3:50 PM - 5:00 PM
Track IV: The University Project - Plenary Session - Open to All Attendees
"Digital Filmmaking - Future of the Creative Process - Film, Games & Video - Students Question the Professionals"
The Dreamworks Team
Rick Rekedal, DreamWorks Animation Consumer Products - Moderator
Denis Couchon, Supervising Animator, MADAGASCAR
Tom McGrath, Director , MADAGASCAR ( Subject to availability)
Paul Reiche, founder/CEO, Toys For Bob (MADAGASCAR video game developer)
Laird Malamed, VP Studios, Activision
Peter Sauers, VP Product Development, The bEQUAL Company (MADAGASCAR DVD game developer/publisher)
Mark Rowen, Producer, MADAGASCAR DVD
University Project Moderator: Kathy Smith, Chair of Animation/Digital Arts, USC
Student Questioners:
Adam Fanton, UCLA
Hao Gu, USC
Marianna Hayden, CalArts
Pablo Calvillo, CalArts
Terilyn Lawson, USC
Tom McGrath recently served as a director and writer on DreamWorks Animation’s hit comedy "Madagascar." He also provided the voice of Skipper, the leader of a band of resourceful penguins, in the film. McGrath’s career in animation spans more than 15 years, and he has also worked extensively in live action. His live-action feature story work includes the comedies "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," for director Ron Howard, and "Cats & Dogs." On the animation side, McGrath served as an animator and also did storyboarding for the feature "Cool World," and was a key animator on "Space Jam" and "Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus." For television, McGrath has worked as a director on the popular series "The Ren & Stimpy Show," as well as various pilots for Nickelodeon. In addition, he has worked on numerous commercials and animated shorts.
Denis Couchon, Supervising Animator, Madagascar: Denis Couchon recently finished work as a Supervising Animator on DreamWorks Animation’s recently released animated feature, Madagascar. Couchon began his career at PDI/ DreamWorks as an animator on the studio’s first CG-animated feature, Antz. During his tenure, he has contributed to many successful projects including the Academy Award®-winning animated feature Shrek and the popular Universal Studios theme park ride, Shrek 4D. Prior to joining the studio, Couchon was an animator on several commercials and animated features. His feature animation credits, while with Warner Brothers, Disney and Amblin, include Space Jam, Balto, Fievel Goes West and A Goofy Movie. Couchon is a graduate of the Animation Art College CFT Gobelins in Paris.
Rick Rekedal is Head of Interactive, Toy & Wireless Licensing worldwide for DreamWorks Animation Consumer Products, where he is responsible for securing anchor licensing partners in the videogames, toys and wireless categories. Rekedal joined the company in 1996 and oversees development of all licensees' product, helps establish retail support from industry buyers and marketers, and is involved in the consumer publicity campaign for new product launches. He also oversees development on the studio side for videogame development, working closely with screenwriters to write for the games, acting as liaison between game developers and animation production, and coordinating with directors for creative input. Some highlights of Rekedal's work at DreamWorks include "Steven Spielberg's Movie Maker Playset" from Lego which won TIA's Toy of the Year in 2001; Shrek 2 The Game, the #1 selling kids videogame of 2004 which won Nick Kids Choice Awards in 2005; Shrek Operation from Hasbro, which has won several awards and sold over 1 million units; Shrek's Twisted Fairy Tale board game which won the Family Fun Gold Seal award. Other key projects include Small Soldiers, the #1 toy line of 1998, Todd McFarlane's acclaimed toy collectibles from Shrek 1, and Shrek FairyTale Freakdown, the #1 Gameboy in 2001. Prior to joining DreamWorks, Rekedal worked in toy product development at Playmates Toys and Tomy America Inc. working on such properties as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek The Next Generation, Exosquad, Earthworm Jim, and Space Jam. Rick received a BA in Communications from Biola University in 1991, and resides in Pasadena with his wife and three daughters.
Mark Rowen, Producer, MADAGASCAR DVD: As producer of DreamWorks Home Entertainment’s DVD releases, Mark Rowen oversees all aspects of the studio’s DVD production process including content development, menu design, compression, authoring, and technology advancements for DreamWorks’ domestic and international titles. Some of the high profile titles Rowen has produced include Shrek and Shrek 2, two of the top-selling DVDs of all time, Collateral, Old School, Anchorman, Almost Famous/Untitled -- The Bootleg Cut, which was honored for its artistic and creative merits at the inaugural Festival de Cannes Collection, as well as the Steven Spielberg DVD titles The Terminal, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can and A.I. Artificial Intelligence; the animated hits Chicken Run, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Antz; and also collaborated on the highly acclaimed Gladiator DVD. Most recently, Rowen produced the DVD releases of Shark Tale, The Ring Two and Father of the Pride. His current projects include the upcoming DVD releases of Madagascar and War of the Worlds. An accomplished commercial director and producer, Rowen’s clients have included Walt Disney Home Video, CBS Sports, Shell Oil, Nike, Twentieth Century Fox, among others.
