Ed Seeman Explained

Ed Seeman
Other Names:	Eduardo Cemano
Birth Date:	July 16, 1931
Birth Place:	Bronx, New York City
Movement:	Art fractals photomontage abstract art Animated cartoons Popeye the Sailorman Casper the Friendly Ghost Animated commercials Sugar Bear Trix Rabbit Flintstones Photography & cinemaphotography montage documentary film human form dance erotic photography unsimulated sex in film
Spouse:	Marilyn Sofer Amy Seeman
Awards:	1967 Clio award, Luden's Cough Drops commercial 1968 Cine Golden Eagle Award, Mothers of Invention 1970 Silver Phoenix award, Atlanta International Film Festival, "World's Best Experimental Film" for short movie Space Oddity^[1] 1981 Emmy award, The Great Space Coaster

Edward Seeman (pseudonym Eduardo Cemano^[2]) is an American artist whose works have spanned disparate fields, from award-winning animated television commercials for children to films of artistic nudity and hardcore pornography.^{[3] [4]} He is also known for his cinemaphotography and for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1960s.

Career

Seeman was born in New York in 1931, and attended both the High School of Music & Art and the Pratt Institute. He began his animation career at Paramount Pictures, making animation cels for shows such as Popeye the Sailorman and Casper the Friendly Ghost. He won several awards for his work, including Clios and ADDYs.^[3]

Seeman's career was interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in Frankfurt with the 4th Infantry Division from 1952 to 1954. Seeman produced cartoons for Army's internal information program.

After returning from military service, Seeman and his partner Ray Favata began the media company Gryphon Productions, which ran from about 1960 to 1969. They produced commercials using cartoon characters, including the Trix rabbit, Sugar Bear and My Little Pony.^[5]

In 1967 Seeman paid Frank Zappa $2,000 to produce music for a Luden's cough drops television commercial.^[6] Zappa's music was matched with Seeman's animation and the advertisement won a Clio Award for "Best Use of Sound".^{[7] [8]} An alternate version of the soundtrack, called "The Big Squeeze", later appeared on Zappa's posthumous 1996 album "The Lost Episodes". The completed soundtrack version includes narration from Seeman.

Seeman also produced other films with Zappa, such as the 14-hour montage Uncle Meat, for which he won a Cine Golden Eagle Award. In 1981 Seeman and Favata won an Emmy Award for their work on the intro to the children's television show The Great Space Coaster.^[3]

Seeman also produced and directed a number of pornographic films, such as The Healers, Fongaluli, and Madame Zenobia, which were marketed outside the US.^[9]

Films

Film festival

• Frekoba, 1968,^[1] dancer Frances Alenikoff
• Dana and Clay, 1969,^[1] dancers Dana Wolfe and Clay Taliaferro
• High Contrast, 1969^[1]
• Space Oddities, 1970^[1]
• Incubus c. 1971,^[10] dancer Frances Alenikoff

Frank Zappa

• Electric Circus, c. 1967^[11]
• Rehearsal, c. 1967^[11]
• Sex, Paint and Sound, c. 1967^[11]
• Mothers of Invention,1968^[12]

Also known as:

• Uncle Meat (40-minute version)

• Frank Zappa and the Original Mothers of Invention,video cassette version of film, 1987

• The Real Uncle Meat

• Raw Meat

• Suzy Creamcheese What's Got Into You?

Seeman contributed motion picture photography for Frank Zappa's:

• The Burnt Weeny Sandwich (unpublished)
• Uncle Meat 14 hrs version (the footage of the Mothers of Invention) (parts of it were shown publicly, but the whole was unpublished)

As Eduardo Cemano, sex industry films

• Millie's Homecoming, 1971^[13]
• The Weirdos and the Oddballs (aka Zora Knows Best), 1971^{[4] [13]}
• The Healers, 1972^[13]
• Fongaluli, 1972,^[13] also named Aphrodisiac and The Love Potion^[14]
• Madame Zenobia, 1973^[13]

Eduardo Cemano short films

• Blushing Nude^[1]
• Cucumber^[1]
• Floating Nudes^[1]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Eduardo Cemano, Other Works . . imdb.com . 24 August 2017 .
2. Williamson . Bruce. August 1973 . Porno chic: hard-core films come out of the closet . Playboy .
3. News: Wineriter . Nick. 7 August 2017. Artist morphs from cel animation to computer art. OCALA Star Banner . Ocala, Florida. 23 August 2017 .
4. Grindhouse Director's Series, The Films of Eduaro Cemano, The Wierdo and the Oddballs (Zora Knows Best). 2008 . Michael J. . Bowen . Liner notes. Aquarius Releasing Inc.. Eduaro directed two of New York's first explicit XXX features....
5. News: Cenziper. Debbie. Manatee Animation Cartoonist Tries To Market Sea Cow Characters To Increase Boater Awareness. Sun Sentinel. 16 February 2018. 2018-02-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204637/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-07-01/business/9101240017_1_computer-animation-animation-productions-careless-boaters. dead.
6. Web site: Luden's Cough Drops Commercial . .
7. Web site: Frank Zappa's Clio Award . June 30, 2015 .
8. Web site: Zappa's Luden's Cough Drops . .
9. Book: Peter Keough. Flesh and Blood: The National Society of Film Critics on Sex, Violence, and Censorship. 1995. Mercury House. 978-1-56279-076-9. 15.
10. . Our Contributors. Craft Horizons. American Crafts Council . 11. 1971 . 31. 6 . Frances Alenikoff...She was a soloist in Ed Seeman's film, "Incubus"....
11. . New York Filmmakers' Newsletter . New York Filmmakers Newsletter. Suncraft International, Incorporated. 1967. 30 August 2017. [Volumes 1-2, page 18] Electric Circus, Rehearsal & Sex, Paint and Sound by Ed Seeman, New York City.
12. Text from the Cine 1968 Golden Eagle Award: "Cine 1968 The council on International Nontheatrical Events congratulates Ed Seeman for the motion picture Mothers of Invention selected for its excellence to represent the United States of America in international motion picture events abroad and awards to it The Golden Eagle". Page with picture of the award.
13. Web site: Eduardo Cemano Biography. woodyanders. IMDb. 25 August 2017.
14. Web site: Aphrodisiac 1972. . pre-cert.co.uk . 30 August 2017.