Gregg Hoffman, Twisted Pictures partner and producer, died of natural causes on Dec. 4, 2005, in Los Angeles. He was 42 years old.
Hoffman, Twisted Pictures president of production, most recently produced SAW, SAW II, CATACOMBS and SILENCE. He was working on CRAWLSPACE and SAW III.
The premiere of night one of SCI FI Channel's original miniseries THE TRIANGLE averaged a 3.7HH rating and more than 4.3 million viewers (P2+) in its 9-11:00 pm block. Night one of THE TRIANGLE is the highest-rated program to air on SCI FI since 2003 and is the channel's highest-rated and most watched miniseries premiere night since the Emmy Award-winning STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS TAKEN (12/2/2002, 4.9 HH/6.1 million P2+).
The Damah Film Festival 2006Los Angeles, California, USAMay 2006Deadline: January 15, 2006
FICCI BAF Awards 2006Mumbai, IndiaMarch 22-24, 2006Deadline: January 31, 2006
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) hosts an International Animation Festival. This year it will have 14 professional categories, two student categories and Special Jury awards. In addition to Animation & Gaming, it has also introduced Visual Effects. For more information, visit www.ficci-frames.com.
Adobe Design Achievement AwardsToronto, Ontario, CanadaJuly 20, 2006Deadline: April 26, 2006
Students in 24 countries will have the opportunity to test their skills in a number of creative endeavors and, perhaps, get a jump-start on their careers with a prestigious award from Adobe Systems.
Adobe has this date issued a call for entries for the sixth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards for promising students in graphic design, photography, illustration, animation, digital filmmaking and computer arts.
REAL D, a leader in the delivery of premium 3-D experiences, plans to expand to Japan with the installation of the first two screens after the successful launch of CHICKEN LITTLE in Disney Digital 3-D, which has grossed more than $7 million through the Thanksgiving weekend. REAL D will open screens at Oriental Land Co.'s AMC Ikspiari 16 and Warner Mycal's Tama for the presentation of CHICKEN LITTLE starting Dec. 23, 2005.
Wave 5 in the illustrious Walt Disney Treasures DVD collection arrives Dec. 6, 2005 (Buena Vista Home Ent., $32.99 each). Individual two-disc sets (packaged in collectible tins) consist of: The Chronological Donald Volume Two, Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts 1920s-1960s, ELFEGO BACA and THE SWAMP FOX: Legendary Heroes and THE ADVENTURES OF SPIN & MARTY: THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB
Donald Duck extras include:* A Day in the Life of Donald Duck* Drawing and Talking Duck with Tony Anselmo
The Gnomon Workshop announced six new digital titles. The latest batch includes ZBrush, V-Ray, MEL and a title that takes you from a concept design illustration to a 3D render. This series of releases brings new titles from Chris Nichols and legendary artist Meats Meier, and introduces effects artists Kevin Mannens and Mark Lefitz to The Gnomon Workshop.
Ubisoft announced that AMERICAS ARMY: RISE OF A SOLDIER for Xbox and HEROES OF THE PACIFIC for PS2, Xbox and PC have shipped to retail stores.
Ubisoft and the U.S. Army worked together to develop AMERICAS ARMY: RISE OF A SOLDIER. With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the vast military expertise of the U.S. Army, Ubisoft created the most authentic military console game to date by incorporating true-to-life character progression via an all-new Career mode. The PlayStation 2 version is projected to ship in Q1 2006.
Nickelodeon is set to wrapped up laughs for the holidays with a primetime slate of Ha-Ha Holidays specials. Nicks airwaves will glow with an eerie-turned-cheery spirit when Danny Phantoms THE FRIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS premieres on Dec. 6 (8:30 p.m. ET/PT; encoring Dec. 17, 19 & 25).
The WB has a trio of holiday specials in December.
To help those who were devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Blue Sky Studios is hosting an auction of original concept art from their two recent films ICE AGE and ROBOTS. The auction will be held through eBay, and all of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Red Cross or the American Humane Society. The auction will run from Dec. 9-19, 2005. For more information, visit www.blueskystudios.com/auctions.
MUMMY director Stephen Sommers has returned to Paramount Pictures and Steven Spielbergs remake of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, according to VARIETY. Sommers will write and direct the film with Spielberg producing. Sommers was first attached to the project in April then dropped out to helm Fox's A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. But he left MUSEUM in September. Alli Shearmur is overseeing for Paramount.
