Kevin Gamble, Animation Production & Development

Kevin Gamble: Animation Production & Development

PRODUCTION EXPERIENCE: ANIMATION



	Producer "Kung Fu Magoo" Classic Media, Anima Estudios January 2008 -> October 2009 88 minute animated TV / DVD special Producer for Classic Media. Worked with partner studio (Anima Estudios, Mexico) and provided production oversight and management. Reviewed & commented on production pipeline, script, storyboard, animatic, work in progress animation, sound & music design.


	Producer Veggie Tales Classic Media / Big Idea December 2008 -> October 2009 Three x 44 minute DVD movies Producer for Classic Media / Big Idea. Worked with existing Big Idea creative team and provided production oversight & management for three Veggie Tales DVD projects: "Minnesota Cuke 2", "Saint Nicholas" and "Pistachio".


	Producer "Casper's Scare School" Classic Media, Moonscoop, DQ Entertainment January 2008 -> August 2009 Fifty-two x 11 minute television episodes: TF1 (France), YTV (Canada), Cartoon Network (Unites States) Producer for Classic Media. Oversaw production process, worked with overseas partner studios. Production work for the series was handled by Moonscoop in France and CG animation was by DQ in India. Reviewed & commented on scripts, storyboards, animatics, work in progress animation, compositing, sound design & final mix.


	Producer "George of the Jungle" Studio B & Classic Media January 2006 -> November 2007 Fifty-two x 11 minute television episodes: Teletoon (Canada), Cartoon Network (United States) Lead team of computer graphics artists and computer animators to produce animated television series of fifty-two 11-minute television episodes using Adobe Flash software for Cartoon Network and Teletoon. Managed budget, created and oversaw entire production schedule, hired key staff, tasked with the management of all aspects of the series from pre-production to final delivery.


	Director of Development & Producer Nerd Corps Entertainment January 2005 -> January 2006 While working with Nerd Corps, I managed a slate of internally conceived & developed CG series and features, and created schedules and budgets for prospective projects. Produced in-house tests, pilots and promos for new projects. Tracked down new properties and developed relationships with artists, creators and networks. Represented the company at trade shows and conferences (including Comic-Con, KidScreen, Ottawa International Animation Festival) to seek out and bid on new business opportunities.

	Co-Creator & Content Producer "Tiki Bar TV Video Podcast" www.tikibartv.com March 2005 -> ongoing Co-created one of the most popular video podcasts in the world. Tiki Bar TV was thrown into the limelight when Steve Jobs himself showcased it during the “Video iPod” Apple keynote presentation in October of 2005. The show catapulted to #1 on the iTunes Podcast charts and currently has in excess of 500,000 subscribed viewers (and growing). Tiki Bar TV has been referred the “pioneer video podcast” credited with launching the genre and as such, I have spent the last two years speaking on panels and giving presentations about new & emerging media and podcasting at premier events such as MacWorld, the Consumer Electronics Show, VidFest Digital Expo. Produced using HD video, edited with Final Cut Pro, composited with Adobe After Effects.

	Chief Creative Officer & Producer "Hateful Chris" SecondSun Entertainment January 2004 -> November 2004 Managed creative process of converting an existing video game IP into a prime-time CG series, which MTV optioned four months after I took over the project. Set up and managed a new computer graphics animation division to animate the series, hired key staff and designed the production pipeline. Additionally, I was also tasked with developing and bidding on new business, and as such attended international markets and events such as MIP, NATPE and KidScreen.

	Producer (development) "Alien Legion" Mainframe Entertainment December 2002 -> November 2003 Led series development process with property creator Carl Potts, former editor-in-chief of Marvel / Epic Comics. Worked with the creator to re-invent the hit 1980's comic-book property for a new generation of viewers. Hired artists to conceptualize a new look, style & direction for show, and hired & worked with story editor to create a pitch bible which was used to promote the property. Unbeknownst to us, Lucas Animation was simultaneously developing the new “Clone Wars” animated property which ultimately was the show that claimed the “space army action adventure” slot on Toonami just before the show was green-lit.

