Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin (November 22, 1945 – April 22, 2012) was an American television producer and director. He is known for founding his own television advertisement production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures 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
Potamkin went on to produce series for Hanna-Barbera after its 1991 acquisition by Turner Entertainment Co., in particular for Turner's Cartoon Network. This included producing 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.
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 Visionary Media, Project X, and Southern Star Productions, an Australian/American subsidiary of Hanna-Barbera. Potamkin produced the animated specials The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree in 1979 and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue in 1990, among others.
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.
Potamkin died from pancreatic cancer on April 22, 2012, and was survived by his wife Rosie.
Filmography YearWorkCreditNotes1979The Berenstain Bears' Christmas TreeProducerTV movie1980The Berenstain Bears Meet BigpawProducerTV movie1981Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple CityProducerTV short1981The Berenstain Bears' Easter SurpriseProducerTV movie1982The Berenstain Bears' Comic ValentineProducerTV movie1983The Berenstain Bears Play BallProducerTV movie1983Deck the Halls with Wacky WallsProducerTV movie1985ABC Weekend SpecialSupervising producerEpisode "The Velveteen Rabbit"1985The Berenstain Bears ShowProducer/directorTV series1985–88CBS StorybreakSupervising producerTV series1986–87Teen WolfExecutive producerTV series1988Mad ScientistProducerVideo short1989Marvin: Baby of the YearProducer/directorTV short1990Fox's Peter Pan & the PiratesExecutive producerTV series1990Cartoon All-Stars to the RescueProducerTV short1992The Addams FamilyExecutive producerTV series1993SWAT Kats: The Radical SquadronExecutive producerTV series1993The Halloween TreeExecutive producerTV movie1993–952 Stupid DogsExecutive producerTV series1993–96Captain Planet and the PlaneteersExecutive producerTV series1994Scooby-Doo! in Arabian NightsExecutive producerTV movie1994A Flintstones Christmas CarolExecutive producerTV movie1995–97What a Cartoon!Executive producerTV series (shorts)1995Daisy-Head MayzieExecutive producerTV short1995Aaron's Magic VillageProducer(U.S. version)1995Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber InsectsExecutive producerTV movie1996Dexter's LaboratoryExecutive producerTV series1996Big BagExecutive producerTV series1996–97The Real Adventures of Jonny QuestExecutive producerTV series1997; 2004Johnny BravoExecutive producerTV series1997; 2004South ParkProducer/directedTV series, uncredited1998Buster & Chauncey's Silent NightProducer/directorVideo
Accolades Year Award Category Work Shared with Result Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program CBS StorybreakPaul Bogrow, Steve Lumley, Allan Stevens, and Chris CuddingtonPaul Bogrow and Gordon Kent CableACE AwardsChildren's Special or Series - 6 and Younger Daisy-Head MayzieAudrey Geisel, Christopher O'Hare, and Margot McDonough Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or Less)Audrey Geisel, Christopher O'Hare, Tony Collingwood, and Dr. SeussDexter's LaboratoryGenndy Tartakovsky and Larry HuberCow and ChickenLarry Huber, David Feiss, Pilar Menendez, and Sam Kieth
References
External links
Buzz Potamkin contributions at Animation World Network