Paul Yanover New Disney Online EVP/MD
Paul Yanover, a 12-year Disney vet and current head of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online (WDPRO), has been named evp/md of Disney Online (DOL), the business unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG).
Paul Yanover, a 12-year Disney vet and current head of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online (WDPRO), has been named evp/md of Disney Online (DOL), the business unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG).
Brian Offutt, the former head of Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products' Los Angeles office, has relocated to New York City as svp, entertainment products, to oversee the NVCP home entertainment, publishing and record business for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Noggin and The N, as well as the home video/DVD, book publishing and videogame businesses for Comedy Central, Spike TV and TV Land and the book publishing business for Paramount. These are all networks and the movie studio within the Viacom family that are handled for licensing and merchandising by NVCP.
On May 15, 2006, CartoonNetwork.com launched BIG FAT AWESOME HOUSE PARTY, a free yearlong interactive game that allows players to immerse themselves in the hit series, FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS, by creating their very own imaginary friend. Players will be encouraged to explore the ever-changing adventures with their new imaginary friend, play mini-games, collect upgrades and take part in every aspect of life at Madame Fosters famous house.
The Gnomon Workshop now offers two new DVDs by CG supervisor Tim Jones. The creation of digital environments for the highest caliber game cinematics and short films has been Jones area of expertise at Blur Studios. In these DVDs, he shares his techniques for modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering and compositing highly realistic digital sets in 3ds Max.
ENVIRONMENT CREATION FOR PRODUCTION: 3DS MAX MODELING AND TEXTURING WITH TIM JONES.
Wish Films, a brand new production company based at Elstree Film Studios, has enlisted the help of eyeon Software to make Fusion an integral part of its pipeline.
Mark Ford and Stephen Charles are the driving force behind their new Wish Films studio. Recently at Lynx Video, a facility based in Denham, West of London, Ford and Charles operated the Flame/Smoke/Maya and Avid/Online suites, respectively. Successfully breaking into Wish Films, they have been commissioned to build a new post-production facility using Fusion 5.
The Orphanage recently completed six months of vfx work on THE HOST, South Koreas most ambitious movie to date, which will have its world premiere on May 21 in the Directors Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival (which runs May 18-21).
Paramounts MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III sunk Warner Bros. POSEIDON at the box office for the weekend period ended May 14, 2006. Despite a second-week drop of nearly 48%, M:I:III (with vfx from ILM) posted $25M for a cume of $85.1M. POSEIDON (with vfx from ILM and MPC) debuted with a disappointing $22.1M. Dropping to third place was Sonys RV, with $9.9M and a three-week cume of $43.2M. Foxs romantic comedy, JUST MY LUCK debuted in the fourth spot with $5.6M. Freestyles AN AMERICAN HAUNTING followed in fifth with $3.56M and $10.8M.
The 8th annual Leo Awards took place on May 12-13, 2006, at the Westin Bayshore Vancouver. The Leo Awards are where the best film and television talent and programs in British Columbia are honored for their work.
In animation, the top winner was Studio Bs BEING IAN, which took home the prize for Best Animation Program or Series. Additionally, Mark Shirra of the Vancouver Film School won Best Student Production for his animated short, A GREAT BIG ROBOT FROM OUTER SPACE ATE MY HOMEWORK.
Last week at E3, THQ Inc. unveiled the company's portfolio internally developed next-generation console and Windows PC titles, mass-market licensed products and all new content for handheld and gaming system wireless devices.
Rob Cohen has been tapped the helm ARROW, a martial arts flick being produced by Basil Iwanyks Thunder Road at Warner Bros. Pictures, reports the trades. Details of Brandon Noonans script are being kept secret. Thunder Road's Mary Viola is shepherding the project, along with Marc Pitre for Cohen. Dan Lin and Jess Rosenthal are overseeing for the studio.
The Weinstein Co. will represent all international rights to the CG-animated feature comedy, IGOR, from Exodus Film Group. IGOR is being produced by John D. Eraklis and seasoned animation exec Max Howard, who has collaborated on such animated blockbusters as THE LION KING, ALADDIN, SPACE JAM and THE IRON GIANT. The Weinstein Co. will distribute the film in North America and will begin selling the international territories at the Cannes Film Festival.
EM.Ent. GmbH and French TV station TF1 have struck a far-reaching co-operation within the video-on-demand sector, encompassing the regions France, Monaco, Andorra and the French overseas territories.
