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AWN Headline News

Headline News

Weinsteins Bring Jerry Lewis Back as Nutty Professor

The Weinstein Co. has snatched up the rights to produce an animated version of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, in which Jerry Lewis will provide the voice of at least two characters. Mainframe Ent. will produce and animate the project, which will be released direct-to-video by Genius Products Inc.

Headline News

SIGGRAPH 2006 Attracts Nearly 20,000 in Boston

SIGGRAPH 2006, the 33rd conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques, registered 19,764 artists, research scientists, developers, filmmakers and academics from 80 countries for its conference in Boston last week (July 31-Aug. 3). More than 230 companies exhibited, including 76 first-time exhibitors.

Autodesk Headline News

Autodesk to Launch ‘The Area’ Community Portal

Autodesks Media & Ent. division will launch a new community portal on Aug. 22 called The Area (www.the-area.com), which will enable artists to network with peers and enjoy a repository of Autodesk 3D content. Content will be posted by community members and Autodesk.

Initially, the site will focus on content created using Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Motion Builder or VIZ used in games, film, post-production or design visualization. Membership is free.

Comedy Headline News

Talladega Nights Races First

The Will Ferrell NASCAR comedy, TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY, raced to the top of the box office chart in its first outing. For the weekend ended Aug. 6, 2006, the Sony release scored a whopping $47Mthe best comedy opener of the year and a personal best for Ferrell. Debuting in second place with $15.8M was the 3D-animated BARNYARD from Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and director Steve Oedekerks O Ent.

Headline News

iThentic Looking For Shorts For Mobile Distribution

iThentic.com is looking for original animated short to distribute over cellphones. The company is looking for film under three minutes and 15 MB file size. Visit www.ithentic.com for details or contact rachael@ithentic.com for more information. Entries that arrive before Aug. 15, 2006, will be considered for iThentics September release.

Million Headline News

DreamWorks Animation Posts Gains Over Q2 2005

For the second quarter of 2006, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. reported total revenue of $74.9 million and net income of $13.7 million, or $0.13 per share on a fully diluted basis. This compares to revenue of $35.4 million and a net loss of $3.7 million, or ($.04) per share on a fully diluted basis, for the same period in 2005. The company ended the period with $526.9 million of cash and cash equivalents.

Film Headline News

Hellboy 2 Finds Home at Universal

Universal Pictures is set to fully finance and distribute HELLBOY 2, Guillermo del Toros sequel to his 2004 film, which was produced by Revolution Studios and distributed through its deal at Columbia Pictures, reports VARIETY. Universal plans to release the film based on the Dark Horse comic in summer 2008.

Del Toro has penned the script and Ron Perlman and Selma Blair will return as Hellboy and his pyrokinetic love interest, Liz Sherman, respectively.

Film Headline News

Pate Director Finds After.Life

Agnieszka Vosloo has been tapped by new production company Constellation Ent. to write and direct AFTER.LIFE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

The story follows a young woman in limbo between life and death who fights to avoid being buried alive by the funeral director who holds her fate in his hands.

The supernatural thriller will be co-produced and co-financed by the Collective. Production is scheduled to begin in the winter.

Headline News

Die Hard 4 Coming in 2007

20th Century Fox has announced that the next installment in the DIE HARD action franchise will hit theaters next summer on June 29, taking on TRANSFORMERS for the Independence Day weekend, reports the trades.

Bruce Willis will again play tough-talking, New York cop John McClane in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, which plans to start shooting next month. Len Wiseman (UNDERWORLD) has been hired to helm the film from a screenplay by Mark Bomback.

Million Headline News

India’s DQE & France’s Onyx Team on CG Features

DQ Ent. Ltd., a leading animation, gaming and vfx company based in Hyderabad, South India, announced a joint venture with French production company Onyx Films to produce CG-animated feature films, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Additionally, DQE announced it will take a 20% equity stake worth about $3.2 million in Paris-based TV production company Method Films.

Lopez Headline News

George Lopez to Produce Animated Eddie & the Squid

Delfino Ent. is teaming with George Lopez to produce EDDIE & THE SQUID, an animated half-hour comedy about two young Latino brothers, VARIETY reports. Lopez will serve as exec producer. Movie- and TV-distribution company Delfino has set up an animation arm to produce the pilot, which is budgeted just under $1 million.

Don Ashley, head of Delfino; Rick Nyholm, exec producer of ABC's THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW; and Brett Merhar, who created the characters, developed the show. The voice cast will include Efren Ramirez (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) and Carlos Alazraqui (RENO 911).

Headline News

FUNimation Acquires Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Feature

FUNimation Ent. announced that it has acquired rights to the feature film ROBOTECH: THE SHADOW CHRONICLES from Harmony Gold. In the agreement, FUNimation acquired home video, broadcast and theatrical rights.

