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AWN Headline News

Animation Headline News

One Rat Short, 458nm Take Top SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Fest Honors

The SIGGRAPH 2006 Computer Animation Festival has bestowed its Best of Show Award to ONE RAT SHORT, directed by Alex Weil of New York-based Charlex, while Special Jury Honors went to 458NM, directed by Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck and Tom Weber of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany.

SIGGRAPH 2006, the 33rd International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, will be held July 30 through Aug. 3 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Headline News

NYIT Students Enter the "Madness" With NCAA's Centennial Logo

It has been March madness in the classroom for 12 graduate students enrolled in New York Institute of Technology's (NYIT) Master of Arts computer graphics program. Students worked long days and late nights even giving up much of their spring break to complete a new, full-screen animation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Centennial logo.

Games Headline News

Curious Pictures & gameLab Partner for Online Game Development

Casual gaming leader gameLab has entered into an agreement with Curious Pictures to partner on the creative development and production of downloadable online games. Their first joint project will be a game tentatively titled BRENDAS BRAIN, which combines a playful and contemporary visual look with the more adult subject matter of neuroses and psychological quirks.

Headline News

Carrere Group Nabs Cotoons Rights

Carrere Group has obtained the international distribution rights to COTOONS. This animated series of 26 episodes is produced by Zone 3 in Canada and Film en Stock in France. Carrere Group will handle all television sales in the world, excluding the co-production territories Canada and France.

Animation Headline News

Spring Strikes MIP-TV

The weather is lovely in Cannes, the spring flowers are in bloom, lots of animation abounds, but many MIP-goes may not experience any of this due to an air traffic controllers strike in France that has cancelled most flights coming into Nice, the closest airport to the MIP market.

Those entered the Palais convention hall on Monday, April 3, 2006, saw a handwritten list of affected flights. While expected to be over before the weekend, this presents a hardship to those expecting to arrive and leave mid-market.

Kids Headline News

Nelvana's Jacob Two-Two Breaks onto AOL’s KOL

American kids on the AOL KOL service will now get the chance to watch Nelvana's JACOB TWO-TWO. As its first English-language U.S. distribution deal for this property, Nelvana took an unconventional approach by tapping the growing online medium to showcase its popular cartoon.

Headline News

Canopus Rights Among New Deals For Dargaud Distribution

Dargaud Distribution has signed a deal with French production company Croqueplume to represent CANOPUS (52x4:30), a new 2D/3D cartoon about tolerance. Dargaud has acquired television, home entertainment and licensing rights to the show.

Based on an original idea by Jacqueline de Rosnay, developed by Francis Nielsen and designed by Valerie Rindoff Petroff, CANOPUS is a Martine Ventura and Helene Fatou animated series co-produced by France 5, Croqueplume and Spirit Prods.

April Headline News

Easter Eggs & Telekinesis Highlight TELETOON In April

TELETOON highlights for April include Easter eggs and telekinesis.

On Sunday, April 16, TELETOON will feature the following Easter themed specials:

* BUGS BUNNYS EASTER FUNNIES @ 8:00 am and 3:00 pm* DAFFY DUCKS EASTER EGG-CITEMENT @ 9:00 am and 4:00 pm* EASTER FEVER @ 9:30 am and 2:30 pm.

Studios Headline News

Ice Age: The Meltdown Powered by Angstrom Titan64 Computing Solutions

Blue Sky Studios exclusively used Angstrom Titan64 SuperBlade rendering servers and Titan64 Creator workstations for ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN. Blue Sky is using the Angstrom Titan64 computers to enable significantly more complex imagery and faster generation of animated features.

Animation Headline News

An fmx/06 Program Overview

fmx/06, the 11th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, will take place May 3-6, in Stuttgart, Germany.

Topics include the latest animated movies and vfx features, the convergence of games and movies, new fields of work for animators, the latest use of realtime graphics and current trends from the Far East. There is also new cooperation with the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, with overlapping programs, in addition to the festival award ceremony coinciding with the opening of fmx/06 on the evening of May 2.

Headline News

Narnia Roars on DVD

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE makes its DVD debut April 4, 2006 in a two-disc collectors edition (Buena Vista Home Ent., $34.99). For the first time at Disney, the DVD production team was allowed to work onset and the bonus materials are extensive for this CGI-intensive epic that earned an Oscar nomination for best visual effects. There are two audio commentaries (director Andrew Adamson and the filmmakers and Adamson and the young cast members).

Effects Headline News

Patricia Beckmann & Richard Kidd Join Gnomon Advisory Board

Joining the Gnomon School of Visual Effects advisory board are visual effects supervisor Richard Kidd and Patricia Beckmann, manager of artistic and professional development for Disney Feature Animation. As board members, they will help guide development, curriculum and direction for the school.

Design Headline News

AMD Introduces Geode LX EPIC Reference Design Kit

AMD announced the availability of the AMD Geode LX EPIC Reference Design Kit (RDK). This RDK will help developers quickly and efficiently create low-power, high-performance singleboard computer (SBC) products. This versatile, industry-standard design supports a wide range of rugged industrial SBC applications, including data acquisition, video processing, point-of-sale terminals, telecommunications, global positioning satellite (GPS) devices and motion control.

Headline News

Baraka Sews Up Music Video Debut for The Feeling

Baraka Post Production completed the post-production on the new debut music video for SEWN by The Feeling directed by Caswell Coggins of Draw Pictures. The treatment called for the lead singer to be literally sewn and stitched up by long living threads that have an ominous life of their own. Baraka created the sinister animated threads by a mixture of 3D effects, with the rest of the film shot in-camera.

Headline News

Sci-Fi Jumper Gets Lead Trio

New Regency's upcoming sci-fi adventure JUMPER has signed actors Thomas Sturridge (VANITY FAIR), Teresa Palmer (THE GRUDGE 2) and Jamie Bell (BILLY ELLIOT, KING KONG), reports VARIETY. Set to be a trilogy, MR. AND MRS. SMITH director Doug Liman will helm with Lucas Foster and Simon Kinberg producing.

Based on a 1992 novel by Steven Gould, Jim Uhls is rewriting an adaptation by David Goyer.

Headline News

Supreme Court Refuses VeggieTales Case

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, refused to hear an appeal in the case over the sales of VEGGIETALES DVDs and other products.

In the case, Lyrick Studios sued Big Idea Prods., claiming that Big Idea had breached their agreement giving Lyrick exclusive license to distribute the children's cartoons. In 2003, a Dallas jury agreed with Lyrick, stating that the companies had an agreement and a two-year working relationship that was in effect a contract, even though a contract wasn't formally signed.

Film Headline News

Fox Announces Director & Date for Simpsons Movie

Surprising theater-goers who went to see ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN with a teaser trailer, Twentieth Century Fox has announced details about the highly-anticipated SIMPSONS MOVIE.

The film will open worldwide in theaters on July 27, 2007. David Silverman, THE SIMPSONS supervising animation director, who also co-helmed Pixars MONSTERS, INC., is directing.

Universal Headline News

King Kong DVD Amasses $100 Million in First Week

KING KONG provided blockbuster numbers in its first six days in release, selling more than 6.5 million DVDs, generating $100 million in consumer spending, the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history.

KING KONG ranks as the studio's fourth-highest grossing film in the studio's 94-year history. To date, the film has amassed approximately $550 million in ticket sales worldwide, following on the heels of JURASSIC PARK, E.T. and THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK.

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