Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin (November 22, 1945 – April 22, 2012) was an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

known for founding his own

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures aka

Buzzco Associates Buzzco Associates, Inc. is an animation studio that was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of Perpetual Motion Pictures and Buzzco Productions (as Perpetual Motion Pictures) by Buzz Potamkin with Emmy Award winner, Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli ...

, and helping to establish

Southern Star Productions Endemol Australia, formerly known as Southern Star Group, Southern Star Productions, Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia and Taft-Hardie Group Pty Ltd, was a major Australian independent television production, distribution, and syndication com ...

. Along with advertisements, Potamkin focused on producing made-for-television animation, beginning with several

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

s based on the ''

Berenstain Bears The ''Berenstain Bears'' is a children's literature franchise created by Stan and Jan Berenstain and continued by their son, Mike Berenstain. The books feature a family of anthropomorphic grizzly bears who generally learn a moral or safety ...

'' series of children's books. He went on to produce series for

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner on August 2, 1986. Purchased by Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was lar ...

and, more specifically,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

, 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 The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

, 2

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

, and 1 CableACE Award.

Career

Potamkin is known for founding Perpetual Motion Pictures (later called

) with Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli in 1968, which led to the production of hundreds of

s, including the

Hawaiian Punch Hawaiian Punch is an American brand of juice currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for ice cream. It was started from an original syrup flavor titled Leo's H ...

series,

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's "Top of the Hour" (the moon man), and

's " I Want My MTV" campaign. He also established the companies

, Visionary Media, and Project X and produced the animated specials '' The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree'' in 1979 and ''

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue ''Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'' is a 1990 American animated children comedy-drama social guidance film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release. The plot follows Michael, a teenager who is us ...

'' in 1990, among others. After working at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

for a short period in 1991, Potamkin was hired by

Fred Seibert Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor. Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 an ...

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

Cartoons' Executive Producer & Head of TV, where he oversaw all the studio's output and produced shorts for

's '' What a Cartoon!'' series through 1996. Potamkin died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

on April 22, 2012, and was survived by his wife Rosie.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Buzz Potamkin
contributions at

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Content Specifically ...

1945 births 2012 deaths American television producers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) Hanna-Barbera people Cartoon Network Studios people American television directors {{HannaBarbera-stub