20th Century Fox has announced that director Tim Story and writer Mark Frost will return for the FANTASTIC FOUR sequel, VARIETY reports. The studio has set July 4, 2007, as the release date. Avi Arad, Bernd Eichinger and Ralph Winter will produce.
Stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are expected to return, having signed options for a potential trilogy. However, Julian McMahon, who played villain Dr. Doom, will not return.
The original film grossed $154 million in the U.S.
At the Digital Media Festival in Sydney, Australia, Autodesk Inc. launched its Toxik visual effects software running on the Linux operating system. Toxik software enables teams of digital artists to collaboratively realize feature film visual effects ideas, and is already available on the Windows operating system. With the introduction of Toxik software running on Linux, film studios and post-production facilities have more options for the back-end infrastructure and administration of their digital film pipelines.
At last week's press junket in New York City, director Peter Jackson admitted that he changed the animation credit for Christian Rivers and Eric Leighton on KING KONG. Originally, the duo responsible for overseeing the masterful creation of the CG gorilla (with Rivers handling previs and MoCap) was given the credit: "Animation Designed & Supervised by," which appears in the production notes. However, Jackson requested that they be acknowledged as the animation directors in the end credits.
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE continued to lead the box office for the weekend ended Dec. 4, 2005, despite a 63% decline after the lucrative Thanksgiving holiday, racking up another $19.8M. The fourth entry in the hugely successful Warner Bros. franchise (with vfx from Double Negative, Framestore CFC, MPC, ILM, Cinesite, Animal Logic, The Orphanage, BUF and Rising Sun) has a three-week cume of $229.2M.
Lewis Coleman, a DreamWorks Animation board member and former vice chairman and cfo of Bank of America, has been named president of DreamWorks Animation.
Coleman, reporting to DreamWorks Animation ceo, Jeffrey Katzenberg, will lead the company's efforts with Katzenberg and coo Ann Daly, as it continues to produce two computer-generated animated movies per year and expands its business activities in direct-to-video movies, a growing licensing business, Broadway musicals and live entertainment. All execs who previously reported to Katzenberg will now report to Coleman.
ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominees for the 33rd annual Annie Awards, which will take place Feb. 4, 2006, in Glendale. WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT led the list of nominees with 16, including Best Animated Feature. The film also swept the Feature Voice Acting category with nods for Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Sallis and Nicholas Smith. DreamWorks MADAGASCAR came in second with nine nominations.
Recent winner of the Israeli Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary, 39 POUNDS OF LOVE, about an Israeli 3D animator who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy, will play in Los Angeles at the Nuart Theater in Santa Monica until Thursday, Dec. 8, 2005.
Animation house Brain Zoo Studios and videogame developer High Moon Studios announced their promotional trailer for the DARKWATCH videogame won two platinum Aurora Awards as well as five wins at the Davey Awards.
Spike TVs upcoming telecast of the Video Game Awards 2005 ceremony is being promoted on the cable channel with a duo of animated TV spots in which videogame characters slug it out for bragging rights in the gaming world. The two-hour special premieres on Dec. 10, 2005, at 9:00 pm ET/PT.
Anzovin Studio Inc. has introduced The Setup Machine 2 for Maya, an all-new version of its automated character rigging plug-in for Autodesks Maya. The Setup Machine 2 for Maya is priced at $99 (single license). Store links, sample rigs, and demo movies are available at: www.anzovin.com/TSM2Maya.
The Setup Machine 2 for Maya enables Maya users to easily and quickly rig a wide variety of CG characters for film, television and game animation. It installs a high-quality control rig and applies accurate skin weighting to human, animal and creature models.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has added an animated featurette to its "Shoot First Law" website. The animation offers award-winning artist Mark Fiores take on the Florida law, which took effect Oct. 1 and allows people to use deadly force in public. The animation is available for viewing at www.shootfirstlaw.org.
Nelvana Home Entertainment and Criterion Pictures have set a five-year agreement for the non-theatrical distribution of titles from Nelvanas library of animated programming.
Criterion Pictures picks up distribution rights to ANATOLE (episodes 1 to 26), BABAR (episodes 1 to 78), THE BERENSTAIN BEARS (episodes 1 to 40), CORDUROY (episodes 1 to 13), FRANKLIN (episodes 1 to 78), LITTLE BEAR (episodes 1 to 52) and ELLIOT MOOSE (episodes 1 to 13), with other titles under consideration.
