COOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENT HEADS TO ASIA APPOINTING FORMER NELVANA EXECUTIVE JIM WEATHERFORD AS HEAD OF ASIAN OPERATIONS Michael Wrenn Joins As Creative Executive
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Montreal, CANADA (May 26, 2004)-Cookie Jar Entertainment, the programming and licensing arm of The Cookie Jar Group, continues its management team growth with the appointment of former Nelvana executive Jim Weatherford as Head of Asian Operations, and Michael Wrenn to the newly created post of Creative Executive. Based in Tokyo, the two new appointments mark Cookie Jar's foray into the Asian Pacific market.
Reporting to Sam Ewing, Weatherford will handle all Asian operations for Cookie Jar. He joins the company from Nelvana International where he was Director-Asia Pacific, handling the company's operations and initiatives and is credited with bringing many of Nelvana's key branded properties to the region including Cardcaptors, Medabots, Beyblades, Donkey Kong Country, Magic School Bus and Rolie Polie Olie. Prior to joining Nelvana, Weatherford was a Director with Jarico International, Inc., a cross-cultural marketing and consulting firm, specializing in the production of children's educational properties and the adaptation of programs from Japanese to English. Weatherford previously held a position with international film distribution company K.S.S. Inc., as Managing Director-International.
In his new role as Creative Executive, Wrenn will report to Weatherford and will be responsible for working with Japanese anime designers, writers, producers and directors to create and develop new projects for the company. Prior to joining Cookie Jar, Wrenn worked in developing anime projects for ToperTaylor.com. As creative developer for Wilco Dream Studio, Wrenn was responsible for overseeing the writing, designs and development of new animation properties, and worked to establish new business opportunities outside of Japan. Wrenn previously worked at Tokyo Broadcasting System were he supervised pre and post-productions for movies and television series.
"I am pleased to unit these two exceptional executive talents with Cookie Jar's senior management team," said Sam Ewing. "Jim and Michael both bring an extensive amount of professionalism to our company and serve as an integral part of our global expansion strategy."
The Cookie Jar Group develops, produces, distributes and markets quality products to children their caregivers, parents and teachers with a commitment to providing the best in children's published content, animated and live action programming as well as innovative and creative educational and entertainment driven products worldwide.
MEDIA CONTACT: SSA Public Relations Steve Syatt - (818) 501-0700
