Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom, Inc., announced that veteran animator Lino DiSalvo has joined Paramount Animation as its new creative director. The announcement came from Adam Goodman, president of the Paramount Film Group, who oversees Animation for the studio.
A 16 year veteran of Walt Disney Animation Studios, DiSalvo most recently served as head of animation on the Academy Award-winning and highest-grossing animated feature of all time, “Frozen.” DiSalvo began his career at the Walt Disney Company as a character animator. Prior to “Frozen,” he served as Supervising Animator on “Tangled” and “Bolt.” His other film credits include animating on “Meet The Robinsons” and “Chicken Little.” With his new role, DiSalvo will be assisting Goodman and the Paramount Animation team to build a world-class feature animation studio.
“From its inception, we have aspired to work with the industry’s greatest artists and storytellers, and Lino’s addition to our little animation family is thrilling given his incredible talent. CG animation is still in its earliest days and his extraordinary artistry, coupled with the endless potential of the medium, makes for an incredibly exciting time to be building our own animation business, and gives us a lot of continued inspiration for the future creatively,” said Goodman.
“I couldn't pass up this amazing opportunity to work with the absolute all-star team of artists at Paramount Animation. The possibilities for reinventing and reimagining CG feature animation are virtually endless, and I am excited to be at Paramount helping to forge that incredible, new future," said DiSalvo.
Paramount Animation is currently in production on the original film “Monster Trucks,” a hybrid of live action and CGI animation directed by Chris Wedge ("Ice Age,” “Epic”). The film is set for release in May 2015.
Next up for the division is “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water," from directors Paul Tibbitt (animation) and Mike Mitchell (live action), releasing in February of 2015.
DiSalvo, who begins immediately in his new role, is represented by UTA.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More