The 37th NAACP Image Awards Nominations were announced during a press conference at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Randy Jackson, Aisha Tyler, Kimberly Elise, James Pickens Jr., and Kevin Frazier joined NAACP president/ceo Bruce Gordon, chairperson, NAACP Image Awards Committee Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, exec producer, NAACP Image Awards to announce 38 categories, which included a new award for Directing.
The Broadcast Film Critics' 11th annual Critics' Choice Awards honored KING KONG with a special Distinguished Achievement in Performing Arts Award to recognize the blend of visual effects with Andy Serkis' motion capture performance. This honor coincides with the VES nominating Kong for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture, citing Andy Serkis, Atsushi Sato, Guy Williams and Eric Saindon.
BET has hired three new execs, which includes a head for its new animated programming division, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Denys Cowan has been hired for the new position of svp animation. Previously, Cowan worked with Hudlin on the Adult Swim series THE BOONDOCKS as producer and supervising director for Sony Pictures Television Animation. Hudlin is one of the exec producers of BOONDOCKS.
AICP Show 2006New York, New York, USAJune 2006Deadline: February 15, 2006
Legendary animator Joe Barbera just directed a brand new TOM AND JERRY theatrical short that will make its world television premiere on Cartoon Network Jan. 27, 2006, at 9:00 pm. The seven-minute cartoon, THE KARATEGUARD, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, has already been submitted for a 2006 Academy Award nomination in the animated short film category, and is the 162nd theatrical short in the 66-year career of the Academy Award-winning cat and mouse duo.
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.
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.
Alienware is now featuring the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor on both the Aurora ALX and Aurora 7500 desktop platforms.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
Autodesk is will soon be offering an exclusive new 3ds Max subscription service called Pro Booleans, which delivers expanded flexibility for the installed modeling tools in 3ds Max.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Horror ruled the box office once again with the debut of Lionsgates HOSTEL (with vfx by Precinct 13 Ent.), which captured $19.5M for the weekend ended Jan. 8, 2005.
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.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, a vet of the entertainment industry wants to make a move into the animation and visual effects fields and needs some advice.
The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the nominees for the 4th Annual VES Awards recognizing outstanding visual effects in 20 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and games.
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.
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.
