Michael Sporn passed away

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Paul Fierlinger
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Michael Sporn passed away

Post by Paul Fierlinger »

Michael Sporn passed away on January 19, 2013 from pan­cre­atic can­cer. He was 67 when he died, and is sur­vived by his wife, actress and direc­tor Heidi Stallings. At the time of his death, was pro­duc­ing and direct­ing Poe, an ani­mated fea­ture based the life of Edgar Allan Poe.[3]

This is shocking news to me, since Michael and I "grew up together" as colleagues in the freelance animation business since the early 70's. There is nothing much I feel like saying right now but thought this community would want me to share the sad news.
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slowtiger
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by slowtiger »

Oh shit. I was already suspecting something serious when his blog posts became more and more scatterbrained and finally stopped in November. I didn't know him, but we corresponded a little bit.
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D.T. Nethery
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by D.T. Nethery »

I am stunned to learn of Michael's passing , although for the last month or so I have been feeling uneasy, as if some sort of bad news like this was coming . Something was not right about his long silence on his previously very active blog (his last post was that he was recovering from a bad fall in November , but for almost two months to pass by without a word or update ... it had me worried and I'm sorry to find that my worries were justified).

I have only met Michael in real life twice, but have had an email correspondence with him over the years. I will miss him and will miss his perspective on animation , his distinctive "voice" , even when I disagreed with him . (but more often than not I agreed with him ) . He is someone who loved animation and understood the potential of what animation could be, and wanted to push animated storytelling beyond the trite formulas of the mainstream animated features.

Michael Barrier and John Canemaker have posted their thoughts on Michael's passing here:

http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Home%20Pa ... rn19462014" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another fine tribute to Michael by Mark Mayerson:

http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com ... sporn.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:cry:

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Paul Fierlinger
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by Paul Fierlinger »

For those of you who have never heard of Michael: (I barely recognize him in this late picture)...

Variety's obituary for Michael. . .




http://variety.com/2014/film/people-new ... 201065674/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by Paul Fierlinger on 21 Jan 2014, 10:44, edited 1 time in total.
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Elodie
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by Elodie »

Sad news...
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Paul Fierlinger
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by Paul Fierlinger »

One more article from the New York Times. I just can't shake off the sadness that has overcome me. Michael was first and foremost a really nice and caring person.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/movie ... .html?_r=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Paul
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D.T. Nethery
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by D.T. Nethery »

I share your sadness about Michael's death , Paul.

Another fine tribute to him on ASIFA-East's website, by animator Ray Kosarin, who worked for Michael on a number of films:

http://www.asifaeast.com/michael-sporn-1946-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



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sandy
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by sandy »

I met Michael Sporn, for the first time, just this last November. He was interested in my 1930's jazz musical short.
I showed him my storyboards and sang my score. He wanted to Direct. I was in Heaven. I admired his work so much!
We had some great talks about how to proceed on the film. I knew him for such..a brief time. But, I was really touched
by him. Not just his artistic genius, but by his kindness. A sensitive, unpretentious man. A true visionary. The Bravest
Swashbuckler to the End.
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D.T. Nethery
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Re: Michael Sporn passed away

Post by D.T. Nethery »

Two more tributes to Michael -

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/michael- ... 95646.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/20 ... nd-is.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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