Prescott Wright

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Prescott J. Wright (May 8, 1935 – December 28, 2006) was a key figure in international animation. He is best known for creating and running the International Tournée of Animation, a traveling program of animated films from around the world. He also helped start the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 1976 and served as its first International Director, helping to promote animated art worldwide.

Prescott grew up in the Bronx. He served in the Army at Fort Ord and studied at Monterey Peninsula College, where he got involved with a student film series and helped run it. In 1963, he began working at Brandon Films in San Francisco and eventually led the San Francisco office. In 1969 he moved to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and in 1970 he was sent to New York to market AFI-funded films.

He returned to college and earned a BA in 1973 and an MA in Film in 1977. He taught at San Francisco State University and at UC Berkeley. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he started FilmWright, a small film distribution company, and began distributing the Tournee of Animation. The program offered artists a generous share of the profits. In the 1970s he helped expand Tournee to theaters.

Prescott was active in ASIFA-Hollywood, serving on the board for many years and helping found ASIFA-San Francisco. He advised major animation festivals around the world and traveled to events in Annecy and Zagreb. He was a founder and the first International Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, later named an Honorary President. He also produced TV programs like The Animators for KQED and helped organize the Olympiad of Animation during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

He received the June Foray Award for his significant contributions to animation. He worked for Disney as a Creative Staffing Specialist in 1990, scouting talent at festivals around the world, and later helped nurture animation talent in the Philippines and India, including a notable program for Toonz India in 1999.

Prescott Wright died in 2006 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is remembered for connecting animators across borders and growing the international animation community.