While not exactly Dragon Ball news in the strictest sense, it is still somewhat relevant: FUNimation has a new “Director of Sales” named Tony Vandeveerdonk, formerly the Senior National Sales Manager for Pioneer Entertainment, who was “… involved in the sale of the first 3 DBZ movies for Pioneer”.
Ft. Worth, TX — July 21, 2003 — To support its over 30% growth and expanding business model, FUNimation Productions, LTD. announces the hiring of Tony Vandeveerdonk as Director of Sales for the Home Video Division.
“We are proud to announce Tony’s arrival at FUNimation. Tony is one of the few pioneers in the placement and sales of some of the first and most successful anime videos in the industry,” states Gen Fukunaga, president of FUNimation Productions, LTD. “During the Pokémon anime phenomenon, he was responsible for the sales of Pokémon to the mass merchant channel and many other key accounts.”
Vandeveerdonk brings 14 years of home video experience to FUNimation. “It has been a great ride being part of the initial growth of the anime market,” commented Vandeveerdonk. “I have seen the category grow from a small niche business in the $40-50 million range, to almost a half billion dollar industry in a short five years. I expect this brisk growth to continue.”
Regarding his new position as the Director of FUNimation’s Home Video Sales Division, Vandeveerdonk was positive about both the opportunity and the challenge. “FUNimation has a strong position and share of the anime and kidvid categories already. We will further expand and dominate these categories with a portfolio of exciting new titles.”
Vandeveerdonk, formerly the Sr. National Sales Manager for Pioneer Entertainment USA, began his duties at the Fort Worth-based production and distribution company on July 7th. He will be attending Video Software Dealers Association’s Home Entertainment 2003 in Las Vegas with FUNimation, and will be holding meetings in their suite at the Venetian. Appointments can be made by contacting (817) 788-0627, ext. 222.
About FUNimation(TM)
Focusing on quality entertainment properties such as Dragon Ball Z(r) and Yū Yū Hakusho(tm), FUNimation Productions, LTD., is a full-service brand management company with in-house production, licensing, Internet, and home video sales and distribution divisions. FUNimation has become a leader in home video entertainment with video releases consistently in the Top 20 sales charts, several top rated series on Cartoon Network, and joint ventures with companies such as 4Kids Entertainment. Quality entertainment properties produced by FUNimation include: Dragon Ball Z(r) – the most searched for topic on the Internet for 2002 (also #1 in 2001), becoming “the first topic to ever repeat atop the Web’s Most Wanted,” according to the Lycos 50 Daily Report; Dragon Ball(r), now airing on Cartoon Network; Dragon Ball GT(r), the eagerly awaited sequel to Dragon Ball Z(r); Yū Yū Hakusho(tm), one of the top anime of all time, airing weekdays in the USA on Carton Network’s Toonami block; Movies for Lupin the 3rd(tm), one of the longest running anime classics; Fruits Basket(tm), based on the top selling manga in Japan; and Blue Gender(tm), a true sci-fi series coming to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in August. For additional information on FUNimation and its properties contact Jeff Dronen at FUNimation at 817-788-0627 or jeff.dronen@funimation.com, or check out www.funimation.com.