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide and The 50 Greatest Cartoons. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer to Warner Bros., Universal and Disney for their classic animation dvd compilations. Beck has programmed retrospectives for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has taught animation history at NYU, SVA, the AFI and UCLA. He also co-writes the popular animation blog Cartoon Brew. |  | |
Stephanie Betts, Director of Development and Licensing- Animation, Breakthrough Films and Television
| My Big Big Friend - A Co-Production Case Study | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Stephanie joined Breakthrough Films and Television in 2004 on the hit series ‘Atomic Betty’ and has since worked on, ‘Miss BG’ for TVO, ‘Captain Flamingo’ for YTV and ‘Jimmy Two Shoes’ for Teletoon. Stephanie is currently Producing, ‘My Big Big Friend’ for Treehouse and ‘Producing Parker’ for CanWest Global. As Director of Development and Licensing she manages the animation development slate from Preschool to Primetime for Canadian and International broadcasters. She also oversees licensing initiatives and campaigns for Breakthrough’s animated properties. |  | |
Andy Blazdell, CEO and Creative Director, CelAction
| CelAction2D - Revolutionizing the 2D Animation Process | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Andy Blazdell is the co-founder of CelAction, an independently-owned company based in England that develops and sells the animation software called CelAction2D, which has been used in TV series and feature films all over the world. Award-winning shows such as Peppa Pig, Little Princess, Charlie & Lola and Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom have all been produced using CelAction2D, and new shows like Humf and Fun With Claude are set to charm audiences worldwide. |  | |
Mary Bredin, Development & Acquisitions, Guru Animation Studio
| Brand It! The Future of Web Series | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Mary has worked at Guru since Sept. 07 and has a number of shows in development. She is also executive producing JUSTIN TIME – guru’s first original series. Prior to Guru, Mary spent 10 years in London working at Viasat and Disney, where she worked on the international Disney Channels working on programming and acquisitions as well as the launch of channels in various markets including Japan. |  | |
Andre Breitman, Executive Producer, 2DLab
| My Big Big Friend - A Co-Production Case Study | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
André Breitman is one of the main partners 2DLab- a full production 2D studio and of the Delta Group. He is currently producing 2 series: Jobi’s Room” (52x1) and “My Big-Big Friend” (52x11), an animated series created by 2Dlabs that will be delivered in spring 2010 to Treehouse, Discovery Kids LA and TV Brazil. As a publisher Andre published Brazil’s largest electronic Encyclopedia with over 2 million units sold and was the creator of Mondo’s World an educational subscription based website seen in Brazil by over 600,000 children. |  | |
Rita Carbone Fleury, Independent Content Strategist , Amebatv.com
| Brand It! The Future of Web Series | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Rita is currently heading up the Business Development & Content team at Ameba, a direct to consumer content delivery service which allows parents to pick and purchase programming on line for their kids to view through a set-top box. She is actively looking for content partners who want to make their programming available directly to consumers. When she is not sourcing content for Ameba, Rita is an Independent Content Strategist. Rita sources and builds opportunities for content creators and rights holders to exploit their intellectual property. Her experience includes: creation and implementation of multi-platform content sales & marketing strategies; forecasting future content trends; and business development for traditional and new platform monetization. Rita’s platform agnostic approach to content, has given her the opportunity to work with the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, who commissioned her in 2007 to report on the state of cross-platform content opportunities. Rita is also the co-editor of the Bell Fund Bliki – “How to Make Money with Multi-Platform Digital Media”. |  | |
Frank Caruso, Creative Vice President, King Features Syndicate
| Tried, Tested and True!(?) | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Frank T. Caruso joined King Features Syndicate in 1987 as Art Director after an early career as a freelance cartoonist and designer with a number of leading publications. In 1992, he was named Creative Director, Licensing, where he served as the department head for domestic and international licensing and merchandising worldwide. Currently, Caruso is Vice President of Creative, where he is involved with the development of new King Features licensing properties, and supervises all creative aspects of the company's internet, animation, and promotional activities. |  | |
Vince Commisso, CEO & Executive Producer, 9 Story Entertainment Inc
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Vince is a co-founding partner and President & CEO of 9 Story Entertainment. Vince has contributed to the production of 400+ animated episodes for audiences of all ages. He began his career at Nelvana LIMITED, where he worked with the major networks, studios, producers and distributors, both domestically and internationally, garnering one Emmy® and two Gemini® nominations. Vince's responsibilities at 9 Story revolve around production, creative, technical and sales aspects of the company's activities. |  | |
