Meet Your Pitch Party Winners!

Friday, June 23, 2006
By: Ryan Ball

The network execs voted. Our staff voted. You voted! Now we have the results of the 5th Annual Animation Magazine Pitch Party! Thousands of votes have been calculated and we are proud to announce this year’s winners, including our grand prize finalist who will be given the chance to pitch to the judge of their choice and perhaps become the next big thing in animation.

For their top pick, our judging panel of industry execs chose Happy-go-Lucky from pitcher Heath Cecere of Los Angeles. Cecere’s ad promotes the project as “The delightful stories of a boy named Happy, a dog named Lucky … and how they're both neither.” DIC Ent. chief creative officer Michael Maliani notes that it could be a hard sell, but likes the humor potential. [adult swim] director of development Nick Weidenfeld likes the character design, while the slightly dark, goth artwork got the attention of Kids’ WB! senior VP/GM Betsy McGowen and Jetix Europe senior VP of programming Michael Lekes. Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein also likes the art and finds the premise fun, while Spawn creator and toy tycoon Todd McFarlane comments, “Nice play on words. Going against type has a potential. I'd like to see a better LOGO.”

McFarlane no doubt gave high marks to Monster in a Box, created by Brian Smith and produced by EggPlant, Prods. of Toronto. Placing second with the judges, the series of two-minute shorts has various poor saps opening the box and unleashing wild, unpredictable, destructive and disgusting hilarity. “Imaginative idea!” says Goldsmith-Vein.

The third-place winner is Surgeon Sturgeon from Academy of Art University grad Leo Antolini of San Francisco. However, most of the judges found this one to be more appropriate for adult audiences. Radar Cartoons exec producer Rita Street noted, “It’s super hard to sell an adult comedy show, but this one, if it’s well-written, might have a chance. I like that it appears to be a super over-the-top soap opera.” Antolini won the top prize in last year's Pitch Party with Edgar & Kipp.

Animation Magazine employees liked Surgeon Sturgeon even more, making it the No.1 staff pick. We all agreed that the retro art style is fun and concept has the protential of being the next SpongeBob SquarePants if tailored to appeal to both kids and adults. Placing second with the staff is Happy-go-Lucky, while third place came out a tie between Out of Order from Ben Bayouth, Gabe Barrere and Dillon Oleata, and Piddles & Chubba, also from Heath Cecere (Happy-go-Lucky).

Online reader votes favored Grandpa from Samuel T. Nelson. The adventures of an elderly gentleman with “nutty squirrels and a mean ol’ wife” took top honors, followed by Buck Woodall’s Bucky & The Hui, about a surfing karate kid living in Hawaii. Getting the third highest amount of online votes is Alice Lin’s Best Enemies, in which a cat named Pumpkin tries to be friends with fellow cat Fetti, who wants Pumpkin dead.

Congratulations to all of our 2006 Pitch Party winners! We hope to hear great news from you down the road, and wish all of our participants much success in their animation adventures. To see all of this year’s pitches, go to www.animationmagazine.net/pitch_party_06_vote.html, or pick up the August issue of Animation Magazine, coming soon to Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers.

Reader Comments

• Edward Webb : Creator :

  Saturday, June 24, 2006

  Thanks for the chance to show off our projects. Christoph and I are still wildly excited about "Fly Guy" and "Malfaryus," and we promise you'll see both of them again.

• Cynthia Tyler : tattoo artist :

  Saturday, June 24, 2006

  I think it's not fair that last year's winner is this year's winner, too. There aught to be a rule. If you like them so much, sign him to a contract already and give someone else a chance. Also, the winners are all adult-humor based in some factor or another.....why not let kids vote instead? More than three-quarters of these pitches i would not let my kids see anyway. I have a 10 year old and a 2 year old (and there were very few choices for the toddler, and only slightly more choices appropriate for the 10 year old). Thank you for the chance to comment.

• Ramin Zahed : Editor in Chief : Animation Magazine

  Sunday, June 25, 2006

  Please note that this year's winner is not last year's winner. Leo Antolini placed third this year with an entirely new pitch. Also, our panel of judges were not only looking for adult pitches. They were seeking both children's and adult shows. You'll be happy to know that we plan to have a panel of kid critics review the new fall TV season. You can read all about in the October issue of the magazine. Thanks for your feedback, Cynthia.

• Cynthia Tyler : tattoo artist :

  Monday, June 26, 2006

  I am glad to hear that you will be having children review your next round of choices. Thank you for responding to my comment and clarifying the matters concerned; I will certainly be watching for the magazine.

• Sharvonique : Animation Creative : www.sharvonique.com

  Tuesday, June 27, 2006

  "Ragamuffin" wasn't selected, but the competition was still fun. Congrats to the winners and I look forward to next year's Pitch Party!

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  Sunday, July 09, 2006

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