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AWN Headline News

Headline News

Sesame Workshop To Set Up NGO In India

In order to develop strategies and partnerships throughout India, Sesame Workshop will be forming a non-governmental organization called NGO based in New Delhi. Turner India, which produces GALLI GALLI SIM SIM along with Sesame Workshop, has contributed corporate social responsibility funds toward the establishment of the NGO. The office will drive GALLI GALLI SIM SIM's outreach projects and manage its network of collaborative partnerships with other NGOs, funding partners, consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, broadcasters and production team members.

Films Headline News

Nexus Produces Series Of Short Films For Animal Planet

Nexus Prods. has completed a series of animated short films for Animal Planet, Italy.

The films, written and directed by Bessy & Combe, Carolina Melis and Celyn, range from one to three minutes and feature a break dancing cat, a snake-impersonating giraffe and some stampeding mammoths.

The three episodes of MAGIC CAT, directed by Celyn, each tell a tale of a little boy, Paulo, and his sometimes surreal adventures with a mysteriously appearing cat who seems to be able to bend space and time at will.

Headline News

Starz Sets Sail With Pirates of the Caribbean Specials

Starz sets sail on special adventures with Johnny Depp and Walt Disney Pictures eagerly anticipated PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST on July 6, beginning with BLOW at 9:00 pm, FINDING NEVERLAND at 11:15 pm and the exclusive special, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST on July 7 at 1:00 am.

Television Headline News

Nate Kirtman New NBC Universal Television Group Publicity VP

Nate Kirtman has been named to the newly created position of vp, NBC Universal Television Group Publicity, re-joining the department in Burbank, California, following communications roles at GE's corporate headquarters and Aviation business.

"We are fortunate that Nate will be re-joining our team," said Rebecca Marks, evp, NBC Universal Television Group publicity, to whom Kirtman will report. "Nate's affable style, diverse experience and organizational acumen will be key assets as the NBC-U Television Group continues to expand its horizons."

Holiday Headline News

NBC Starts Live Action Version of Rankin-Bass Holiday Special

NBC viewers will get a new, live-action version of the Yuletide classic THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS, a heartwarming story about Santa Claus and a young boy who help each other believe in Christmas again, produced originally in stop-motion animation by Rankin-Bass.

Effects Headline News

2005-2006 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations

Nominations for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on July 6, 2005 and FOX and Cartoon Network won the most primetime Emmy nominations for animated shows with two each, FAMILY GUY is in the primetime Emmy race again with SOUTH PARK and THE SIMPSONS, with new nominees FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS and CAMP LAZLO, which are nominated for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour).

Animated Programs, one hour or more, nominees are BEFORE THE DINOSAURS and ESCAPE FROM CLUSTER PRIME.

Headline News

Gnomon Workshop Releases Character DVDs

The Gnomon Workshop announced two DVDs by character modeler Ian Joyner. In more than 11 hours of lecture, he shares his myriad techniques for creating compelling life-like characters. Using 3ds Max, BodyPaint, Photoshop and ZBrush, he discusses his workflow for modeling, detailing, texturing and posing a male character outfitted with clothing and props. While Max plays a key role in the development of the character, virtually all the methods utilized apply to any leading 3D application such as Maya or XSI.

Imax Headline News

Superman Returns Smashes IMAX Box Office Records

IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that SUPERMAN RETURNS grossed $108 million at the domestic box office in 4,065 locations over the extended fourth of July weekend, and that SUPERMAN RETURNS: AN IMAX 3-D Experience contributed $6.83 million, representing a record seven-day per-screen average of $89,804. The film shattered every opening week record for an IMAX Hollywood simultaneous release, playing to sell-out crowds and strong audience satisfaction. The film also opened on 11 IMAX screens internationally and will launch on 24 more in coming weeks.

Design Headline News

Animator Chris Georgenes Instructs in Flash for DesignMentor Training

DesignMentor Training announces the addition of master illustrator/animator, Chris Georgenes, to its roster of Flash trainers. Georgenes teaches Flash Animation, the final class in DesignMentor's comprehensive Flash Design Portfolio-Builder Program, where students learn character animation and techniques used to enhance any Flash design project. By using basic frame-by-frame techniques and tweening, Georgenes teaches students to draw and animate simple characters, add motion, drama and expression.

David Headline News

Classic British Animation Award Winners Now on DVD

The British Animation Awards has compiled two new DVDs of some of the best winners from its annual event. Some of the British animation classics in the collection were previously unavailable on DVD.

BEST OF BAA CLASSICS VOL. 1 features:MONSIEUR PASCAL by Alison de Vere SKYWHALES by Phil Austin & Derek Hayes DOOR by David Anderson HILL FARM by Mark Baker JUKEBOX by Run Wrake SECOND CLASS MAIL by Alison Snowden THE BIG STORY by David Stoten & Tim Watts THE MILL by Petra Freeman

Film Headline News

Aubagne Int’l Film Fest Beckons!

Aubagne International Film Festival 2007 Aubagne, France March 26 31, 2007Deadline: October 30, 2006

The Aubagne Interational Film Festival supports the young cinematographic creation and the musical creation. It organizes two competitions:

* Feature films: first and second works of any cinematographic genre (fiction, documentary, experimental, animation), having imperatively an original music, are accepted.

