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AWN Headline News

Headline News

Academy Announces Scientific and Technical Achievements

Pixar's Ed Catmull is among the recipients of Technical Achievement Certificates, which will be handed out among the 17 achievements to be honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards dinner on The Beverly Hilton Feb. 18, 2006.

He shares the honor for his original concept with Tony DeRose and Jos Stam for their scientific and practical implementation of subdivision surfaces as a modeling technique in motion picture production.

Subdivision surfaces has become a preferred modeling primitive for many types of motion picture computer graphics.

Headline News

Wacom Offers New Intuos3 12x19 Pen Tablet

Wacom Technology Corp.s new Intuos3 12x19 pen tablet is specifically designed for photographers, designers, artists and engineers that use multiple large monitors or large widescreen displays such as the 30 Apple Cinema HD display. Like the recently introduced Intuos3 6x11, the Intuos3 12x19 features an active area with an aspect ratio that is a great match to the screen aspect ratio of either a widescreen display or standard displays used together. This provides optimal pen control and efficient use of the entire tablet.

Animation Headline News

Former DreamWorks Artist Ittina Strives to Bring High-Quality Animation to India

Manu Ittina, who has worked on such films as SHREK 2 and MADAGASCAR, has set up his Ittina Studios in Bangalore, India, with the hopes of bringing high-quality animation to India.

However, he knows the feat will be difficult, because 95% of the work being done in India is outsourced work. Under quick deadlines, studios are forced to produce up to 12 seconds of animation per day, compared to major U.S. studios like Pixar and DreamWorks that produce three to five seconds per week.

Comedy Headline News

Comedy Central Sets 2006 Slate for MotherLoad Broadband Channel

Comedy Central is taking original broadband programming to new heights with its development slate for early 2006, which includes an extensive lineup of original programming including animation, live-action narratives, topical stand-up performance and sketch comedies.

Comedy Central MotherLoad, which launched Nov. 1, 2005, is one of the first network broadband channels to premiere original series. To view Comedy Central MotherLoad, log on to www.comedycentral.com/motherload.

Headline News

Greg Gilhooly New Cookie Jar VP Business & Legal Affairs

Greg Gilhooly joins Cookie Jar Ent. Inc. as vp, business and legal affairs. Based in the companys Toronto head office, his responsibilities will support Cookie Jars dynamic growth as the company continues to introduce several new shows a year, expands its entertainment operations globally and solidifies its new business initiatives.

Digital Headline News

Imagina 2006 Conference Schedule Announced

Imagina 2006, to be held Feb. 1-3 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, has released details of its conference schedule.

Feb. 1* 2:00 pm 3:30 pmKeynote: Ken Perlin (professor, Information Science department), Media Research Laboratory, New York UniversityTHE ILLUSION OF LIFE - REVISITEDProcedural animation has reached a degree of verisimilitude, which enables an interactive virtual actor to express emotions. Videogames are thus gaining access to a type of narration that was previously limited to the cinema.

* 3:45 pm 4:45 pm

Imax Headline News

Goblet of Fire Sets IMAX Box Office Record

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2-D release. With total grosses of more than $16 million on 89 IMAX screens worldwide, it passes the record set by BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, which grossed $15.9 million last year.

Headline News

Google to Launch Video Marketplace

At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Google Inc. announced the planned opening of the Google Video Store, the first open video marketplace enabling consumers to buy and rent a wide range of video content from a major television network, a professional sports league, cable programmers, independent producers and filmmakers.

Headline News

Warner Bros. Turns To Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are

Warner Bros. has snatched up the rights to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, which was in turnaround at Universal, according to VARIETY. Warner wants to put the Spike Jonze-directed, Dave Eggers-written adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book into production later this year. Playtone's Tom Hanks and Gary GGoetzman will produce with Sendak and John Carls.

Headline News

Nintendo's Electroplankton Turns Music Novices Into Mixing Maestros

Nintendo's new musical experience ELECTROPLANKTON has launched exclusively for Nintendo DS, letting users score music by using the touch screen or speaking into the microphone. Sounds can be sampled, manipulated, changed and rearranged to help even novices create engrossing beats and harmonies.

