Warner Bros.-based Legendary Pictures will bring Ed Spielmans 1970s TV series, KUNG FU, to the big screen, VARIETY reports. Spielman and Howard Friedlander, a writer on the original series, have penned the screenplay.
Bob and Harvey Weinstein have announced the unveiling of Dragon Dynasty, the new label under which all The Weinstein Co.'s Asian titles will be released, including ONG BAK 2, THE PROTECTOR (aka TOM YUM GOONG), BORN TO FIGHT, SPL, SEVEN SWORDS and DRAGON SQUAD, as well as a package of high profile titles, which was licensed from Fortune Star Ent. the distribution division of News Corp.'s STAR Group which owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese language feature film library.
Alain Bielik dives into latest state-of-the-art fluid simulation advances and other CG modeling breakthroughs for Poseidon.
French independent film group MK2 has joined forces with animation studio Onyx Films to form a videogame publishing joint venture, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The 50-50 venture, MKO Games, will develop and publish high-end, cross-platform games for PC, consoles and mobile devices.
"The idea is to bring together the movie industry and the game industry in France, which have until now just been eyeing each other up," said Nathanael Karmitz, who recently took over MK2 from his father and company founder Marin Karmitz.
Philippe Moins turns the pages on Astix film production history to offer perspective for the latest animated feature, Astix et les Vikings, moving across European theaters.
Ray Harryhausen will team with Mindfire Ent. on a series of new movies, telefilms, videogames and merchandising under the "Ray Harryhausen Presents" moniker, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The projects will be based on Harryhausens unproduced works.
Several scripts are already in development one set in Greek mythology and the other an alien invasion tale. The first film is set to start production in the fall.
THE DA VINCI CODE offers another prime example of innovative invisible effects, and Tara DiLullo details the fine work of Rainmakers new London facility and MPC. Per Holmes describes why storyboarding is an outmoded shot-planning tool for 3D in The Digital Eye. Alain Bielik gets a sneak peek at how Mainframe altered its design process to accomplish more realistic MoCap in the upcoming TONY HAWK IN BOOM BOOM SABOTAGE DVD.
Atom Ent. Inc. announced that four new short films developed by AtomFilms Studio are premiering simultaneously May 24, 2006, on the AtomFilms website (www.atomfilms.com) and on mobile phones. Ranging in length from one to five minutes apiece, the new shorts provide unique comic perspectives on dating, classic videogames, canine friendships and even breast enhancements.
Breakthrough Ent. Inc., the distribution division of Canadian production company, Breakthrough Films & Television, unveils its most prolific slate of all-new series and eagerly anticipated made-for-TV movies at the L.A. Screenings 2006, which runs through may 25, 2006. HOLA Ent., Breakthrough Ent.s agent for Latin America, will be offering the following programming slate to Latin American buyers:
REALVIZ announced that a new patch up-date is now available for VTour. Version 1.0.1 of VTour includes a number of significant additions, including the improved capability to create Web-compatible projects, as well as an updated SPi-V3d viewer. The Patch is available free of charge to all existing VTour owners. New users may also purchase this latest version until May 31 at the reduced price of 300 /$340 (normal list price 499 /$580).
Registration for summer term 2006 at Gnomon School of Visual Effects (June 26-Sept. 10) began May 22. There are two new classes for summer: Visual Math for Artists, taught by Saty Raghavachary, is visual intro to mathematical topics that are useful in CG production, and is meant for a non-programmer/non-technical audience. In Vehicles and Hardware Design for Film and Games, students learn the basic design principles necessary to work as conceptual artists in the science fiction genre. This five-week class is taught by Hugo Martin.
The Los Angeles Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH proudly presents Over The Hedge: Presentation and Screening Sponsored By Hewlett-Packard. Presenters from DreamWorks Animation will break down scenes from their latest animated adventure.
