Digital Domain has lost a wrongful termination suit from former president Christian Bradley Call, and was ordered by a jury to pay nearly $2 million in damages, reports VARIETY.
Call was awarded $659,500 for breach of contract and more than $1.2 million for wrongful termination. The verdict was handed down Thursday in Malibu Superior Court after a two week trial.
THQ is taking toy firm Jakks Pacific to court over their joint venture on the World Wrestling Entertainment games, reports Gamasutra.com. Jakks unilaterally renewed its contract with the WWE without consulting the game publisher. THQ claims that Jakks has no right to make decisions that affect both companies. THQ specifically disliked the provision in the contract that prevents the publisher to release any wrestling game for one year following the termination of the WWE deal.
MARKETWATCH reports that analysts at J.P. Morgan raised their rating on Marvel Entertainment Inc. from neutral to "overweight."
The price target for the stock was hiked from $27 to $42, and analysts said in a note to clients that Marvel was their "top pick as we expect the company to continue to generate high margin revenue from exploitation of its library of characters and surprise the Street to the upside."
Silverwater, AU -- July 1, 2009 -- Plastic Wax, a leading digital animation studio specializing in videogame production and premium entertainment, today announced another year of growth fueled by new projects involving top intellectual properties and serious investments in new technology.
ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced it has completed the acquisition of legendary game studio, id Software, creators of world-renowned games such as DOOM, QUAKE, WOLFENSTEIN, and its upcoming title, RAGE.
ZDF Enterprises and Jonathan M. Shiff Productions (JMSP) have prolonged the agreement they signed in 2002 for further 6 years. The creative collaboration between the companies has already proven its winning partnership in various internationally successful live action series such as "The Elephant Princess", "Wicked Science" and "H2O - Just Add Water". Under the terms of this agreement ZDF Enterprises will co-produce JMSP productions and taking charge of worldwide sales of all associated rights outside Australia and New Zealand.
THQ Inc. today announced a reorganization of the company's management team and business units in support of THQ's focused product strategy. In order to more directly align the organization with its previously announced strategy, THQ has formed three new business units: 1) Core Games; 2) Kids, Family and Casual Games; and 3) Online, and has promoted key executives to manage each of these units. Each unit manager will report directly to THQ President/CEO Brian Farrell.
Oscar-winning visual effects house Digital Domain finds itself moving from the movie set to the court room as legal proceedings begin the wrongful termination case filed against the company by its former president Christian Bradley "Brad" Call.
LOS ANGELES -- MySpace today announced its intent to restructure its international operations and refocus personnel around a smaller number of territories, while retaining a robust global consumer presence.
International award-winning Creative/Director Nando Costa, founder of top industry leading design and animation studio Nervo, has teamed with Portland-based Bent Image Lab to form, NANDO@BENT. Costa brings his entire Nervo shop to BENT, including creative partner Linn Olofsdotter. Costa, age 30, will become the fourth partner of BENT which includes: Co-Founder/EP Ray Di Carlo, Co-Founder/Director Chel White, and Co-Founder/Director David Daniels.
RHCB and Komixx Entertainment have agreed to create a new company, Random House Children's Screen Entertainment ('RHCSE'), to produce animated and live-action children's and family entertainment for the cinema and television.
Completing a process begun in January, ABC Entertainment Group President Stephen McPherson today announced the Group's final organizational structure. Effective immediately, Business Affairs, Business Development, Casting, Program Planning, Scheduling and Distribution will be managed as integrated areas, while ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios retain separate creative teams, with each combining development and current programming roles.
Japanese manga publisher Futabasha is suing Korean film production house Show East over the rights to turn OLD BOY into a feature film in the U.S., reports ANIME NEWS NETWORK.
Show East produced a popular 2003 Korean version directed by Chan-wook Park. The suit was filed on Monday.
Futabasha is suing to confirm the lack of a binding contract between the two parties, due to an alleged breach. They allege that Show East violated the agreement, nullifying it, when Show East got Universal Pictures to sign on for a remake.
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, June 17, 2009 -- have reached a partnership to deliver Newfoundland's first e-cinema installation and the NFB's first English-language e-cinema partnership in Canada.
On Monday, a Russian court dropped the lawsuit against adult cartoon channel 2X2 for their airing of SOUTH PARK, per VARIETY. A religious group had alleged the show stirs up national hatred.
Last year, the case was brought by the Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, who said one episode in particular, "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics," "insulted the feelings of religious believers and incited religious and national hatred."
Center for Visual Music has received two new grants for preservation of very early Oskar Fischinger animation experiments.
Melbourne, June 10 -- Award-winning Australian and Canadian producers form cutting-edge independent production company, Chocolate Liberation Front, which will create and produce high-quality and innovative multiplatform projects for the international marketplace.
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., June 10, 2009 - With more than 4,600 participants in the Autodesk Assistance Program and more than 5,000 product downloads to date, Autodesk is announcing significant additions to the program announced six weeks ago. The program was designed to help displaced workers in the architecture, engineering, design and manufacturing industries maintain and develop their 3D design technology skills and help improve their employability in a down economy.
Ninety-year-old Hollywood post-production and VFX house Pacific Title & Art Studio is set to be liquidated, per VARIETY.
Efforts to get new financing for the company have failed, according to an email to employees from CEO and President David McCarthy, and all current projects will be completed by the end of June.
A buyer could emerge to save the company, but McCarthy's email was clear: "You should all immediately consider yourself laid off."
Activision has sued developer Double Fine Prods. over the Jack Black-voiced videogame BRUTAL LEGEND, reports VARIETY. The suit could prevent Electronic Arts from releasing it in October.
London, UK, 3rd June, 2009: Leading visual effects software developer, The Foundry (www.thefoundry.co.uk), whose software products have been used to make many of the past year's biggest motion pictures, today announced a management buyout for an undisclosed sum led by Advent Venture Partners.
Advent has backed The Foundry's management team, led by CEO Dr Bill Collis and the original founders, in a transaction that sees the sale of the shareholdings of previous investors, Wyndcrest Holdings.
A jury should decide the claims in the suit by heirs of J.R.R. Tolkien against New Line Cinema over profits from the LORD OF THE RINGS film trilogy, ruled Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones on Tuesday (per VARIETY).
The defense had motioned that a judge, not a jury, hear the lawsuit. Jones also denied a defense motion asking that she hear and decide some of the claims before a jury heard the rest.
Tolkien trust attorney Bonnie E. Eskenazi said the case is on track to go to trial on October 19.
(June 02, 2009) PARIS -- Dassault Systmes (Paris:DSY) (NASDAQ:DASTY), a French software editor and world leader in 3D solutions, and EuropaCorp, a French international film studio, today announced that they will join forces around a strategic innovation partnership to bring the power of industrial and experiential 3D to the domains of cinema and marketing.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Disney Online announced today it has completed the purchase of key Internet assets from Kaboose, Inc., including Web sites Kaboose.com, BabyZone.com, AmazingMoms.com, and ParentZone.com, among others. As a result of the acquisition, a new group of properties has been formed, the Disney Online Mom and Family Portfolio, which will be led by Emily Smith, vice president, Disney Online.
