For the new fall season, Discovery Kids has a new animated series, GROWING UP CREEPIE, about a girl who was raised by bugs, plus new seasons of FLIGHT 29 DOWN, ENDURANCE, TUTENSTEIN and SERIOUS as well as two specials with a social conscience, SAVING A SPECIES: THE GREAT PENGUIN RESCUE (hosted by Elijah Wood) and A YEAR ON EARTH, that examine how kids can play a role in protecting the environment.
In a broadcasting first, SCI FI will launch its season online, with a five-week, 10-episode online-only prequel season called BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: THE RESISTANCE. Premiering today (Sept. 5, 2006) SCIFI.COM will begin airing two- to three-minute episodes every Tuesday and Thursday at midnight, at www.scifi.com/battlestar, leading up to the Oct. 6 season 3 premiere on television.
Why compromise? Change the Way You Work and Play with the Razer Pro|Solutions Pro|Click v1.6. Take advantage of its increased precision to manipulate graphics with faster speed and better control. Increase your productivity up to 36% to 49% with less repetitive mouse movements. Enhance your accuracy via the 1600 dpi infrared optics. Maneuver flawlessly with the acoustic Teflon feet that assure smooth motion; and never power down with the Always-On mode that allows for instantaneous response at all times.
Pierre Berton's THE SECRET WORLD OF OG premieres as an animated series on CBC Television in Canada, Saturday, Sept. 9 at 9:30 am. The series of nine episodes will continue to air weekly on Saturday mornings.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, a member is looking for advice on pitching to Disney.
Miami International Film Festival 2007Miami, Florida, USAMarch 2-11, 2007Deadline: Oct. 6, 2006
The 24th annual Miami International Film Festival brings the best of world cinema to South Florida and plays a leading role in maintaining and further enriching its film culture. MIFF uses the unique geographical and cultural position of Miami to be a premiere venue for the exhibition of international and U.S. films, with a special focus on Ibero-American cinema. Both juried and audience awards are given in Documentary and Dramatic categories.
Scriptapalooza 8th Annual Television Writing CompetitionWorld Wide WebOct. 15, 2006Deadline: Oct. 15, 2006
The Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition going into its 8th year has decided to start accepting reality shows. Scriptapalooza TV has seen two writers win Emmys, one writes for Comedy Central and numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings.
Hiroshima International Animation Festival, which was held from Aug. 24-28, 2006, has awarded its top prize to Igor Kovalyovs MILCH.
Marcy Page, chairperson of the jury, said, The films were exceptional. When the jury work began we thought that with the number of awards we had to give that there would surely be enough to single out our favorites. But finally, the jury could have easily given out a dozen (for two) more awards!
The complete list of winners follows.
Grand PrixMILCH by Igor Kovalyov
Anime Network has reached a new distribution milestone. Americas #1 anime channel is now available to 40 million homes across the U.S. and Canada a 233% increase and more than three times its reach in less than two years.
We are obviously pleased to have made such significant progress, said Kevin McFeeley, Anime Networks vp of affiliate sales. Yet, we are even more encouraged by the possibilities for even further growth as we seek out new and exciting platforms on which to deliver content to our fans.
The nominations for eDward VII, the young filmmaker's award on Time Travel, have been announced: Robert Waddilove, Jens Tomat, Andreas Gaschka, Kai Oliver Schonrath/Jan Christoph Bieselt, Sascha Schreier/Simon Rauland/Markus Härtel, Erika Kram, Thomas Heinrich, Daniel Stieglitz, Ditte Soria, Alex York.
Three of these will be invited to Frankfurt, Germany, and awarded at eDIT 9. Filmmaker's Festival, Sept. 24-26.
AWN and VFXWORLD are special media sponsors of eDward VII.
Disney/Pixars CARS has been officially announced for a Nov. 7, 2006, DVD street date (Walt Disney Home Ent., $29.99). The John Lasseter 3D-animated feature has garnered $242M domestically (ranking seventh all-time) and $401M worldwide.
A few of last months 58th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Award-winning teams discussed their work for ROME (Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series), THE TRIANGLE (Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries) and BEFORE THE DINOSAURS (Outstanding Animated Program For Programming One Hour Or More).
iEntertainment Network, the award-winning developer of the World Famous WARBIRDS TOTALSIMS series, will develop the first Massively Multiplayer Online Game to tie in with the theatrical release of FLYBOYS, the true life World War I aerial adventure (with vfx by Double Negative and Framestore CFC), to be released on Sept. 22 through MGM.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
