Vicon announced the first-ever Vicon Film Festival: A Celebration of All Things Motion Capture and Animation, to be launched at SIGGRAPH 2007. Vicon rolls out the red carpet for the festival at booth #902, Aug. 7-9, at the San Diego Convention Center.
Angela Bromstad has been upped to president, International Television Production, NBC Universal International, based in London. Heading the newly created division as of Sept. 1, 2007, Bromstad will lead television production and strategic TV content partnerships across all territories and will be responsible for driving NBC Universal's international growth through increased local production, geographical expansion and new business creation.
Kabillion, the new multi-platform kids' program service, will launch a new preschool-focused block of programming, Kabillion Jr., on Aug. 1, 2007. Kabillion Jr. will offer animated programming for kids 2-5 on both Kabillion On-Demand (on Comcast Cable systems nationwide) and Kabillion's broadband site, www.Kabillion.com.
Debut programming offered on Kabillion Jr. includes the 3D CGI-animated DIVE OLLY DIVE! and the animated series based on everyone's favorite dolphin and his young human friend, FLIPPER & LOPAKA. Shows will be added to the schedule in the coming months.
Buena Vista Home Ent. announced that PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (with a maelstrom of new vfx from ILM) will hit retail shelves on Dec. 4, 2007, on DVD and Blu-ray Disc for $34.95.
Included among the bonus features will be a five-part behind-the-scenes doc, two interactive features (including "Enter the Maelstrom" and "Jolly Roger Host"), as well as nine additional featurettes and an outtake real -- all in 1080p high-definition on the Blu-ray edition.
Bonus features:* Documentary: "Masters of Design"
A new Canadian animation award has been established in honor of the late Helen Hill, an experimental filmmaker who was violently killed at her home in New Orleans this year. Linda Joy Media Arts Society has established The Helen Hill Animated Award to recognize the achievements of animators working in Atlantic Canada.
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) announced its roster of films in competition, including the controversial feature PERSEPOLIS. Included among the final contenders are 26 films from the U.S. and 20 films from the U.K. Other countries competing include Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan.
The wait for Popeye is over, as Warner Home Video (WHV), Hearst Ent. and King Features Syndicate release POPEYE THE SAILOR 1933-1938 VOLUME 1 on July 31, 2007, for $64.92.
These classic POPEYE animated shorts made Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto national pop icons and the four-disc authorized edition DVD collection includes 60 original remastered and unedited theatrical shorts created by the legendary Max Fleischer.
Imagineer Systems announced the immediate availability of mocha. The company's new standalone tracking station leverages Imagineer's advanced 2.5D planar tracking technology to simplify and significantly accelerate the tracking and rotoscoping workflow for VFX artists.
Joe Strike talks to several animation production companies about the growing need for interstitial programming around the globe.
Exceeding expectations, Fox's THE SIMPSONS MOVIE finally rolled into theaters with $74M gross for the weekend period ended July 29, 2007. Last week's winner, I PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY, fell to second place with $19.1M for a cume of $71.6M. Warner Bros.' HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (with vfx by Double Negative, Framestore CFC, ILM, Cinesite, MPC, Rising Sun and more) descended to third with $17.7M and a tally of $242.4M. New Line's HAIRSPRAY slowed down to fourth with $15.8M and a cume of $59.6M. NO RESERVATIONS opened in fifth for Warner Bros. with $11.7M.
Sebastian Sylwan has joined Autodesk Media & Ent. as senior film and television industry manager. Based in Los Angeles, Sylwan is responsible for researching market opportunities and trends in the global film and television markets. He is working closely with Autodesk's customers and partners to further the understanding and use of digital technologies.
Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD will be released on Blu-ray Disc and standard DVD in multi-disc sets as CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND: 30TH ANNIVERSARY ULTIMATE EDITION on Nov. 13, 2007 (Sony Pictures Home Ent., $49.95 and $39.95). The set incorporates all three versions of the film for the first time, including the first-ever DVD of the 1977 Original Theatrical edition, as well as the re-edited 1980 theatrical Special Edition and Spielberg's definitive Director's Cut (released in 1998 as the Collector's Edition).
The 6th Annual VES Awards will take place on Feb. 10, 2008, at the prestigious Kodak Theatre Grand Ballroom in Hollywood, for the second year in a row. The annual VES Awards show honors the best visual effects in film, television, commercials and video games.
"We're pleased to present the VES Awards at the Kodak again," said Eric Roth, exec director of the VES. "It was a great location for us last year and we think we'll have an even better show next year to showcase the many talents visual effects professionals bring to the entertainment industry."
With more than two years of R&D under its belt, xRez Studio has launched a visual effects division based on the studio's work employing gigapixel panoramic photography.
