Part two of our SUPERMAN RETURNS coverage encompasses the cutting edge work of several vfx houses, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rhythm & Hues, The Orphanage, Frantic Films, Rising Sun Pictures and Framestore.
Double Negative has appointed Eamonn Butler as its new head of Animation. Butler spent 10 years at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked on a number of productions, including FANTASIA 2000, DINOSAUR and REIGN OF FIRE. He was most recently animation supervisor for CHICKEN LITTLE.
Karen Miller has been promoted to svp, worldwide television creative services, for the Warner Bros. Television Group, to manage the day-to-day operations of the creative services department and oversee the conceptualization and design of all print, digital and on-air advertising and promotional materials for the studio's worldwide television marketing, sales and publicity initiatives.
Stargate Digital answered the vfx call to duty on the premiere episode, "Battlefield," of TNTs chilling all-star television event NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING. This four-week collection of eight mind-bending tales from the master of horror, set to premiere July 12, 2006, at 9:00 pm, opens with an effects extravaganza to kick off the series with a bang.
SCIFI.COMs broadband channel SCI FI Pulse will premiere two outrageous sci-fi originals on July 13, 2006 a full two weeks prior to their broadcast debuts on SCI FI Channel. Pulse viewers will have the chance to affect the future of the off-beat animated half-hour pilot, AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD, featuring the voice talents of Paul Giamatti (SIDEWAYS), David Hyde Pierce (FRASIER) and Molly Shannon (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE).
STAN LEE'S LIGHTSPEED, the latest in a series of POW! Ent.'s projects, will premiere on NBC Universal's SCI FI Channel. The live-action Stan Lee Original will air the evening of July 26, 2006, at 9:00 pm ET/PT.
Animation production company Noodlesoup Prods. has renamed itself World Leaders Ent. with the launch of the new animated series SUPERNORMAL, its first global co-production with U.K. TV leader Granada Television.
SUPERNORMAL is the story of Eric Normal, a special boy with no super powers, who attends Superhero Junior High School and befriends three of the less promising but stand-out members of the student body.
SNAP TO GRID: the UN-Juried ShowLos Angeles, California, USASeptember 14 - October 7, 2006Deadline: August 27, 2006
Los Angeles Center For Digital Art hosts third annual SNAP TO GRID: the UN-Juried Show. In its third annual exhibition of this kind participants each upload one image to be printed on high quality paper (8.5x11) and hung in a grid in our gallery. The show will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artists.
Giggleshorts International Comedy Short Film FestivalToronto, Ontario, Canada October 2006 Deadline: August 31, 2006
Giggleshorts is the largest comedy short film festival in the world. Last year Gigglehsorts presented more than 200 short comedy , films, animations, spoofs, ads, etc. For more information, visit www.giggleshorts.com.
Jim Noonan has been promoted to the newly created corporate position of svp, worldwide strategic promotions & communications, Warner Bros. Home Ent. Group, charged with creating strategic cross-platform, cross-divisional promotions for product distributed via the WBHEG's businesses (including Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Warner Bros. Interactive Ent.). In addition, Noonan will work with Warner Bros. Entertainment's Corporate Communications team in overseeing WBHEG's internal and external consumer and business communications.
DIC Ent. and Thomopoulos Prods. have joined forces to launch Promise Media Prods., a new venture focused on developing, marketing and distributing properties for children and families under the positive value-based Promise Media brand for faith-based and secular markets.
Anders Østergaards 2004 documentary, TINTIN AND I, about TINTIN creator Hergé, premieres this week as a P.O.V. event on PBS stations in the U.S. In some parts of the country the show starts July 11, in Los Angeles it airs July 15 at 9:00 pm on KCET and in New York City, the doc airs July 13 at 3:30 am and again July 17 at 2:00 am on WNET. For other cities, check your local listings.
D2 Software Inc. a subsidiary of Digital Domain Inc., will unveil new features for its award-winning NUKE compositing software planned for release in December at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston. The company will also give attendees a look at how top VFX companies are handling compositing on major projects through guest presentations and companion product demos in booth #1231 (co-located with Digital Domain), and offer attendees the opportunity to get a hands-on experience with NUKE at the Guerilla Studio.
Three former execs from FUNimation have formed Illumitoon Ent. Ltd., dedicated to bringing exciting anime titles to the U.S. Formed in January 2006 in Fort Worth, Texas, the company focuses on acquiring exciting anime from Japan, with the emphasis on making them relatable for an American audience.
Of course, we always want to include the original Japanese tracks with our shows, for the serious anime fan, says Barry Watson, the companys president/ceo. Its just that we want it to be accessible and engaging for a mass audience as well.
ADV Films, on July 11, 2006, released the sixth volume of GODANNAR, volume four of MACROSS, volume two of MICHEL and the third and final edition of THE FUCCONS.
Image Ent. Inc. and Bandai Visual USA Inc. have released the 1993 anime masterpiece PATLABOR 2 THE MOVIE on DVD.
PATLABOR 2 was directed by acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii (PATLABOR THE MOVIE, GHOST IN THE SHELL, JIN-ROH, AVALON), written by Kazunori Ito (.HACK//, AVALON), with music by Kenji Kawai (GHOST IN THE SHELL, AVALON, RINGU).
Cucalorus Film Festival 2006Wilmington, North Carolina, USANovember 8-11, 2006Deadline: July 15, 2006
Each month, ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE focuses its attention on a particular theme.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, lots of members are debating the animation merits of A SCANNER DARKLY.
Visual effects studio FrameFlows, including its US-based producers and international staff of artists based in Chennai, India, worked directly with the vfx team at Sony Pictures Imageworks to provide 3D tracking, wire removal, rotoscoping and compositing work on effects shots for CLICK from Columbia Pictures/Revolution Studios.
Autodesk Inc. announced the availability of the latest version of the AliasStudio Personal Learning Edition (PLE), a special non-commercial-use version of the industry-leading industrial design software. Previously released versions of the PLE software have been downloaded more than 100,000 times by students and industry professionals eager for access to the latest AliasStudio software. Autodesk has continued this important product program so that the industrial design community can explore, learn and become productive to realize their ideas with this leading industrial design software.
Exceeding even the initial record-breaking estimate by $3M, Disneys PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST (with cutting edge vfx by ILM) broke out with an astounding $135.6M over the three-day weekend ended July 9, 2006. This swats SPIDER-MANs $114.8M. Other records smashed include best single and opening day ($55.8M), beating REVENGE OF THE SITHs $50M, and fastest to $100M (two days flat).
Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie will join Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane in the cast of the computer-animated comedy, KUNG FU PANDA. The DreamWorks Animation film will reunite Jolie and Black who voiced lead characters together in the 2004 animated comedy, SHARK TALE.
SmashPhone, a mobile phone comic strip network, announced it's bringing Amy DeZeller's DATING AMY and Chris Muir's DAY BY DAY comic strips to mobile phones everywhere. Viewers may access the SmashPhone Comic Strip Network through Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile and many other carriers. The comics are served by SmashPhone for free (although phone company data charges may apply).
