Jewish Themed Works Sought for Jewish Animation Celebration
Jewish Animation CelebrationToronto, Ontario, CanadaJanuary 2006Deadline: November 11, 2005
The Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) is hosting its Jewish Animation Celebration. The short film and video show is entering its third year and celebrates Jewish culture, tradition, art and community. Its open to all kinds of animation, classical cels, paint, cutouts, Flash, 3D, puppets, etc. Entries total running time must not exceed 10 minutes. For more information, visit www.awn.com/tais.
Support Schools Enter the Palm Beach Film Fest
The Palm Beach International Film Festival 2006Palm Beach, Florida, USAApril 20-27, 2006Deadline: February 1, 2006
Digital Musings From the Editor:
With the industry still abuzz over the new Autodesk/Alias alliance, VFXWORLD took the opportunity to find out what happens next by interviewing Autodesks Carl Bass and Marc Petit and Alias Doug Walker. You can read today what they have to say about making their 3D software packages more interoperable and how they plan on taking full advantage of the convergence between the entertainment and design worlds.
R!OT Atlanta Completes Major Expansion
Responding to increased demands for its services and the continuing growth of the broadcast and advertising industries in the southeast, R!OT Atlanta has completed a major expansion and reconstruction effort. The work has resulted in a complete makeover of the facility, providing clients and staff with an enhanced creative working environment.
Brand New School Creates Shorts to Promote 2006 Volkswagen Passat
Brand New School of Santa Monica has produced more than two-dozen short films to highlight the new features of the 2006 Volkswagen Passat. The :15 films are part of a unique marketing campaign for the car conceived by ad agency Arnold Worldwide. Volkswagen plans to post the films on its website.
MoonScoop Acquires Majority Stake In Mike Young Prods./Taffy Ent.
MoonScoop has acquired 51% of independent animation studio Mike Young Prods. (MYP) and its distribution arm Taffy Ent. The combined unit brings together titles such as MoonScoops CODE LYOKO, TITEUF, THE FANTASTIC FOUR, FUNKY COPS, DR. DOG and LITTLE VAMPIRE and Mike Youngs TODDWORLD, DIVE OLLY DIVE and PET ALIEN. MoonScoop plans to invest funds into Mike Young Prods./Taffy Ent. The two distribution teams will manage a combined catalogue of 2,400 half-hour episodes.
Kong Swings Onto Toonami U.K.
This November, Toonami in the U.K. will begin airing a new 40-episode KONG animated series and a 74-minute animated movie from BKN New Media.
Turner Broadcastings boys action animation channel will air the U.K. premiere of KONG THE ANIMATED SERIES on Nov. 1, at 6:00 pm. The movie, KONG: KING OF ATLANTIS, will have its U.K. premiere during Toonamis popular Destination: Friday block on Nov. 11, at 5.30 pm. It will have its network premiere on Cartoon Network on Nov. 19.
Wallace & Gromit Store Giving Away Signed DVDs
In support of the launch of WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, Aardman Animation has opened a new Wallace and Gromit store online. As a special promotion, the company will be giving away signed copies of copies of CRACKING ANIMATION (VOLUME ONE) signed by the creator of WALLACE & GROMIT Nick Park, Peter Lord and Brian Sibley. The autographed disks sell for a £100 each, but everyone who places an order between now and Sunday, Oct. 16, will automatically be entered into a free prize draw to win one.
Perky Pickle Studios Clashes Again With Crash Bandicoot
Perky Pickle Studios has wrapped on the development and design for Vivendi-Universal Interactives CRASH BANDICOOT: TAG TEAM RACING. Due out Oct. 18, on Xbox, Game Cube, PlayStation 2 and PSP, this latest outing finds the bandicoot in a pedal to the metal racing brawl. Perky Pickle Studios previously worked on the hit game, CRASH: TWINSANITY. This time around, Perky Pickle partnered with Vancouver-based developer Radical Ent. to produce the expansion of the franchise.
AI of LA Offers Scholarships for High School Seniors
The Art Institute of California Los Angeles invites high school seniors interested in the fields of applied arts and design to apply for tuition scholarships in its 2006 Scholarship Competition. The competition is open to all students who are scheduled to graduate in 2006 from a U.S. high school or equivalent foreign institution.
Scholarships are available for new students pursuing degrees in Graphic Design, Media Arts & Animation, Game Art & Design, Interior Design, Interactive Media Design and Video Production.
BWM Sells Bardel Programs To Toon Disney
B Wooding Media (BWM), acting as agent for Bardel Distribution, has sold three animated features, DRAGONS: FIRE & ICE, DRAGONS: THE METAL AGES and SILVERWING: THE MOVIE TRILOGY, to Toon Disney in the U.S. for a fall 2005 debut.
The DRAGONS movies will be featured in the popular Jetix block at 7:00 pm, and will be supported with cross promotions in fall 2005 and fall 2006 through retail partners Megabloks and Lions Gate Ent.
