fmx/06 Begins May 3
fmx/06, the 11th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, will take place May 3-6, 2006, in Stuttgart, Germany.
fmx/06, the 11th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, will take place May 3-6, 2006, in Stuttgart, Germany.
The 9th annual Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children announced its awards at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre at Ryerson University. Five awards were decided upon by childrens juries (three designated for feature films, two for shorts), two audience awards were determined by festivalgoers, four awards for Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase were decided by a jury of film industry professionals and one Students Choice Award was determined by high school students attending the festival.
Continuing our special event specific Flash Newsletters, we will be publishing a special edition Annecy. The festival and market are fast approaching and our editorial and advertising staff are gearing up for the Annecy-specific Flash Newsletter. Here is the date for the publications. Please send your news two weeks prior to the publication date.
Annecy Flash NewslettersMay 30
All your news can be sent to editor@awn.com. For sales opportunities, contact Dan Sarto at dan@awn.com or call (323) 606-4200.
This week in AWN's Forums, a senior member needs some help finding ways to see pre-1933 Betty Boop cartoons and Chuck Jones' TOM & JERRY. Theres another thread abuzz about what one can expect if they want to be an animator. Additionally, members are collecting their thoughts on overlooked and undervalued animation. Talking about overlooked things, a senior member wants to bring attention to DRAW! MAGAZINE. Theres a thread talking about the work of John K. and Danny Antonucci.
e-on software announced the first Vue 3D Environment Competition in association with five judges representing different fields of the 3D entertainment industry. This competition represents a unique chance for all the Vue users around the world to have their work exposed. The judges are:
* Kevin Mack: visual effects supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks (GHOST RIDER)* Susumu Yukuhiro: digital matte supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST)· Simon Percy: Darkside Animation
With $16.4M, Sonys RV took the top spot at the box office for the period ended April 30, 2006. Universals stirring and controversial UNITED 93 (with vfx from Double Negative) bowed in second with a respectable $11.4M. Buena Vistas STICK IT, another newcomer, landed with $10.8M. Last weeks winner, Sonys SILENT HILL (with vfx from Buf, C.O.R.E. and Mr. X), dropped to fourth place in its second week, with $9.3M and a cume of $34.2M. Dimensions SCARY MOVIE 4 followed in the fifth spot with $7.8M, good enough for a tally of $78.1M.
Digital Vision unveiled its eagerly anticipated 17 Processor Nucoda workstation based around AMDs illustrious AMD64 multi core technology. The Nucoda workstation is the worlds fastest DI grading platform.
AJA Video announced 2K resolution video support with the v2 upgrade to the recently released KONA 3, the company's top-of-the-line uncompressed HD/SD capture card. KONA 3 will now provide customers editing and finishing on an Apple Power Mac G5 with the capability to bring in and play back material at 2K.
Additionally, KONA 3 v2 will address users' needs with support forhardware-based 1080-to-720 or 720-to-1080 cross conversion. This desirable feature further streamlines dailies and deliverables creation at true broadcast picture quality in realtime.
Warner Bros. Pictures has tapped scribe Travis Beacham (KILLING ON CARNIVAL ROW) to write a remake of the 1981 cult classic CLASH OF THE TITANS. Basil Iwanyk's Thunder Road is producing.
In 2002, Warners hired John Glenn and Travis Adam Adam Wright to write the script.
Beacham darker and more realistic take on the tale will still center on Perseus' journey to save the Princess Andromeda by overcoming the various tasks set forth by Zeus.
Buena Vista Games Inc. announced that it is creating and publishing the company's first videogame based on an original property, SPECTROBES. Set to release exclusively for the Nintendo DS, SPECTROBES is an anime-inspired action/role playing game that is being developed by Jupiter Corp. in Kyoto.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of American animation, beginning with HUMOROUS PHASES OF FUNNY FACES by J. Stuart Blackton, Inkwell Images Ink is releasing an updated version of its 1999 documentary, BEFORE WALT with all new material that traces the earliest concepts of animation and the foundations that lead to Disney's early career. Narrated by animation historian Ray Pointer, the film chronicles the accomplishments of Blackton, Emile Cohl, Winsor McCay, John Randolph Bray, Earl Hurd, Paul Terry and other early innovators.
Harvey Bullock, a prolific comedy writer and producer of film and TV, has passed away. Affected by a series of age-related illnesses, he died on Sunday, April 23, 2006, in Laguna Beach, California, with his family by his side. He was 84.
Bullock worked in animation on several Hanna-Barbera series. He was a writer on THE FLINTSTONES, THE JETSONS, TOP CAT, WELCOME TO IT and WHERE'S HUDDLES? He was the creator, exec producer and writer for the classic 1970s adult animated series, WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME.
Multi-award winning artist Virgil Manning has joined Cinesite (Europe) as senior character animator. Animator Jason McDonald, modeler Stephane Paris and 3D manager Claire McGrane are recent additions to the 3D team as well.
As part of its overall slate of self-produced films based on Marvel superheroes, Marvel Studios has tapped director/actor/writer Jon Favreau (ELF) to direct the big screen adaptation of IRON MAN. In addition to helming, the ZATHURA director will develop the script with the writing team of Arthur Marcum and Matt Holloway (CONVOY).
IDT Ent. is gearing up a full slate of projects, including its first theatrical CG feature EVERYONES HERO, to take to Cannes. Executives attending the event include: Neil Braun, president, feature films & television; John Hyde, coo; Andrew Berman, evp, IDT Ent. Sales; and Patti Rose, director, IDT Ent. Sales.
Columbia Pictures has launched RV PILE-UP, a free game for BlackBerry, built to promote the studio's latest family adventure comedy, RV, starring Robin Williams, due in theaters April 28, 2006.
For May 2006, YTV will be premiering its new series THE AMAZING ADRENALINI BROTHERS, along with a host of other special programming.
Topping the highlights in its May lineup, TELETOON will premiere the first anime series to come out of Canada SPIDER RIDERS. The series will launch Sunday, May 7, 2006, at 10:00 am with a 90-minute special, SPIDER RIDERS: THE INNER WORLD.
SPIDER RIDERS is an action-adventure series for kids 6-12, based on the book SHARDS OF THE ORACLE by Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti, published in December 2004. Toronto's Cookie Jar Ent. and Japan's Yomiko co-produce the series. Japanese animation company BeeTrain, a division of IG Prod., is doing the animation.
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).
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.
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.
DAZ Prods. Inc. announced the immediate availability of DAZ Hexagon 2, its newly acquired 3D polygonal and subdivision modeling software. DAZ acquired Eovia Corp. along with the Hexagon and Carrara technology on April 13