HappyHourJLM: ANIMATION with Disney, Mattel, Cartoon Network & Platige Image
For one night every month, the Jerusalem tech community gathers to network, pitch, and drink beer. Made in Jerusalem’s “Happy Hour JLM” is the ultimate opportunity for investors, startup founders, aspiring entrepreneurs, and tech community leaders to come together and have casual drinks among key players in the city’s tech community. Between 150–200 techies join for each event at the Jerusalem Beer Garden, in the First Station.
This month’s Happy Hour JLM on Sunday 5th November is in partnership with the The Jerusalem Film & Television Fund and the Jerusalem Development Authority — and we will be joined by the biggest global names in the industry of Animation — Disney, Mattel, Cartoon Network and Mattel, followed by introductions from the 5 hottest Animation companies from JLM — Snowball, Mind the Gap, PitchiPoy, Rogatka, Ha-Sandag.
The content:
The event will start with half an hour of mingling and 1+1 on beers, and then we will hear from the 4 Animation stars with 4-minute ted-talk style speeches.
Here is some more info on our guests:
David Levine — VP, Programming, Production and Strategic Development, Disney
David Levine is Vice President, Programming, Production and Strategic Development, Disney Channels EMEA, and General Manager, Disney Channels UK & Ireland. As Vice President, he is responsible for all strategic and operational aspects of Programming across Disney Channels EMEA, including the development of the linear and multi-platform programming strategy. David is responsible for the direction of original production and overseeing the development and production slates of originally produced content, acquisitions and co-productions. He has developed and commissioned Emmy-nominated Evermoor, First Class Chefs, The Evermoor Chronicles, and The Lodge.
As General Manager of Disney Channels UK & Ireland, David leads a team that utilizes these key platforms to drive familiarity and awareness for the Disney brand.
Ann Austen — Content Development & Production, Mattel Creations
Ann Austen is an Emmy Award-winning writer/producer/show runner whose career spans a wide range of genres and projects, from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers to Barbie. With extensive development experience and a background in broadcasting, Ann’s specialty is taking existing IP to the next level, having developed series for many well-known companies and brands, including MGA, Saban, Technicolor, Corus, Julie Andrews, and the National Football League.
Recently Ann edited the relaunch of the 90’s classic ReBoot. Tapping her love for and knowledge of children’s literature, Ann wrote and Executive Produced The Snowy Day for Amazon Studios, winner of the 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Preschool Program. She’s won both the Humanitas and the WGA award for her Disney Channel original movies. Ann’s written on series as diverse as Dreamworks: Dragons, Atomic Puppet, Kody Kapow, and We’re Lalaloopsy, and currently serves as Creative Producer on Barbie content for Mattel Creations.
Simon Dean — Creative Director, Cartoon Network
Simon Dean has been in the Creative industry for over 20 years. He started out learning his craft as a promo producer; at “Yoof” TV channel Rapture TV. It was just him, a camera an Avid and a weekly budget of 12 pounds.
He soon moved to Bloomberg for bright city light and bigger budgets where he homed my skills in directing.
He joined the Disney Channel in 2003 where he developed his passion for delivering award winning high quality promo’s and marketing for movies and shows like Monster inc, High school Musical and Hannah Montana.
This didn’t go unnoticed and he was asked to do a maternity cover for the sister company Jetix as a Creative Manager. In that year he won a Promax Gold award for Jetix MAX idents.
A year later he returned to Disney as the Senior On-air Creative Manger CEEMA where he helped Launch and brand the Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior in Central and Eastern Europe.
Today he is the Creative Director Turner for EMEA. He is responsible for managing the Regional creative team of designers and producers that are ultimately responsible for the delivery of shared creative solutions for Turner Kids channels (Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Boing) for the whole of Europe Middle East and Africa. In the last year he has been involved in the global re-launch of classic cartoon network shows — The Powerpuff Girls and Ben 10.
The heart of everything he does is coming up with fun creative solutions that help promote great shows to the largest audience possible.
Artur Zicz — Executive Producer, Platige Image
Artur is a VFX and animation producer for the last 10 years. Experienced on all levels of production in the Advertising and Film industry. On a daily basis he is involved in pitching for animation and VFX jobs for commercials and film productions involving clients from around the globe. He is responsible for postproduction and VFX of and 2008 Oscar winning short animation film “Peter and Wolf” directed by Suzie Templeton.
Following the speeches from our guests, 5 Jerusalem-based animation studios will be giving 2-minute intros into the innovative projects they are working on and give us an insight into who they are:
- Snowball Studios: Snowball has produced hundreds of minutes of top quality, 3D animation and visual effects in HD for film, tv, computer games, commercials and mobile, which are aired all over the world. These range from high-end commercials for brand name clients such as Cartoon Film, NBC, Cisco, Sci-Fi Channel, Verizon, National Lottery and Orange, to drama hits such as two seasons of VIPO, the 26-part children’s television series currently airing in over 140 countries and three more pre-school TV series, including one for the BBC. Check out their portfolio here.
- Mind the Gap: They are an animation production company that focuses on making films that seek to change the world. In addition to their independent productions, they specialize in working with charities and non-profit organizations out of a firm belief in two things — animation is a great way to deliver a message; and charities need to work with someone who closely understands their unique needs. Here are their projects.
- PitchiPoy: PitchiPoy is one of the most experienced animation house in Israel, with a special passion for animated storytelling. Check our their showreel.
- Rogatka: Rogatka, a Jerusalem-based production house, is a one-stop shop for innovative promotional content intended for wide distribution. They produce clips in a variety of styles including animation, video, and 3D. See their portfolio here.
- HaSandag: HaSandag is an open-space studio for creative video production based in Jerusalem, Israel. They produce and develop both original content & brand-specific projects. See their work here.
To finish the night off, there will be more 1+1 on beers and a fantastic opportunity to mingle with these stars in an informal setting at the Beer Garden.
It is not often that world-class stars visit our city and agree to mingle with our tech community, so let’s show them a good time for their last evening in JLM!
Register here (this is a kid & dog friendly event): Here is the FB link and the Meetup link.