Date / Time: Tuesday, May 23rd. 6:30-7:30 Social Hour - refreshments and beverages will be served 7:30-8:30 Presentation/Q&A 8:30-10:30 Screening of Over the Hedge
Venue: Director's Guild of America--Theater # 1 7920 W. Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90046 310-289-2000 http://www.dga.org/index2.php3
Parking:
GameSpot announced the winners of its 10th Annual GameSpot E3 2006 Editors' Choice Awards. In addition to "Game of the Show" winner, BIOSHOCK, shown for the Xbox 360 and coming to other platforms, more than 25 category awards went to the most impressive and anticipated games out of the 1,000-plus titles that were on display at E3.
Veteran animation producer Edward Herskovitz died May 22, 2006, at his home in Rishon Le'Zion, Israel. He was 85.
Herskovitz worked as an animation producer in Japan during the 1970s. He was one of the founding members of ASIFA-Japan. He collaborated on many international co-productions, making France his second home.
He was born in Egypt in 1921, after his parents moved there when WWI reached what later became Israel. He joined a traveling circus in his youth, eventually settling down in Japan. After a stroke, he moved to Israel.
10th edition of Barcelona International Television Festival (FITB)Barcelona, SpainNovember 14-16, 2006Deadline: May 31, 2006
Barcelona International Television Festival is a three-day screening for children and young people from around the world divided into documentaries, animation, TV programs and series. For more information, check out www.oeti.org.
Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett has been named Britain's designer of the year for his groundbreaking animation for the virtual band.
Hewlett, who first earned fame for co-creating the comicstrip, TANK GIRL, won the award May 22, 2006, in a ceremony at the Design Museum. He was honored for conceiving the graphics, animation and "live" performances for the band, which is composed of four animated, fictional members.
Tricky Women 2007Vienna, Austria March 1-5, 2007Deadline: November 15, 2006
"Tricky Women" is specifically dedicated to animation made by women. The international competition with the "Tricky Women Award of the City of Vienna" constitutes the main part of the festival. Country focuses, retrospectives, curated programs, lectures and discussions offer the chance to look at animated films from a theoretical as well as practical perspective. For more information, visit www.culture2culture.at.
ADV Films launched the new DVD series NANAKA 6/17 plus a new installment in the series PRINCESS TUTU on May 23, 2006.
The production/distribution company Neptuno Films has sealed new pan regional sales of its animation production portfolio in Latin America.
Cartoon Network Latin America has acquired seasons 1 and 2 of KING ARTHURS DISASTERS. A co-production of Neptuno Films with Zenith Ent., KING ARTHURS DISASTERS has been airing on ITV in the U.K. Other partners include Nick UK, Cartoon Network France, ABC Australia, Disney Italy, among others.
Digital Video introduces Toonz 5.0 Bravo!, a 2D animation software and yet cost-effective solution for studios willing to produce paperless animation.
In the latest Digital Eye, Per Holmes explains why storyboarding is an outmoded shot-planning tool for the 3D environment. Includes QuickTime clips!
The third annual Nicktoons Network Animation Festival has selected six judges for this years festivities. Comedic brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans, creators of a brand new an animated special for Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network, will serve on a panel of artists that also includes FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane, Disneys Andreas Deja, famed independent animator Bill Plympton and last year's Producers Choice and Student Award Winner JG Quintel.
Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has promoted Tom Davidson to vp, International Networks, where he will play a key role in developing SPTI's television networks business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a focus on increasing distribution for its global channel brands AXN, Animax and Sony Ent. Television on both traditional pay-tv platforms and increasingly into the broadband and mobile worlds.
BKN International AG has appointed Benoit Runel md of the companys largest operating subsidiary, BKN New Media Ltd. in Great Britain. Runel will oversee all sales and marketing for the BKN in the U.K., Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, North America and emerging markets, such as Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He will also oversee all development and pre-production activities in the London-based studio, as well as secure and manage all co-productions with international partners.
R. Russell Hampton, Jr. has been named President, Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), responsible for overseeing DPW's various book imprints and magazines around the world. He replaces Deborah Dugan who announced her resignation earlier this week. He will be based in New York City and report to Andy Mooney, chairman, Disney Consumer Products.
