AWN Headline News

Inside Man Cuts Down Vendetta

INSIDE MAN, Spike Lees smart heist film, overtook V FOR VENDETTA at the box office for the weekend ended March 26, 2006. The Universal feature debuted with $28.9M compared to Warner Bros. VENDETTA, which dropped 52% in its second week, grabbing $12.3M. With vfx by Cinesite, Double Negative and Baseblack, VENDETTA has now grossed $46.2M. Debuting at number three was Buena Vistas horror-filled STAY ALIVE, which captured $10.7M. Slipping to fourth was Paramounts FAILURE TO LAUNCH (with vfx by Lola Visual Effects), which managed $10.4M for a three-week cume of $63.5M.

In Films, Films | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Awards Headline News

MAAC Animators Win FICCI Awards

A team of young animators from Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics Ltd. (MAAC), one of India's leading animation and visual effects training academies, won two awards at the FICCI BAF Awards 2006 in Mumbai, reports THE TIMES OF INDIA.

MAAC garnered best student animation film social welfare award for TAKES YOU HIGHER?, which dealt with anti-smoking, and best visual effects in a motion picture award for Ketan Mehta's MANGAL PANDEY THE RISING.

In Awards, Awards | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia

Disney Headline News

Richard Fleischer, Director of 20,000 Leagues, Dies

Richard Fleischer, who directed almost 50 movies, died of natural causes on March 25, 2006, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his son Mark. He was 89.

Son of famed animator Max Fleischer, he would direct 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA for Walt Disney, whose named was not spoken in their home. Max told his son that the opportunity was too important to pass up.

The lavishly produced 1954 live-action adaptation of the Jules Verne adventure was a box office hit and moved Fleischer from B-movies to the big time

In In Passing, In Passing | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Film Headline News

Malkovich Being Overlord in Mutant Chronicles

John Malkovich has been signed to play a 23rd Century corporate overlord opposite Thomas Jane in Simon Hunter's sci-fier, THE MUTANT CHRONICLES, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

In Films, Visual Effects, Films, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Channel Headline News

SCI FI Kicks Off Casting Call For Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

SCI FI Channel is partnering with legendary comic book creator Stan Lee's production company POW! Ent. Inc., and Bruce Nash's Nash Ent. to cast a six-episode, one-hour reality series that will challenge a lucky few to create their very own superhero.

In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Headline News

Voice Actor Papenbrook Passes Away

Voice actor Bob Papenbrook passed away on March 17, 2006, due to complications from a chronic lung condition, reports IMDB.com. He was 50 years old. Papenbrook (sometimes credited as "John Smallberries") was a frequent performer in a voice acting roles, including POWER RANGERS ZEO, TENCHI MUYO and GUNGRAVE. Extensively working on dubbing anime imports, his most recent work can be heard as Capt. Blue in the VIEWTIFUL JOE TV series. He is survived by his wife Debbie Rothstein and son Bryce Papenbrook.

In Anime, In Passing, Anime, In Passing | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Animation Headline News

March Peg-Board Newsletter Now Online!

The Animation Guild has posted the March issue of their newsletter, The Peg-Board, on their website, which is hosted by Animation World Network.

In Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Animation Headline News

This Week’s Animation Trivia Quiz for March 27, 2006

Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.

In Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Mobile Headline News

Jason Wells New SVP, Mobile Ent. for SPTI

Jason Wells joins Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) as its new svp, mobile entertainment. Wells will relocate from Los Angeles to SPTI's European headquarters in London and will lead the newly formed mobile entertainment group. He will report to both Michael Grindon, SPTI's president, and John McMahon, president/md of SPTI in Europe.

In People, People | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Europe

Mobile Headline News

Fox Launches Biggest Promo Campaign Ever for Ice Age 2

Twentieth Century Fox has announced that its global promotional campaign for ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN, to be released nationwide March 31, 2006, is among Fox's most far-reaching and ambitious ever.

Fox has garnered more than $100 million in promotional support, including a synergistic tie-in with the Fox Broadcasting Co. ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN's beloved Scrat character will make a special appearance on the March 26 episode of the network's popular animated comedy series FAMILY GUY, and the Sid the sloth character will host a night of programming that same evening.

In Anime, Licensing, Anime, Licensing | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Square Headline News

Kingdom Hearts II Launch See Stars

Square Enix Inc. and Buena Vista Games hosted star-studded launch party at Wolfgang Puck in the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles on March 23, 2006, to ramp up for highly anticipated release of KINGDOM HEARTS II videogame, which ships on March 28. KINGDOM HEARTS II is the sequel to KINGDOM HEARTS, one of the top 10 best-selling PlayStation 2 titles of all time in North America.

In Interactive, Games, Interactive | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Europe

Series Headline News

Africa’s First 3D Animated Series Premieres March 25

MAGIC CELLAR, a 3D series of 20 animated shorts will premiere on the South African Broadcasting Corp. (SABC 2) on March 25, 2006. More than 300 under-privileged children will participate in one-hour nationally-televised special to launch the series.

In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, North America

Headline News

Wumblers Moves Back in With The Goose

The Silly Goose Cp. Llc. has reassumed all proprietary rights to THE WUMBLERS preschool television series from Peak Ent. Holdings. Peak Ent.will maintain a significant financial interest in the series.

THE WUMBLERS series combines unique storylines, original characters and imaginative fun while embracing a global perspective: "We give preschoolers the tools to make this world a better place, and we do this all through play."

