Marshall "Buzz" Potamkin (November 22, 1945[1] – April 22, 2012) was an American television producer and director known for founding his own television advertisement production studio, Perpetual Motion Pictures aka Buzzco Associates, and helping to establish Southern Star Productions.
Along with advertisements, Potamkin focused on producing made-for-television animation, beginning with several television films based on the Berenstain Bears series of children's books.
He went on to produce series for Turner Entertainment and, more specifically, Cartoon Network, including every episode of Cartoon Network's animated showcase series, What a Cartoon!, a project developed for aspiring animators to make pilot shorts that the network could choose to develop into full-fledged series.
He also established the companies Southern Star Productions, Visionary Media, and Project X and produced the animated specials The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree in 1979 and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue in 1990, among others.
[3] Potamkin died from pancreatic cancer on April 22, 2012, and was survived by his wife Rosie.