•WHAT'S A PITCH PARTY?

For the third year in a row we're opening up an entire section of our publication (read by more animation decision-makers than any other) to 1/6^th page advertisements that pitch new ideas. For less than the cost of a workshop on "breaking into the biz" you can get your great idea in front of our major readers. [NOTE: This opportunity is only available once a year. AND to help you out, we're offering these ads at a heavily discounted price!]

PLUS! This year we've really upped the ante! We've enlisted a panel of ten powerful development execs, producers and agents to judge your entries. The Pitch Party winner will receive a chance to pitch the judge of his or her choice. AND the winner will receive FREE Pitch Party Participation.

• WHO'S JUDGING THIS THING?

Wow! The call is just out and, already, we've got some of the most powerful people in Hollywood—make that "the world"—ready to judge the work of our Pitch Party Participants. Check back here everyday for the next two weeks to see what doors you could open just by entering our Pitch Party!!!

• TODAY'S FEATURED JUDGE:

Peter McHugh, Manager, The Gotham Group
As a manager with The Gotham Group, Peter McHugh works with all of the company's top talent including such celebrated writers, directors and artists as Henry Selick, the renowned director of Nightmare Before Christmas and James And The Giant Peach; Eric Fogel, the creator/writer/director of Celebrity Deathmatch; Ralph Zondag, director of Dinosaur; Seth Kearsley, director of Adam Sandler's animated feature Eight Crazy Nights; Oscar-nominated director Anthony LaMolinara, animation director for Spiderman I and II; Eric Armstrong, director of the Oscar-winning short The ChubbChubbs!; Ron Freidman & Steve Bencich, writers of Disney's Oscar-nominated Brother Bear; DKP Studios, a CGI animation studio and effects house on the forefront of digital technology; and John Williams, the Oscar-winning executive producer of Shrek I and II and head of Vanguard Animation currently in production on Valiant.

Founded in 1996, The Gotham Group is the largest company representing animation and family entertainment talent in the industry and maintains a roster of top-tier writers, producers, content creators, illustrators, artists and directors, providing a full range of services including packaging, corporate consulting and strategic career planning.

David X. Cohen

And Announcing This Year's Special Creative Guest David X. Cohen, Co-Creator and Exec Producer, Futurama David X. Cohen is the brilliant Emmy-winning co-creator and executive producer of the critically acclaimed animated series, Futurama . Before embarking on his rewarding Futurama journey, David was a writer on The Simpsons for five years. He studied computer science at U.C. Berkeley and worked on the Harvard Lampoon during his student days at Harvard. FYI, he made up his middle initial, because there was already a David S. Cohen registered at the Writers Guild.

Linda Kahn

Linda Kahn,
Senior VP of Programming and Distribution, Scholastic Entertainment
Linda Kahn is responsible for developing and directing all sales and strategic international opportunities in TV, video, interactive, character licensing and promotions for Scholastic Entertainment. Her responsibilities encompass SE's international sales program and video sales, as well as managing international licensing and promotional activities. Kahn directs Scholastic Entertainment's international consumer products and promotional activities including those for Clifford The Big Red Dog, I SPY, Horrible Histories, Stellaluna, The Magic School Bus, Animorphs and Goosebumps. She also spearheaded the branding and distribution of the Scholastic Video Collection. Prior to joining SE in 1995, she spent 12 years in senior exec positions at Nickelodeon and MTV Networks. Previously, as VP of acquisitions for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite, Kahn was responsible for all program acquisitions for Nickelodeon in its early years and instrumental in the launch of Nick at Nite. Kahn is currently the president of New York Women in Film & Television and a board member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Kathleen Hricik

Kathleen Hricik, MTV Exec
International Sales Power & Merchandising Muscle
As exec VP, international program enterprises for MTV Networks International, Kathleen is responsible for all international program syndication and licensing/merchandising activities for MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Hricik is also spearheading a new strategic development for the company: to accelerate the growth of MTVNI's syndication, licensing and merchandising businesses by developing new, international products in MTV Networks' core competency areas of kids, music and young people, for sale to third parties. Hricik's group has multiple co-productions under her direction including Yakitty Yak and a live-action series titled Star. Under Hricik's leadership, Nickelodeon's international consumer product licensees have nearly doubled since 1999 when Nick's Rugrats and Blue's Clues franchises first rolled out. In 2001, Hricik launched Nickelodeon's multi-media franchise, Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, which was pre-sold into 28 markets nearly two years prior to its premiere. Most recently Hricik has overseen the international launch of licensing and merchandising programs for Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants in 13 key markets.

