Animation Magazine’s 6th Annual Pitch Party is underway and we’re pleased to announce this year’s panel of distinguished industry judges. Your animation pitches will be seen and evaluated by Maxwell Atoms, creator of Cartoon Network’s The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy; Nick Weidenfeld, manager of program development for [adult swim]; Betsy McGowen, senior VP/GM of Kids’ WB! on the CW; Eric Radomski, producer of Warner Bros. Animation’s Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, founder/CEO of The Gotham Group; and Eric Coleman, VP/executive producer of animation development and production for Nickelodeon. We’ll reveal a couple of more power players soon, so stay tuned.

Here’s what one of last year’s winners had to say about the Pitch Party:

‘Entering Animation Magazine‘s Pitch Party contest in 2006 with our project, Monster in a Box, was a move that created a buzz around our project, added cachet to our pitches going forward, and gave us access to industry decision makers who were willing to listen based on our performance in the contest. This created some great momentum that led eventually to us entering into development of the project with Decode Ent. The project lives on, in no small part, to the role the Pitch Party contest played in building our confidence both in the project and in our development efforts. We’re excited to be involved in 2007 with our project King of the Universe. Entering the Pitch Party is really a no-brainer!’ ‘Terry Tompkins, Partner, Egg Plant LF

For the sixth consecutive year, we’re opening up an entire section of our publication to 1/6th-page advertisements that pitch new ideas for animated programs. For less than the cost of a workshop on “breaking into the biz,” you can get your pitch seen by tens of thousands of readers, including top decision makers in the animation industry. You won’t have to produce a whole animated short to get your project noticed. All you have to do is send us an eye-grabbing design/image and a few lines to support your pitch.

You have until June 8 to reserve space for your Pitch Party ad and take advantage of this rare opportunity to get your concepts in front of influential people with the power to greenlight projects! To have your cartoon creations reviewed by the aforementioned industry luminaries and the animation community at large, submit your pitches today. Submission information can be found at? www.animationmagazine.net/pitch_party_07.html