PERFECT HAIR FOREVER, a comedic anime series with Adult Swim sensibilities, will premiere on Nov. 20, 2005, at 12:45 am and, beginning Nov. 27, the series will air at 12:30 am Cartoon Network.
An all-news original series, created at Williams St., Adult Swims production facilities,
The Vicon motion capture system has been utilized by French studio Quantic Dream on the new console/computer game INDIGO PROPHECY (known as FAHRENHEIT overseas).
The breakthrough third-person action-adventure game, published by Atari and lauded for its blending of cinema and interactivity, has quickly become an international bestseller.
Award-winning visual effects studio Digital Dimension delivered 200 vfx shots for ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE, the Columbia Pictures sci-fi adventure that opened Nov. 11.
Director Jon Favreau and visual effects supervisor Joe Bauer, with whom Digital Dimension collaborated most recently on ELF, brought the company on board to create signature effects for the movies digital star fields and to help them achieve action sequences in space using seamlessly composited practical miniatures along with CG elements.
Artist-owned-and-operated Brickyard VFX announced the launch of a CG division, extending the companys on-site visual effects capabilities to include character modeling, animation and rendering in full 3D. The move, which includes the hiring of industry talents Jay Lichtman, Robert Sethi and Yafei Wu, is already allowing the bi-coastal effects studio to complete more and different types of client work.
Alias announced its plans for 3December 2005, the 7th annual global celebration of 3D computer graphics, including the first-ever online component. With festivities spanning the globe in over 20 host cities, 3December is expected to draw thousands of entertainment and design experts, enthusiasts and students to cities including: Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, London, New York, Los Angeles and many other major North American cities. Global 3December events are free for participants. The event is made possible in part by sponsors Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. and ATI Technologies Inc.
The highly anticipated and publicized series, THE BOONDOCKS, Adult Swims new animated comedy series based on Aaron McGruders award-winning comic strip of the same name, premieres Nov. 6, 2005, at 11:00 pm on Cartoon Network.
BOONDOCKS fans should find the series a good transition from comic strip to a provocative family-based comedy in your face with social relevance and satire. It has an arresting, anime look that is true to the color and graphic line style of the comic and stands out with a somewhat different, appealing look for animation and comics fans.
IGPX, a co-production between Cartoon Network, Japanese animation studio Production I.G and Bandai Entertainment, debuts on Nov. 5, 2005, at 10:00 pm. IGPX is the first original series produced for Toonami, Cartoon Networks action programming block that first brought anime to wide television audiences in the U.S.
Inspired by last years enormously successful THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE and encouraged by a flurry of interest in three-dimensional digital cinema, Walt Disney Pictures will unveil its first all CG-animated feature, CHICKEN LITTLE, in a new Disney Digital 3D process when it bows Nov. 4. This event marks the first digital 3D theatrical presentation.
Cartoonist Aaron McGruder recently met with reporters around the country to discuss the upcoming Adult Swim premiere of the cartoon version of his in-your-face BOONDOCKS comic strip, which debuts Nov. 6, 2005, at 11:00 pm. That it was a virtual meeting via a telephone conference call gave the event the feel of an electronic séance, with an unseen moderator/medium directing unseen participants to pose their questions to the unseen subject whom for all we knew couldve been a ringer filling in for McGruder.
Lucasfilm Ltd. officially opened the doors of Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, a digital animation studio designed to produce movies and television for global audiences. The studio was created through a consortium that includes Lucasfilm Ltd., EDB Investments and Creative Technology Ltd.
On Oct. 25, 2005, Manga Ent. will release of the all new anime co-production STREET FIGHTER ALPHA: GENERATIONS. Alongside a host of new action figures, trading cards and games which will be released by a score of different companies in conjunction with national STREET FIGHTER month this October, ALPHA: GENERATIONS brings the untold origin story of STREET FIGHTERs most intriguing and popular characters to DVD.
Central Park Media announced that it is the first anime company in the world to provide content for Apple's new video-capable iPod. Visitors can now download the first episode of Central Park Media's upcoming ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS at www.centralparkmedia.com/ipod/ as well as view the trailer for KAKURENBO: HIDE & SEEK, scheduled to premiere on a special pre-Halloween midnight broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, Saturday, Oct. 29, and HAMMERBOY, winner of numerous prestigious awards on both sides of the Pacific.
Fluid provided the visual effects for a :30 Reebok spot, launching the Answer IX shoe and featuring NBA superstar point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers Allen Iverson. Developed through mcgarrybowen (New York, NY), the spot, titled 10 YEARS OF HEART, promotes Reeboks Answer IX shoe with the pump technology that offers the perfect fit by surrounding the foot with an automatic, form fitting air chamber that you can turn on or off as needed. The spot debuted on ESPN nationally on Oct 18.