In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Headline News

ATI Introduces FireGLT V7350

ATI Technologies Inc. announced the industry's first one gigabyte (1GB) workstation graphics accelerator, the ATI FireGLT V7350, and also a 512 megabyte configuration, the FireGLT V7300. Featuring an extremely powerful ultra-threaded parallel processing GPU, and ATI's industry leading AvivoT video and display technology, these new ultra high-end graphics cards further extend ATI's workstation graphics line, delivering better performance, more advanced features and higher image quality.

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Europe

Headline News

Intel Introduces First Dual-Core Low-Voltage Intel Xeon Processor

Intel Corp. now offers the first lowvoltage Intel Xeon processor to combine dualcore technology with Intels innovative power management capabilities, helping to boost energyefficient price/performance with up to two to four times the performanceperwatt of previous Intel Xeon processors and platforms.

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Animated Headline News

Hilton Sisters Want to Become Animated

Paris and Nicky Hilton want to turn their lives into an animated TV series, reports TheSuperficial.com. The show is rumored to be in the style of THE SIMPSONS. The debutante duo has convinced Interscope head Ted Fields to produce the series with hopes to air it on U.S. television.

In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Animation Headline News

Cartoons on the Bay Announces Short List & First Winners

Cartoons on the Bay, the international competition on television animation, hosted in Positano, Italy from April 5-9, 2006, and organized by Rai Trade, has grown steadily over the last 10 years and announces a record number of 340 entries sent in for this years competition. The 40 titles short-listed to compete come from 13 countries. The U.S. leads this year with seven programs, the U.K., Italy and France follow with five each and Spain, Canada, Germany and Korea each with three. Other countries taking part include Japan, Finland, Belgium, plus first time competitors Slovenia and Iran.

In Awards, Awards | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Europe, North America

Headline News

REALVIZ VTour Now Shipping

REALVIZ announced the availability of VTour, the latest addition to their software portfolio for content creation. The product, which was unveiled at the recent IMAGINA show in Monaco, draws on the award-winning technology of Stitcher and ImageModeler and offers users of all levels an innovative and effective solution for the creation of photoreal 3D environments from 2D pictures or panoramas.

In Technology, Technology | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Europe

Media Headline News

1.1 VFX Streamlines Workflow With Xstoner V2

Maximum Throughput Inc., developers of ultra high performance software-based solutions for networked storage infrastructure and media management, announced that 1.1 VFX, a visual effects/creative finishing company in Venice, California, has deployed Xstoner v2 software throughout its facility to ease data management tasks and speed the flow of jobs through its production pipeline.

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Headline News

Cascade SIGGRAPH Presents "Bring Your Own Art"

Cascade ACM SIGGRAPH, Oregon and Southwest Washingtons local SIGGRAPH chapter announced Bring Your Own Art (BYOA), scheduled to take place April 3 at 6:00 pm at The Art Institute, Exhibit Hall located at 1122 NW Davis in downtown Portland, Oregon. Equivalent to an open mic night, BYOA is a celebration of the Portland computer graphics community and offers artists a chance to share works in progress ranging from animation, 2D and 3D models to web and graphics design.

In Event, Visual Effects, Event, Visual Effects | Headline News | Special Events: SIGGRAPH | Geographic Region: All

Effects Headline News

Gnomon Announces Spring Semester Lineup

Spring term for Gnomon School of Visual Effects begins April 3 through June 11. New classes include:

* Digital Sculpting and Texturing in ZBrush. This course is a comprehensive look at ZBrush's complete toolset for high-end 3D modeling and texturing. Instruction introduces a complete ZBrush workflow beginning with a base mesh and taking it to a complete ZBrushed finish. Instructor: Scott Spencer.

In Education and Training, Machinima, Education and Training, Machinima | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Creative Headline News

John Loiacono to Head Adobe’s Creative Solutions Business Unit

Adobe Systems Inc. announced the appointment of John Loiacono as svp, Creative Solutions. In this role, Loiacono will have responsibility for the development, delivery and marketing of Adobe's entire creative software portfolio, including flagship brands such as Adobe Creative Suite, Macromedia Studio, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, Macromedia Flash Professional and Macromedia Dreamweaver. Based at the company's headquarters in San Jose, he will report to Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's president and coo.

In People, People | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Game Headline News

Emergent Game Technologies Launches New Tools at GDC 2006

Emergent Game Technologies has launched Emergent Elements, a powerful new set of modular game development tools that brings together stand-alone metrics, automation and 3D graphics technologies into a flexible, integrated framework. Emergent Elements enables developers to focus on the craft of game development, arming them with powerful new tools for building, testing and managing their games with more flexibility and control than ever before.

In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Live-action Headline News

The Simpsons Come to Life March 26

Ever wondered what Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson would look like in real life? Find out when a live-action main title sequence is unveiled on THE SIMPSONS Sunday, March 26, 2006, at 8:00 pm on FOX. The live-action show opening is an homage to televisions longest-running sitcom.

In Television, Television | Headline News | Geographic Region: All

Anime Headline News

FUNimation Develops Anime Programming Block Distributed by OlympuSAT

FUNimation Ent. announced today (March 23, 2006) that it has developed a two-hour anime block for syndication, composed of programming from the FUNimation Channel, distributed by OlympuSAT and available to broadcasters nationwide. CoLours TV Network, available as part of DISH Network's basic satellite TV package, will be the first broadcaster to carry the block.

The FUNimation Channel a 24-hour digital network featuring programming of top-rated anime brands from Japan.