Peter Corbiere , VP of Sales, Acorn Partners
| Financial and Intellectual Property Issues | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 10:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Peter Corbière, VP of Sales at Acorn Partners, is an accomplished entrepreneur and turnaround specialist with over 20 years experience in developing and overseeing strategy for the SME community. His strengths and primary focus have been in operations management, sales management and finance. Peter holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool’s Business School and will soon publish his dissertation on Rapid-Growth and the challenges it presents to the SME. |
Serge Côté, Composer, Atomic Audio
| Good Vibrations: The Art of Composing Music for Animation | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Serge Côté was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1995, he co-founded “Atomic Audio”, an audio post production facility were he went on to compose for films, documentaries, television series, animated series, radio/television commercials and industrial videos. He has composed over 500 episodes of music for TV series such as “Kevin Spencer”, “A World of Wonders”, “Leaps and Bounds”, “Benjamin Bear” and more recently “RollBots". Serge is currently composing for the third season of the series “A World of Wonders” and the French dramatic comedy “Meteo +”, and has several projects on the horizon, including a new 3-D animated series. |  | |
Nick Cross, Animator, Do It For Me Productions
| Animation: The Marriage of Art and Commerce | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Nick Cross is an award-winning animator living in Ottawa, Ontario. During his career, he has worked on an impressive number of animated film and television projects for clients such as Nelvana, Spumco, Nickelodeon, and New Line Entertainment. Also an award-winning independent filmmaker, his short animated film subjects have been seen in festivals and retrospectives around the world. |  | |
Clive Endersby, Story Editor, Core Literary Inc.
| My Big Big Friend - A Co-Production Case Study | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Clive Endersby has an extensive cv as an award-winning writer and script editor in international pre-school and children’s programming, both animation and live action. At TV Ontario he wrote over 260 scripts and helped create some of their flagship series. He has been mostly based in the North American market but is now also working extensively in the UK. Canadian and Co-Pro Story Editing animation Credits include: Breakthrough Entertainment/2DLab’s MY BIG BIG FRIEND, Title Entertainment’s MR MOON, Portfolio Entertainment’s THE CAT IN THE HAT (Interstitials), Nelvana’s MY FRIEND RABBIT, Funbag Animation’s FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, TOAD PATROL, MOLE SISTERS. |  | |
Ron Estey , President, C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures
| State of the Animation Industry, Canada and Abroad: Market Analysis | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Ron is President of Digital Visual Effects and Animation studio, C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures. Founded in 1994, the studio has provided visual effects for more than 100 films and televisions programs, three animated features, and created 400+ episodes of television series animation. Ron is also President of Aprilage Development Inc., a developer that produces health education software. He is a founder and Past-President of the Computer Animation Studios of Ontario Association and has served on numerous boards and advisory committees. |  | |
Ken Faier, El Presidente, Nerd Corps Entertainment inc.
| Merch on my Mind | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 10:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
As El Presidente of Vancouver-based Nerd Corps Entertainment, Ken Faier is responsible for the overall management and administration of the company's library of existing and new intellectual properties, including arranging financing and co-production partners, international distribution and establishing the company’s licensing and merchandising strategy. Faier works with the management team to oversee continue the expansion of the company’s infrastructure into a leading player in the children’s market. Faier is the Executive Producer of Storm Hawks and League of Super Evil, Nerd Corps’ newest production newest production which launched in 2009. |  | |
Alistair Forster, Lawyer, MBM Intellectual Property, Law LLP
| Financial and Intellectual Property Issues | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 10:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Alistair's practice encompasses patent portfolio coordination, patent drafting and prosecution, as well as legal issues relating to IP due diligence, inventorship, ownership, and formalities. He is involved with the drafting and prosecution of patent applications in a broad range of technologies including computer hardware and software, chemical, electrical, and mechanical applications, and green-and clean-technologies. Alistair also frequently advises clients on issues of on-line contracting, privacy and copyright. Alistair regularly assists clients with licensing issues, and provides advice on a number of related topics like Open Source software. |
Kevin Gillis, Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group Inc.
