Carl Macek

Carl Macek

Carl Macek (born September 21, 1951 in Pittsburgh , † April 17, 2010 in Topanga ) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He is considered an anime pioneer of the 1980s and 1990s.

biography

Carl Macek was best known in 1985 as the producer and screenwriter of the animated series Robotech , which he produced for Harmony Gold. Robotech is an offshoot of the Japanese anime series Macross , which was adapted for the US market. Macek also wanted to produce a sequel to the very successful series, but this failed for various reasons. At that time he also produced the now relatively unknown series Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years (a compilation of The Adventures of the Fantastic Space Pirate Captain Harlock and The Queen of a Thousand Years ).

Macek co-founded Streamline Pictures with Jerry Beck in 1988 . The young company was supported by writers with whom Macek already worked at Robotech , such as Steve Kramer, Tom Wyner , Greg Snegoff and Ardwight Chamberlain , all of whom were and are also active as voice actors . Streamline Pictures was one of the first US companies to import Japanese animes and market them for the US market. The company's best-known titles include Lensmen (1984), Robot Carnival , Doomed Megalopolis , Twilight of the Cockroaches , Crying Freeman , Wicked City , Hayao Miyazakis Das Schloss im Himmel , Fist of the North Star , Akira , Lupine III: Das Schloss des Cagliostro and Lupine III: Mystery of Mamo . Streamline Pictures published the animes through Orion Pictures until 1993 and was finally bought by this company in 1996.

As a screenwriter, he worked on the English translation of Bleach ( Viz Media ) and, shortly before his death, on the new Robotech series Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles .

Macek was one of the authors of McGill's Survey of the Cinema and Film Noir - An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (1979). He was also the author of The Art of Heavy Metal : Animation for the Eighties and Robotech Art 3: The Sentinels . In the latter, he described how the series was conceived and what went wrong. He worked as a screenwriter at COPS and was involved in an advisory capacity at FAKK² . He recently wrote the script for a film adaptation of Brian Pulido's Lady Death .

death

Jerry Beck, a former Macek business partner, announced that Macek died of a heart attack on April 17, 2010 . The Los Angeles Times named Topanga Canyon as the place of death .

reception

Macek is considered a controversial figure in the English language anime. Many refer to him as one of the pioneers of this art form outside of Japan. The company he founded, Streamline Pictures, was responsible for the translation of the first anime for the US home video market, as well as for the first broadcasts on cable television. However, his work has also been criticized because he changed some stories, especially at Robotech, and interpreted them differently.

Web links

• Official website
• Carl Macek in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Carl Macek on the Anime News Network

Individual evidence

1. ^ Macek Training . In: Anime News Network . Retrieved January 25, 2010.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Obituary Los Angeles Times , April 25, 2010; page A38.
3. ^ Robotech's original producer Carl Macek passes away on Saturday, April 17th . In: Robotech.com . Retrieved April 20, 2010.
4. ^ Carl Macek Fan Interview (Part 2) . In: Robotech.com . Retrieved July 16, 2008.
5. ↑ Carl Macek Fan Interview (Part 3) . In: Robotech.com . Retrieved July 16, 2008.
6. ^ Carl Macek (1951-2010) . In: Cartoon Brew . Retrieved April 19, 2010.
7. ↑ Right Stuf's Anime Today interviews Carl Macek! . In: Right Stuf! . Archived from the original on August 9, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 20, 2010. 
8. ↑ In Memory of Anime Producer Carl Macek (1951-2010) . In: Right Stuf! . Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 20, 2010. 
9. ^ Macek Training . In: Anime News Network . Retrieved January 25, 2010.
10. ^ Carl Macek (1951-2010) . In: Cartoon Brew . Retrieved April 19, 2010.
11. ^ Carl Macek (1951-2010) by Tommy Yune, Robotech News, Robotech.com.
12. ^ To the stars and beyond: a tribute to Carl Macek . In: Den of Geek . Retrieved April 20, 2010.
13. ↑ American anime pioneer Carl Macek passes away . In: Comic Book Resources . Retrieved April 20, 2010.
14. ^ Carl Macek Passes Away . In: Mania.com . Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 20, 2010.