On January 11, 2005, Central Park Media will release TIME BOKAN and BLACK JACK: MUTATION on DVD each priced at $19.99. Both DVDs will have audio tracks in both English and Japanese with English subtitles.
TIME BOKAN pits teams of bad guys against each other to be crowned the meanest villains ever. To be a cartoon super villain, it takes a ruthless heart, a cunning mind and the most ridiculous mecha on the planet.
Universal Studios Home Video will premiere THE LAND BEFORE TIME: INVASION OF THE TINYSAURUSES on DVD and video Jan. 11, 2005. Featuring the voice talent of Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan (THE GREEN MILE) and Camryn Manheim (THE PRACTICE), the new direct-to-video marks the 11th installment of the most successful feature-length children's video franchise of all time. The DVD and VHS are priced at $19.98.
The story follows Littlefoot, Ducky, Cera, Spike and Petrie as they meet a herd of mysterious tiny dinosaurs.
DVD Bonus features include:
Chorion has secured an agreement for the distribution of a NODDY TV series in Japan. A distribution agreement between Chorion and OLC/Rights Entertainment Japan (ORE), the Tokyo-based intellectual property rights subsidiary of theme park owner Oriental Land Co. Ltd, will see Chorions 100x10 CGI-animated series, MAKE WAY FOR NODDY, debut in Japan on no fewer than three major television networks, starting in the second half of 2005.
McG's production firm Wonderland Sound & Vision and James Stern's Endgame Ent. are set to co-produce horror flick, STAY ALIVE, reports VARIETY. First time director/writer Brent Bell will helm the picture, which follows a group of New Orleans teens as they play a videogame that spurs the losers own death in real life. Endgame will finance the film, which will start shooting in March. Matthew Peterman. McG, Peter Schlessel and Stern will produce, with Wonderland's David Manpearl as co-producer.
Prism Ent. and Nickelodeon U.K., are rolling out their online kids environment the BIN WEEVILS into new territories in a far-reaching agreement with pan-European kids network, Nickelodeon Europe. From early 2005, children visiting the Websites of Nickelodeon channels in Sweden, Italy and Spain will all be able to join in the comedy-driven animated characters. To date, 281,632 children have registered as BIN WEEVILS at www.nickelodeon.co.uk and in November 2004 alone the site received 2,671,516 hits.
At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference in India that began Jan. 6, 2005, Indian animation firms stressed the ownership of intellectual property rights (IPR) as the key way for the industry to stretch out into the global marketplace, reports INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE.
"India and China are the two places where the action is going to be," Vishal Gondal, founder and director of Indiagames Ltd. "There is a great potential for Indian animation and gaming companies to create own IPR and then hit the global market in a big way.
Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has promoted Christoph Pachler from exec director to vp, business development, in charge of strategic planning and new business initiatives for SPTI's three business lines: distribution, international networks and international production. His primary focus is on identifying new opportunities to expand SPTI's international networks portfolio, including the launches of new networks and acquisition of existing channels, as well as the acquisition of local production companies worldwide.
Laura Michalchyshyn has joined the Sundance Channel as evp, programming & marketing, responsible for all creative expressions of the Sundance Channel brand, both on and off-Channel, including original programming, film acquisition, program planning, on-air promotion and the creative strategy and implementation of all off-Channel consumer marketing.
Michalchyshyn, who will be based in New York City, will report to Sundance Channel Founder Robert Redford and Larry Aidem, president/ceo.
SHREK 2 was a triple favorite at the People's Choice Awards, picking up honors for best animated motion picture, top film comedy and best sequel during the telecast Jan. 9, 2004, on CBS, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Donkey, voiced by Edie Murphy in SHREK 2, also won for favorite animated movie star while the Fairy Godmother, voiced by Jennifer Saunders, also in SHREK 2 was named best movie villain.
DreamWorks SHREK 2 was the only animated winner in THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS, which gauge fan appeal.
BrainPOP's has created a new TSUNAMI movie to give kids the information they need to make connections and gain understanding of the devastation caused by natural disasters. The film is available for free distribution to every media company and Website.
Scholastic Inc., the world's largest publisher of children's books and a leading publisher and distributor of children's software, has partnered with Exent Technologies Inc. as a content provider of downloadable games. Agreement offers parents and children online access to Scholastic's library of educational and entertainment software
Exent, a global leader in secure digital software delivery technologies, offers licensed, protected content to its turnkey service customers using the EXEtender technology platform.
