AISF Offers New Simulation/Virtual Environs & CG Degrees
The Art Institute of California San Francisco is now offering a bachelors degree program in Simulation & Virtual Environments and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Computer Animation.
The Art Institute of California San Francisco is now offering a bachelors degree program in Simulation & Virtual Environments and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Computer Animation.
Animator/director Brad Case died March 19, 2006. He was 93.
His career spanned from 1934 until his retirement in 1999, having worked for Iwerks, Disney, MGM, Lantz, Raphael Wolff, Sutherland, Paul Fennell, Tempo, Calvin Co., Academy, ERA Prods., Hanna-Barbera, Larry Harmon, UPA, Warner Bros., Nicholson, Sanrio, DePatie-Freleng, Marvel, Graz Ent. and New World.
Following its recent success in the portable community with the release of its anime titles on UMD, Geneon Ent. has expanded into the ever-growing world of podcasting. Featuring trailers and television commercials that include the popular superhero series VIEWTIFUL JOE and the gritty samurai series SAMURAI CHAMPLOO, Geneon Ent. will be adding three new podcast streams each week on iTunes, and will soon expand the content to include behind-the-scenes features, sneak previews and exclusive footage only available through the podcast.
Following the tremendous success of courses offered at its Dubai hub, SAE Institute, the largest film, audio engineering and animation training provider in the world, is looking at expanding to other countries in the region.
Marco Bettelli, SAE's Dubai gm, said that the SAE Institute's regional campus at Dubai Knowledge Village (KV) has captured the imagination of aspiring filmmakers, animators and music professionals from around the region and is considering opening branches in Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.
ANGER MANAGEMENT director Peter Segal has been attached to helm New Lines adaptation of the DC comic, SHAZAM!, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Segal also will produce along side Michael Ewing via their Callahan Filmworks.
Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin and Alex Etel (MILLIONS) have signed onto THE WATER HORSE, based on the Dick King Smith novel, reports the trades. Jay Russell is set to direct the film, which is scheduled to start filming in early May in Scotland and New Zealand.
The co-production between Walden Media, Beacon Pictures and Revolution Studios chronicles the tale of a lonely boy in Scotland (Etel) who discovers a mysterious egg on the shore of a lake. When the egg hatches, a mythical sea monster of Scottish legend called the water horse" emerges.
Bill Postmus, chairman of the board of supervisors of suburban San Bernadino County, California, has ordered the county's libraries to remove the scholarly text, MANGA: SIXTY YEARS OF JAPANESE COMICS, from circulation, reports ICv2.com. On the county's website, he called the book obscene and added, "that book is absolutely inappropriate for a public library and as soon as I was made aware of it yesterday, I ordered it to be removed immediately."
S4 Studios Llc. has teamed with Sunwoo Ent. to produce six half-hour episodes of WILD ANIMAL BABY, a mixed-media 3D animation, Flash animation and live-action series for the non-profit Washington, D.C.-based National Wildlife Federation. The 12x11 preschooler-targeted series will be distributed on home video via the NWF website (www.nwf.org/wildanimalbaby).
SEGA Holdings U.S.A. Inc. has acquired acclaimed developer Secret Level Inc. to establish new internal development arm in North America. Founded in 1999 and headed by Jeremy Gordon, San Francisco-based Secret Level is a leading videogame developer well-known in the industry for developing cutting-edge next-generation technology.
The Secret Level, Inc. development studio will continue to operate out of its current office in San Francisco.
Simon Taylor joins Buena Vista International Television (BVITV) EMEA as vp, legal & business affairs. In this London-based role, Taylor will be responsible for managing all legal and business affairs for BVITVs TV and new media distribution business.
Within this, he will work closely with both Tom Toumazis, evp/md, BVITV EMEA and Peter Wiley, Disneys svp and European general counsel. Taylor will manage a BVITV legal & business affairs team of 11 based in London and Paris. He will also become a member of BVITVs executive team.
SF Shorts: The San Francisco International Festival Of Shorts 2006San Francisco, California, USAAugust 10 12, 2006Deadline: June 31, 2006
Sony Pictures Home Ent. (SPHE) has reorganized to meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital era.
Tahoe Reno International Film Festival (T-RIFF) 2006Lake Tahoe & Reno, Nevada, USAAugust 23 27, 2006Deadline: May 31, 2006
Imagineer Systems announced the immediate availability of monet v2 and mokey v4. monet is a unique tracking and compositing toolset for commercial, film and corporate video post-production work such as virtual product placement and visual effects work. mokey offers an essential toolset for removing wires, rigs, logos, scratches and other undesired elements in commercial, film and corporate video post-production work. Both products will be on display in Las Vegas at NAB 2006 (booth #SL5564).
Ubisoft announced that the OPEN SEASON videogame, based on Sony Pictures Animation's first feature-length 3D-animated movie (opening Sept. 29), will ship mid-September on all available videogame platforms. Developed by Ubisoft's award-winning Montreal studio, OPEN SEASON will allow gamers to relive the humor and adventure of the movie by creating a fun and immersive interactive world that conveys the same comedic storyline, zany characters and artistic images projected in the animated film.
Boris FX has released Boris Blue version 1.0. Boris Blue is a 3D compositing and motion graphics application based on the award-winning Boris technology.
Corus Ent. Inc. has received four production grants from the Feb. 1, 2006 round of applications to the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund.
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominees for the first Emmy Award to be presented for original entertainment programming created specifically for non-traditional viewing platforms, including computers, mobile phones, iPods, PDAs and similar devices. The new Emmy Award will first be presented at the 33rd Annual Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards, hosted by Meredith Vieira, on April 22, 2006, at New York Citys Marriott Marquis.
During the keynote address delivered at the 2nd annual Advertising in Games conference in New York, Massive Inc. ceo Mitch Davis predicted that ad spending on in-game advertising will reach between a $1.6 and $1.8 billion in the U.S. by 2010, accounting for roughly 3% of total media spending, reports MEDIAWEEK. In comparison to previous estimates, Davis' claim is far larger than forecasts issued by both JupiterResearch and The Yankee Group last year.
Cinerouge, The Honorary Society of Motion Picture Character Designers, has launched. Each year the organization will give an award a deserving living and deceased artist based on their career body of work.
The first award will be given to Ray Harryhausen after a special screening of THE SCI FI BOYS at Universal Studios Hitchcock Theater on April 30, 2006, at 7:00 pm. An invitation is necessary for entrance.
The Illuminated Film Co. is teaming up with Ventura International to release THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR AND OTHER STORIES for the first time in the U.K. on DVD. The films are based on the bestselling books by writer/illustrator Eric Carle (published by Hamish Hamilton/Penguin, with worldwide sales exceeding 10 million copies).
Vanguard Animation and IDT Ent. have announced the launch of production of their CG-animated feature film, SPACE CHIMPS, which will be distributed domestically through IDT Ent.s multi-picture deal with Twentieth Century Fox. The comedy follows the galactic misadventures of a hapless descendant of the first chimps in space.
Germany's Stallion Film will adapt notorious Japanese manga WICKED CITY into a live-action English-language film, according to VARIETY. SPAWN director Mark Dippe will helm, co-write and co-produce. Hideyuki Kikuchis bestselling manga was adapted into a cult anime film, which introduced demon tentacle sex into the lexicon.
Johnny Hartmann will also co-adapt the story, which tells the tale of demon beasts from a parallel dimension and the secret resistance that fights to prevent the apocalypse.