Warner Bros. Ent. 14-year marketing and publicity vet Andrew Shipps has been upped to svp, marketing, Warner Bros. Intl TV Dist. (WBITD) to direct the studio's international television marketing team plus develope and supervise the implementation of global marketing strategies for its content offerings in the international television marketplace. He will oversee campaigns for original series produced by Warner Bros. Television, Telepictures Prods. and Warner Bros.
Toon Boom Animation Inc. has released the Toon Boom Animation Workout Series. Touching on all aspects of animation creation, the Toon Boom Animation Workout Series is a dedicated program of exercises designed to help users develop the techniques and skills necessary to get the most out of the Toon Boom product family.
Pileated Pictures has completed production on three animated shorts for the Emmy Award-winning PBS series BETWEEN THE LIONS, plus nine new teasers for the show.
Andrea Marozas has been named svp, corporate communications, theatrical, Warner Bros. Ent. responsible for providing communications support on a worldwide basis to the companys global theatrical operations (production, distribution, marketing and executive), including overseeing trade, consumer and business press as they pertain to filmmakers, production deals, industry issues and trend stories.
There will be a seven-minute clip from X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (opening May 26, 2006, from Fox) going live tonight (May 12, 2006) at midnight EST exclusively at www.dell.com/x-men.
Also on the site is access to a sweepstakes to win Dells XPS X-MEN: THE LAST STAND Collectors Edition computer system. The system, based on a next-generation XPS gaming desktop, is custom painted with images from X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. It is valued at about $10,000. Entries for the sweepstakes will be accepted through June 18.
Digital-Tutors announced the availability of USING SYFLEX IN MAYA, a comprehensive guide to the learning the fundamentals of SyFlex and creating realistic simulations using the fast and powerful technology developed by Syflex Llc. Containing more than four hours of project-based training, USING SYFLEX IN MAYA provides artists a unique approach to learning the capabilities of SyFlex. A limited time offer is also included with the training DVD, allowing artists to save 10% on a license of SyFlex through June 10, courtesy of Syflex Llc.
Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. and Clint Eastwood announced at E3 that Gene Hackman and Laurence Fishburne will provide their voice and likeness in the upcoming videogame based on the DIRTY HARRY film franchise. Hackman will portray Police supervisor Al Bressler and Fishburne will play Reverend Carlton Clay opposite Eastwood as the legendary Dirty Harry Callahan in the game on next-generation consoles.
Artist-owned-and-operated visual effects company Brickyard VFX has hired compositing and visual effects talent Jimi Simmons. A multiple Emmy Award nominee, Simmons brings to the Brickyard VFX team extensive visual effects experience, including work for Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Philip Kaufman, Spaz Williams, Mark Dippé and other notable film, music video and commercial directors. A resource for both Brickyard VFX Atlantic and Brickyard VFX Pacific projects, he will be based in Boston.
Ballistic Publishing announced EXPOSÉ 4, featuring 317 artworks from 241 artists in 49 countries, selected from more than 5,000 submissions. EXPOSÉ 4 is now available to pre-order from Ballistic Publishing and begins shipping in June.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) for the gaming industry started out with many industry announcements happening about Los Angeles, trying to eclipse the thunder of the opening day, Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at the L.A. Convention Center.
Nintendo unveiled its Wii home console, Sony shocked gamers and analysts with a $499 (20GB) and $599 (60GB) retail price for its PlayStation 3 and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said his company's Xbox 360 next-gen console will beat the competition with more units to market.
AWN has launched an exclusive video learning series taken from Hollywood Camera Work: The Master Course In High-End Blocking And Staging, a comprehensive and ambitious six DVD training series for directors.
Activision will be opening a dedicated studio facility on the DreamWorks Animation campus in Glendale, California, following on the heels of their strategic alliance. The move, which establishes an unprecedented level of collaboration between a Hollywood studio and a videogame company, will facilitate simultaneous co-development between DreamWorks' 3D-animated features and Activision games based on those films.
The third Gnomon Workshop: Live! will take place June 24-25, 10:00 am -7:00 pm, Sound Stage 15, next door to the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, 1015 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, 90038.
The cost is $125. Purchase tickets online and bring a printed copy of your order confirmation and valid driver's license to the event. Please do not select shipping options, as they will not be issuing a printed ticket. Gnomon recommends reserving early.