Laird M. Malamed, Vice President of North American and European Studios: Activision, Inc.: Laird M. Malamed currently oversees production for the children and family entertainment titles in North America and also manages Activision’s European Studios division in the United Kingdom. Malamed has held a variety of roles at Activision since he joined the company in January 1995 including key positions in Activision’s internal studios, Global Brand Manager for Activision’s Star Trek titles, and Sr. Executive Producer on a variety of id Software games. Before joining Activision, Malamed worked as a Sound Editor at Sony Pictures Entertainment in Culver City, CA and LucasFilm Ltd. in Nicasio, CA. He has worked on a variety of film and television properties including The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Party of Five, Curse of the Starving Class and Clear and Present Danger. Malamed won a Motion Picture’s Sound Editor’s award for his work on Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills and an Emmy Certificate for his work on the "Somme" episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He is a member of the Television Academy, and he served on the Board of the Interactive Academy from 2001-2003. Malamed earned a joint Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering and Film & Media Studies. He attended the Graduate School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California.
Paul Reiche is the President and Creative Director of Toys for Bob, an Activision studio in Novato, California. Toys for Bob most recently developed the hit licensed game Madagascar for the PS2, GameCube and Xbox, based on the Dreamworks animated film. Previously TFB worked with Activision and other publishers on Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, Disney's 102 Dalmatians, The Unholy War, Pandemonium, The Horde and the classic science-fiction game, Star Control I & II. Before founding Toys for Bob with programming partner Fred Ford in 1989, Paul worked on such early titles such as Archon, Mail Order Monsters, and Murder on the Zinderneuf for Electronic Arts. In 1980-81 Paul worked at TSR Hobbies on Dungeons & Dragons(TM) and other role-playing games.
Kathy Smith is Associate Professor and Chair of the Division of Anim
ation and Digital Arts at the School of Cinema-Television, University of Southern California. She is an Australian artist who has been working with painting, installation and animation since 1982. After graduating from Visual Communication at Sydney College of the Arts in 1985 she was awarded the Sydney Morning Herald Traveling Arts Scholarship for painting and in 1986 the Desiderius Orban Art Award from the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council. From 1987 – 1988 she studied and worked in Europe under the Dyason Bequest study grant at Studio Art Centers International, Florence Italy and the Dr Denise Hickey studio residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris. Since 1984 her films have been screened internationally, including Hiroshima, Anima Mundi and Ottawa International Animation Festivals and she has exhibited internationally at group and solo exhibitions such as Institute of Contemporary Art London, Florence Palazzo Italy, and the Australian National Gallery Canberra. Kathy has created and produced eleven animated films including traditional character cartoons, experimental mixed media animations, and most recently two computer-assisted digital animated films. From 1998-2001 she worked as artist in residence and adjunct faculty at the Division of Animation and Digital Arts, creating ‘Indefinable Moods’ funded by the Australian Film Commission. Since its completion, Indefinable Moods has screened at numerous international film festivals and art exhibitions. It was awarded first place at the City University of Hong Kong Computer Graphics International Digital Media Art Track Award. It was screened at SIGGRAPH 2001 N-Space Art gallery, and the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; it has been documented in Leonardo, the journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology as part of the Ninth New York Digital Salon. Kathy’s work is currently documented in "Animation Now" a world-wide publication by Taschen Press.Peter Sauers, VP Product Development, The bEQUAL Company (MADAGASCAR DVD game developer/publisher): Sauers has devoted 25 years to the frontiers of media and technology and how they can be utilized to engage, inspire and inform. A veteran of both Disney and Microsoft, Sauers has a reputation as a practical visionary in the creation of diverse types of interactive media. At Disney Educational Productions he helmed the development of many award winning films and interactive programs for children of all ages. Disney Imagineering had him at the forefront of creating new types of theme park media experiences, utilizing state of the art 3D, Circle-Vision and holographic technologies. From Disney, Microsoft recruited Sauers to head the broadcast development for a new type of interactive toy line, Microsoft ActiMates, which enabled children’s toys to interact with popular television programs, CD-ROM software and home videos. Since Microsoft, Sauers has enjoyed being involved in the start up of several small interactive media companies. He speaks of his latest effort, the b EQUAL Company, as the "perfect storm" of his career, where his passion for rich media and education has truly entered the family room, providing all parents and children the opportunity to learn and play together.