Marvel Headline News

Marvel Axes Toy Biz, Moves to Hasbro

Hasbro Inc. and Marvel Ent. Inc. announced a license under which Marvel has granted Hasbro toy and game rights to its superhero universe that includes franchises such as SPIDER-MAN, FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Through the agreement, Hasbro has obtained the rights to develop products based on Marvel's globally-known universe of more than 5,000 characters in a wide range of toy and game categories including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles.

Blu-ray Headline News

Dinosaur Among First Buena Vista Home Ent. Blu-ray DVDs

Buena Vista Home Ent. (BVHE) announced that it will begin releasing titles beginning summer of 2006 on the Blu-ray Disc format in conjunction with the hardware manufacturer's release of Blu-ray Disc products. Titles will include Walt Disney Pictures DINOSAUR; Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL: VOL. 1; HERO; DARK WATER; LADDER 49; THE BROTHERS GRIMM; THE GREAT RAID; ARMAGEDDON, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; Kevin Smith's JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK; and the documentary EVEREST narrated by Liam Neeson.

Headline News

Ballance and Messana Rejoin NewTek

Don Ballance and Ralph Messana have rejoined NewTek. They have spent the last two years developing and promoting the 3D Arsenal suite of software tools, a companion to LightWave 3D. 3D Arsenal is designed to make the creation of motion graphics quick and easy for video producers and editors not already versed in 3D animation.

Home Headline News

Incredibles DVD Wins Top DEG Honors

DEG: The Digital Ent. Group, which held its annual reception at CES 2006 in Las Vegas, honored THE INCREDIBLES: COLLECTORS EDITION (Buena Vista Home Ent.) as the Theatrical DVD Title of the Year.

Other winners included KING KONG: COLLECTORS EDITION (Warner Home Video) for Catalog; LOST: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Buena Vista Home Ent.) for TV; and the animated FAMILY GUY PRESENTS: STEWIE GRIFFIN, THE UNTOLD STORY (Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent.) for Direct to DVD.

Watch Headline News

Night Watch Invades U.S. on Feb. 17

With the popular Russian sci-fi thriller, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR), set to platform Feb. 17 in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco from Fox Searchlight Pictures, the second part of the trilogy, DAY WATCH, has just shattered box office records in Moscow. Fox Searchlight will release DAY WATCH theatrically later in 2006. The third part, DAWN WATCH, is currently in pre-production.

DAY WATCH premiered in Moscow on Jan. 1 with the biggest opening day gross ever at $2.1M. The three-day cume was $7.8M. DAY WATCH is now approaching a record $30M.

Headline News

VFX Continues to Dominate Domestic Box Office

The final box office numbers for 2005 are in and, not surprisingly, seven of the top 10 finishers were vfx-intensive blockbusters. Foxs STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH led the way with $380.2M. Following in second, third and fourth place were Warner Bros. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE with $278.6M, Paramounts WAR OF THE WORLDS with $234.2M and Buena Vistas THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE with $232.1M.

Comedy Headline News

South Park Going Mobile

For the first time ever SOUTH PARK and CHAPPELLES SHOW will be available on mobile phones beginning January 2006

"These deals further represent Comedy Central's multi-platform strategy to deliver content anywhere, anytime," said Michele Ganeless, evp/gm, Comedy Central. "We are committed to giving our audience quality programming beyond the boundaries of television. With the mobile launch of SOUTH PARK and CHAPPELLE'S SHOW, two of the top-rated shows on our network, Comedy Central is leading the charge in the wireless entertainment content arena."

Headline News

Caved In Debuts on SCI FI Jan. 7

The SCI FI Channel opens 2006 with giant killer beetles in its original movie, CAVED IN: PREHISTORIC TERROR, premiering Jan. 7 at 9:00 pm with a repeat at 1:00 am and an encore airing Jan. 12 at 9:00 pm.

CAVED IN, a cavernous adventure starring Christopher Atkins (THE BLUE LAGOON), Colm Meany (STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) and Angela Featherstone (ARMY OF DARKNESS), was produced by CineTel Films Inc. in conjunction with the SCI FI Channel.

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