The Creative Talent Network and Van Eaton Galleries will present SCRIBBLIN ON SCRAP WITH RIK MAKI an exhibition and sale of original art by one of the most prolific and influential artists working in feature animated films, including THE LION KING, HERCULES, A BUGS LIFE, FINDING NEMO and TREASURE PLANET.
The National Cartoonists Society announced the winners of the 2006 Reuben Awards, including the selections for the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, at a black tie dinner on May 27, in Chicago. For the animation world, awarded Nick Parks WALLACE & GROMIT: CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT the prize for feature animation. For TV animation, David Silverman won for his work on THE SIMPSONS.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006, marked the close of another exceptional Banff World Television Festival, with more than 1,450 delegates in attendance, and a combined 1,700 delegates taking in both the television festival and its sister-event, nextMEDIAThe Future of Digital Content. With jam-packed panel and session rooms and a whirl of special events, the festival generated the signing and greenlighting of new deals, as well as the opportunity for delegates to turn their project ideas into reality.
For the first time, award-winning filmmaker David B. Levy has collected the insights of more than 100 professionals from the top of the animation industry into a new book titled, YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION: HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE, which tackles the most crucial issues that animation artists face today.
Paramount Pictures and Steven Spielberg are developing a space travel tale about a group of explorers who travel through a wormhole into another dimension, reports VARIETY. Spielberg plans to direct with Lynda Obst producing.
Based in real science, the plot will be based on a treatment by Kip S. Thorne, a Caltech physicist who's an expert on relativity. Thorne is most famous for his controversial theory that wormholes not only exist, but can be accessed and used as portals for time travel.
Paramount Pictures has snatched up the screen rights to the Max Brooks novel WORLD WAR Z: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE ZOMBIE WAR in a high-six-figure deal, according to VARIETY. Brad Pitt's Plan B is set to produce.
Brooks' follow-up to satire THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE spurred a bidding battle, which also included Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprios Appian Way.
The story is a somber tale of the aftermath of a war fought against an army of humans who were inflicted with a virus, died and were reanimated into flesh-eating zombies.
Warner Bros. has hired Boaz Yakin (REMEMBER THE TITANS) to write and possibly direct a re-envisioned CONAN THE BARBARIAN, based on Robert E. Howards original character, VARIETY reports. WB hopes to start production in early 2007 with Irving Azoff, Jon Jashni, Richard Alexander and Akiva Goldsman producing. Peter Sederowsky and Fredrik Malmberg of Paradox Ent., the intellectual property company that owns the rights to the Howard estate, will exec produce.
Frozen Moon Prods. Ltd. is hosting the Movie Trailer Showdown Competition. As an individual, team or company, the contest challenges entrants to make a film trailer no longer than 1.5 minutes.
It can be made in live action, animation, string puppets and it can even be a combination of these techniques. The festival will take the form of a tournament, similar to the world cup. There will be 32 films short listed and each entry will be randomly entered into eight groups of four, the winners of these groups will progress to the quarter, semi then final stage
Portfolio Review Show
Featuring Graduates from:
*Media Art and Animation
*Game Art and Design
*Graphic Design
*Interactive Media Design
*Interior Design
Where:THE TURNIP ROSE1901 NEWPORT BLVD.COSTA MESA, CA 714-997-5871
When: June 14, 2006 from 5pm-7pm
LINK:You can view the site through this link:
http://www.herecomestheguide.com/sites/detail.htm?site_id=1388
Framestore CFC has welcomed back Andy Lomas to the newly expanded post of head of CG, which will encompass features, commercials and longform TV.
Lomas returns at a significant time for Framestore CFC, with the recent announcement of the company's move into feature animation production (THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX) and the need to optimize CG work.
Industrial Light & Magic is in discussions to sell its physical production unit, the legendary unit that works with models, miniatures and stage work, VARIETY reports. The sale would mark the end of an erabeginning as the unit that produced the effects for George Lucas' original STAR WARS moviesand solidify ILM's status as a digital effects house.
Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) has named Fisher-Price Inc., the number one infant and preschool toy company in the world, as master toy licensee for the new PBS KIDS preschool series ITS A BIG BIG WORLD. The series engages children with a diverse group of animal characters, world music rhythms and a multi-level, age-appropriate science and geography curriculum. The licensing agreement between SPCP and Fisher-Price will bring the lessons taught in ITS A BIG BIG WORLD to life with a full line of toys and plush.
Ubisoft announced that HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC V for PC has released and will be arriving at North American retailers this week.
Today we celebrate the return of the beloved MIGHT AND MAGIC franchise with HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC V, enhanced and revamped but still holding true to the values of the series that its loyal fans love and demand, said Tony Key, vp of marketing at Ubisoft. Ubisoft is proud to bring the series into a new realm of PC gaming with an all-new 3D universe and innovative new features such as the Dynamic Battle System.
Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science have discovered a way to help computers understand the geometric context of outdoor scenes, making them better comprehend what they see, reports SCIENCE DAILY. The discovery promises to revive an area of computer vision research all but abandoned two decades ago because it seemed insoluble. This breakthrough could led to applications in vision systems used to guide robotic vehicles, monitor security cameras and archive photos.
LAIKA Inc. will build a state-of-the-art feature film animation campus to house its burgeoning entertainment division. LAIKA owner/chairman of the board Philip H. Knight has purchased 30 acres of land in Tualatin, Oregon, just 12 miles south of Portland, as the future site of LAIKAs world-class animation facility, scheduled to open in 2008.
With its expanding film production schedule, LAIKA anticipates its employee roster to soar to more than 400 within the next two years.
Emdigo Inc. has acquired the exclusive rights to develop and deploy 3D graphics based episodic SUPERGIRL animation content to mobile users in China. One of China's hottest TV productions, SUPERGIRL is China's hugely successful, AMERICAN IDOL-like television show.
In the latest excerpt from Learning Maya 7 | Foundation, Marc-AndrGuindon and Cathy McGinnis conclude a three-part series on rendering.
Leading up to the 20th Century Fox launch its feature version of THE SIMPSONS next year, parent company News Corp. will synergize all units throughout its empire promote the film, president/coo Peter Chernin said today (June 14, 2006), according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
In this months Mind Your Business, Mark Simon raps about how to pimp out your website.
With THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, opening Friday from Universal Pictures, the vfx bar has been raised in that franchise to 768 shots, divided among 10 houses, with Rhythm & Hues handling the most complex sequence. Alain Bielik reports how placing the action in Tokyo necessitated creating the environment digitally for the car racing. Meanwhile, Renee Dunlop delves into Foxs GARFIELD: A TALE OF TWO KITTIES, which also opens Friday, featuring the animation/vfx of Rhythm & Hues and Rainmaker.
Bill DesowitzEditor
Animex International Festival of Animation & Computer Games 2007Middlesbrough, U.K. February 5 9, 2007Deadline: October 1, 2006
Tenerife International Film Festival 2007Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Spain April 21-28, 2007Deadline: November 30, 2006
The SIGGRAPH 2006 Papers Program features the latest achievements in the worlds most prestigious presentation of the years best research innovations in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Of 474 international submissions, 86 Papers were accepted for SIGGRAPH 2006 taking place July 30-Aug. 3 in Boston. The SIGGRAPH 2006 Papers Program opens July 31 at 8:30 am and closes Aug. 3 at 5:30 pm.
Sony Pictures Imageworks president Tim Sarnoff announced the presentation of scholarships to six students currently enrolled at academic institutions affiliated with the Imageworks Professional Academic Excellence (IPAX) program.
Twentieth Century Fox became the first Hollywood studio this year to hit the $1 billion mark at the overseas box office, thanks to Blue Skys animated ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN ($441M) and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND ($160.6M), according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
2006 marks the second consecutive year that Fox has led the pack in the race to break the billion-dollar threshold. But last year it took Fox International about three weeks longer, bolstered by STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
