Fred Seibert's Blog

From Larry Huber and Sylvia Edwards:

Join us for a celebration of the life and work of Jaime Diaz

JAIME REYES DIAZ
January 6, 1937 - June 20, 2009

Where: Nickelodeon Gym, Burbank, California
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Time: 6pm

Apex Cartoon Props & Novelties 1998 (Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Nickelodeon)
Art director/Director

Kameleon Kid 2000 (Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Nickelodeon)
Co-creator with Russ Mooney, Art director, co-Director

Dr. Froyd’s Funny Farm 2008 (Random! Cartoons, Nickelodeon)
Co-creator with Bill Burnett, Art director, Director

Gaucho Pampa 2006 (Jaime Diaz Studios Argentina/GIMC Korea/Animotion Works, Inc.)
Creator, Art director, Director

There’s a ton of Marv Newland news in the hopper.

Tomorrow night, Marv’s got a gallery opening of postcards in Serignan, France. If you can’t make it, you can check out some of the cards at his Marvcards site (and those who know Marv best can marvel at the fact that there’s a website!).

We’ve mentioned before that Frederator was producing a short film of Marv’s over the last couple of years, and, lo and behold, the subject matter is… postcards! Well, Postalolio is finished (complete credits are below the fold) and started it’s festival run. It started at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this past Saturday, and continues on to Brazil’s Anima Mundi Festival throughout July.

Postalolio (sample #1), by Marv Newland from fredseibert on Vimeo.

I wanted to give a taste of what you’re missing, and assure you I’ll let you know the rest of the worldwide screening schedules where you might see the film yourself in person.

Go Marv!

[Read more…]

Jaime Diaz, self portrait, 2008

We just got the sad news that our old friend Jaime Diaz passed away this Saturday.

His daughter Claudia wrote:

“My dad was born on Jan. 6th, 1937, and passed away on Jun 20th on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. His full name is Jaime Reyes Diaz; born in Saenz Pena, Chaco Argentina. He married Maria Ines Aguero on June 8, 1961. Children: Claudia Zambon, Annabelle Diaz and Bill Diaz. Grandchildren: Nicholas Lalli, Andres Diaz, Amanda, Clara and Felix Tonconogy, Rocio Belen Diaz, Bryana Diaz, Steven, Anne Marie and Michael Zambon.

“He arrived in the States in Nov. 1963. Please ask to pray for his soul. He was a hard working talented man who provided for is family all his life. He was passionate about cartoons and was highly creative. He will be deeply missed by his wife, her first and only love, and by his children who are still living.”

As you can tell by looking over his incredible resume on imdb, Jaime was an active and passionate part of the cartoon industry for over 40 years, from Hong Kong Phooey to Duckman. What a list can’t tell you is what a sweet, wonderful guy he was, with a completely puckish sense of humor. And talented, way talented. In addition to working on a lot of our series over the years, Jaime created shorts for Frederator; an Oh Yeah! cartoon with Russ Mooney, and a Random! cartoon with Bill Burnett.

Gaucho Pampa by Jaime Diaz from fredseibert on Vimeo.

We were introduced by his close friend and my long, close colleague, Larry Huber, who writes this moving tribute at his blog. He also produced Jaime’s cartoon, Gaucho Pampa (above), which was screened at the Taiwan International Film Festival.

Adios Jaime, we’ll miss you.

Kameleon Kid, 2000, Created & directed by Jaime Diaz & Russ Mooney

George Seibert, 1951

Frederick William Seibert

Pancho Nakashev, 1949, by Fabian Bahrach

I met author/artist James Proimos when Frederator didn’t get a chance to make Generation O! as an Oh Yeah! Cartoons short. He came by the other day to show us what he’s been up to. Shorts for Nickelodeon, picture books, young adult novels, James is a machine.

Gary Greenblatt and I worked together at Sonicnet.com and the MTVi Group back in the day. So, I was happy to see him when he came in to show us his kids TV project “Sammy the Rocket,” based on stories he told during his son’s childhood.

Bambi Meats Anime Hell from tohoscope on Vimeo.

I found this over at the RAW blog, and since Marv Newland is my hero (and he’s mentioned a lot on our blog)…

A video flier for the May 2009 Anime Hell shows. Inspired by Marv Newland’s Bambi Meets Godzilla.

If you’ve never seen Marv Newland’s Bambi Meets Godzilla then this will mean nothing to you. In this age of youTube I’d be surprised. After all, it’s only been around since 1969. Here’s the Wikipedia entry…

Posted by Tohoscope

Yes, I know the picture is Michael C. Maronna, but I forgot to snap a picture of my old colleague, writer/producer Will McRobb when he came by our New York office to visit. So, you’ll have to settle for a star screenshot from The Adventures of Pete & Pete, which Will created with his partner Chris Viscardi. (And yes, Artie just might be the Strongest Man in the World.)

The three of us worked together for years in the formative years of Nickelodeon and Nick-at-Nite. And, as I told Will today, the afternoon he walked in the office with the original one minute TAOP&P script he changed my life; Will unleashed a thought in my head that allowed me to move out of television promotion into film production. Thanks Will!

I’m speaking tonight in New York:

Producers Guild of America New Media Council East Presents the 2008-2009 Panel and Salon Series

***EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS ONLY EVENT***

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

BUILDING DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT BRANDS: HOW TO PROFIT IN THE MULTI-PLATFORM UNIVERSE

A Conversation With Fred Seibert, President & Executive Producer, Frederator Studios

The very talented artist/writer Dave Smith was at Frederator/Burbank last week, introducing himself and his work to Eric and me. Funny enough, we’d never met, even though we were like ships passing in the night on many of the same projects, and it took my Adventure Time co-executive producer Derek Drymon to introduce us. Thanks Derek; it was great meeting you Dave.

Thanks to Dave for his kind permission to post some of his artwork.