Keith O'Connell
VP of Programming and Acquisitions, Animania HD
Keith O'Connell is responsible for programming and acquisitions at Animania HD, one of 21 new, commercial-free HDTV channels created exclusively for VOOM by Rainbow Media Holdings. VOOM is the first television service to offer a comprehensive array of HDTV programming to customers throughout the continental United States. Animania HD offers long and short-form animationÑfrom new cutting-edge series (Ratz, 2020) to popular cartoon classics (Mr. Magoo, Felix the Cat) in HDTV. The channel seeks to acquire top-quality animation from all over the world, working with producers and distributors to acquire high-definition programming. Prior to joining Animania HD, O'Connell helped AMC establish its promotional planning department as the cabler made the transition to commercial integration. O'Connell also served as director of international programming for Nickelodeon International for seven years, focusing on channel launches and joint acquisitions.

Delna Bhesania

Delna Bhesania CEO
Bardel Entertainment Inc.
Delna Bhesania overseas the acquisition and development of new properties at the Vancouver-based Bardel Entertainment, an internationally recognized company she founded with her partner, Barry Ward, over 16 years ago. She began to grow Bardel's proprietary library in 2001 by acquiring the rights to a book titled The Christmas Orange and turning it into a Flash-hybrid-animated family special. Bardel's first proprietary show has been licensed to over ten broadcasters worldwide and has received four Leo Awards, a WorldFest Houston Gold Award and two Gemini nominations. Delna next acquired the rights to Kenneth Oppel's acclaimed book series, Silverwing and helped adapt it into an innovative animated series that used both 2D and CG technologies. Her most recent acquisition and partnership resulted in Bardel's first 3D feature film titled Dragons Fire and Ice, based on MegaBloks' top-selling toy line, Dragons. Teletoon will air the movie this fall and she is presently in negotiation with a major U.S. broadcaster for a U.S. premiere deal.

Jane Gould

Jane Gould, Programming and Research Director
Nickelodeon Australia
Jane Gould, programming and research director at Nick Australia, has joined our Pitch Party judging panel. A well-recognized research specialist with extensive experience in the media industry and corporate sector, Jane has played an instrumental role in implementing many key research projects at Nickelodeon. Major studies have included, Brain Squeeze, a year-long independent research project that periodically investigated the lives of 69 kids aged 10-14 years. Jane has also led Nickelodeon's involvement in Australia's first research study into interactive pre-school television. Jane's role as programming and research director requires her to gather highly valuable research data on Nickelodeon's target audience and apply this knowledge to the acquisition of quality programming—ultimately facilitating Nickelodeon's key objective—to give kids what they want!

Ken Faier

Pitch Party Judge, Ken Faier
Building Better Dragons
As VP of production and distribution of children's TV for Canada's Alliance Atlantis Communications, Ken Faier is jazzed about the new Dragon Boosters series that he's exec producing. Set to premiere on The Disney Channel this fall, the CG-animated show is set a mythical era where dragons and humans co-existed. He's also busy at work on Lunar Jim, a new stop-motion animated preschool series. Other exec producing credits include Henry's World, a stop-motion animated preschool series, and Ace Lightning, a live action/CGI co-production with the BBC. Prior to signing on with AAC, Faier worked for 11 years at Brunico Communications, Inc., an international business-to-business communications company, where his responsibilities spanned publishing, events, Internet development, marketing and general management. As exec VP and publishing director, he spearheaded the development and extension of Brunico's core brands. Faier holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in marketing and finance from McGill University in Montreal.

Irene Weibel

Friday's Featured Judge Irene Weibel
Nelvana Kids Pro and WETA Yes Gal
Nelvana's VP of educational development, Irene Weibel. Lord of the Rings fans will be interested to know that Weibel is one of the key executives responsible for greenlighting the upcoming Nelvana/WETA Digital co-production, Jane and the Dragon. In her VP role, Weibel manages the overall development of all preschool and six-11 properties that focus on educational goals. Weibel also oversees the brand management of Nelvana's PBS portfolio of shows and manages the work of Nelvana's educational content advisors. Other shows she's developing include Beep Beep, Grossology and Future is Wild. Before joining the company in 1999, Weibel spent more than 17 years in public television with stints at KCET, Los Angeles; WGBY, Springfield; and WGBH, Boston.

Fred Seibert

Fred Seibert, Executive Producer, Frederator Studios
Fred Seibert, executive producer for the top-rated Nickelodeon series The Fairly Oddparents, ChalkZone, My Life as a Teenage Robot and Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Fred, along with his partners, former AOL exec Emil Rensing and former Discovery exec Travis Pomposello, founded Frederator Studios in 2000 to package, build and produce media properties. Before founding Frederator, he served as president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. Under Fred's direction the studio launched it's most successful slate of hits in 15 years. The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow+Chicken, and Johnny Bravo have been the highest rated shows on the Cartoon Network.

