Wednesday, June 27, 2007

A New Feature Animation Shingle

Variety informs us that a new (or maybe reconfigured?) feature animation group is entering the fray...

A trio of toon veterans are launching Frederator Films as an indie feature film company with a mission to produce 2-D animated genre movies budgeted below $20 million.

Fred Seibert's partnered with Kevin Kolde and Eric Gardner, with all three acting as producers on the projects. Seibert's the former president of Hanna-Barbera and longtime producer via Frederator Studios, which debuted a decade ago with "Oh Yeah! Cartoons" for Cartoon Network; that show spun off "Cow & Chicken," "Powerpuff Girls" and "Dexter's Laboratory," and Frederator followed with "The Fairly OddParents," "ChalkZone" and "My Life as a Teenage Robot" for Nickelodeon.

Fred I've known a long time. (Kevin and Eric, not so much.) I'll be interested in knowing where and when they set up shop, because more animation employment is always a good thing.

..."Fred is the master at identifying voids in the marketplace and filling them with paradigm-shifting content," Gardner said. "There has been a dearth of both 2-D and genre animated feature product, which Frederator Films will be rectifying." Pics will be aimed at young males.

It sounds like a doable plan. I'm looking forward to seeing it fly.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fred Seibert is a complete tool. I'm sorry to sound off with an insult, but this is a guy that has continually belittled, insulted and swindled talented animators in his desperate search for a star to hitch his tired wagon to.
Plus, what exactly has he done of worth in the last three years of him producing shorts? The screenings are wince inducing because the level of craftsmanship in those pieces is pathetic.

I feel sorry for the investors because Seibert is destined to go the way of the do-do bird(and there will be dancing and hat throwing when he leaves the industry). An executive unwilling to take any significant risks, always looking for a trend or hot commodity to latch onto like some sort of ramora fish. With animators able to make their own shorts at home on any standard PC, Seibert provides nothing to young animators except some empty ego stroking and a contract that signs ownership of every film to him alone. He;s nothing but a huckster - and an arrogant one at that.

Anonymous said...

Wow. somebody got burnt pretty good. Well i just hope its 2D done state side. thats my biggest complaint.

maybe they'll do it in N.Y.?

Anonymous said...

I've never heard anyone speak of Fred the way anonymous does, and I've been around for awhile. Sounds like someone's short got snubbed to me.

Anonymous said...

Hey anonymous, leave anonymous alone...

Is everyone with a negative opinion showing sour grapes? Then I guess no negative opinions are valid, ergo, Fred Siebert is a saint. Wrong.
He/she doesn't need to qualify himself.

Anonymously yours,
anonymous

Chris Battle said...

Hmm. Not that I have any personal experience with Fred, but because of him alot of us have worked steadily on quality projects at HB, Cartoon Network, & Nickelodeon. Not to mention that because of Frederator operating out of Nickelodeon, the studio went Union.

Anonymous said...

Anon #1 -

"Seibert provides nothing to young animators except ... a contract that signs ownership of every film to him alone"

Absolutely wrong. Fred owns none of those shorts produced at H-B, Cartoon Network, or Nick.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Them's some mighty powerful words chucked in the Frederator's direction.
I reckon there's gon' 'bout to be a shoot out, I reckon.

Anywho-
I gotta applaud any attempt at drummin' up a good ole batch a them regular cartoons. Mind ya, I DO like mah 3D funnies but it makes me feel good that someone is lookin' out for the classic animation style.

Yup.
Powerful words.

Anonymous said...

Anon #4:

No one asked sour grapes anonymous to qualify himself, but viciously attacking someone without backing it up will tend to get the attention of those reading. "This is a guy that has continually belittled, insulted and swindled talented animators in his desperate search for a star to hitch his tired wagon to" sounds to me like it is being spoken by said animator. And, by the way, everyone is entitled to their opinion - not just the first guy to speak.

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