Jeff Farnath is leaving his position as CEO of Vinton Studios, Portland, Ore, and Los Angeles. The animation house had been in active negotiations to renew his contract but the two sides were unable to agree to terms. Farnath will continue under contract to Vinton Studios as a consultant. He joined Vinton Studios as CFO in 2000, and in fall of ’01 became its CEO.
Bob Harold, a Vinton Studios’ board member and 18-year Nike, Inc. Finance executive, will serve as interim CEO at Vinton until a permanent successor to Farnath is found.
Known for its character animation, Vinton Studios is active in CGI, stop-motion and cel animation, as well as live action. The company has produced assorted commercials over the years, including the longstanding M&M’s characters fare for BBDO New York, and the classic Nissan ad, “Toys,” out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. Vinton Studios has also moved aggressively into animated feature films. The company recently acquired author Laura Ruby’s second children’s book, The Wall and the Wing, to be published next year by HarperCollins, as a directing vehicle for Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), who joined Vinton Studios as supervising director about a year ago. Selick is currently working on his short CG film Moongirl, and will then begin production on his CG feature film adaptation of Coraline.
On the television front, Vinton Studios produced the animated primetime series The PJs with Imagine Entertainment and Eddie Murphy, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The PJs was the first stop-motion animated primetime series in television history.