	Producer "Scary Godmother" Mainframe Entertainment July 2002 -> February 2003 One x 47 minute TV special YTV (Canada), Cartoon Network (United States) Seasonal TV special for YTV and Cartoon Network. Worked with comic book creator Jill Thompson and a team of in-house artists to faithfully recreate the watercolor & painterly look of the award winning comic of the same name. Created & managed production pipeline, managed schedule, logistics, staffing. Project was completed with the SoftImage XSI computer graphics program, which was at that point unreleased. This meant working very closely with the software creators in Montreal throughout the process. Today, XSI is considered to be one of the premier 3D animation packages due in part to the intensive development and field testing it received during this project. Winner, 2004 Leo award, “Best Animated Program or Series”

	Animation Producer "Project X: Cybernet Surfers" Mainframe Entertainment for Lego Media February 2002 -> April 2002 Produced ten minute live-action / computer graphics animation promo / pilot episode. Worked alongside clients (who moved into our studio for the duration of the project) and acted as liaison between them and the studio. Managed schedule, led the creative team, supervised live action plate shooting which used actors, green screen and physical sets (which were later used as elements for the final CG promo). This project was Mainframe's first foray into live action and I was picked to lead it because of my extensive live action background..

	Animation Producer "Max Steel - Season 3" Mainframe Entertainment for Sony Pictures / Columbia Tri-Star June 2001 -> December 2001 Nine x 20 minute television episodes. Animation Producer for nine x 20 minute television episodes. We were given assets from a competing studio who had produced season 2, and we were assigned season 3. My team and I were given a very short amount of time to convert existing assets built with an entirely different animation package into a format that Mainframe could use in production. We jumped directly into an unproven & largely theoretical pipeline with little to no development time and still managed to deliver the first episode on time.

	Associate Producer "Reboot - Season 4" Mainframe Entertainment April 2001 -> June 2001 90 minute broadcast feature shipped as 4 television episodes AD for a single 90 minute broadcast feature shipped as 4 television episodes (pre production only). Did script breakdowns & coordinated art & design department during the initial look development phase. Worked very closely with series creators to ensure the vision for the project was realized, then I handed off the project to a second associate producer while I moved on to run a series.

	Associate Producer "Heavy Gear" Mainframe Entertainment for Sony Pictures August 2000 -> May 2001 Forty x 20 minute television episodes. AP for forty x 20 minute television episodes. Managed pipeline and process for the entire series, reporting to Producer. Did initial script breakdowns and re-conceptualized and re-wrote scenes that were “production killers” and made them more production friendly. Assisted the Producer with show reviews and ensured client comments were addressed by the series directors.

	Assistant Director "Casper’s Haunted Christmas" Mainframe Entertainment / Harvey Entertainment January 2000 -> August 2000 90 minute direct-to-video feature. AD for a single 90 minute direct-to-video feature. Created & managed Mainframe's first feature-length production pipeline. Worked with Director to ensure all departments were on track and that information and assets were flowing smoothly. Acted as a bridge between pre-visualization, animation, compositing and post-production departments.

	Assistant Director "Weird-Ohs" Mainframe Entertainment March 1999 -> December 1999 Thirteen x 20 minute television episodes. AD for a single 90 minute direct-to-video feature. Created & managed Mainframe's first feature-length production pipeline. Worked with Director to ensure all departments were on track and that information and assets were flowing smoothly. Acted as a bridge between pre-visualization, animation, compositing and post-production departments.

	Assistant Director "Transformers: Beast Wars - Season 2 & 3" Mainframe Entertainment for Hasbro August 1997 -> April 1999 Thirty-nine x 20 minute television episodes. AD for thirty-nine x 20 minute television episodes. My first foray into animation, I was recruited out of live action to coordinate existing processes and soon after I was hired, I created a variety of new production processes (which are still used by Mainframe today). I created & instituted a series of production protocols, departmental breakdowns and devised a new animation workflow for the company. Beast Wars was the first Mainframe production that was delivered on time and on budget.