| State of the Animation Industry, Canada and Abroad: Market Analysis | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Kevin Gillis is one of Canada's leading independent producers. He was the creator, producer, director and head writer of the highly acclaimed, Gemini award-winning animated family series, The Raccoons. He executively produced Robocop: the Series, Heart of Courage, and F/X The Series. Kevin’s animation credits include producing, executive producing and selling Atomic Betty, Miss BG, Captain Flamingo, Jimmy Two Shoes and Producing Parker. Since the launch of Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group, Kevin’s team already has several projects in development and is managing content for some of the world’s most prominent studios and broadcasting groups. His shows have been broadcast in more than 180 countries and have been nominated for or won numerous awards including the Gemini’s and BAFTA. |  | |
Matt Hornburg, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia
| Brand It! The Future of Web Series | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
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. Matt is currently leading The Dating Guy, a primetime animated series for TELETOON’s adult Detour block, co-produced with E1 Television International. Matt co-created the series with marblemedia partner Mark Bishop. Recent initiatives also include the extreme tween reality series, The Adrenaline Project season 1 and 2. His other credits include The Art of Seduction, an innovative mobile shorts series, This is Daniel Cook, This is Emily Yeung, Taste Buds, a pairing of SwanS DVD by Veronica Tennant, deafplanet.com and Burnt Toast. |  | |
Christy Karacas
| Animation: The Marriage of Art and Commerce | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Christy Karacas studied film and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. His work been shown in numerous festivals and screenings around the world including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, PS1 Contemporary Art Center, Deitch Projects, Galleri Loyal in Sweden, Tribeca Film Festival, and MTV's Cartoon Sushi. He lives in Brooklyn, NY and and is a co-creator and director of Superjail! on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. |  | |
Curtis Lelash, Director, Comedy Animation, Cartoon Network
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Curtis joined the Original Series department at Cartoon Network in Atlanta in 2005, and is now Director of Comedy at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. He is currently overseeing upcoming series "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake" and "Regular Show" while also seeking out and developing new series. Previously he worked in development at Dreamworks Animation and Storyopolis Productions. Curtis enjoys fun. |  | |
Ira Levy, Executive Producer, Breakthrough Films & Television Inc.
| My Big Big Friend - A Co-Production Case Study | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Spence McDonnell, Partner , PWC Management Services
| Financial and Intellectual Property Issues | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 10:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Spence is a partner in our Technology, InfoComm and Entertainment tax practice who has been providing a broad range of tax services to both start-up clients as well as international clients. Spence has extensive experience in restructuring financing arrangements, dispositions of business units, U.S. and international expansion, corporate group reorganizations and shareholder tax planning as well as assisting clients manage their tax compliance requirements. Spence has assisted many entertainment clients with regards to cross-border tax planning and compliance requirements, including entertainment and related tax credit programs. |  | |
Tom McGillis, President and Executive Producer, Fresh TV Inc.
| Meet the Makers – 6TEEN | ||
| Sunday, October 18, 11:00 am, Arts Court - Theatre | ||
| State of the Animation Industry, Canada and Abroad: Market Analysis | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Tom McGillis is President of Toronto based Fresh TV, a Toronto prodco obsessed with creating family entertainment that captivates the youth market. Powerfully connected to tween and teen audiences around the world, Fresh eats, sleeps and breathes to create television young people will love right now. Fresh series include the Emmy award winning 6TEEN, the ratings smash hit Total Drama Island, and the recently launched Stoked. All three shows are seen on Teletoon in Canada and Cartoon Network USA and broadcast around the globe. |  | |
Sarah Muller, Head of Drama and Animation Development, BBC Children's
| Confessions of a European Buyer | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Sarah Muller is currently Head of Development for CBBC Drama and Animation at the BBC. Commissioned projects include Spirit Warriors, Halfmoon Investigations, My Almost Famous Family, Tracey Beaker Returns, Sadie Jones, Just William and animated series Muddle Earth - which she Executive Produces. She also Executive Produces a one-off animated special for Doctor Who. Previously, she was Managing Director of Elephant Productions a well-known company specialising in the development and production of animation and children's programming. |  | |
Lisa Olfman, Founder and Co-President, PORTFOLIO ENTERTAINMENT INC.
