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Reading Ann Bernstein’s post about Gene Deitch and his progeny inspired me to go back in my old agency’s archives for one of my favorite pieces, called “Easy Groove.”

Jerry Lieberman was one of the most prolific animation producers in commercial animation in the 1970s, and somehow or other (I think I saw his reel) hooked with with my partner Alan Goodman and me while we were the creative directors at MTV and Nickelodeon in the 1980s. Jerry was great to work with, and ended up making dozens of our 10 second network IDs for almost every cable network we branded, from The Movie Channel to HA! and of course MTV and Nick. Once we got comfortable with each other and he realized we weren’t kidding about creative freedom, he started reaching into the community he was most comfortable with, illustrators with an edge. He introduced us to the great Lou Brooks, and, for this piece, the afore referenced Kim Deitch. I’d stopped following comix at that point, so I didn’t know his work, but after we were done I made up for lost time. He did a great job.

To complete the picture(s), I think Tony Eastman directed, and the music was done by our great friends Eugene Pitt & The Jive Five. And, as I’ve posted before, the Nickelodeon logo was designed by Tom Corey & Scott Nash.

–Fred