LOOP Filmworks was an American animation studio formed by David Chartier and later managed by partner Avi Zev Weider. Previously, Chartier worked at Olive Jar Animation. Olive Jar Animation was based in Boston, and later opened a second, short-lived studio in Los Angeles.
History
In 1984, Mark d'Oliveira and Bill Jarcho co-founded Olive Jar Animation (later known as Olive Jar Studios beginning in 1995). One of their first projects was network ID's for MTV. Olive Jar went on to produce dozens of ID's, promos and commercials for MTV, Nickelodeon, NBC, PBS, Cartoon Network, ABC, Lifetime, etc.
In 1989, Larry Pensack replaced d'Oliveira, and in 1992 Fred MacDonald replaced Jarcho as Creative Director. Olive Jar grew dramatically and was acquired by Red Sky Interactive (an Omnicom company) in 2000. In 2001 Red Sky was acquired by Agency.com and Olive Jar was shuttered.
In the meantime, David Chartier, who previously worked at Olive Jar Animation, Curious Pictures, and Will Vinton Studios, started up a studio named LOOP Filmworks in 1997.
In 1999, Avi Zev Weider, who had previously been producing for Loop under contract, was made an equal partner in the business.
Chartier exited the company in 2004 after moving to Los Angeles for personal reasons, leaving Weider full control of the company. Weider continued to run Loop until 2011.
In 2011, Weider reorganized the company as Loop Filmworks (NY), LLC, under which he produced the feature documentary films WELCOME TO THE MACHINE (premiere SXSW 2012) and DANLAND (premiere Slamdance 2012). Avi Zev Weider continues to operate Loop Filmworks and is developing several feature film projects.