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Buzz Potamkin

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Buzz Potamkin
Born
Marshall Potamkin

(1945-10-22)October 22, 1945
United States
DiedApril 22, 2012(2012-04-22) (aged 66)
New York City, U.S.
Other namesMars Potamkin
OccupationTelevision producer
SpouseRosie

Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin (October 22, 1945 – April 22, 2012) was an American television producer and director known for founding his own television advertisement production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures aka Buzzco Associates, and helping to establish Southern Star Productions. Along with advertisements, Potamkin focused on producing made-for-television animation, beginning with several television films based on the Berenstain Bears series of children's books. He went on to produce series for Turner Entertainment and, more specifically, Cartoon Network, including every episode of Cartoon Network's animated showcase series, What a Cartoon!, a project developed for aspiring animators to make pilot shorts that the network could choose to develop into full-fledged series.

Over the course of his 36-year career in animation, Potamkin was nominated for 3 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Daytime Emmy Awards, and 1 CableACE Award. He died on April 22, 2012, from pancreatic cancer at age 66.

Career

Potamkin is known for founding Perpetual Motion Pictures (later called Buzzco Associates) with Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli in 1968, which led to the production of hundreds of television advertisements, including the Hawaiian Punch series, MTV's "Top of the Hour" (the moon man), and MTV's "I Want My MTV" campaign. He also established the companies Southern Star Productions, Visionary Media, and Project X and produced the animated specials The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree in 1979 and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue in 1990, among others.[1]

After working at The Walt Disney Company for a short period in 1991, Potamkin was hired by Fred Seibert as Hanna-Barbera Cartoons' Executive Producer & Head of TV, where he oversaw all the studio's output and produced shorts for Cartoon Network's What a Cartoon! series through 1996.[2]

Potamkin died from pancreatic cancer on April 22, 2012, and was survived by his wife Rosie.[1]

Filmography

Year Work Credit Notes
1979 The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree Producer TV movie
1980 The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw Producer TV movie
1981 Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City Producer TV short
1981 The Berenstain Bears' Easter Surprise Producer TV movie
1982 The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine Producer TV movie
1983 The Berenstain Bears Play Ball Producer TV movie
1983 Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls Producer TV movie
1985 ABC Weekend Special Supervising producer Episode "The Velveteen Rabbit"
1985 The Berenstain Bears Show Producer/director TV series
1985–88 CBS Storybreak Supervising producer TV series
1986–87 Teen Wolf Executive producer TV series
1988 Mad Scientist Producer Video short
1989 Marvin: Baby of the Year Producer/director TV short
1990 Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates Executive producer TV series
1990 Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue Producer TV short
1992 The Addams Family Executive producer TV series
1993 SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron Executive producer TV series
1993 The Halloween Tree Executive producer TV movie
1993–95 2 Stupid Dogs Executive producer TV series
1993–96 Captain Planet and the Planeteers Executive producer TV series
1994 Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights Executive producer TV movie
1994 A Flintstones Christmas Carol Executive producer TV movie
1995–97 What a Cartoon! Executive producer TV series (shorts)
1995 Daisy-Head Mayzie Executive producer TV short
1995 Aaron's Magic Village Producer (U.S. version)
1995 Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects Executive producer TV movie
1996 Dexter's Laboratory Executive producer TV series
1996 Big Bag Executive producer TV series
1996–97 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest Executive producer TV series
1997; 2004 Johnny Bravo Executive producer TV series
1998 Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night Producer/director Video

Accolades

Year Award Category Work Shared with Result
1986 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program CBS Storybreak Paul Bogrow, Steve Lumley, Allan Stevens, and Chris Cuddington Nominated
1988 Paul Bogrow and Gordon Kent Nominated
1995 CableACE Awards Children's Special or Series - 6 and Younger Daisy-Head Mayzie Audrey Geisel, Christopher O'Hare, and Margot McDonough Won
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or Less) Audrey Geisel, Christopher O'Hare, Tony Collingwood, and Dr. Seuss[3] Nominated
Dexter's Laboratory[4] Genndy Tartakovsky and Larry Huber
for "Changes" 		Nominated
1996 Cow and Chicken[5] Larry Huber, David Feiss, Pilar Menendez, and Sam Kieth
for "No Smoking" 		Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b Variety Staff (May 8, 2012). "Marshall 'Buzz' Potamkin Dies at 66". Variety.com. Reed Elsevier. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  2. ^ Zahed, Ramin (May 3, 2012). "Influential Animation Producer Buzz Potamkin Passes". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Dr. Seuss' Daisy-Head Mayzie". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  4. ^ "Dexter's Laboratory in "Changes"". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  5. ^ "Cow and Chicken in No Smoking". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-04.


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