Other amazing Seibert credits? Fred can actually say he was MTV's first employee! Bob Pittman brought Fred on as the first executive hire in what would become MTV: Music Television. Fred was the channel's first creative and marketing executive, establishing all the original packaging, promotion and advertising elements of the world's first video music network and leading the teams that produced the VJ's, wacky promotions and the innovative logo trademark.

Fred's work has won or been nominated for every major media award: Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, CableAce, Clio and others. So, boy! Are we proud to have Fred onboard!

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Chairman of Platinum Studios
If you're a true comics fan, you'll remember Scott from his days as founder and head of Malibu Comics. Always willing to take chances on new talent, Rosenberg was famous for producing innovative comics like Men in Black, from first-time writer Lowell Cunningham. Rosenberg took MIB to Sony Pictures and the rest, including the billion-dollar franchaise, is comic-to-film history. At Platinum, Rosenberg and his team lay claim to an exciting slate of high-profile feature film and television deals based on comics, including a deal for the graphic novel, Unique, at Touchstone. Platinum boasts a first-look deal with Disney for television animation. All animated programming from the company is represented by The Gotham Group.

• AND WHAT DO I WIN?

For one thing, a whole heck of a lot of print and online coverage! Not only do you get a 1/6^th page ad in our print edition, if you're a winner, you'll get additional editorial coverage, a chance to pitch your idea to the judge of your choice and the cost of your entry reimbursed.

BUT WAIT! There's more … (here's a big list of everything you could get just by entering).

• 1/6^th page in the August edition of Animation Magazine, distributed to readers in 78 countries with bonus distribution at the San Diego Comic-Con.
• A high-powered panel of development execs and producers will personally evaluate your pitch.
• If you win, you get to pitch your idea to the Judge of your choice. Plus! You'll get editorial coverage in our August edition.
• If you win, you get FREE Pitch Party Participation.
• If you come in second or third, you'll get editorial coverage in our August edition.
• We also run a STAFF PICKS contest. So if our staff picks you, they'll write about why you won in our August edition.
• Finally, we run an ONLINE READERS' POLL using your 1/6^th page ad. So for one week your ad will be online and oggled by more than 100,000 unique visitors. AND! You guessed it! We also write about the winners of the online poll in our August edition. (Don't worry, we monitor our ONLINE READERS' POLL carefully. No reader can vote more than one time!) The Online Readers' Poll begins on or about June 7.

• HOW DO I ENTER?

1) Call 818-991-2884 or e-mail sales@animationmagazine.net to reserve your entry space. One of our great sales execs will contact you immediately. Entry Deadline is June 4, 2004.

2) What you'll need to provide via e-mail: a JPEG or TIFF image from your pitch, a 30-word description of your pitch and your contact information.

3) The entry fee is $375.

• FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How Do I Protect My Idea? Well, the easiest answer is "by entering the Pitch Party." If you're pitching your idea in our magazine then your idea has appeared in print with your name attached; your idea is no longer floating around out in the ether for anyone to pick up. To further protect yourself though, we suggest registering your idea with the Writers Guild. Go to www.wga.org for more info.

WHAT KIND OF STUFF CAN I ENTER? Anything! As long as your idea has the potential to be animated, you can enter a television series, movie, game, whatever! Be forewarned, however, our judges are strictly from the movie and TV arena.

WHEN DO YOU ANNOUNCE THE WINNERS? As soon as our August issue hits the newsstands, around July 1. We will also be hyping our winners online during the week of the San Diego Comic-Con, July 22 - 25 (www.comic-con.org).

WHAT SHOULD I ENTER? Basically an idea that's different; something our judges haven't seen before. Most development folks want a show that is "character-driven" or "kid-relate-able." In artist-speak that just means they're looking for a show that has a strong character at the center of the action and, if it's a TV show, a character that kids can latch onto. Remember to pick a really strong image for your entry, one that describes your show or its main character in a striking visual manner. Concerning your 30-word description, all we can say is re-write, re-write, re-write. Don't just give us the first thing that trips off your fingertips onto the keyboard and into Microsoft word. Work it! Then read it to your friends. They'll tell you if they get it or not. (And, we know this sounds dumb, but run a spell check.)

• LEGAL STUFF

Animation Magazine is not responsible or liable for ensuring the images used in Pitch Party Participant advertisements are the property of the advertisers/participants.