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AWN Headline News

Animation Headline News

Animated Happenings at L.A. Times Festival of Books

There are a few animation and vfx related happenings at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which takes place this weekend (April 29-30, 2006) at the UCLA campus.

There will be a Jay Jay The Jet Plane show at 11:00 am on Saturday on the Reading by 9 Storytelling Stage. Eve Keller will be playing Brenda Blue. In addition to the stage show, there will be a Jay Jay The Jet Plane themed booth from PorchLight Ent. with Toms Toys (Montrose and Beverly Hills).

Films Headline News

John Lithgow to Star in Paloozaville Animated & Live-Action Series

23D Films, an animation design studio, and Weller/Grossman Prods., an award-winning television production company, will jointly produce live-action/animated PALOOZAVILLE, a 20-part signature series staring its creator, John Lithgow. The program will broadcast on Mag Racks Kids Club video on-demand presentations.

A palooza is an invitation to a creative adventure, an activity that keeps kids from uttering those terrifying words, Im bored! according to creator John Lithgow.

Film Headline News

Double Negative Recreates United 93 Flight

London-based Double Negative helped director Paul Greengrass realize his documentary-like vision for UNITED 93, the story of the fourth plane to be hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, opening today (April 28, 2006) from Universal Pictures and Working Title.

Media Headline News

NAB2006 AIM Winners Announced

NAB announced the winners of the fourth-annual Awards for Innovation in Media (AIMs). Attendees at the NAB2006 exhibition voted April 24 and 25 for the technological innovations that best addressed current and upcoming issues in the electronic media industry by boosting efficiency, increasing user flexibility and creativity, and lowering cost.

Disney Headline News

Jason Lee is Underdog

Have no fear, Jason Lee is here. MY NAME IS EARL star Lee has signed on to voice for the title character of Underdog for Spyglass Ent. and Walt Disney Pictures' live-action adaptation of the classic 1960s cartoon.

UNDERDOG chronicles the adventures of a humble dog named Shoeshine Boy who turned into the superhero Underdog, who spoke in rhyme. For the film, Shoeshine Boy is adopted by a 12-year-old boy and uses his superpower to protect his love, Polly Purebred, and the citizens of Capitol City from the evil Simon Barsinister, who will be played by Peter Dinklage.

Film Headline News

Cannes Sidebar Gets Animated

Cannes has added two new toons to its 2006 festival lineup.

To be featured in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar, which opens May 18, the Danish anime-style film PRINCESS will make its debut. It was co-written and directed by Anders Morgenthaler and follows a priest who embarks on a bloody mission to destroy all pornographic material featuring his dead porn star sister. The film was produced by Zentropa, with Trust Film Sales handling international sales.

Million Headline News

Mexican Toon Marks Domestic Milestone

Mexican toon UNA PELICULA DE HUEVOS grossed almost 30 million pesos ($2.7 million) this past weekend, making it the second-largest opening for a local film ever behind THE CRIMES OF FATHER AMARO.

Videocine, who released the picture Thursday, April 20, 2006, on 435 screens, will increase the screens to 460 this week.

The film tells the story of a group of talking eggs, trying to live in the human world.

Kids Headline News

TBI Kids’ Summit Announces Speakers

TBI Kids Summit 2006. which tackles the issue of creating kids brands for a multi-platform world, has announced its lineup of speakers.

Speakers now confirmed on the program include:* Mahmoud Bouneb, egm, Al Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC) * Peter Urie, chief development officer, TV Loonland * Howard Litton, svp/gm/director of channels, Nickelodeon UK* Elaine Sperber, head of family & children's drama, RDF Media* Julian Scott, head of children's drama and animation, Zenith Ent.

Animation Headline News

PA Supreme Court Allows Use Of Computer Animation

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors may use computer animation to illustrate their murder case, but the animation has to be relevant and must authentically depict the crime scene, reports THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.

On April 25, 2006, the court said that the animation was handled properly in the case of Michael Serge, 60, a retired Scranton police detective who shot and killed his estranged wife. Serge claimed that she had attacked him with a knife and was too intoxicated to have intended to kill her. He is now serving a life sentence.

Headline News

BlueArc Partners With PipelineFX to Improve 3D/VFX Pipeline

BlueArc Corp., a world leader in network storage innovation, has formed joint partnership with PipelineFX, makers of Qube!, the leading render farm management system for film production and game development, to help film, effects and game studios achieve maximum productivity through the deployment of an advanced technology infrastructure. BlueArc and PipelineFX will be presenting their solutions at NAB2006, in booth SL3238.

