4Kids Ent. has licensed television broadcast and merchandising rights from Nelvana Enterprises for the 2D animated action-adventure series, DI-GATA DEFENDERS, which will premiere on 4Kids TV (Saturday mornings on Fox affiliates nationwide) beginning July 28, 2007.
Turner Broadcasting System upped James Anderson from vp of public relations of public relations for Cartoon Network to svp of public relations for Turner's recently formed Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media group, responsible for public relations and publicity efforts supporting the cable television networks Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Adult Swim; the digital businesses Cartoonnetwork.com, AdultSwim.com, Toonami Jetstream, Cartoon Network Video, GameTap and Super Deluxe; and two animation production facilities: Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank and Williams Street Studios in Atlanta.
IDT Internet Mobile Group (IMG), a division of IDT Corp., has formed Zedge Studios to develop and license digital content for distribution through web and mobile platforms. IMG has also acquired a controlling interest in IDW Publishing (www.idwpublishing.com), an independent comics publisher known for the horror, action and sci-fi genres, boasting such high-profile titles as THE TRANSFORMERS, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, CSI, STAR TREK, 24 and SCARFACE.
In its 18th year at SIGGRAPH, Softimage Co., announced details of its events & activities for the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2007 conference in San Diego, CA (Aug. 5-9). Softimage will extend its presence at the show starting with the inaugural Customer Production Challenge, and FJORG!, the SIGGRAPH-sponsored iron-animator production competition. Softimage is also honored to host industry visionary Syd Mead at its annual user event, with a special introduction by SIGGRAPH 2007 conference chair, Joe Marks, from Walt Disney Feature Animation.
Houston-based Anime Network has secured linear carriage in the state of Kansas with Sunflower Broadband and Eagle Communications, which adds three new markets to Anime Network's linear distribution. Anime Network will soon be available in Lawrence, Hays and Minneapolis, Kansas, just in time for the new semester to begin at universities across the state.
THE NEW FRONTIER, which began as a six-issue series in 2004 that follows Superman and other heroes of the DC Universe from the end of World War II through the Cold War, will be made into a direct-to-DVD animated film from Warner Home Video, reports THE NEW YORK TIMES. The saga has been published in one hardcover and two softcover collections and has inspired a line of action figures.
Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation will be fully represented at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego from July 27-29, 2007. The big event is the world premiere of the highly anticipated direct-to-video animated feature SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY on Friday evening.
Panels include:
Thursday, July 26
12:30-1:30 pm
Animation groups and animation pros with a flair for comics will be out in force manning panels at the 38th annual Comic-Con 2007 in San Diego this year.
ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles chapter of The International Animated Film, will have a major presence at Comic-Con this year, including booth 5434 in Hall "C." Here is a quick rundown of its offering or you many find the updated list at www.asifa-hollywood.org/blog/con2007/combinedschedule07.pdf:
THE HOST, one of Korea's biggest box office sensations, with a toxic avenging monster in the best tradition, lands on DVD July 24, 2007 (Magnolia Pictures, $29.98).
In THE HOST, the city is Seoul, South Korea, and the monster is a 40-foot long creature that emerges from the river. The unique creature was conceived by director Bong Joon-ho and visualized by designer Jang Hee-chul. Based on detailed artwork, a maquette was then created at Weta Workshop, New Zealand, and scanned at Gentle Giant Studios in Los Angeles.
Janet Hetherington chats with //ADAPT co-founder Jean-Eric Hault as Montreal gears up for its second //ADAPT conference from Sept. 24 to 28.
Making its DVD debut uncut and digitally re-mastered is a Walter Lantz treasure trove: THE WOODY WOODPECKER AND FRIENDS CLASSIC CARTOON COLLECTION (Universal Studios Home Ent., $39.98), which lands on store shelves July 24, 2007. The three-disc collection features 75 zany adventures, including eight Academy Award-nominated shorts, and offers more than an one hour of vintage bonus materials, such as the doc "Walter, Woody and the World of Animation," behind-the-scenes footage and a full episode of THE WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW.
