Congratulations Gene! One of the
Top 50 CEO's in Atlantic Canada (...and dare we say one of the handsomest as well).
Gene Fowler
President & CEO, Fatkat Animation Studios (animation and graphics studio with a particular focus on series), Miramichi, NB
Not that long ago (in the year 2000,to be exact),Gene Fowler was wrapping up an animation job anddecided to place his portfolio online as a way to attract freelance gigs. His work caught the eye of an American entrepreneur and he was subsequently hired to set up his own studio in Halifax. Fatkat Animation Studios was born.
In February 2003, however, his supporters had lost major investors and ordered him to shut down the studio. But fate had other plans. An executive TV producer asked Gene to create four pilots for ananimated series. Naturally, he jumped at the opportunity and Fatkat was back in action. The company aggressively marketed their ideas and business took off. In 2006, the studio grew from 20 to 60 employees. But there was a cloud around this silver lining: Gene, the talented and creative artist, had to reinvent himself as a business manager. Even that major hiccup didn’t cause FatKat to lose its cool. Gene hired in-house artists for senior project management and artistic direction positions and added sales and accounting staff to sustain the studio’s practice of floating salaries instead of the “hire and fire”practices typically found in the industry. The company also expanded services to include development, distribution and other avenues in the entertainment industry. The company purchased a building in downtown Newcastle and plans to add another floor to accommodate the studio’s increasing number of people, which is expected to double in the coming months. This FatKat has every reason to feel satisfied.
Download the PDF of the full article here. Gene's on pg. 13.
Congratulations Gene! One of the Top 50 CEO's in Atlantic Canada (...and dare we say one of the handsomest as well).