| Confessions of a European Buyer | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
As a founding partner and Co-President of Portfolio Entertainment, Lisa Olfman has garnered high praise as an unstoppable and innovative creative and financing force. Her strong ability to mold new and dynamic financing models and to develop highly visible production partnerships has put her at the forefront of the Canadian entertainment industry. Along with co-founder Joy Rosen, she spearheads the company’s strategic business direction, managing corporate expansion and providing team leadership. |  | |
Jamie Piekarz, Director of Content , Treehouse & Discovery Kids Canada
| My Big Big Friend - A Co-Production Case Study | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
As Director of Content, Jamie Piekarz has played an integral role in the creation and development of a variety of programs including: My Friend Rabbit, 4 Square, Ask Me, Wee 3, Treehouse TV interstitials and other shorts. Some of her production executive credits include: Toot and Puddle, Big and Small, Zigby, SciQ, The Mole Sisters, Farzzle’s World, Dragon, Toopy and Binoo, Being Ian and The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers. |  | |
Birkner Rawlings, Vice President of Animation Development, Nickelodeon Animation Studios
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Birkner Rawlings is the Vice President, Animation Development for Nickelodeon. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the development of all new animated series at Nickelodeon. His department is charged with seeking out new projects, cultivating talent and guiding creators from concept to completed pilot. Prior to joining Nickelodeon in November, 2006, Rawlings was the Director of Creative Affairs at Walt Disney/Pixar Feature Animation. Rawlings began his career with Fresco/Madaro Pictures and has held production and development posts with Spyglass Entertainment and The Economic Journal. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in Film and Television Production from Chapman University. |  | |
Chris Rose, Director Programming & Development, HIT Entertainment
| Confessions of a European Buyer | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Chris Rose has over 12 years experience in the broadcasting industry having started his career as a radio presenter on local RSL radio stations. In 2001, Chris became the Acquisitions Executive for BBC Children's, where he was responsible for sourcing and assessing pre-school and pre-teen program submissions for the BBC. Most recently Chris worked as the Acquisitions Manager for CBeebies, serving as Executive Producer on commissioned and acquired animation for under sixes. Chris joined HIT Entertainment in September 2008 as the Programming and Development Director. His responsibilities include working with animation producers and studios to develop innovative new properties to add to HIT's rich catalogue of programming. |  | |
Frank Saperstein, Senior Vice President, Animation & Children, E1 Entertainment
| Good Vibrations: The Art of Composing Music for Animation | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Frank Saperstein, Senior Vice President of Kids and Animation brings over 20 years of experience in media creation, development, production and distribution to E1 Entertainment. His credits include over 400 episodes of television, feature film, new media, shorts and commercials. Prior to joining E1, Frank has served as Co-CEO/creative director of PASI (Philippine Animation Studio Inc.), producer/director and development consultant for VH1/MTV Networks, and as producer/writer/director at Matinee Entertainment. Previous credits include award-winning productions, Kampung Boy - winner for Best Television Series at Annecy Film Festival (Fox Kids/Teletoon), Bob and Margaret (Comedy Central/Global TV), Kong: The Animated Series (Fox Kids/Teletoon), Captain Flamingo (YTV/Jetix), The Ren & Stimpy Show (Nickelodeon/MTV) , and Pee-wee's Playhouse (CBS). |  | |
Josh Selig, Founder and President, Little Airplane Productions
| Good Vibrations: The Art of Composing Music for Animation | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Josh founded Little Airplane Productions, Inc. in 1999 with the simple goal of creating the most innovative preschool television programming in 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. |  | |
Linda Simensky, Vice President, Children’s Programming, PBS
| Animation: The Marriage of Art and Commerce | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
| How to be Pitch Perfect in The Imperfect World of Animation Development | ||
| Saturday, October 17, 11:00 am, Arts Court - Theatre | ||
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. |  | |
Pam Slavin, Vice President of Production, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc.
| Tried, Tested and True!(?) | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Pamela has been immersed in both the creative and business side of children's television for more than 15 years. She has executive produced top Cookie Jar shows including “Arthur”, “World of Quest”, “Johnny Test”, “Will & Dewitt”, “Busytown Mysteries”, “Magi-Nation”, “Noonbory & the Super 7”, “Metajets”, “Gotta Catch Santa Claus” and “Gerald McBoing Boing”. Before joining Cookie Jar, Pamela served as a Supervising Producer at Nelvana. She has worked on a number of popular series including "Little Bear", "Rolie Polie Olie", "Atomic Betty", "Tales from the Cryptkeeper" and "The Never Ending Story". |  | |
Warren Tomlin, President, Fuel Industries
| Brand It! The Future of Web Series | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
As Fuel Industries’ President, Warren Tomlin provides the strategy and creative direction necessary to keep Fuel on the cutting edge of digital entertainment. Bringing over a decade of business and marketing experience to his role, Warren is responsible for the creative, operations and client satisfaction for Fuel’s Ottawa, Denver and L.A. offices, and is responsible for ensuring that Fuel continues to push creative boundaries and innovate in both its client-driven content and its licensed properties. |  | |
Terry Tompkins, Partner, EggPlant LF Inc.
