Intuition and S2 Intl. have struck a project-by-project production alliance, reports VARIETY. The duo will first team on KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS director Michel Ocelots new animated feature, AZUR ET ASMAR.
Spurred by the box office success of the first animated PATORUZITO film, Jorge Rodriguez of Red Lojo Ent. has announced plans to exploit the franchise in features, television and merchandising, reports VARIETY. The story follows a boy who fights to claim the title of cacique (chief) of his tribe in Patagonia. A new studio will launch in April to handle the animation on the property.
Need last minute holiday gift shopping ideas? Then check out Warner Bros. Home Videos recent releases, TOP CAT: THE COMPLETE SERIES; THE FLINTSTONES: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, as well as THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE, THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH TUNE-FULL ADVENTURE, now available in stores.
America Online's kids KOL service, in partnership with Animation Collective, has launched an original online comicbook series and game based on its PRINCESS NATASHA animated Webisode series. Each full-length comicbook, posted each week exclusively at AOL Keyword: Princess Natasha, will follow storylines from the first PRINCESS NATASHA season and the upcoming new season featuring 10 Webisodes. The game sends Natasha on yet another secret mission as she fights for justice against the evil Lubek.
The Independent Games Festival has announced the finalists in the seventh annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) competition. Selected by a panel of industry professionals, game development teams will compete for more than $40,000 in cash prizes. Finalists will exhibit their titles at the Game Developers Conference, March 7-11, 2005 in San Francisco and winners will be announced at the Game Developers Choice Awards Ceremony March 9.
The 10 games selected for the "Open" category are (in alphabetical order):* ALIEN HOMINID by The Behemoth (San Diego, California)
Exent has launched TumbleBooks, a collection of animated, talking picture books that teach kids the joy of reading in an easy-to-use format, through its Games-on-Demand services. The books are created by taking existing picture books licensed from leading children's book publishers, and then adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book.
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television handed out its Gemini awards for television on Dec. 13, 2004. DOODLEZ took home the Best Animated Series prize. Producer Gretha Rose was present the award,
MTV International and is making the holidays merrier by airing a HAPPY TREE FRIENDS half-hour holiday special produced by Mondo Media Productions. HAPPY TREE FRIENDS WINTER BREAK is running exclusively on 15 participating MTV Intl channels from Dec. 10-30, 2004. MTV 2 (U.S.) just came on board to air the holiday special six times, commencing Dec. 24.
This week in AWN's Forums, the big question is where is 2D headed? A member wants some advice on authoring DVDs. A senior member wants to know why Santa doesnt have a pet. Another member wants peoples opinions on what masterclasses to take. A junior member wants advice on starting an independent animation studio. Additionally, theres a thread regarding the possibilities of broadcast quality Flash animation. Other thread ask software and school questions.
Stanley Cheung has been named md, The Walt Disney Co. (China), responsible for driving the company's strategy, coordinating all of Disney's business efforts in China, including overseeing Disney's global brands in the market, expanding existing businesses and seeking out new business opportunities.
Disney will now have its existing businesses in China managed locally, with all business segments reporting into Cheung, as well as their respective business units. Based in Shanghai, Cheung assumes his new post on Jan. 1, 2005.
In the latest jostling for prime release dates, Disney confirmed that VALIANT, the initial 3D-animated outing from Ealing Studio-based Vanguard Animation in the U.K. (the studios heir apparent to Pixar?) will fly in U.S. theaters on April 15, 2005. With Disneys own CHICKEN LITTLE now flying the coop in November, this highly anticipated story of a World War II carrier pigeon should fill the bill nicely.
Paramounts LEMONY SNICKETS A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATELY EVENTS, with Oscar-contending vfx by ILM, finished first in its opening weekend with $30M for the period ended Dec. 19, 2004. Warner Bros. OCEANS TWELVE dropped to second with $18.1M for a two-weeks bounty worth $68.5M. Sonys SPANGLISH debuted in third with $8.8M.
What do a disfigured musical genius, aviation pioneer Howard Hughes and a resurrected vampire have in common? This holiday season, their stories are being told using digital content creation tools from Discreet.
Rupert Gavin has been appointed non-executive chairman of the Contender Entertainment Group (CEG), one of the U.K.s fastest growing entertainment companies. Gavin will be assisting CEG to double its market share of the U.K. DVD market and expand its wholly owned IP base.
Gnomon School of Visual Effects has revamped its lineup of teachers for the Maya Fast Track Program. Eric Hanson (THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW), award-winning digital artist Meats Meier, Sean Mills (SMALLVILLE) and Joshua Reiss (HOLLOW MAN) have joined long-time instructors Alex Alvarez (Gnomon founder) and Darrin Krumweide on the Fast Track roster. The Maya Fast Track Program is a nine-week immersion in Alias Maya and how it is used in a 3D production pipeline. The winter term program runs from Jan. 17 through March 18, 2005.
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected March 5, as the date for the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, Academy president Frank Pierson announced. The show will fall a week later in the calendar than in 2004 and 2005.
Friedman 3D starts its new semester of high-end, low-cost CG training on Jan. 10, 2005. The semester runs until June 24, 2005. The Maya CG course runs from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday through Friday for 20 weeks. The course is taught by David Gottlieb, a Maya animator formerly with Walt Disney Co. Subjects covered will be: modeling, texturing, rigging, character animation, lighting and effects. Morning lectures will cover intro to basic subjects and occur daily from 9:00 to 11:00 am and labs from 12:00 to 2:40 pm.
The Knoxville Museum of Art will present Design Lab: Tronic Studio, featuring the New York City multimedia design firm Tronic Studio whose clients have included MTV, Nike, Wired, Fuse Network, Fine Living and Diesel Denim to name a few. Tronic Studio blends architecture with art, video production and interface design. The exhibition, on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art Jan. 14 to March 27, 2005, is the firm's first solo museum exhibition.
Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., has announced that GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS is making its way to the Xbox and PC. Developed by designers Rockstar North, GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS for the Xbox and PC will be in stores in North America on June 7, 2005 and in Europe on June 10, 2005.
John Canemaker and Peggy Stern have complete production on THE MOON AND THE SON, an HBO-Cinemax animated documentary, featuring the voices of actors Eli Wallach and John Turturro, with an original score by Ron Sadoff, and editing and sound design by David Mehlman. The film explores the difficult emotional terrain of father/son relationships as seen through Canemakers own turbulent relationship with his father.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 77th Academy Awards.
The films in consideration are listed below in alphabetical order:
* THE AVIATOR* THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW* HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
BLADE: TRINITY director David Goyer has signed on to write, produce and direct a film adaptation of DC Comics Flash for Warner Bros. Pictures, reports VARIETY. His wont be the first time that Goyer has entered the DC superhero universe he wrote the script for BATMAN BEGINS.
Acclaimed animator Joanna Priestley celebrates 20 years as filmmaker with a two-DVD collection of her work. The self-released two discs, entitled FIGHTING GRAVITY and RELATIVE ORBITS, cull 16 of her animated short films with many bonus features, including four documentaries providing behind-the-scenes glimpses into the animation process.
Red Star Studio has opened its doors in Sheffield. The new company will produce high-end digital effects and animation aimed at independent film and television. Situated in the burgeoning film community of Sheffield in the north of England and with a base in London, Red Star has been founded by the award-winning duo Benjamin Smith and Jan Rogowski. Their previous credits include Chris Morris' BAFTA award-winning 35mm short film MY WRONGS 8245-8249 AND 117, for which they created all the visual effects.
