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

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a 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 ...

and director known for founding his own

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures aka

Buzzco Associates Buzzco Associates, Inc. is an animation studio that was founded in 1968 (as Perpetual Motion Pictures) by Buzz Potamkin with Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli as co-creative directors and Marilyn Kraemer as executive producer. History Early wor ...

, 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 Australia's largest independent television production and distribution group. On 26 Jul ...

. 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 or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s based on the '' Berenstain Bears'' series of children's books. He went on to produce series for

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

and, more specifically,

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

, including every episode of Cartoon Network's animated showcase series, ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by ...

'', 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. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, 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 (N ...

, and 1

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Am ...

. He died on April 22, 2012, from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...

at age 66.

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 a brand of fruit punch 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 called Leo's Hawa ...

series,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'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 ''The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree'' is a Christmas-themed animated television special based on the ''Berenstain Bears'' children's book series by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Produced by Buzz Potamkin and directed by Mordicai Gerstein, the progra ...

'' in 1979 and ''

Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue ''Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'' is a 1990 American animated television film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release. Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was or ...

'' in 1990, among others. After working at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

for a short period in 1991, Potamkin was hired by Fred Seibert as

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

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

's ''

'' series through 1996. Potamkin died from

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

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

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