Prescott Wright

Prescott J. Wright (b. Bronx, New York May 8, 1935 – d. Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 28, 2006) was best known as the longtime producer and film distributor of the annual touring programs of animated films from around the world known as the International Tournée of Animation. In addition, he was one of the founding directors of the Ottawa International Animated Film Festival in Canada, which began in 1976 and which is now held annually, as well as being instrumental in fostering the art of animated films throughout his working life.

Prescott Wright was raised in the Bronx, was stationed in the Army at Fort Ord, and went to Monterey Peninsula College. The school had a film series run by Phil Chamberlin and Pres became active with it, running the projectors and helping in other ways. His resume says he was president of the film society and jazz club. In 1963, Chamberlin recommended Prescott, who had recently married, for a job at Brandon Films (also known as Western Cinema Guild) in San Francisco as an assistant and, when the manager left, Prescott became head of the San Francisco office. Brandon was a major 16mm film distributor of American and foreign features and shorts.

In 1969 he moved to Los Angeles to work at the American Film Institute (AFI). They sent him to New York City in January 1970 to market films produced with AFI grants. In a letter to a friend dated December 1970 he wrote, "By September I had sold about $50 grand worth of films and was applying for my own iron lung. There were some good $$ deals with some major companies if I would stay in New York."

In 1971 he returned to college. He received a BA in communication and the visual arts in 1973 from what was then called California State University, San Francisco and an MA in Film in 1977 from the renamed San Francisco State University. He was a teaching assistant and then a part-time instructor at SF State from 1972–1980. He also taught an extension course in film for the University of California at Berkeley in 1975.

...
Wikipedia