Universals MEET THE FOCKERS took first place for the first official weekend of the new year, ended Jan. 9, 2005, taking in $28.5M with an impressive three-week cume of $204.3M. Supernatural thriller WHITE NOISE, also from Universal, opened surprisingly strong in second place with $24.1M. Miramaxs THE AVIATOR (with vfx by Sony Pictures Imageworks and CaféFX) maintained its altitude at number three with $7.5M for a cume of $42.8M.
The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced its nominees for the 3rd Annual VES Awards recognizing outstanding visual effects in 19 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and games. Nominees were chosen by a panel of more than 60 visual effects professionals (all VES members) that viewed hundreds of entry submissions during an all-day event at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center over the weekend.
Jim Henson Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures have teamed to turn the 2001 children's book THE WITCH'S CHILDREN, written by Ursula Jones and illustrated by Russell Ayto, into a feature film, reports VARIETY. The picture book tells the tale of several witches-in-training whose magic goes awry. Scribe Aline Brosh McKenna (LAWS OF ATTRACTION) will weave the simple story into a tale of a single-mother witch who leaves her magical, but morally questionable, world to raise her kids in the suburbs.
The creators of two camera crane systems have been voted Oscars by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which will be handed out along with special Academy commendations among the 15 achievements to be honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards dinner on Feb. 12, 2005, at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.
Horst Burbulla will receive an Oscar for the creation and development of the Technocrane telescoping camera crane, which has redefined camera crane technology.
Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) and Electronic Arts have joined the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Having these two leaders in multi-platform interactive entertainment strengthens support for the Blu-ray Disc high-definition optical-disc format among the world's leading gaming, consumer electronics, PC and entertainment companies.
London company VooDooDog, have recently completed six animated segments for the third series of the cult animation series MONKEY DUST for the BBC and Talkback.
The third series of the award-winning series sees the return of favourite characters as well as new ones including Noodles, the lab rabbit who bounces back like Tom and Jerry from every unpleasant experiment. The Noodles character and segments were created and animated by animation director John Sunter and produced by David Z.Obadiah.
For Bryan Singers SUPERMAN, Warner Bros. has cast BEYOND THE SEA co-stars Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth as villain Lex Luthor and plucky reporter Lois Lane, respectively. Spaceys deal is locked and Bosworth is in negotiations. The summer tentpole with begin filming in Sydney on March 3, 2005. In October, newcomer Brandon Routh was cast to play the Man of Steel.
Walt Disney Co's board announced it has made permanent the policy to separate the roles of ceo and chairman, responding to criticism and requests from shareholders. The corporate governance guidelines now read, "the chairman of the board shall be an independent director unless the board concludes that the best interests of shareholders would otherwise be better served," and to require a written explanation in proxy materials if the two jobs were held by a single person.
Warner Home Video (WHV) announced at a press conference at CES 2005 that it plans to release more than 50 new and catalog titles, including selections from New Line Home Ent. and HBO Video, during the launch of HD DVD, the next generation digital video format, commencing in the fourth quarter of 2005.
For the first time in Canada, kids will help determine the next hit show in a new animated shorts showcase, FUNPAK, premiering on YTV Feb. 3, 2005, at 7:30 pm. FUNPAK is a 13x30 assortment of animated shorts created entirely in-house at YTVs sister company, Nelvana Ltd..
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a special Award of Commendation to Arthur Widmer at the Scientific and Technical Awards dinner on Feb. 12, 2005, at its new location, the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.
The AMPAS moved the event from the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel one of nine hotels targeted for a hotel workers union boycott because many of the people attending would not want to cross a picket line.
Northern Lights Post has added noted comedy/lifestyle editor John Laskas to its roster of talented editors and named Rich Schafler of Schafler Artist Management, New York, as its east coast commercial sales rep.
Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT) announced today the release of SHELLY'S MY FIRST COMPUTER GAME, a first-of-its-kind, award-winning software program developed specifically to teach children, 3-6, the basics in using a personal computer as well as promoting memory and reading skills. The game was made by ABT, a leading developer of neurosensory training products to maximize the human brain's potential through its division, ABT Interactive, and in partnership with Vector Magic, a premier educational software animation producer.
Brad Grey, chairman of Brillstein-Grey Ent., has been named chairman/ceo of Viacom's Paramount Motion Picture Group. Grey assumes the titles of chairman and ceo in a newly broadened role. In this position, he will have ultimate authority on film development and production as well as business operations, worldwide.
