Willam Morris trolls for toon titans
Percentery Gotham Group creating animated alliance
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Recently reflagged after a three-year stint inside Artists Management Group as its animation division, the Gotham Group agency re-emerged in July as the leading independent company representing animation and family entertainment creative talent.
Gotham's clients include producer John Williams ("Shrek"); writer John Ridley ("Three Kings," "Undercover Brother"); and animation/CGI director Ralph Zondag ("Dinosaur").
Move is also notable because, while an agency, Gotham Group itself will also become a WMA client: Because animation reps aren't signatories to the WGA, AFTRA or expired SAG master franchise agreements, they can produce their clients' work, too.
For instance, Gotham just set up client Doug TenNapel's newest graphic novel, "Creature Tech," at Regency in a seven-figure deal and will produce the pic with Wendy Finerman.
It is unclear how the commission structure will function between the two, but on those projects where Gotham is a producer, company will waive its usual 10% commission. WMA will take a 10% fee on Gotham's producing fees on deals set up by WMA.
Insiders caution that deal does not signify a move by William Morris to get into production itself, despite the expiration of the SAG master franchise agreement with Hollywood agencies that expressly prohibited agencies from producing client work.
Pact was made jointly by Jim Wiatt, president and co-CEO of the William Morris Agency, and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, CEO-founder of the Gotham Group, who stressed the relationship will benefit each company's client base by creating unique "synergistic" opportunities in both live action and animation.
WMA senior VP Aaron Kaplan, who played a key role in brokering the relationship, called animated and family programming "a priority for both of our companies" and added that Gotham's clients are "involved in creating projects which speak to a worldwide audience and to the next generation of motion picture and television viewers."
For her part, Goldsmith-Vein said WMA "will be a huge help to Gotham Group clients in their transition to live-action vehicles."
Other Gotham clients include Silvia Cardenas, executive producer of Nickelodeon's "Brothers Garcia"; Spike Decker, creator of the "Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Film Festival of Animation"; Duane Capizzi, co-executive producer of "Jackie Chan Adventures"; Butch Harman & Steve Marmel of "The Fairly OddParents" and "Danny Phantom," both on Nickelodeon; and author David Wiesner, whose "3 Pigs" is in development at Disney and whose "Sector 7" is set up at Nickelodeon as a feature.
Other Gotham clients include producers Paul Germain and Joe Ansolabehere (co-creators of Nickelodeon's "Rugrats") and animation/CGI directors Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas"), Piet Kroon ("Osmosis Jones"), Seth Kearsley (Adam Sandler's upcoming animated pic "Eight Crazy Nights") and Eric Fogel (MTV's "Celebrity Deathmatch").