Mobile Headline News

MTV Int'l’s First Made-for-Mobile Animations Debut Globally

MTV Networks International (MTVNI) debuted its first animated series of made-for-mobile shorts, WULFFMORGENTHALER. A co-production between MTVNI and the "Danish Duo" Mikael Wulff and Anders Morgenthaler, the series of 20 short animations is inspired by the famous WULFFMORGENTHALER comic strips of the same name. The witty, compelling animations are the perfect "snack-size" for mobile users wanting more.

WULFFMORGENTHALER underscores MTVNIs commitment to creating and providing users with breakthrough, original mobile content.

Studio Headline News

Ubisoft Opens Production Studio in Bulgaria

Ubisoft, one of the worlds largest videogame publishers, announced on June 29, 2006, the opening of a new studio in Sofia, Bulgaria. The studio opened its doors with 21 team members and plans to hire 40 additional employees by the end of 2006. Alexandru-Ion Radu, director of recruitment and training at Ubisofts Romania studio, will manage the new studio, reporting directly to Sébastien Delen, md of Ubisoft Romania.

Headline News

Vue 6 Announced

e-on software announced the forthcoming release of the sixth generation of Vue, its award-winning solution for natural 3D environments. Vue 6 Infinite will be previewed at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston, Aug. 1-3 (booth #1828).

Vue 6 is based on an entirely redesigned architecture to provide users with more power, improved workflow and increased productivity.

Here are a couple of examples of the more than150 new features included in Vue 6 Infinite:

Animation Headline News

Hatchling Studios Selects 1 Beyond Workstations

1 Beyond Inc., a leading provider of digital video editing, compositing and storage systems, announced that Hatchling Studios, a growing full service digital animation company based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has chosen 1 Beyond systems to completely revamp its armory of graphics workstations.

Design Headline News

Imaginary Forces Helps Design ‘Transformers’ Teaser

Entertainment and design company Imaginary Forces (IF) recently designed and animated the dynamic title reveal in the TRANSFORMERS teaser trailer. The teaser for the Michael Bay-directed film is online now at the official website, www.transformersmovie.com, and will play in theaters with Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST beginning July 7.

Digital Headline News

Digital Musings From the Editor:

With the opening of SUPERMAN RETURNS, VFXWORLD focuses on the crucial flying animation provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks. Next week, we cover the rest of the cutting edge work turned in by Rhythm & Hues, Framestore CFC, Frantic Films, The Orphanage, Rising Sun Pictures and Pixel Liberation Front. Meanwhile, in this months Digital Eye, Peter Plantec interviews Terrence Masson, chair of the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2006 Computer Animation Festival in Boston, to find out how one goes about selecting a great animated short.

Bill DesowitzEditor

Headline News

Keith Richards Confirmed as Jack Sparrow’s Dad

It has been confirmed that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards will play the father of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in a cameo role in Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END, reports THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

In creating Jack Sparrow, Depp has said he used Richards body language and mannerism for inspiration.

"We're all looking forward to the idea of Keith coming in and doing a cameo," Depp said in London. "You never say it's definite until the guy steps on the set and the camera is rolling. But it's looking very, very good.

David Headline News

David Goyer Set To Pen Thor for Big Screen

During a panel at Charlottes Heroes Convention, BABYLON 5 creator and comicbook writer J. Michael Straczynski slipped the news that David Goyer (BLADE, BATMAN BEGINS) is writing a treatment for a screen adaptation of THOR, reports EMPIRE. Its unknown whether Goyer will be rewriting the draft from Mark Protosevich (POSEIDON) or starting from scratch.

Animation Headline News

Houston Chronicle Cartoonist Anderson Goes 3D

HOUSTON CHRONICLE editorial cartoonist Nick Anderson has moved into 3D animation with a new short on Chron.com, reports EDITOR & PUBLISHER. The first animation skewers the Supreme Court's recent Texas redistricting ruling.

Anderson said future animations "will grow in complexity." The opportunity to do 3D animation was his "deciding factor in accepting the job at the CHRONICLE. It is an incredible opportunity to redefine the role of a staff cartoonist."

Game Headline News

EA Releases NFL Head Coach, Puts Face to NBA Live 07, Tunes Up for Madden

In the world of sports gaming, Electronic Arts has released the first 3D sports strategy game, NFL HEAD COACH, announced that Tracy McGrady will be the new face of NBA LIVE 07 and reveals the 35 songs that will be featured in MADDEN NFL 07.

NFL HEAD COACH¸ a new franchise from the EA SPORTS brand is now in stores and challenges gamers to manage every aspect of a professional football team and build their franchise from the ground up into a perennial powerhouse.

Awards Headline News

Encounters Calls for Short Films

Encounters 12th International Short Film FestivalBristol, U.K. November 21-26, 2006 Deadline: September 4, 2006

For an event that began as a one-off celebration to mark the centenary of cinema, Encounters is now in its 12th year.

More than 1,400 films from 64 countries representing six continents have been entered. Amidst this expansive display of internationalism theres also a strong presence of local talent with more than 100 new films from the south west contending for selection this year.

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