| Good Vibrations: The Art of Composing Music for Animation | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Emmy winning composer Terry Tompkins began his career in Television with the series “ Peep and the Big Wide World” which won the 2004 Emmy for “Best animated Children’s series". Other Emmy Winners Terry has written for include Curious George, WordGirl, Fetch! And Design Squad. He has produced and written music for series that have aired on NBC, CBS, BBC, ITV, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney, CBC, CTV, Discovery Kids and PBS. He has produced artists such as Taj Mahal, Dr. John and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. |  | |
Caroline Tyre, Director of Programming, TELETOON Canada Inc.
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Caroline is the Director of Programming for TELETOON Canada inc., overseeing all programming activities including foreign acquisitions, setting programming objectives and implementing scheduling strategies for TELETOON’s English and French language networks as well as the English and French language TELETOON Retro digital specialty channels. Caroline joined TELETOON in April 2006 as Manager, Acquisitions, a role that saw her acquire programming for the English and French TELETOON networks and lead the programming for TELETOON’s expansion into mobile, On Demand and video streaming on teletoon.com. |  | |
Mike Valiquette, Founder, Publisher, Canadian Animation Resources
| Animation: The Marriage of Art and Commerce | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Michael Valiquette is an award-winning animation producer, manager and artist with over 15 years experience in the industry. In 2008, Michael set out to unite the diverse Canadian Animation community, and founded Canadian Animation Resources, the only central, online resource catering to both the independent sector and commercial industry in Canada. |  | |
Matthew Wexler, Executive Producer, Spin Master Entertainment
| To Hell and Bakugan | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 11:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Matt joined Spin Master more than 10 years ago and was later involved with the creation of Spin Master’s licensing department. Throughout his tenure, he has been an integral member of Spin Master's management team and has helped significantly grow the company's licensing-based revenues. In 2003 Matt worked in Japan helping to build Spin Master's presence in the region, fostering new relationships with partners on some of the company’s strongest brands - including the global entertainment phenomenon BAKUGAN. Following the success of Bakugan, upon which he continues to serve as Executive Producer, Matt has been charged with producing new entertainment opportunities for Spin Master Entertainment, the toy co’s new film and television production division. He is based in Toronto. |  | |
David Wiebe, Director of Content, YTV, Corus Entertainment
| Pitch THIS! | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 3:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
| Tried, Tested and True!(?) | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 1:30 pm, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
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. |  | |
Jonathan Wiseman, Senior Vice President, Amberwood Entertainment
| Going International | ||
| Thursday, October 15, 9:00 am, Château Laurier - MacDonald Room | ||
Jonathan is responsible for the domestic and international sales of all Amberwood properties. He established Amberwood’s distribution arm in 2003 and has since concluded licensing deals that cover over 120 territories worldwide. In addition, he heads up all marketing related activities in order to achieve the company's sales goals. Jonathan also acquires intellectual properties on behalf of Amberwood so that they can be developed in-house for introduction to the world’s children and family market. On more recent Amberwood properties, Jonathan is a key figure in bringing on-board strategic creative and financial partners. Born and raised in Ottawa, Jonathan graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston with a Bachelor of Science degree and a minor in Film Studies. He has worked with several entertainment companies across North America, including Montreal, Toronto, and Los Angeles. |  | |
Akhaji Zakiya, Senior Consultant, Nordicity
| State of the Animation Industry, Canada and Abroad: Market Analysis | ||
| Wednesday, October 14, 9:30 am, Château Laurier - Starz Room | ||
Akhaji is recognized for her knowledge of corporate financial management issues as well as business strategy and policy development in media industries. Akhaji also has considerable expertise in analysis, research and management in the specific areas of television, radio and new media. As well, her experience in non-profit accounting complements her skills in financial system design and administration. Prior to joining NGL, Akhaji was a Business Analyst with CTVglobemedia and CHUM Television in the areas of content distribution, affiliate sales and marketing. |  | |