South Park: The Complete Sixth Season DVD Hits Stores
SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON DVD arrives in stores across the U.S. Oct. 11, 2005, and will also be available at http://shop.comedycentral.com. The three-disc box set, Released via Comedy Central Home Ent. and Paramount Home Ent., features all 17 episodes of the sixth season, as well as bonus material containing five-to-seven minute mini-commentaries by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
All Grown Up Kids Hit Special and DVD Road
The tweens of Nickelodeons ALL GROWN UP hit the road with their moms to explore America in a one-hour special R.V. HAVING FUN YET? that aired Monday, Oct. 10, 2005, at 8:00 pm on Nickelodeon. The family fun arrives on home video and DVD today (Oct. 11).
MPC Utilizes Vicon MX40 System
Vicon recently installed a motion-capture rig at London's Moving Picture Co. (MPC), which was put to use on CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, where, thanks to Vicon motion data and MPC's proprietary crowd simulation software, Alice, one single Oompa Loompa character was cloned to create an army of miniature workers in this visually stunning reinterpretation of the 1971 classic.
Kingdom of Heaven DVD Offers Interactive Production Grid
Ridley Scotts majestic KINGDOM OF HEAVEN arrives on DVD Oct. 11, 2005 (Fox Home Ent., $29.98) with a DVD first: an interactive production grid allowing viewers to tailor the perspective and time-frame of the various making-of materials. This provides 16 permutations of the behind-the-scenes production info for this adventure about the 12th century Crusades. VFX provided by MPC, Double Negative, Framestore CFC and Clear, among others.
Other bonus features include:
New Rugrats in Tales From the Crib DVD
The RUGRATS have been reborn as a straight to DVD fairy tale spinoff, starting with TALES FROM THE CRIB: SNOW WHITE (Nickelodeon Home Ent., $19.99). Released Sept. 27, 2005, This RUGRATS twist finds Angelica Pickles taking on the role of the Evil Queen, as the beautiful princess (Susie Carmichael) and her adorable dwarf-babies (the Rugrats gang) show the entire kingdom that friendship conquers all. Featuring the celebrity voices of Amanda Bynes, Kenan Thompson and Jeffrey Licon.
Bonus features include:* Two new Bonus specials
Tartakovsky Adopts New Orphanage Animation Studios
SAMURAI JACK and DEXTERS LABORATORY creator Genndy Tartakovsky has joined the newly formed Orphanage Animation Studios. He will help the new studios develop a slate of five feature projects each in the $50 million-$75 million budget range. The company launches with a multi-million dollar development fund raised through private equity and is actively developing a slate of soon-to-be-announced CG feature projects. Orphanage, best known for its visual effects work, hopes to have its first animated feature ready by late 2007 or early 2008.
Corpse Bride Rises Digitally in Japan
As part of a yearlong test between Warner Bros., Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Toho Cinemas, CORPSE BRIDE will be the first film to be distributed over fiber-optic lines. The features will be in 4K format, the highest resolution currently available for digital cinema. The movies will be beamed over NTT's fiber-optic lines from WB's Burbank headquarters to three Toho theaters in Osaka and Tokyo.
Adult Swim Inspires DANGERDOOM: The Mouse and the Mask Album
Hip hop artists, Danger Mouse and MF DOOM, have come together to produce DANGERDOOM: THE MOUSE AND THE MASK, an album inspired by Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's popular late-night animation network. Epitaph Records released the CD on Oct. 11, 2005, in association with Adult Swim. The album contains character voices and skits from Adult Swim's most popular original shows, including AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, SEALAB 2021 and HARVEY BIRDMAN, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
Toon Boom Part of Québec Trade Mission to China
Toon Boom Animation announced its participation in the China Trade Mission led by Québec Premier Jean Charest. During the trade mission Toon Boom will present three awards to some of its customers and partners, as well as sign a development agreement.
Newest Animation World Magazine Acrobat Now Online!
The newest Acrobat edition of Animation World Magazine is now online and ready for you to download. For June, the mag put its focus on independent animation. Kicking off a three-part series, Joe Strike spoke with famed animation historian and filmmaker John Canemaker about his early career and how he got into animation. Marisa Materna peers into a reporters crystal ball to see if the future of animation lies in independent studios. Joe Strike also surveys the animation landscape in New York City to see how independent artists are building business in the Big Apple.
This Week’s Animation Trivia Quiz for October 10, 2005
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz. Check out the latest installment from quizmaster Karl Staven, an accomplished independent animator and head of the Animation Department at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
It's early October 2005, and TIM BURTON'S THE CORPSE BRIDE still remains near the top of the weekly box office totals. This quiz asks questions about the film and Tim in general.
AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for October 10, 2005
This week in AWN's Forums, the top topic on members minds is WALLACE & GROMIT.
Aardman Animation Ravaged by Fire
This past weekend was a bittersweet one for Aardman Animation. WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT finished #1 at the U.S. box office and a fire destroyed Aardman warehouse, which contained its entire history, reports CNN. The blaze broke out at approximately 5:30 am, with flames reaching 100 feet. The roof and three interior walls of the building in Bristol collapsed after the fire ravished the Victorian building. The cause of the blaze was being investigated.
Autodesk Ships 3ds Max 8 Software
On the heels of last weeks momentous Alias acquisition, Autodesk Inc. has begun shipping 3ds Max 8, the latest version of its award-winning 3D modeling, animation and rendering solution. Created to address growing 3D pipeline complexity with new data management, character animation and speed/performance advancements, 3ds Max software will better help customers realize their creative 3D ideas for game development, film and video production and design visualization.
