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AWN Headline News

Interactive Headline News

TV Academy Unveils Primetime Emmy Engineering & Interactive TV Winners

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the recipients of the 2006 Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards and Interactive Television Emmy Awards. Recipients will receive their awards during the Primetime Creative Arts ceremony Aug. 19, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

The Interactive Television Emmy winners are as follows:Area 1: Outstanding Achievement for Enhanced or Interactive Programming: TelevisionTiVo Service, TiVo, Inc. 2005-2006Jim Barton

Production Headline News

Camille Eden Joins Framestore CFC

Framestore CFC has hired Camille Eden as 3D resource manager. With more than 12 years of experience in film, television and visual effects production, will oversee the care and management of the company's flourishing 3D team members, including 3D artists, lighting and technical directors.

Tools Headline News

modo Strengthens Ant Bully

DNA Prods. used modo from Luxology Llc. as one of its main modeling tools for the Warner Bros. 3D-animated feature, THE ANT BULLY, opening July 28, directed by John A. Davis (JIMMY NEUTRON). modo was chosen for its intuitive user interface and advanced toolset, and DNA used it to model a majority of the films assets, ranging from dynamic environmental features and plants to houses and cars.

Headline News

NaturalMotion Makes Waves at SIGGRAPH 2006

NaturalMotion Ltd will launch an additional third product line during SIGGRAPH 2006. The product launch will take place aboard The Lady Christine, an ocean cruiser moored at the infamous Boston Harbor.

Also aboard Lady Christine, NaturalMotion will demonstrate euphoria, its revolutionary run-time Dynamic Motion Synthesis (DMS) technology that is being used in several AAA next-generation titles, including LucasArts INDIANA JONES 2007 (working title); and endorphin 2.6, the newest version of its powerful, 3D character animation software.

Headline News

Pixar Reveals Latest RenderMan Technology at SIGGRAPH 2006

Pixar Animation Studios will reveal the next stage in RenderMan development at the SIGGRAPH 2006 conference in Boston, where the studio will demonstrate the latest upcoming RenderMan products, including version 2.0 of its popular RenderMan for Maya plug-in, the latest RenderMan Artist Tools 7.0 and the debut of its next generation successor RenderMan Studio.

Dreamworks Headline News

Over the Hedge To Arrive on DVD Before Halloween

DreamWorks Home Ent. has announced that OVER THE HEDGE will arrive on DVD Oct. 17 2006. The DVD features an all-new mini-movie created by the filmmakers exclusively for this release, HAMMYS BOOMERANG ADVENTURE, which brings back all of the films characters and original voice for a backyard spin on reality shows that shows what happens when you combine the ever-mischievous RJ the raccoon, three curious porcupine kids, a boomerang and a video camera.

Headline News

Kids Flip For Nicktoons

Nicktoons Network is giving kids everywhere a chance to learn about animation by handing out flip books that play back full-motion clips from two new original animated shows with a simple flip-of-a-thumb. The flip books will be distributed free to kids all summer long through the Nicktoon Networks cross-country mobile tour.

Headline News

Monster House Helmer Adapts Ember

MONSTER HOUSE director Gil Kenan is developing a live-action adaptation of THE CITY OF EMBER, based on the 2003 book by Jeanne DuPrau, reports SCI FI WIRE.

"It's science fiction, and that's all I'm going to say," Kenan said in a recent interview. "It's a post-apocalyptic children's film. It's going to be closely based on the novel."

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and CORPSE BRIDE screenwriter Caroline Thompson will pen the script with Playtone and Walden Media producing.

Headline News

10-Minutes of Ultimate Avengers 2 To Debut on Habbo

Lionsgate has launched the first 10 minutes of its Marvel animated feature, ULTIMATE AVENGERS 2, on the popular website, Habbo.com. This event marks the first time the online community will be able to view 10 full minutes of a never-before-seen film prior to its release.

Universal Headline News

Best of Saturday TV Funhouse Coming to DVD

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: THE BEST OF SATURDAY TV FUNHOUSE is coming to DVD on Oct. 24, 2006, from Universal Studios Home Ent. Produced by Broadway Video, the DVD features highlights from a series of irreverent adult cartoons that skewer everything from politics and current events to superheroes. The brainchild of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's Emmy Award winning writer Robert Smigel, these animated segments introduced some of the show's most memorable sketches and characters.

Headline News

Sony Pictures Taps JAKKS Pacific For Surf’s Up Toys

Sony Pictures Consumer Products (SPCP) and JAKKS Pacific Inc. have announced a new licensing agreement to produce and distribute toys and leisure products based on the upcoming animated feature film, SURFS UP. The second animated feature film from Sony Pictures Animation, SURFS UP is scheduled for release by Columbia Pictures on June 8, 2007.

Television Headline News

Tribune Promotes L. Clark Morehouse & Marc S. Schacher

Tribune Broadcasting, a division of Tribune Co. has promoted L. Clark Morehouse III to evp/gm of Tribune Ent. Co. (TEC), Tribune's Los Angeles-based television programming and distribution business. Additionally, Marc S. Schacher was named svp/programming and development of Tribune Broadcasting.

