10:50 AM - Noon
Session A:
Animation on the Net - The Web’s Hottest Entertainment Content
Who would have suspected that animation on the Internet would become the hottest entertainment content segment? In a few short months, animation has gone from being another Internet technology into being the “Coolest Thing on the Net.” The technology is great, the tools are easy to use, the industry’s most creative animators have come on board and the audience of users measures in the tens of millions. That is a formula for success. In this session, Digital Hollywood brings together the executives who are leading the way in Net animation. Their sites are more than making animation the next hot thing, they are setting the stage for untold expansion into other entertainment mediums.
Damon Danielson, CEO, Protozoa/Dotcomix
Michael Yanover, VP & GM of Series and Show Content, Shockwave.com
Fred Angelopoulo, Chief Executive Officer, Pulse Entertainment
Jeff Fino, co-founder & Executive Producer, Wild Brain
Steve Stanford, CEO, IceBox.com
Sam Register, Vice President, Cartoon Network Online
David B. Williams, Chairman/CEO, Visionary Media LLC
John Evershed, CEO, Mondo Media, Moderator
Michael Yanover, Vice President and General Manager, Series and Show Content, shockwave.com: Michael Yanover is vice president & general manager of series a
nd show content on shockwave.com. Since joining shockwave.com, Yanover has initiated and is overseeing some of its key content, including recently concluded deals with South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and acclaimed film director Tim Burton. Prior to joining shockwave.com, Yanover was an independent producer and comic book publisher, and won first place at the 1999 Annecy International Animation Festival. Before that, he practiced as a transactional entertainment attorney in Los Angeles, and as a corporate attorney in New York at Stroock, Stroock & Lavan. Mr. Yanover holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and a Law Degree from the University of Toronto.Jeff Fino, Co-founder; Executive Producer, Wild Brain: Jeff Fino, with partners John Hays and Phil Robinson, founded Wild Brain, Inc. with only $15,000, and the belief that a prosperous, creative community could flourish within a truly collaborative work environment. At Wild Brain, the constant exchange of ideas is at the core of the company’s creativity and originality. Jeff is executive-producer of the studio’s new Internet animation channel, wildbrain.com, its 26-episode co-production of "Poochini’s Yard," and a wide range of projects from LucasArts’ Star Wars Episode I CD-ROM, to work on the feature film production of The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle for Universal, and commercials for clients including Coca-Cola, Nike, KFC and Levi’s. Before launching the company in 1994, Jeff spent four years producing live-action and animated commercials at Colossal Pictures. Jeff also served as the studio’s Unit Production Manager. Previous to his move to San Francisco in 1991, Jeff honed his production skills in Hollywood on what he describes as "some of the worst B-movies ever made." He also worked for Kings Road Entertainment, a large, independent motion picture production company, coordinating production on films such as Creator, The Best of Times, Enemy Mine and The Big Easy. Jeff also worked as a production manager for numerous movies and television shows, including the series’ "Rescue 911" for CBS and "Back to the Future" for Universal Cartoon Studios/Amblin Entertainment.
John Evershed, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mondo Media: John Evershed co-founded Mondo Media in 1988 with his partner, Deirdre O'Malley. His ongoing mission is to creatively combine art and technology in a way that results in new and compelling entertainment experiences. In doing so, he has placed an emphasis on high-end applications featuring multimedia technology and design. Today, the company Mr. Evershed heads has become one of the Bay Area's largest independent studios. In growing the company from a staff of three to its current number of 75, Mr. Evershed guided Mondo Media through various evolutions by holding true to his vision and an unrelenting emphasis on delivering quality creative products. Mr. Evershed is the creative force behind Mondo Mini Shows, serving as Executive Producer for award-winning The God & Devil Show, Thugs on Film and Like, News. He also appears on behalf of Mondo Media at multimedia industry conferences and events around the world (in Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, France, England, Australia, China and Sweden). Prior to forming Mondo Media, from 1983 to 1988, Mr. Evershed was employed by San Francisco-based Chronicle Videotex, Inc., where he designed and produced interactive information and advertising applications for Teleguide, a public access interactive kiosk system located throughout the Bay Area. He began his career working with on-line, interactive consumer trials at Infomart, Canada. Mr. Evershed graduated from the University of Toronto in 1981 with a degree in English Literature.
Sam Register, Vice President, Cartoon Network Online: As vice president of Cartoon Network Online, Sam Register is the creative director and the driving force behind the look and feel of CartoonNetwork.com, which has vaulted to become one of the Top 3 kids’ sites on the Web since its July 1998 launch. With over nine years experience in visual and interactive design for children, Sam is the key player in getting Cartoon Network initiatives to be visualized both internally and externally for a converged world. Register is also the creative interface guiding third party relationships in CartoonNetwork.com’s on-going development, especially for the site’s groundbreaking "Web Premiere Toons" – original, interactive cartoons from top programming and underground animation talent. Register came to Cartoon Network Online from San Francisco-based Colossal Pictures, where he was creative director. His projects there included art direction for "The Mix-ups," six animated interstitials for the Disney Channel as well as the development of the new "Frogger" character for the Hasbro Interactive video game. He also consulted on projects for Disney, WebTV and Microsoft. Prior to his work at Colossal, Register was Creative director for Turner New Media in San Francisco. While there, he created the Cartoon Network site on American Online. He also developed "Cartoon Network World", a 3D virtual online environment, where he oversaw all animation, 3D world creation as well as game design. Previously, Register teamed on the creative development of kids television programming for Indigo Entertainment, a subsidiary of Grey Advertising in New York. In addition, Register has spearheaded creative work for Nickelodeon and Griffin Bacal, a New York children’s advertising firm where he wrote, art directed and produced toy commercials for Hasbro and Kenner, including spots for GI Joe, Jurassic Park, Transformers, and Tonka Trucks.
DAVID B. WILLIAMS, FOUNDER, VISIONARY MEDIA & CREATOR, 'WHIRL
GIRL': David B. Williams is an innovator in the creative development of high quality online programming. Through his company, Visionary Media LLC, Williams produces the Web's first successful animated strip, "WhirlGirl," whose weekly episodes go online Fridays at Showtime Networks' Internet channel, SHO.com (http://SHO.com/whirlgirl). "WhirlGirl," the story of a futuristic-freedom fighting superheroine, is the first weekly Web strip to embrace Marcormedia's Flash animation and the first successful English-language weekly Web strip to be translated into Spanish. Williams founded Visionary Media (of which he is Chairman and CEO) in 1993 to deliver Internet solutions to an array of corporate clients. For ContentWare, Williams directed the development and production of the first-of-its-kind SHOPPING2OOO website and CD-ROM series, with versions for the Japanese as well as the U.S. markets. Since 1995, Visionary Media has guided the creation and development of several award-winning websites for Smithsonian Magazine. In 1996, at the beginning of the Internet's transformation into a mainstream medium, Williams put into motion a plan to create and market original digital entertainment. The "WhirlGirl" web series was launched in the Spring of 1997 and soon became a breakthrough hit. Today, Visionary Media is an established leader in the online entertainment industry, and "WhirlGirl" has made history, earning major media coverage on numerous occasions; most recently with a precedent setting online/on-air simulcast of its premiere episode for Showtime Networks. Today, "WhirlGirl" is represented in licensing and merchandising by MTV Networks, and a 'WhirlGirl' action figure is due in stores soon.