Taffy Ent. has signed a deal with Korean-based Sunwoo Ent. to distribute Sunwoo's hot new anime style series, MIXMASTER: THE KING OF CARDS. The deal will call on Taffy to manage worldwide rights (excluding Asia) for the series in all categories including television, home entertainment, licensing, merchandising, master toy, Internet as well as both online and mobile trading card games. The multi-platform deal was unveiled at MIPCOM and MIPCOM Jr. this week.
VIZ Media Llc. (VIZ Media) announced the further expansion of its popular SHONEN JUMP brand with the launch of the SHONEN JUMP Home Video Line. This new line will offer several highly anticipated anime titles on DVD, based on popular series that originally appeared in the SHONEN JUMP monthly manga anthology. The first two titles offered will be HIKARU NO GO in Dec. 2005 and NARUTO in March 2006.
Anchor Bay Ent. has named Kaoru Mfaume as managing director for Manga Ent. He recently held the post of vp acquisitions for the company.
Anchor Bay is proud to have Kaoru as part of our team, stated Ted Green, ceo of Anchor Bay. He is a true leader within the anime world and has co-produced a number of top-selling anime titles including STREET FIGHTER: ALPHA GENERATIONS, DEAD LEAVES and GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX. His unparalled vision and leadership will help us develop this genre to its fullest potential.
PlasterCITY, an all-new nonlinear high-definition post house in Hollywood, recently showcased seven new HD edit suites, a 4GB HD Fibre SAN network, an HD Digital Intermediate workflow and a complete HD theater/screening room. At an open house on Oct. 6, 2005, PlasterCITY introduced its advanced non-linear 10-bit 4:4:4 RGB studio networking, enabling clients to edit, color-correct and perform all other picture post-production processes at the highest quality rate, including uncompressed codecs, for theatrical and broadcast projects.
Gokaza, a content provider specialized in J-pop culture, has announced the release of the two-DVD documentary HELLO ANIME! The DVD delivers a firsthand look at the dawn of anime in America, the rise of the otakus, the anime Internet community, anime in Hollywood films like KILL BILL and THE MATRIX and the Japanization of America. In 19 exclusive interviews, the pioneers who defined the movement talk about their personal success stories and reveal the inside scoop on anime.
FUNimation Ent. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp., launched the FUNimation Channel today (Sept. 29, 2005), a 24-hour, digital network that will feature distinguished anime programming from FUNimation's anime brands. Working with OlympuSAT, one of the leading distributors for independent programming in the U.S., the channel will be available to video service providers throughout the nation. The plan is for the FUNimation Channel to be part of the basic and extended digital packages, so it will be a regular channel in the lineup.
Central Park Media announced that on Sept. 27, 2005, it will re-price and re-release an assortment of its best-selling mainstream anime titles for $9.95 each. Slated for re-release at are the popular AGENT AIKA series from the creators of PROJECT A-KO, the supernatural adventure, GEOBREEDERS, and the comedic PING PONG CLUB series. Box sets for two of these series will also be re-priced and re-released; the two-disc GEOBREEDERS DVD COLLECTION will be available at $19.95, and THE PING PONG CLUB DVD COLLECTION, which includes all 5 of the DVDs, will be $49.95.
Digital-Tutors announced the availability of the highly anticipated FUNDAMENTALS OF SOFT AND RIGID BODIES IN XSI and FUNDAMENTALS OF MENTAL RAY IN XSI training kits, the newest releases in a growing library and first release of training material for XSI v.5.0. A free trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI V.5.0 FOUNDATION is included with both, FUNDAMENTALS OF SOFT AND RIGID BODIES IN XSI and FUNDAMENTALS OF MENTAL RAY IN XSI training kits providing immediate access to explore the software and expand the users skills.
Nicktoons, Nickelodeons 24-hour animation network, has renamed and rebranded itself to become Nicktoons Network on Sept. 23, 2005. The network, which became ad-supported I August, will continue to showcase a variety of animation all day and night. Targeting kids 6-14, Nicktoons Network features programming that is 75% exclusive to the channel. In addition to a new name and logo, Nicktoons Network sports a fresh look with new packaging both on-air and on the networks new website, www.NicktoonsNetwork.com.
Maya 7 Personal Learning Edition (PLE) and MotionBuilder 7 Personal Learning Edition are now available for download at www.alias.com/mayaple and www.alias.com/motionbuilderple, respectively. Maya 7 PLE and MotionBuilder 7 PLE are special versions of Maya Complete and Alias MotionBuilder Standard that provide free access to the software for non-commercial use.
Marvel Ent. and Activision have released the latest games based on the X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN comics.
Renowned vfx supervisor Michael Fink (CONSTANTINE, the X-MEN movies), who recently joined the advisory board of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, will present his Visual Effects Paradiso program at Gnomon on Sept. 29, 2005, at 7:00 pm. A meet and greet starts at 6:00 pm.
