This Event is Presented By ACTION! Movie & Music Initiative
Ed Newmann - Original Founder of Calabash Animation
Ed's animation career started out many years ago in Los Angeles, when his father showed him how to make flipbooks. Ed says his love for filmmaking has grown ever since.
His professional career began in 1974, when he freelanced at several animation studios in Hollywood before being hired full-time at Hanna Barbera Studios as an in-betweener. He then moved to Walt Disney Studios as an assistant animator on the feature PETE’S DRAGON, after which he was hired as a full-fledged animator at Ralph Bakshi Studios on the feature film THE LORD OF THE RINGS. He then worked at Bill Melendez Studios on several Charlie Brown TV specials and the feature film BON VOYAGE, CHARLIE BROWN.
After this 7-year stint in Los Angeles, Ed became restless and decided he needed a change. He threw on a backpack and hitchhiked across the United States for 2 years, finally settling in Chicago, where he met his wife and fellow animator Monica Kendall. They incorporated Calabash Animation in the fall of 1985, and married in the fall of 1988. Since then Ed has animated and directed TV shows, animated shorts, features and hundreds of television commercials, garnering several film festival awards, two Clio Awards and a Golden Marble Award along the way. Ed had the honor of attending the Academy Awards for Calabash’s first in-house animated short, STUBBLE TROUBLE, which was nominated for an Oscar (Best Animated Short) in 2002. Ed Newmann has become a well known, highly successful animator and entrepreneur.
After 20 thriving years, Ed and Monica sold Calabash Animation (which continues to be one of the premier commercial animation studios in the US) to their two senior employees. This has given Ed and Monica the freedom to explore new creative outlets— for instance, Ed has illustrated two children’s books, MARVIN MONSTER’S TEACHER JITTERS and MARVIN MONSTER’S BIG DATE for Moo Press, NY. Ed and Monica have a number of other creative projects in development.
Ed taught college-level animation classes at Columbia College in Chicago for several years, and has been teaching animation classes at HCA since 2009. He currently lives in Hinsdale with his wife and three children.
Derek Berg - Founder of Clarendon Hills Music Academy & Recording Artist Academy
Derek is both the operator and proprietor of Clarendon Hills Music Academy and Recording Artist Academy. His obsession with the artistic and creative aspects of music emerged from an early age, and he harnessed this passion to establish a music academy that offers a customized musical experience that caters to each student's individual musical interests and creative potential. Today, traditional music lessons or experiences that fail to provide a sense of purpose and relevance are inadequate, which motivated Derek to launch Clarendon Hills Music Academy and Recording Artist Academy.