Update (11/6) - Bill was presented with his award by Kelley Gardner, Executive of Current Series, Nickelodeon! Nickelodeon also sponsored a cocktail reception at the event, and guests were treated to SpongeBob cookies.
Joining Fagerbakke being honored with Animation Hall of Fame Game-Changers awards at the 7th Annual World Animation & VFX Summit will be Adina Pitt, who previously served as Vice President (VP) of acquisitions for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group, and has, throughout her career, worked on Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Nicktoons Network, Noggin, The N, Nick Jr., TNN and Spike TV, and Mike Young (Rob Dyrdek’s Wild Grinders)!
The honorees will receive their awards at the World Animation & VFX Summit Opening Night Party on Sunday, Nov. 3. Congrats Bill, Adina and Mike!
In addition to being honored, Fagerbakke, Pitt and Young will also be participating as panelists and speakers during the high-profile event, which will feature panels, discussions and networking with a global array of high-level animation and visual effects professionals, who are changing the animation, VFX, distribution and financing landscape all over the world. The 2019 edition will also showcase panels on the making of some of the year’s top animated features, such as Abominable, Frozen 2, How to Train Your Dragon 3, I Lost My Body, Klaus, The Missing Link, Toy Story 4 and other award season contenders. It will also offer informative sessions on some of this year’s animated shorts awards contenders, recent developments in virtual reality technologies, the changing face of the VFX industry, regional spotlights on European and Chinese co-producers and innovators, as well as new developments and opportunities for animation professionals in the booming streaming and media landscape.
Bill Fagerbakke [Representing Nickelodeons’ SpongeBob SquarePants team] voices Patrick Star, SpongeBob’s best friend, in Nickelodeon’s iconic hit series SpongeBob SquarePants. Fagerbakke is best known for his portrayal of Dauber in long-running comedy series Coach and can currently be seen in on Netflix’s acclaimed mini-series, Unbelievable. Other recent credits include Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here and How I Met Your Mother. Additionally, Fagerbakke had recurring roles on Heroes and Oz. In 2011, he appeared in the Oscar-winning film The Artist. Other credits include Funny Farm, Loose Cannons, The Secret of My Success, The Baby Makers and Halloween 2. His distinctive voice has also been heard in Disney’s animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and as a regular on animated series Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, as well as All Hail King Julien, Transformers, Handy Manny, Dumb and Dumber, Gargoyles, and many others. He currently resides in Topanga, Calif., with his two daughters.
Adina Pitt is VP of content acquisitions and co-productions for Cartoon Network and Boomerang. She is responsible for identifying, negotiating and acquiring pre-produced series, specials, movies and short-form product that fit the network brands for exposure on all platforms. She is also the liaison with international Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels to coordinate global acquisition contracts, and she represents the U.S. networks at all major programming markets. Previously, Pitt was VP of acquisitions for Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. Throughout her career, Pitt has worked on Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Nicktoons Network, Noggin, The N, Nick Jr., TNN and Spike TV. She also worked in film programming acquisitions at HBO.
Mike Young is the co-founder and partner of Splash Entertainment (originally Mike Young Productions) and Kabillion. His first venture into animation came in 1980 when his children’s books based on a crime fighting Teddy bear, SuperTed, became a hit TV series worldwide. Young has produced hundreds of hours of animated movies and TV series including the recent films All I Want for Christmas Is You and Lionsgate’s Norm of the North. Young has won numerous accolades for his shows including multiple BAFTA and Emmy Awards. Among his numerous TV and movie credits are: Jakers: The Adventures of Piggley Winks, Pet Alien, ToddWorld, Clifford’s Really Big Movie, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot, Dive Olly Dive!, Rob Dyrdek’s Wild Grinders, Cosmic Quantum Ray, Chloe’s Closet, Growing Up Creepie, Bratz and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Beginning.
“We are witnessing a huge growth period in all the different sectors of animation and visual effects all over the world, and we are delighted to celebrate the seventh edition of our World Animation & VFX Summit with such a supremely talented group of visionaries and artists,” says Jean Thoren, Animation Magazine’s publisher and founder of the event. “Our six distinguished Hall of Fame Game Changer Honorees this year — Jill Culton, Sergio Pablos, Adina Pitt, Marlon West, Mike Young and the team behind Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants — have brought so much artistry and creative vision to our world. This year’s honorees have worked hard and led teams of artists in their quest to share unique and inspiring stories. We are thrilled to acknowledge their achievements at the Summit this year and thank them for raising our industry to such great heights.”
For more information about World Animation & VFX Summit, including a full list of Animation Hall of Fame Game-Changers award recipients, visit https://animationmagazine.net/summit.
SpongeBob SquarePants, which was recently greenlit for a 13th season, has reigned as the number-one kids’ animated series on TV for the last 17 years, while generating a universe of beloved characters, pop culture catchphrases and memes, theatrical releases, consumer products, a Tony award-winning Broadway musical which is now touring North America and a global fan base. SpongeBob SquarePants is seen in more than 208 countries and territories, translated in 55+ languages, and averages more than 100 million total viewers every quarter. SpongeBob SquarePants is created by Stephen Hillenburg and produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif.
Nickelodeon's is currently in the midst of the network's "Best Year Ever", a year-long global celebration of one of the most iconic TV series and characters ever created. The “Best Year Ever” launched with the premiere of “SpongeBob’s Big Birthday Blowout,” an original mixed live-action and animated special earlier this summer, and leads up to the Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies theatrical, The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge, coming May 2020.
More Nick: Brian Robbins Reveals More Details About 'SpongeBob' Spin-Off 'Kamp Koral'!
Originally published: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at 20:57 BST.
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