Mary Maffei and Julie Haddon have been named executive producer and head of marketing and business development, respectively, for the commercial division of Palo Alto-based computer animation/visual effects house PDI/ DreamWorks. Over the past several months, Maffei and Haddon had been serving in those capacities on an interim basis. Based on the spot division’s recent performance, Aron Warner, head of PDI/ DreamWorks, decided to promote from within and turn the temporary roles into permanent positions for Maffei and Haddon.
Maffei joined PDI/DreamWorks in February as senior producer of commercials. Haddon has been with the company since ’97 as its director of marketing. They came together as the spot management team shortly after the departure of Jennifer Thomas, executive producer of the commercial division.
As earlier reported (SHOOT, 4/7, p. 1), Warner took the company reins on the heels of a deal whereby DreamWorks SKG—the Los Angeles studio formed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen—had doubled its ownership stake to 80 percent of what was then called PDI. The animation/effects house was renamed PDI/DreamWorks, and has since become wholly owned by DreamWorks.
Currently, PDI/DreamWorks’ commercial unit has several projects in production, including jobs for Lucky Charms, out of Saatchi & Saatchi, New York; Target for Minneapolis agency Design Guys; and Kool-Aid via Ogilvy & Mather, New York. Cliff Boule is computer animation director on Lucky Charms, and Larry Bafia helms both CG and live action for Target. Bafia is also computer animation director on Kool Aid, working in conjunction with live action director Clay Staub of bicoastal The End.
While Boule and Bafia are its mainstay directors, the commercial division can also access talent and technical resources from PDI/DreamWorks’ feature animation operation, which created the computer-animated films Antz and the upcoming Shrek. Special effects available from the feature animation division include digital clothing, hair, skin, muscle, fur and computer-animated natural phenomena such as fire, lava and other environmental effects. Also available to spot clients is PDI’s Academy Award-winning fluid animation technology, which is used in the CG creation of various liquids.
This spring PDI/DreamWorks’ spot division collaborated with talent from the company’s feature effects unit for a Coca-Cola spot entitled "New Worlds," out of Edge Creative, Santa Monica. Animation director Bafia teamed with character designer Raman Hui (Antz and Shrek) and production designer John Bell (Antz). And PDI/ DreamWorks’ feature visual effects supervisor Henry LaBounta oversaw effects on an Army National Guard cinema commercial, "Mosaic," for Laughlin, Marinaccio & Owens, Arlington, Va.
Other recent high-profile ad jobs turned out by PDI/DreamWorks’ commercial division include: Sega’s "Space Channel 5" and "The Children" with CG helmed by Bafia for Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco; Microsoft Network’s "Butterfly" with CG directed by Boule for McCann-Erickson, New York; Saturn’s "Quarters," out of Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, which teamed computer animation director Bafia with live action helmer Charles Wittenmeier of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films; and L’Oreal’s "Cages" for McCann-Erickson, New York, which paired Boule with Matthew Rolston of bicoastal Venus Entertainment.
Prior to PDI/DreamWorks, Maffei served as senior producer/visual effects for Manhattan Transfer, New York. Earlier, she served as a senior producer at R/Greenberg Associates, New York. Her resume also includes experience at a couple of New York agencies, the former Jordan McGrath Case & Taylor, and Dancer Fitzgerald Sample.
In her new role as head of marketing and business development, Haddon leads the strategic marketing efforts for PDI/ DreamWorks corporate brand and the commercial and feature effects divisions. She is responsible for establishing as well as building strategic business partnerships, and managing the national sales team for commercials and feature effects. She also oversees marketing and licensing for PDI/DreamWorks’ short film program.
Haddon and Maffei have rounded out the commercial division’s domestic sales force with two independent repping firms: Novick and Associates handles the Western U.S. and Texas; and Moran & Rashford covers the Midwest. Arthur Portnoy continues to handle the East Coast as well as Detroit.