Effects Headline News

Vue Helps ILM Create Environments for Dead Man's Chest

e-on software announced that Industrial Light & Magic used Vue for the production of visual effects of Walt Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST. ILM produced more than 60 shots of the Cannibal Island set using Vue 5 Infinite and xStream to model, texture, animate, light and render the different parts of the natural environment.

"We started playing around with Vue and it rapidly became our primary tool for big, exotic 3D environments," said John Knoll, visual effects supervisor at ILM.

Digital Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

With VFXWorld editor Bill Desowitz away at SIGGRAPH, its my job to fill you in on all the new articles on the site. With SIGGRAPH on our minds, we have George Maestris review of modeling and rigging software, evolver, in addition to Fred Galperns preview of Skymatters upcoming sculpting tool, Mudbox.

Series Headline News

SCI FI Channel to Beam Up Star Trek in Multiple Series Deal With CBS Paramount

SCI FI Channel has acquired the rights to STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, the STAR TREK prequel series, as well as many made-for-television movies and series from CBS Paramount Domestic Television. The deal includes exclusive cable rights to THE TWILIGHT ZONE, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, several Stephen King miniseries, made-for-TV movies including PRIMAL FORCE and TRILOGY OF TERROR II and series such as HAUNTED, JAKE 2.0 and last fall's THRESHOLD.

Cartoon Headline News

Cube3 Creates 3D Cybercar for Web3D Consortium

Cube Prods. Inc. (Cube3) created a promotional package of realtime 3D animated movies and images for the Web3D Consortium at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston. The animated and interactive 3D cartoon features a comical "CyberCar" racing through a stylized cyberspace world that resembles the worldwide Web. Decked out in NASCAR-like markings, the Cybercar wears the logos of the major company members of the Web3D Consortium and offers a fun visual homage to the popular movie, CARS, released earlier this summer by Pixar.

Series Headline News

PBS Animates Unnatural History for Kids

Thirteen/WNET New York, one of America's foremost public television producers, and Unnatural Prods. Inc. have entered into an agreement to co-produce 65 episodes of the 3D animated series, UNNATURAL HISTORY, over several years.

In UNNATURAL HISTORY, an agency of anti-technology misfits is stealing inventions from the past that affect the future and it's up to four curious kids to stop them. The comic action-adventure series comes with an educational mission to help kids appreciate the technology they take for granted in their lives.

David Headline News

New Villain & Composer Confirmed for Potter 5

Warner Bros. Pictures has confirmed that Helena Bonham Carter has joined the all-star cast of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Bonham Carter will play Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black's cousin and a Death Eater, who is one of Lord Voldemort's followers.

Headline News

Luxology Releases modo 202

Luxology Llc. announced the immediate availability of modo 202, an update to its 3D modeling, painting and rendering software. Boasting a peak rendering speed that is more than 40% faster than modo 201, registered modo 201 customers can upgrade to modo 202 free of charge, and a free 30-day full-featured evaluation version is now available for download from www.modo3d.com.

Cartoons Headline News

John Kricfalusi Talks About When Cartoons Were Funny

John K.s When Cartoons Were FunnyStudio City, California, USAAugust 10, 2006

Van Eaton Galleries presents John Kricfalusi speaking on the subject "When Cartoons Were Funny." The fundraiser for the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive begins at 7:00 pm. John K. will screen some of his favorite cartoons of all-time.

Software Headline News

Massive Ships Version 2.6

Massive Software has shipped version 2.6 of its artificial life-based 3D animation software. The advancements are on display at the Massive Software Booth #1023 at SIGGRAPH 2006.

Version 2.6 builds on Massives Academy Award-winning technology, providing increased pipeline flexibility, expanded rendering options and smarter agents that allow studios of any size and scope to create highly realistic and emotive performances using autonomously responding characters. Key features of the Massive 2.6 release include:

Animation Headline News

Softimage Announces Face Robot version 1.5

Softimage Co. announced SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT version 1.5 an update to the industrys first software application dedicated to the creation of lifelike facial animation. This release offers a game export solution which allows artists to deliver high quality, in-game acting with detailed facial nuances, with support for all major game platforms. In addition, significant performance improvements to the software have also been implemented and support for the new Mova Contour Reality Capture system is now included.

Software Headline News

NVIDIA Unveils Gelato 2.1 & Quadro Plex 1000

NVIDIA Corp. unveiled a new beta program for the companys Gelato 2.1 final-frame rendering software as well as the Quadro Plex 1000, the world's first dedicated Visual Computing System (VCS). Coinciding with the announcement of the Gelato 2.1 beta is of the launch of Gelato Zone (www.nvidia.com/gelato), a new online community for artists and animators. NVIDIA will demonstrate its new software and hardware at its booth #1017 at SIGGRAPH 2006, Aug. 1-3, 2006, at the Boston Convention Center.

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