Q&A with the One and Only Fred Seibert P9 an Inside Look At
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Q&A with the one and An inside look at Nickelodeon’s Animation Nation—Can the toon talent only Fred Seibert p9 brand-new animation slate p18 pool keep up with renewed demand? p12 engaging the global children’s entertainment industry DECEMBER 2013 THE ISSUE CANADA POST AGREEMENT NUMBER 40050265 Polywrap PRINTED IN CANADA USPS AFSM 100 Approved US$7.95 in the U.S. CA$8.95 in Canada US$9.95 outside of Canada & the U.S. A publication of Brunico Communications Ltd. 001AnimationCover.indd 1 2013-11-18 3:08 PM KS.23503.TopDraw.Ad.indd 2 2013-11-12 3:21 PM KS.23503.TopDraw.Ad.indd 3 2013-11-12 3:21 PM Animation Inside Issue 2013 Changing toons Animation industry vet Fred Seibert sets his sights on web-based toons 9 and lives to tell the tale State of the animation nation What’s eating the animation talent pool? An in-depth look at keeping 12 pace with a quickly changing industry Revving up Content chief Russell Hicks opens up about Nickelodeon’s brand-new 18 animation slate Taking on tradition With TV still ruling the kids entertainment landscape, digital-first 22 brands are spawning animated series Character sketches We polled some of the biz’s hottest animators on their influences—running 26 the gamut from Chuck Jones to Stimpy Cover Our cover sports an image from Disney/Lucasfilm’s latest TV series in the Star Wars saga, Star Wars Rebels, featuring brand-new baddie The Inquisitor 4 December 2013 004_Contents.indd 4 2013-11-18 3:46 PM KS.23618.Toonmax.Ad.indd 1 2013-11-12 3:33 PM Editorial December 2013 • Volume 18, Issue 7 www.kidscreen.com vp & publisher Getting Jocelyn Christie [email protected] editorial Lana Castleman Editor & Content Director animated [email protected] Jeremy Dickson Features Editor [email protected] While following the ups and Wendy Goldman Getzler iKids Editor/Senior Writer [email protected] Gary Rusak Senior Writer downs of the animation [email protected] industry is an integral part of business development and advertising sales Kidscreen’s editorial coverage, (416) 408-2300, 1-800-KID-4512 Myles Hobbs Associate Publisher [email protected] dedicating our end-of-year Jonathan Abraham Account Manager [email protected] issue solely to the art form was Vakis Boutsalis Marketing Coordinator [email protected] a pleasant change of pace. And Features Editor Jeremy Dickson certainly did creative Sometimes you just have to that with his lead feature, “The state of the anima- Creative Manager & Art Director Andrew Glowala tion nation,” (p.12). He polled a number of indus- [email protected] Junior Art Director Kate Whelan step back from something to try leaders on where the business is at and where it [email protected] might be headed. One of the more salient obser- Production/Distribution Supervisor Robert Lines get the full picture. [email protected] vations to emerge is that animators—particularly audience services in the L.A. area—may be more in demand than Director of Audience Services and Production ever. With the entrée of DreamWorks into televi- Jennifer Colvin [email protected] Manager, Audience Services sion animation—toting an order for 300 hours of Christine McNalley [email protected] programming with it, no less—and the three big kidsnets ramping up their original corporate slates, the dance cards of animation talent are getting quite full. In fact, competi- President & CEO Russell Goldstein [email protected] tion for talent is getting tougher and a few are wondering if talent can keep pace VP & Editorial Director Mary Maddever with demand. While no one stated it explicitly, this heightened demand for talent [email protected] VP of Finance & Administration Linda Lovegrove must also be placing an upward pressure on wages and series’ budgets. How that [email protected] will affect producers, especially indies, remains to be seen. So, look what happens VP & Chief Information Officer Omri Tintpulver [email protected] when you ask, “How’s it going?” VP & Realscreen Publisher Claire Macdonald We also took the opportunity to do something we don’t always have space for [email protected] in regular issues—spend some extra time with the creatives. We asked a host of the Customer care To order a subscription visit www.kidscreen.com/subscribe To make a change to an existing subscription, hottest show creators working in the kids business right now about their animation please contact us by e-mail: [email protected] Fax: 416.408.0249 Tel: 416.408.2448 inspirations. Some answers (Chuck Jones, Tex Avery) are expected, while others Subscription rates Kidscreen is published 7 times per year (Strong Bad) are less so—but all are illuminating. by Brunico Communications Ltd. In the US: One year US$89.00 Two years US$159.00 And, perhaps, that’s what emerged overwhelmingly from this issue—that Single copy price in the US is US$7.95. Please allow four weeks for new subscriptions and address changes. everything starts and ends with creators. eOne Family MD Olivier Dumont, in fact, Postmaster Notification U.S. Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: likened discovering strong creators/showrunners to finding “the Holy Grail.” And Kidscreen PO BOX 1103 Niagara Falls NY 14304 when some of the most successful TV toons in recent memory like Adventure Time, Canadian Postmaster, send undeliverables and address changes to: Kidscreen PO Box 369, Beeton ON L0G 1A0 Printed in Canada. Canada Post Agreement No. 40050265. Gravity Falls and Sanjay and Craig are the indisputable product of strong single- ISSN number 1205-7746 Opinion columns appearing in Kidscreen do not necessarily reflect the Watch for minded showrunners, it’s hard to argue with Dumont’s assessment. Where the views of the magazine or its parent company Brunico Communications Ltd. All letters sent to Kidscreen or its editors are assumed intended the next issue of next generation will come from is anyone’s guess, but as Nickelodeon president of for publication. Kidscreen invites editorial comment, but accepts no responsibility for its loss, damage or destruction, howsoever arising, content development and production Russell Hicks notes in “Revving up” (p.18), while in its offices, in transit or elsewhere. All material to be returned must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission February/March 2013 you have to look everywhere and take every pitch that comes your way. of the publisher. © Brunico Communications Ltd. 2013 Street Date: And that’s all for Kidscreen in 2013. See you next year with our February/March ® Kidscreen is a registered trademark of Brunico Communications Ltd. February 1 Kidscreen Summit and Toy Fair issue. Happy holidays to you and yours! Cheers, Lana 6 December 2013 006_Editorial.indd 6 2013-11-18 3:47 PM get award-winning, industry standard software Award-Winning Software Toon Boom® is a 2013 Ub Iwerks Award and a 2012 and 2005 Primetime Emmy® toonboom.com/highered Engineering Award Recipient Toon Boom Animation Inc. is a Corus® Entertainment Inc. company. )MAGESCOURTESYOFTHEIRRESPECTIVEOWNERS#HICO2ITA&ERNANDO4RUEBA0#3Ø%STUDIO-ARISCAL3Ø-AGIC,IGHT0ICTURES #HICO2ITA )/-,TDp4HE3IMPSONS4WENTIETH#ENTURY &OX&ILM#ORPORATIONp'ERONIMO3TILTONØTLANTYCA%NTERTAINMENT'ERONIMO3TILTONp0INK0ANTHERAND0ALS2UBICON-'-p-Y,IFE-E#ARPE$IEM&ILM46 KS.23806.ToonBoom.Ad.indd 1 2013-11-12 3:34 PM The List Five things on our animation radar 1DreamWorks takes on TV During his MIPCOM keynote in October, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “In the 40 years I’ve been in the entertainment industry, I don’t think there’s ever been a time fi lled with so much new and unique opportunity for the world of television.” While the company is still fi rmly entrenched in the movie business, despite a mixed bag of recent releases (including this summer’s under- performing Turbo), its strategy to beef up its TV offerings is poised to change the TV animation business. With a 300- hour original programming deal signed with Netfl ix out of the gate, DreamWorks is under pressure to produce, and fast. But there are already rumblings that the studio may be soaking up a big portion of the industry’s talent pool of skilled workers—possibly offering higher wages that will drive the cost of all productions up. Katzenberg also noted, “great storytellers are hard to fi nd.” So it’s not surprising that DreamWorks will do all it can to staff up with the best the animation biz has to offer. photo: seanmcgrath Female creators Pixar beset Amazon Visualizing 2step up 3by delays 4gets tooning 5 the future In an industry still dominated For the fi rst time since Pixar Online retail giant Amazon got This year hasn’t been a stellar by male showrunners, female moved under Disney’s roof, into kids TV in a big way this year one for the VFX community creators with fresh perspectives the animation studio is not with a full slate of commissions. stateside. Hollywood received are fi nding an opening. Two sticking to its yearly release Amazon Studios launched its a jolt when Oscar-winning recent notable examples of schedule. Its next fl ick, The Good pilot program in April, and it company Rhythm & Hues, of women crafting toons that are Dinosaur, has been bumped currently has three series in Life of Pi fame, spiralled into relatable to girls, yet enjoyable to 2015. The delay comes at a production, with another fi ve bankruptcy amidst issues for guys, are Rebecca Sugar and precarious time for the studio. pilots in the running. And it may surrounding globalization and Natasha Allegri. Sugar’s Steven Pixar’s summer release Monsters be shaking up the traditional tax subsidies.