Mark Simon’s passion for storytelling and art is evident in everything he does. Mark owns three entertainment industry businesses, authored ten best-selling industry books, lectures around the world, regularly contributes to industry periodicals, and creates, produces and sells original content.
In 2012 Mark won a Prime Time Engineering Emmy as part of the Toon Boom software team on the Storyboard Pro software. He was also inducted into the DAVE School (Digital Animation & Visual Effects School) Hall of Fame.
As of 2012, Mark has over 3,000 productions to his credit including feature films, television series, and commercials. He has worked on over 30 feature films as designer and story artist. Mark was the designer on Sony’s first U.S. feature, Midnight, starring Tony Curtis and Lynn Redgrave. He has also produced and directed dozens of shorts, all of which have won awards around the world. All his businesses are in Orlando, Florida. A&S Animation, Inc. is an animation consultation, development and production house specializing in character animation. His studio animated one of Disney’s most iconic characters, Tinker Bell, for the Disney Cruise Line.
Mark has produced and directed animated film shorts which have won over 100 international awards. Movies and TV series he contributed to have been nominated and won dozens of awards from Golden Globes to Kids Choice Awards to MTV Awards and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
Timmy’s Lessons in Nature, a series of animated shorts Mark created, directed and produced, won the Grand Prize in Nickelodeon’s first ever competition series Nicktoons Film Festival.
Mark was also the creative consultant on Dragon Tales, the Sony/PBS/Sesame Street Workshop animated series, that became the #1 show for kids its first season.
Animation Magazine recognized Mark for his outstanding achievements in 2006 by naming him an Animation Industry Power Player.
A&S Animations’ sister company is Animatics & Storyboards, Inc. which provides storyboards, illustrations, cartoons and comic book illustration to the entertainment and print industries. They are the largest storyboard supplier in the Southern United States. Their clients include Disney, Universal, Viacom, Sony, HBO, Nickelodeon, Steven Spielberg, Fox, USA Networks, ABC, AT&T, Yamaha, NASA, The American Cancer Society and many, many others.
Mark has been a supplier of information, inspiration and resources for the creative community for over 20 years. Many of the books he’s written are used by artists the world over. Producing Independent 2D Character Animation showcases every step of production. Storyboards: Motion In Art is the standard text used in schools. Facial Expressions is the best-selling photo reference guide for artists and the sequel, Facial Expressions: Babies to Teens, continues the series. http://www.Expressions-Books.com as the leading visual reference for artists.
Mark also developed the storyboard curriculum for the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School located at Universal Studios, and previously taught storyboarding at the University of Central Florida. He lectures around the world at major conferences (ComicCon, Animex, Chinese Cultural Expos), conventions and schools.
Readers have been treated each month to a Mark Simon article in Animation Magazine and on Animation World Network where his self-styled portraits always get a laugh.
As word of Mark’s ability to create shows that networks wanted to buy got out, many people called him who wanted to hire him to work on their shows. In response to this demand, he created Sell Your TV Concept Now, Inc. This company provides everything a creator needs to pitch and sell their TV show. Mark offers free training on the site at SellYourTvConceptNow.com.
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