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AWN Headline News

Kids Headline News

Curious George’s Next Big Adventure Begins Labor Day On PBS Kids

Imagine Ent., WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Prods., with the support of CURIOUS GEORGE publisher Houghton Mifflin, are bringing the insatiably curious monkey to PBS KIDS daily, beginning Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4, 2006. The series will debut as part of PBS KIDS new hosted preschool destination.

Headline News

DAGNABIT! Relocates

DAGNABIT! animation studio is relocating in September to Two Midtown Plaza in the heart of Atlanta (sharing space with The LvngRm and TOYBOX). It will celebrate its five year anniversary at its new location this coming November.

This change of venue will better position DAGNABIT! to interact with Atlanta's bustling ad agency and post-production communities, and puts them within striking distance of The High Museum of Art. Directors John Ryan and Robert Pope will return to the city as well.

Headline News

Feedback Declared Winner On Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

"Enough with the lecture villain... it's time for some Feedback!" is the catch phrase of the winning contestant on SCI FI Channels WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?

Last night (Aug. 31, 2006) on the series finale, Stan Lee chose Feedback, a.k.a. 33 year-old Matthew Atherton of Rancho Cucamonga, California, as champion. Athertons alter ego will come to life in the pages of a Dark Horse comicbook written by Lee and released later this year. The character will also be featured in a future SCI FI Channel original movie.

Headline News

YTV Extends Programming for Labor Day

YTV cant extend summer, but it plans to extend its programming this Labor Day. On Monday, Sept. 4 from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm, YTV is going to air seven extended 45-minute episodes of viewers favorite YTV series, including: HEY ARNOLD, CATSCRATCH, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENUIS, DANNY PHANTOM and MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT. Viewers can catch sneak peeks of new fall programs as well as new episodes from returning YTV series in between each extended episode.

Series Headline News

New Fantastic Four Animated Series Forges Ahead On Cartoon Network

The all-new FANTASTIC FOUR animated series will premiere Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006, at 8:00 pm during Toonami on Cartoon Network in the U.S. Cartoon Network has exclusive domestic rights to the 26-episode, half-hour FANTASTIC FOUR series produced in France by Moonscoop (formerly Antefilms, the creators of CODE LYOKO) with Marvel Studios Cartoon Network and M6.

Animation Headline News

Crest Animation Studios & RichCrest Secures $40 Million Financing

DE Shaw group has invested in a 14.99% stake in Mumbai-based Crest Animation Studios and another 26% in its U.S. subsidiary Rich Crest Holdings for an aggregate infusion of up to $40 million.

RichCrest Animation Inc., located in Burbank, California, has entered into an agreement with Lions Gate Inc. for the production of three full-length, 3D feature films.

The first movie, SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE, is scheduled for release in 2008. The second movie project titled, ALPHA & OMEGA, is in the development and is planned for release in 2009.

Disney Headline News

Animation Legend Ed Benedict Dies

Animation legend Ed Benedict passed away in his sleep on Aug. 28, 2006. He was 94.

In 1930, Benedict began his animation career at Disney, working on such shorts as THE CHINA PLATE and BLUE RHYTHM. Benedict left Disney and moved to Universal to work on Walter Lantzs OSWALD shorts, beginning with THE DIZZY DWARF. Universal would remain his home for most of the 1930s, minus short periods at the Charles Mintz Studio and the time he formed his own studio, Benedict-Brewer, with Jerry Brewer.

Advertising Headline News

EA Signs New Dynamic In-Game Advertising Deals

Electronic Arts Inc. announced two separate agreements with Massive Inc. and IGA Worldwide Inc. in a move that will offer to marketers on a global basis new dynamic advertising opportunities across select EA franchises on the Xbox 360.

A portfolio of EA games developed for the Xbox 360 and PC worldwide will be incorporated into Massive's Video Game Network. Massive is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft. Financial terms of today's agreement were not disclosed.

Mobile Headline News

Aardman Launches New Mobile TV Channel On Orange

Aardman Animations will, this week, launch its own mobile TV channel on the Orange TV service.

The channel, Aardman Animations will consist of a video loop, refreshed weekly of its own content combined with some of the best animation sourced elsewhere in Britain and around the world.

Headline News

Sesame Workshop Helps Preschoolers Prepare For Unsettled Times

Sesame Workshop and Bear Stearns, a leading investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, have teamed up to launch a new educational outreach program designed to help children 2-5 and their families prepare physically and emotionally for the challenges of today's complex world and the possibility of confronting traumatic events.

Universal Headline News

Peter Jackson to Produce Dambusters Remake

Production will soon begin on DAMBUSTERS, the World War II adventure based on one of the most daring missions in aeronautic military history, for Universal Pictures in association with StudioCanal. Peter Jackson will produce and vfx vet Christian Rivers will make his directorial debut.

