Official Press Release About the Ownership Change in Cartoon Brew
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN AMID AMIDI
BECOMES SOLE MANAGING OWNER
OF CARTOONBREW.COM
February 12, 2013 (NEW YORK CITY) — Award-winning author and historian Amid Amidi announced today that he is now the sole managing owner of CartoonBrew.com after buying out his business partner of nine years, Jerry Beck. As Cartoon Brew celebrates nearly a decade of being the Internet’s most widely read and discussed animation news source, Amidi plans to evolve the site while retaining its candid and authoritative voice for which the site is best known.
Launched in March 2004, CartoonBrew.com attracts an extremely loyal and engaged following, and has millions of monthly pageviews. The site covers the entire spectrum of animation, from concept designs to cutting-edge computer animation and visual effects for both television and film to classical techniques like hand-drawn and stop motion. It also covers trends in commercial animation, interactive apps, blockbuster Hollywood features, crowdfunding, and independent filmmaking. The site is recognized by industry insiders for supporting and promoting up-and-coming artists in the field, many of whom have gone on to acclaim after being featured on the site.
“The independent editorial voice of Cartoon Brew has been one of its greatest strengths, and even as the site grows, I will ensure that that will not change,” said Amidi. Cartoon Brew, which will launch a new mobile platform in March, will also continue to present its popular online Student Animation Festival, currently in its fourth year, as well as expand its video offerings on Cartoon Brew TV.
“The past nine years of working with Jerry to build Cartoon Brew into the premier animation news website have been a tremendous and rewarding experience,” said Amidi. “I am ready to take the site to the next level so that it will continue to reflect the vibrant, ever-changing animation field. Animation is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global entertainment industry, and it is both a great responsibility and honor to serve as the nucleus of the online conversation about the art form.”
About Amid Amidi
Recognized as one of the leading writers about the animation art, Amidi is the winner of the 2007 Theatre Library Association Award for “exceptional scholarship in the field of recorded performance.” He created one of the earliest daily animation news and commentary sites, Animation and Cartoon Heaven, and served as Associate Editor of Animation World Magazine, the first monthly electronic publication devoted to animation. He edited and published his own print magazine, Animation Blast, for nine issues before turning his attention to writing books full-time. He has written the following seven books:
- The Art of Fox/Blue Sky’s Robots, 2004
- Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation, 2006
- Inside UPA, 2007
- The Art of Pixar Short Films, 2009
- A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Seve, 2010
- The Art of Pixar: The Complete Colorscripts and Select Art from 25 Years of Animation, 2011
- Full Steam Ahead: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball, 2014
Amidi has curated retrospectives and lectured at the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada), Elektra: International Digital Arts Festival (Canada), Anima Mundi (Brazil), Fredrikstad Animation Festival (Norway), Projector Festival (Scotland), Platform International Animation Festival (Portland), Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and Comic-Con International:San Diego. He has spoken at numerous animation schools including NYU, SVA and RISD, and served on award juries for the following festivals: Fredrikstad Animation Festival (2008), Ottawa International Animation Festival (2009), and Animation Block Party (2010). He lives in New York City. For more information about Amid Amidi, please visit http://www.AmidAmidi.com.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Amid Amidi, Editor-in-Chief/Owner
CartoonBrew.com
amid at cartoonbrew dot com