Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon will don the crown of the evil queen in Walt Disney Pictures' ENCHANTED, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The film has Sarandons Queen Narissa banishing a princess-in-waiting (Amy Adams) from a 2D animated world to the live-action world of New York City where the princess actually finds true love with a modern prince (James Marsden). The modern fairy is being directed by Kevin Lima from a script by Bill Kelly.
As part of an overall first-look deal, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE Jon Heder, identical twin Dan and older brother Doug will develop animated properties for Universal Pictures, reports VARIETY. The Heder brothers shingle will be called Greasy Ent. and besides animated project will develop starring vehicles for Jon Heder.
BKN International AG has opened a subsidiary in Barcelona named BKN Kids New Media SL, headed by md Laura Tapias, to handle its activities in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Latin America.
Tapias joined BKN New Media Ltd. UK in 2004 as vp, sales & marketing, for Spanish, Portuguese and Italian speaking territories. Tapias, with a decade of international sales and marketing experience in the entertainment industry, previously served with leading Spanish TV producers and distributors.
Animator/artist Jeremy McCarron joins The Art Institute of Vancouver as academic director of Animation Art & Design. McCarron brings more than a decade of production experience as an animator, cg supervisor, art director and animation director to the school.
Dan Philips joins LAIKA Ent. in Portland, Oregon, in the newly created post of vp/head of production.
Film and television fans will be able to make their opinions known and test their trivia skills during this year's telecast of the 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards Monday, Jan. 16, 2006, 8-11:00 pm (ET) on NBC. For the first time the show will feature an engaging online interactive television (ITV) experience on NBC.com, which can also be accessed at www.NBC.com/The_Golden_Globes/.
SCI FI Channel will team again with Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Les Bohem and DreamWorks Television, for the ambitious 12-hour miniseries event NINE LIVES, it was announced Jan. 12, 2006, at the Television Critics Press Tour. The group's last collaboration was 2003's groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning 20-hour miniseries, Steven Spielberg Presents TAKEN. NINE LIVES is slated to air in 2007.
New York City-based Asterisk produced an animated sequence for the Merchant/Ivory Productions WHITE COUNTESS, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.
The 40-second sequence occurs about 20 minutes into the film as a young girl stops to look at a shadowbox on the amusement pier. The glass slide in the shadowbox slowly comes to life and elegantly depicts the journey to another town shes been hoping for.
AJA Video, a leading manufacturer of professional video interface and conversion solutions, announced KONA 3, the new top-of-the-line HD/SD video capture card. Offering 40% more processing power than the industry-leading KONA 2, the new KONA 3 is the ultimate uncompressed capture card for SD, HD and Dual Link 4:4:4:4 HD for PCI Express Apple G5 Power Macs and Apple Final Cut Pro. The new card will ship worldwide on Jan. 30.
Since its launch at 3December, Alias' Ahead of the Curve design competition is accepting designs from students that demonstrate exceptional creativity and skill. The deadline is May 31, 2006. Three winners will be chosen in each of the following categories: Automotive Design, Product Design, Film and Video, Games Asset Development and Graphic Design/3D Illustration.
HONK, TOOT AND SWO-SWOOSH, a 3D, preschool series, has been awarded a CINE Golden Eagle in the Childrens Programs category.
Winners in this round include: WGBH, A&E Network, Discovery Channel, Public Television Service Taiwan, National Geographic, Thirteen/WNET, NOVA/WGBH, CNN, History Channel, MSNBC, PBS, Oxygen Media, THE NEWS HOUR WITH JIM LEHRAR and Sesame Workshop.
Spike TV is set to bring BLADE to television with a two-hour original drama that marks the network's first foray into scripted entertainment. Produced by New Line Television, BLADE premieres on Spike TV in June 2006.
"BLADE is perfectly suited for Spike TV and its male viewers," says Pancho Mansfield, evp, original programming at Spike TV. "The new "Blade" promises to capture what men want to see: thrilling action and effects combined with an intelligent and highly creative story."
Paramount Pictures has tapped SEVEN-helmer David Fincher to direct an adaptation of the graphic novel TORSO, which was written by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, reports the trades. THE RING scribe Ehren Kruger will write the adaptation, which will be produced by Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic, Angry Films' Don Murphy and comic artist Todd McFarlane.
The Weinstein Co.'s Dimension Films has hooked the domestic distribution rights to PIRANHA, a remake of the 1978 cult classic, VARIETY reports. Chuck Russell will direct in spring. Dimension will handle all English-speaking territories.