Animation Headline News

Animation to Bow on Blu-ray and HD-DVD

Warner Home Video announced that the stop-motion TIM BURTONS CORPSE BRIDE will debut in high-def on Blu-ray Disc (BD) on Sept. 26, while three Looney Tunes shorts (including RABBIT HOOD and ROBIN HOOD DAFFY) will be the first classic animation high-def bow on the same day in the rival HD-DVD format as bonus features on THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD set.

Series Headline News

Original Star Trek Series to Get CG Makeover

STAR TREK is getting a 21st century makeover. CBS Paramount Domestic Television is releasing digitally remastered HD episodes of the iconic 1960s sci-fi series, with all new vfx and music, to celebrate the groundbreaking series' 40th anniversary, it was announced by John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television.

Headline News

Atomik Mike to Join KidsQuest Adventures TV Show

Across the Pond Studios has optioned its ATOMIK MIKE for use on the new Comcast Cable morning TV program, KIDSQUEST ADVENTURES. The TV series is scheduled to begin airing this fall.

ATOMIK MIKE creators Stephan Nilson and Israel Cruz will write the ATOMIK MIKE segments, with Nilson also serving as one of the shows exec producers.

Animation Headline News

Recruiting Vet Rachelle Lewis Starts Up Animation/VFX Talent Agency

Rachelle Lewis, a long-time professional recruiter in the entertainment industry, has started her own recruiting company, Rachelle Lewis Recruiting and Talent, which specializes in placing animation and vfx artists for studios worldwide.

"My company specializes in placing animation and vfx artists for feature, TV and gaming," Lewis told AWN/VFXWORLD. We also represent artists who have television or feature treatments and help them in developing and pitching their ideas to major studios."

Media Headline News

Robert B. Clasen to Head Starz Ent. Group & IDT Ent. Merger

IDT Ent. has been renamed Starz Media and Starz Ent. Group has been renamed Starz Ent., both wholly owned subsidiaries of Starz Llc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. Liberty recently acquired IDTE from IDT Corp. Robert B. Clasen will serve as chairman/ceo of both entities and of Starz Llc., which will be the umbrella company overseeing the two operating units.

Series Headline News

Terminator TV Series Gets Greenlight

Warner Bros. TV has hired David Nutter to helm the pilot for THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, prompting Fox Broadcasting to officially greenlight production on the TERMINATOR-based project, reports VARIETY. Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar's C2 Pictures, which produced TERMINATOR 3, is producing with Warner Bros. TV. Nutter will also exec produce with Kassar and Vajna.

Fox picked up the script from exec producer Josh Friedman (WAR OF THE WORLDS) last fall.

Casting will begin immediately, with filming set to start early next year in New Mexico.

Film Headline News

Gellar Addicted to Asian Remakes

Sarah Michelle Gellar is set to star in supernatural thriller ADDICTED, which will be is loosely based on 2002 South Korean picture, JUNGDOK, according to VARIETY. The Yari Film Group is financing and producing with Vertigo and Spitfire.

Joel Bergvall and Simon Sandquist, who helmed the acclaimed Swedish film THE INVISIBLE, will direct from a screenplay by Michael Petroni.

The story chronicles the tale of woman whose husband and brother-in-law end up in a coma after a horrible accident. When the brother-in-law wakes up, he claims he is her true husband.

Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

As August comes to a close, VFXWORLD continues its focuses on new technology. Renee Dunlap looks at the early buzz behind Movas Contour Reality Capture System; Karen Raugust reports on how the Art Directors Guild and the Society of American Cinematographers are trying to create and promote a non-linear workflow and its impact on the VFX industry; and Paul Peszko examines several new emerging technologies that are helping 3D become more dynamic and interactive.

Headline News

Luxology Releases imageSynth Plug-in for Photoshop Community

Luxology Llc. is now offering its imageSynth plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS and CS2 software. imageSynth is advanced technology that allows Adobe Photoshop users to quickly and easily create seamless textures, synthetic images, backgrounds and generate high-resolution images from low-resolution sources. Previously available exclusively to modo users, the imageSynth plug-in is now available to the entire Photoshop community and can be purchased directly from the Luxology website.

Festival Headline News

eDIT 9.Filmmaker's Festival Announces Program

The complete program is now available online for the Visual Effects Societys eDIT 9. Filmmakers Festival in Frankfurt, Germany, Sept. 24-26.

The festival program is subdivided into the following thematic program areas: feature film, animation, commercials, television, media industry and for the first time documentary. In addition, the festival's guests of honor will be interviewed at the Festival Honors Salon.

Star Headline News

LucasArts, ILM, Autodesk Join ADAPT 2006 Conference in Montreal

LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and Autodesk will participate in to the ADAPT 2006 digital art production techniques conference taking place on Sept. 23-24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Montreal.

Our goal is to create an environment where art can be studied, discussed and enjoyed. It is heartwarming to see the support and trust from the industry in what is only our first edition, said Digital 04 Studios co-founder Emile Ghorayeb.

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