Founded by Eric Hanson and Greg Downing, both veterans in advanced photography and movie vfx, xRez has perfected the highest resolution photography currently available. Using digital techniques derived from feature film visual effects, images can be created at resolutions of up to 150,000 pixels wide, arguably surpassing any large format film standards used in photography and well beyond IMAX.
Sony Pictures Home Ent. announced that SURF'S UP will bow Oct. 9, 2007, on DVD, Blu-ray and PSP ($28.95, $38.95 and $28.95), and that an all-new animated short -- THE CHUBBCHUBBS SAVE XMAS -- will headline the bonus features.
SURF'S UP, the second entry from Sony Pictures Animation, is directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. David Schaub serves as senior supervising animator and Rob Bredow is the vfx supervisor. SURF'S UP stars the voice talents of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, Jon Heder, James Woods and Mario Cantone.
RACCOON & CRAWFISH, the first 3D-animated short film created by the Oneida Nation's Four Direction Prods., won first prize in the Professional Animation category at the 8th annual Real to Reel Film and Video Festival in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. The Real to Reel festival aims to, "showcase thought-provoking films and offer a venue where movie lovers who appreciate independent vision can celebrate this unique art form."
Mark Farquhar joins Calif. State Univ. Northridge (CSUN) as full-time faculty of 3D Computer Animation in the Art Dept.
The 17-year vet has been a 3D CG character animator on films: SURF'S UP, OPEN SEASON, BEOWULF, MONSTER HOUSE, CHICKEN LITTLE, SHARK TALE, SINBAD LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS, TOY STORY 2, OSMOSIS JONES, IRON GIANT, MARVIN THE MARTIAN 3RD DIMENSION and MARS ATTACKS. He has done animation development to feature production for studios, such as DreamWorks, Disney Feature Animation, Sony Imageworks, Pixar Animation and Warner Bros.
Imagi Studios U.S.A. and the Animation Guild, Local 839 IATSE signed a contract on July 20, 2007, covering animation writers, storyboard artists and designers. Imagi Studios U.S.A. also signed onto the Animation Guild's 401(k) Plan, and employees will be covered under the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan.
Growing production costs in India have forced Japan's billion-dollar animation industry to look elsewhere for outsourcing cartoons, including Thailand, reports THE ECONOMIC TIMES.
Shuzo Shiota, ceo of Polygo Pictures, one of Japan's largest computer-animation studios, was in Bangkok last week to brief Thai entrepreneurs on the outsourcing opportunities awaiting them in Japan's 3D cartoon industry, which reported revenues of 1.4 billion yen (around $2 billion) in 2005, according to THE NATION.
U.K.-based Galleon Ent. has greenlit production of the first TV series of its all-new animated property APOLLO'S PAD. APOLLO'S PAD (26x5), produced in association with Sony BMG, takes classic music tracks and by adding humor and animation to reach a new target audience for animation of young people, 16-24.
The Imagen Awards seek to recognize and reward positive portrayals of Latinos in all forms of media, as well as to encourage and recognize the achievements of Latinos in the entertainment and communications industries. The event will take place at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. For more information, visit imagen.org/award.
Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, now celebrating its ninth consecutive year at the forefront of the European film festival calendar, is delighted to announce its first call for entries in 2007. The festival, renowned for its not-for-profit status and its championing of emerging young talent, has grown dramatically each year with last year seeing more than 2,000 entries from filmmakers around the world.
This year sees the addition of a Documentary category, complementing the five original categories: Short Film, Newcomer, Title Sequences & Idents, Music Video and Animation.
Little Airplane Academy will be conducting an intensive, three-day workshop titled "How To Make A Great Preschool Series." Participants will learn the fundamentals of creating a preschool series from pitching through writing, character design, directing and producing both live-action and animated shows.
Little Airplane Prods. is located at 207 Front Street (between Fulton and Beekman), South Street Seaport, New York, NY 10038.
The course is comprised of three full days as well as optional evening activities. The course will cost $1,500.
Interface 2007 is the first annual conference focused on digital media and game design. The event will include a lineup of industry speakers for students, educators and professionals to learn from. The conference will be held at the Troy Community Center at 3179 Livernios Troy, Michigan 48083. The conference and exhibits will all be held in the Banquet Halls. Exhibits will be open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. For more information, contact Kimberly Callery, game design program chair at IADT-Detroit, at kcallery@iadtdetroit.com.
Filmmaker Zack Snyder (300), who is set to direct Warner Bros. Pictures' feature film adaptation of the award-winning graphic novel WATCHMEN, announced the cast and release date (March 6, 2009) of the highly anticipated epic before 6,500 fans during a presentation at this year's Comic-Con International convention in San Diego, California.