If you've been wondering how those amazing looking dinosaurs have made it to the small screen in DINOSAPIEN, the new live-action/animated adventure series airing on Discovery Kids in the U.S., you can look to Toronto-based animation studio Yowza Digital. Yowza Digital is crafting the 3D animation and visual effects production on DINOSAPIEN, which premiered July 7 in the U.S., after its earlier debut on BBC Kids Canada.
is about money and big business or simply that I got to spend some time with so many good friends that I don't get to see often enough, but I did have the best time I've had in years at the 31st Annecy International Festival of Animation held in Annecy, France this June 11th through the 16th. From the moment Nik and I arrived on Sunday evening until we headed home to Gent, Belgium the next Sunday afternoon, I couldn't walk down the main street, sit on the patio in front of the Leffe Bar, or walk through the Festival center at Bonlieu without running into people that I was delighted to see.
I don't know if it's that I have finally accepted the fact that the Annecy International Festival of Animation
Screening at 6:50 pm and 9:15 pm, The World According to Shorts presents highlights from one of the world's premiere short film festivals, Clermont-Ferrand's Festival du Court M
Walt Disney Pictures has hired director Andy Fickman (SHE'S THE MAN) to re-imagine the 1975 family flick, ESCAPE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Andrew Gunn of Gunn Films will produce.
The original was based on a novel by Alexander Key that followed a brother and sister duo who goes on the run with a devious group, which tries to exploit their paranormal abilities. The film spawned the sequel RETURN TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, which co-starred Bette Davis and Christopher Lee, as well as the TV movie, BEYOND WITCH MOUNTAIN.
Rainmaker Animation has plans to transform Mainframe Ent.'s seminal CG television series, REBOOT, into a trio of feature films. REBOOT became Rainmaker's property after it acquired Mainframe last year and renamed it Rainmaker Animation. Rainmaker Animation evp Paul Gertz will shepherd the production.
After a live reading at Just for Laughs comedy festival, Seth MacFarlane told THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that a FAMILY GUY feature is not out of the question. He said that like THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, working on the TV series and a feature at the same time has held back the project. In the very, very early stages of development, the project is just an idea, which MacFarlane said wouldn't be a Griffins' save the world concept. He suggested that former series writer and creator of the live-action comedy THE WINNER, Ricky Blitt, would work on the feature script.
Adam Sandler ruled the box office once again with his latest yuck-fest, I PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY, opening at #1, taking in $34.8 million for the weekend ending July 22, 2007. Last week's champ, HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, descended to the second slot with a haul of $32.2 million, bringing it cume to $207.5 million. Its visual effects were provided by Double Negative, Framestore CFC, ILM, Cinesite, MPC, Rising Sun and others.
Aleksandr Tatarskiy, co-founder of Moscow-based Pilot Studio, passed away in his sleep of an apparent stroke over the weekend of July 21, 2007. He was 57 years old.
It's that time of year again! It's the return of ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE's annual Hot Spots Showcase, featuring the best in commercials and IDs.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, members continue to give their thoughts on TRANSFORMERS the movie.
Red Giant Software, publisher of a line of professional digital video tools, including Magic Bullet and Knoll Light Factory, just released new versions of the popular Trapcode motion graphics products Shine, Starglow and 3D Stroke. In 2006, Red Giant Software and Trapcode formed a partnership in 2006, giving Red Giant Software exclusive publishing rights to all seven Trapcode products worldwide.
New features:* Shine 1.5, Starglow 1.5, and 3D Stroke 2.5 now work for the first time in Final Cut Pro, Motion, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Avid AVX.
Taylor Jessen reviews five short films -- Copenhagen Cycles by Eric Dyer, Slide by Sharon Katz, Down the Road by Rune Christensen, The Toll by J. Zachary Pike and Who I Am and What I Want by Chris Shepherd, David Shrigley.
Taffy Ent. recently announced sales of eight new titles to key broadcasters and cable channels throughout Scandinavia. These include DIVE OLLY DIVE!, FANTASTIC FOUR, SAMSAM, GROWING UP CREEPIE, TODDWORLD, PET ALIEN, INSECTOSCOPE and WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS.
Norway's NRK has picked up five series (DIVE OLLY DIVE!, SAMSAM, TODDWORLD, INSECTOSCOPE and WAITING FOR CHRISTMAS); SVT Sweden picked up two shows (DIVE OLLY DIVE! & SAMSAM); TV2 Denmark and Finland's YLE picked up SAMSAM and DR Denmark bought DIVE OLLY DIVE!
