TORONTO, ON – March 7, 2008 – Throwback Entertainment, a publisher of immersive interactive entertainment, today announced animation production veteran Ken Duer has joined the company as president, media. Duer and his team will foster, create and develop intellectual property for development into television, video/DVD, Internet, video/computer games, mobile phones and other traditional and new media markets. Duer will report to Thomas Maduri.
Duer’s career spans more than 20 years in animation production in the United States, Asia and Europe. Duer is one of the co-founder of phuuz entertainment inc. and ran the operations. He oversaw the development of numerous concepts and projects including the children’s animation series Iconicles, currently in pre-production in the UK.
“I am very excited to announce that Ken Duer has joined Throwback as president of all media initiatives. Equipped with over 20 years of experience and having served as vice president of production at Warner Bros Animation, Mr. Duer is an asset that will be a tremendous boost to Throwback throughout our organization,” said Thomas Maduri, chief executive officer, Throwback Entertainment.
“With new and cutting edge technologies, the entertainment industry is going through a major transformation. Content will always be king and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the best creative minds from around the world in various areas of entertainment. I’m very thrilled to be a part of the new digital entertainment revolution,” remarked Ken Duer.
“Throwback has gone to great lengths to ensure that our management team is a blending of various entertainment industries. Our goal has been to create properties that not only appeal to the interactive entertainment industry but one that can immerse any consumer,” added Maduri. “By adding Mr. Duer to our team, we’ve gained invaluable experience and lessons learned from a first-class creative organization that will enable our senior management team to target new markets to expand our brands into areas that will help expedite our performance and success.”
Prior to joining Throwback Entertainment Duer served as vice president of worldwide productions at Warner Bros. Animation where he was in charge of all domestic production operations as well as supervising overseas operations. In early 2000 he helped secure the acquisition of the breakout hit Japanese animation series YU-GI-OH: Duel Monsters which is now a $6 billion dollar franchise for Kids’ WB.
Mr. Duer played an instrumental role in over 500 half hours of animation production and oversaw production on such hit series as Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Batman, Batman Beyond, Superman, Justice League, Scooby Doo and Animatrix. He is also credited for increasing production with overseas studios from just three studios in 1991 to over 25 studios worldwide during his years at Warner Bros.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Throwback Entertainment Inc. develops, creates and publishes immersive entertainment media content and interactive entertainment. The executive management team is comprised of industry veterans from Warner Bros. Animation, Capcom, Activision, Universal, Commodore, and Midway. Collectively the team has overseen productions that have won 25 Emmy Awards and 29 Emmy nominations, and created, managed and produced blockbuster video game franchises generating more than $12 billion in revenue. In 2006, Throwback acquired 158 titles from the Acclaim library that sold 200 million units in over 35 countries and generated more than $3.5 billion in revenue. More information about Throwback Entertainment can be found online at www.throwbackentertainment.com.
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