Headline News

Rick Mater New Broadcast Standards SVP for THE CW

Rick Mater has been named svp, broadcast standards, The CW, the new fifth broadcast television network, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Ent. and CBS Corp. Mater will oversee the broadcast standards of all CW programming for content, including all primetime series, Kids' WB! programming, on-air promotion, commercial clearance and development projects.

Television Headline News

SPTI & SkyLife Launch Animax in Korea for Older Toon Viewers

Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) and Korean satellite TV broadcaster SkyLife will launch their joint venture channel Animax in Korea on April 29, 2006. Animax in Korea is a 24-hour local program provider carrying animation programming carried exclusively on SkyLifes DTH platform, which has a subscriber base of about 1.9 million in Korea.

Headline News

Apple Introduces 17-inch MacBook Pro

Apple unveiled its new 17-inch MacBook Pro notebook computer featuring the Intel Core Duo processor and an all new system architecture that delivers up to five times the performance of the PowerBook G4. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features an aluminum enclosure just one inch thin, weighs only 6.8 pounds, includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go and the Front Row media experience with Apple Remote. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro also features a MagSafe Power Adapter, invented by Apple especially for mobile users.

Advertising Headline News

Microsoft Reportedly Buying Massive Inc.

Various news reports say that Microsoft Corp. plans to pay $200-400 million for Massive Inc., a privately held company that places ads in videogames.

The deal to buy the two-year-old startup demonstrates the increasing importance of advertising in nontraditional media, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft and Massive spokeswomen have declined comment.

Series Headline News

SCI FI Channel Unveils Development Slate & Greenlits Motel Man

SCI FI Channel's Mark Stern, evp, original programming, announced today (April 26, 2006) an aggressive slate of original scripted dramas, miniseries, alternative reality and late night series for the network. The channel has also greenlit production on MOTEL MAN (working title), a limited series event that will premiere on SCI FI this December.

Pre-production on MOTEL MAN is underway with Lionsgate producing. Co-exec producers Christopher Leone, Laura Harkcom and Paul Workman are writing and developing MOTEL MAN.

Effects Headline News

Boris FX Unveils Red Version 4.0

Boris FX unveiled the next generation of its award-wining Boris Red at NAB 2006. Boris Red is an integrated 3D compositing, titling and effects solution that provides integrated broadcast-quality features directly inside nonlinear editing systems. Version 4.0 introduces hundreds of new features, including more than 40 new filters, 16-bit color support and a sophisticated new paint engine.

Headline News

NVIDIA Adds Quadro FX 4500 X2 Graphics Solution To Lineup

NVIDIA Corp. announced the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 X2 graphics solution is the latest addition to the company's growing line of solutions for advanced visualization systems requiring scalable graphics performance. This solution joins the recently announced NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 card with the NVIDIA Quadro SDI and G-Sync option cards the most extensive line of products for this growing market segment.

Avid Headline News

Avid Studio Toolkit Adds Blu-ray Support, Delivers New Tools

Avid Technology Inc. announced version 5.5 of Avid Studio Toolkit, which delivers significant enhancements to a set of tightly integrated, industry-leading software applications, including Avid 3D, Avid FX, and Avid DVD by Sonic. Ideal for any content creator using Avid Xpress Pro software as well as any system in the new Media Composer family. Avid Studio Toolkit delivers new creative toolsets and user interfaces for Avid FX and Avid 3D, as well as enhanced authoring options, including support for the Blu-ray Disc format.

Headline News

NewTek Announces New SpeedEDIT, VT[5] Live!, TriCaster Products

This week at NAB, NewTek announced the forthcoming release of SpeedEDIT, VT[5] Live!, TriCaster PRO and TriCaster for Mac.

SpeedEDIT is a resolution-independent video editor designed to work quickly and efficiently on any video project, from web streams to High-Definition..

Final Headline News

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Born on DVD

Sony Pictures Home Ent. released FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN on DVD and UMD, April 25, 2006. With direction and character designs from Tetsuya Nomura, the creator of the FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII & X games, this 100-minute feature includes the voices of Steve Burton (THE LAST CASTLE, TAKEN), Rachel Leigh Cook (JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS) and Mena Suvari (AMERICAN BEAUTY). The two-disc Special Edition will sell for $26.96.

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