Set at Arizona's Lake Havasu, a vacation spot becomes a blood bath when a savage school of piranha swims through a crack in a crater formed by a prehistoric eruption at the bottom of the lake.
DIC Ent. (DIC) announced that McDonald's Corp. has entered into an agreement naming Cornerstone Group's China Retail Management (CRM) subsidiary the master licensee for McDonald's McKids line across Asia, excluding Japan and India. The multi-million dollar deal is the first major international initiative of DIC's new role as global consumer products and entertainment agent for McDonald's Corp.
U.K. broadcaster, Five, has commissioned Entertainment Rights Plc. (ER) to produce a new animated RUPERT AND FRIENDS (52x10) to broadcast in fall 2006.
This agreement follows ERs acquisition of the controlling rights to Rupert Bear from Express Newspapers (Express) in October 2005. ER acquired worldwide in perpetuity all audio visual, licensing and merchandising, publishing, live events and new media rights to Rupert Bear and the world of Nutwood.
AtomShockwave Corp. announced it has officially changed its corporate name to Atom Ent. Inc. The change was spurred by recent acquisitions, a newly created video directory and an advertising network that greatly expand the company's brand lineup and advertising opportunities. Atom Ent. now operates as the corporate umbrella for game sites Shockwave.com and AddictingGames and video sites AtomFilms and AddictingClips.
Nick Jr. announced that it has commenced production on the new original animated series, WOW! WOW! WUBBZY! The 26-episode preschool series, produced by Bolder Media for Boys and Girls and created by Bob Boyle (producer on Nickelodeon's THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS and DANNY PHANTOM), celebrates the spirit of teamwork and cooperation. WOW! WOW! WUBBZY! (formerly called WUBBY, WIDGET AND WALDEN) is slated to premiere in Fall 2006 on Nick Jr.
Image in Media Inc. (Image) announced that it has signed a $20 million co-production agreement for a 3D animation feature film entitled MONSTER CLUB THE MOVIE with China Film Animation Ltd. and UK-based producer Treehouse Film and Television Ltd. Production is planned to start in Q1 2006 and be completed within 12 months.
ASIFA-Hollywoods tribute to the work of UPA has been moved from February to March 26, 2006 at 6:00 pm. The event will examine the legacy of UPA (United Productions of America) the "anti-Disney" studio of the 1950s that is still influencing animation design today. The screening will feature rarely shown Columbia theatrical cartoons (in 35mm) starring Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing, as well as groundbreaking TV shorts, commercials and industrial films.
Congratulations to Autodesk for completing its purchase of Alias. We look forward to covering future developments in 3D software development and the ramifications for the entire industry. And congratulations to Pixars Ed Catmull and all the other recipients that will be honored at the Academys annual Scientific and Technical Awards at the Beverly Hilton on Feb. 18. Catmull, Tony DeRose and Jos Stam were singled out for their scientific and practical implementation of subdivision surfaces as a modeling technique in movies.
Vicon has installed a 44-camera Vicon MX40 system for facial, hand and full-body capture to leading game company Square Enix Co. Ltd.
Square Enix acquired the system to take advantage of the immediate performance gains of Vicon MX when recording actors for cinematic sequences and in-game play, and to support higher camera counts and complexity for motion capture on next-gen titles.
Square Enix has created such popular game franchises as FINAL FANTASY and DRAGON QUEST, and has been an experienced motion capture user for many years.
Apple introduced the new iMac featuring Mac OS X running on the new Intel Core Duo processor, delivering performance that is up to twice that of its predecessor. The widely praised iMac design now features dual-core processors, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing out-of-the-box, and the breakthrough media experience of Front Row with the Apple Remote for a simple, intuitive and powerful way for consumers to enjoy their content from across the room.
BOXX Technologies launched APEXX 4, a top-of-the-line personal workstation specifically engineered to maximize the productivity of the VFX professional.
Yoram Gross and his family have sold their 50% holdings in Yoram Gross-EM.TV to the other 50% shareholder, EM.Ent., an affiliated company to the German media company EM.TV AG.
Originally founded by Yoram and Sandra Gross 37 years ago in Sdyney, they sold 50% of their studio to EM.TV in 1999 to form Yoram Gross-EM.TV.
The Gross family will continue to hold a majority shareholding in a related company, Yoram Gross Prods., until its current slate of productions is completed to ensure continuity of production and creative control.
