The French postal service, La Poste, has honored THE SIMS franchise with an official postage stamp. Published in limited edition of three million units, Les Sims is one of 10 stamps in the Heroes of Videogames collection featuring the industrys most beloved icons.
The set retails for 2.65 euros (approximately $3.09 USD) and is available now in French post offices and through La Poste's website at www.timbres.laposte.fr/eng.
Kids' WB! and Cartoon Network have acquired 26 episodes of the original animated series, MONSTER ALLERGY, from Italian animation production company Rainbow S.r.l.
Billy Dexter has been appointed MTV Networks first evp/chief diversity officer (cdo). This new executive position creates a senior leader of the company's global initiatives to foster the highest levels of diversity throughout every aspect of its businesses. Dexter reports to Judy McGrath, chairman/ceo of MTV Networks, and will represent diversity issues on her executive strategy team.
Autodesk Inc. has begun shipping Autodesk Combustion 4 software for Apple Macintosh. Combustion 4, Autodesk's desktop visual effects software consists of a powerful feature set, including vector paint, particles, effects, animation and 3D compositing. This new version for the Mac operating system streamlines the creative process for visual graphics creation by providing enhanced interoperability with third-party desktop applications, improved paint tools and workflow efficiency.
Sony Corp. of America has appointed Tim Schaaff has been appointed to the newly-created position of svp of Software Development, effective immediately. Schaaff reports to Keiji Kimura, evp and officer in charge of Technology Strategy of Sony Corp.
SUPERMAN RETURNS director Bryan Singer has hired documentary director Kevin Burns to make LOOK UP IN THE SKY: THE AMAZING STORY OF SUPERMAN, Variety reports.
Singer will exec-produce with Burns and is working with Warner Bros. on plans to get the feature-length doc a theatrical release and a TV viewing before Warner bows SUPERMAN RETURNS on June 30.
Singer met Burns when he was a film student and was impressed with CLEOPATRA: THE FILM THAT CHANGED HOLLYWOOD, which Burns co-directed with Brent Zacky, and EMPIRE OF DREAMS: THE STORY OF THE STAR WARS TRILOGY.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE will be released spring 2006 in China.
The first half of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's second season comes to DVD just in time for the holidays (Universal Studios Home Ent., $49.98). SEASON 2.0 further explores creator Ron Moore's (STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE and CARNIVALE) take on the nature of humanity and spirituality, but Sci Fi's hottest series is still about "the chase," as Moore likes to call it. The first 10 episodes are spread across three discs and Zoic serves as lead vfx house.
Bonus features include:* Deleted scenes, including 17 minutes from the premiere episode, "Scattered."
Warner Home Video often includes animated classics as bonus features with its catalog titles, but in the case of the spectacularly successful and moving MARCH OF THE PENGUINS documentary ($28.98), they've thrown in 8 BALL BUNNY.
In this memorable 1950 Warner Bros. short (directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, Bugs helps a penguin go home via New Orleans, Martinique, the Panama Canal and the Sorth Pole. But the gag is that the penguin's home is actually in New Jersey. Along the way, they come across Bogey from THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.
Jeff Bewkes has been named president/coo of Time Warner Inc. while Don Logan, chairman of Time Warner's Media & Communications Group, plans to retire at the end of the year and become the non-executive chairman of Time Warner Cable's board of directors.
The controversial and previously-banned episode of FAMILY GUY, "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein," will air on Canadian broadcaster, TELETOON, on Dec. 23, 2005, at 9:00 pm and 12:30 am, and again on Dec. 26 at 9:00 pm and 12:30 am.
FOX network censors originally rejected the episode, then allowed it to air in the U.S. after cutting some references they feared would be perceived as anti-Semitic. The uncut episode event was later aired in the U.S. on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim and made its way onto DVD.
The Jim Henson Co. has selected the honorees of the newly established Jim Henson Honors, an annual program that acknowledges organizations, individuals or products that reflect the core values and philosophy of Jim Henson and the company he founded in 1955.
The Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan will debut three new short features from Hayao Miyazaki. Starting Jan. 3, 2006 and running until March 13, the three films will screen in the museums Saturn Theatre.
Animazoo UK has opened a new motion capture studio on the south coast city of Brighton, in the U.K.
Already attracting a stream of international visitors, the studio offers users the latest motion capture technology with expert operators to ensure projects run smoothly. Using state of the art Gypsy systems, the studio can handle applications that are impossible with traditional studio based optical systems.
Seoul, South Korea-based Gravity Co. Ltd. announced that it has decided to invest 1 billion Japanese Yen in "Online Game Revolution Vol. 1," an investment fund organized in Japan. "Online Game Revolution Vol.1," with a total proposed investment size of 10 billion Japanese Yen, has an investment objective of investing in companies that develop online games in Japan. Movida Investment Inc., an affiliate of SoftBank Group, will operate the fund as the general partner of the fund. Several Japanese and Korean developers of online games, including CJ Internet Corp.
VFXWORLD finishes off 2005 with a look at the latest trends in digital acting and CG environments.
South West Screen, Skillset and Bristol-based Aardman Features are hosting a unique masterclass for animation professionals. Experts from Aardman and DreamWorks will show 2D and stop-frame animators how their skills can be transferred to CGI.
As Aardmans principal animator, Loyd Price who is part of the masterclass team, says The masterclasses are about taking animators on a journey.
DreamWorks has secured the North American rights to TYPHOON, the most expensive Korean film ever made, reports VARIETY. The budget for the film is listed as $15 million, but it is rumored to have cost several million more.
The multi-language film was produced by South Korean major CJ Ent. The K.T. Kwak directed film follows a modern-day pirate planning a massive attack on North and South Korea.
IGN.com has unveiled its extensive picks for the best games, movies, DVDs and comics of the year.
When the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced last month that it will award a new category of the Emmy Awards for original programming created specifically for non-traditional viewing platforms, it was overwhelmed by response from the creative community.
NBC Universal Television Studio has completed a new, two-year overall production deal with writer/producer Ronald D. Moore (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE) to develop various projects for the studio.
Moore's new deal allows him to continue as one of the show-running exec producers of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA for NBC Universal's SCI FI Channel. Moore's development plans are expected to skew toward SCI FI programming.
D2 Software Inc., a subsidiary of Digital Domain Inc., is now shipping v4.5 of Nuke, the high-end compositing system built by artists, for artists, was and recently used by Weta Digital on KING KONG.
Buena Vista Games shipped more than two million units of the multiplatform videogame, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, to retail outlets in North America and Europe. It was released in conjunction with the epic film from Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, which debuted Dec. 9, 2005, in theaters.
The wolf makes peace with the lamb this holiday season in a new campaign from PUMA. Award-winning Version2 VFX/Design and editor Dave Herman were called on once again by director Andrew Zuckerman to execute the clever spots, which are an extension of ongoing creative for the client.
Kodak Digital Cinema and REAL D announced that the companies have formed a strategic alliance to roll out digital 3-D cinema throughout Australia. Installation of digital 3-D cinema systems will be complete in time for the country's upcoming premiere of Disney's CHICKEN LITTLE in 3-D starting Jan. 1, 2006.