Morehouse will oversee all aspects of Tribune Ent. operations, including sales. He joined TEC as svp/advertising sales in 2000.

Headline News

EA to Unleash The Sims 2 Pets

Fans of the popular SIMS videdogame series may enrich the lives of their Sims with the addition of an animal companion. Electronic Arts announced SIMS 2, is going to the dogs and for that matter, to the cats, guinea pigs and birds too. The company is releasing The Sims 2 Pets on current generation console systems, handheld platforms and as a PC expansion pack. THE SIMS 2 PETS will build on the THE SIMS 2 experience that allows players to create and control digital characters throughout their lives while determining the outcome of their relationships and choosing their destiny.

Star Headline News

John A. Davis Eyes Heinlein’s Star Beast

ANT BULLY director John A. Davis divulged at Comic-Con that he is planning to direct a live-action/animated feature based on sci-fi author Robert Heinleins STAR BEAST, which is being developed at Warner Bros.

STAR BEAST takes place 400 years in the future and concerns a boy and his enormous pet that turns out to be a genius alien. The alien would be CG and animated by Davis DNA Prods. in Dallas, Texas, which animated Warner Bros. THE ANT BULLY (opening July 28, 2006) as well as the JIMMY NEUTRON feature and TV series.

Headline News

Next Limit Releases Maxwell Render 1.1

Next Limit Technologies offers Maxwell Render 1.1, a render engine based on the physics of real light. Its algorithms and equations reproduce the behavior of light in a totally realistic way. All of the elements in Maxwell, such as light emitters, material shaders, cameras etc., are entirely based on physically accurate models.

Additionally, inside Maxwell, materials are modeled in a physically correct manner. Consequently the results produced by Maxwell are highly accurate renders of the real world.

Series Headline News

‘Studio in a BOXX’ Giveaway at SIGGRAPH 2006

BOXX Technologies Inc. announced that it will be offering SIGGRAPH 2006 attendees an opportunity to win the core building blocks of a vfx studio, Studio in a BOXX, during the show in Boston on Aug. 1-3. The set is comprised of two 3DBOXX 7500 Performance Series workstations, two high-quality 20 displays from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., three RenderBOXX 8200 Series render nodes and a Wacom Cintiq 21 Tablet.

Headline News

THQ Forges Incinerator Games

THQ Inc. has formed its new development team, Incinerator Games, the latest addition to THQ's growing internal studio system. Based in Carlsbad, California, Incinerator is comprised of veterans of the TWISTED METAL, NFL GAMEDAY and MLB 2006, the show projects from Sony's 989 studios, as well as the Midnight Club franchise from ROCKSTAR. Incinerator is primarily focused on development for next generation consoles.

Disney Headline News

Walt Disney Co. to Acquire Indian Kids Channel & Invests in UTV

The Walt Disney Co. plans to acquire Hungama TV, a leading Indian children's television channel, and take an equity interest in media company UTV Software Communications Ltd. as the media giant strengthens its presence in a rapidly growing media market, where local content production is key. Both transactions are subject to certain conditions and regulatory approval.

Hungama TV coo Zarina Mehta will work with the Disney team on the organizational and operational integration of Hungama TV into Disney's portfolio of kids' channels.

Headline News

4Kids' Most In-Demand Properties Go ON DEMAND

4Kids Ent. Inc. will soon give fans instant, 24-hour access to its properties with the launch of the 4Kids TV VOD Channel on Comcast ON DEMAND on Aug. 7, 2006. Featuring many of 4Kids' most popular brands including YU-GI-OH!, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, SONIC X, KIRBY and WINX CLUB, the new VOD Channel will offer 10 hours with new episodes added every two weeks.

Headline News

Peter Pan Sings on ABC

Sony Pictures TV-based producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are planning a musical revival of PETER PAN for ABC, reports VARIETY. Zadan and Meron hope to have the film ready for broadcast in fall 2007.

"This is a huge priority for us and has been over the almost two years it took to get the rights," ABC movies & mini-series head Quinn Taylor said. The project "is spot on in the tradition of classic ABC musicals, with huge family appeal across every generation."

Films Headline News

Ottawa Announces Festival Films

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) announced the films that have been invited to compete in this years 30th anniversary event, running Sept. 20 24, 2006. From the 1,947 entries received, 106 films representing 20 countries have been chosen for Official Competitions. An additional 31 films will be shown in out-of-competition Showcase screenings.

Digital Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

Its that busy time again between Comic-Con and SIGGRAPH, but VFXWORLD doesnt miss a beat. Alain Bielik reports on ILMs 3D creature animation in M Night Shyamalans LADY IN THE WATER. Orlando Luna stirs up Shake 4.1, Apples Universal Binary version of its famous compositing tool. Mary Ann Skweres gives a sneak peek of SIGGRAPH Art Gallery 2006: INTERSECTIONS. And J. Paul Peszko looks at the collaboration between concept artists and vfx pros, as we turn our attention this month to the digital artist.

Bill DesowitzEditor

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