The WAR OF THE WORLDS remake by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, which grossed $582 million worldwide, is bound for DVD on Nov. 22, 2005 (DreamWorks Home Ent., $30). The limited edition, two-disc set will include interviews with Spielberg and Cruise recounting their on-set experiences and revealing their approach to telling the personal story at the heart of this epic odyssey.
When youre a top visual effects company working on multiple projects simultaneously, network speed is critical to meeting client deadlines. For Luma Pictures, creators of vfx for THE CAVE, UNDERWORLD, UNDERWORLD 2, and SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, bandwidth necessity is at a maximum, with 50 to 60 employees concurrently accessing multiple servers throughout the firms Santa Monica production facility. To increase system performance, Luma turned to Small Tree Communications, designers and manufacturers of high-performance networking equipment for the Mac OS X.
DAZ Prods. Inc. has launched DAZ Studio, a free, feature-rich 3D animation software package that puts a complete virtual photo and motion picture studio at your fingertips. With pre-configured 3D scenes, poseable characters, animals, environments, clothing and accessories, DAZ Studio is the easiest way to quickly create high-quality digital images and animation for games, multimedia, illustration and photography applications.
DreamWorks Animation ceo Jeffrey Katzenberg announced that the studio will produce a sequel to MADAGASCAR, which has now passed the $500-million mark at the worldwide box office, making it the companys most successful original movie ever.
Katzenberg also announced that Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith will be reprising their roles. He said he was looking forward to other original cast members returning to their roles for the sequel.
The sequel will once again be produced by Mireille Soria and co-directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath.
REBELLION OF THE CANES is an animated short documentary, which was recently produced by 25 Minya children in Egypt with the financial add of UNICEF, reports EGYPTTODAY. The children spent five days making a series of short animation films on topics relating to childrens rights. The resulting film screened at the Lebanon International Film Festival.
The Changsha Cartoon Art Festival, which serves as the Academy Awards for Chinese animation, and a growing annual gathering of international animation companies and festivals, is welcoming American participation.
Sander K. Johnson, president of International Television for Asia (ITA) and American Television in China (ATC), has been authorized by the Organizing Committee of the Changsha Cartoon Art Festival to help facilitate North American participation in the festival taking place Nov. 5-7, 2005, in Changsha, China.
With TIM BURTONS CORPSE BRIDE opening in limited release this Friday, VFXWORLD has a special set report on the making of the groundbreaking stop motion animated feature at 3 Mills Studios in London. You will hear from director Mike Johnson, character maintenance supervisor Graham Maiden, director of photography/vfx supervisor Pete Kozachik and art director Nelson Lowry, along with several key animators.
TIM BURTONS CORPSE BRIDE, Warner Bros. Pictures stop motion animated feature directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton, utilizes the visual-effects services of London-based Moving Picture Co. (MPC) on 460 shots, supervised by MPCs Jessica Norman. The picture was color graded by Max Horton in the MPC DI lab.
In many respects, Quiet Man functions much as it sounds. The New York visual effects company is decidedly low-key and casual, reflecting the comfortable confidence with which they ply their craft. However, Since opening their doors a decade ago, the creative studio has enjoyed a, for the most part uninterrupted, growth in status and reputation in the advertising industry, in which they are renowned for the high level of aesthetic and technical finesse they bring to their visual effects work.
Digital-Tutors released INTRODUCTION TO PAINT EFFECTS training kit, the newest release in a growing library of popular training resources for emerging digital artists. INTRODUCTION TO PAINT EFFECTS provides more than four hours of project-driven training and guides users step-by-step through Mayas powerful brushed-based technology, Paint Effects.
The weird and wacky movie adaptation of Douglas Adams THE HITCHHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (Buena Vista Home Ent., $29.99) comes to DVD Sept. 13, 2005. Its fun to watch the scene stealing going on between Sam Rockwell (as galaxy president Zaphod Beeblebrox) and John Malkovich (as rival Humma Kavula), but its Alan Rickman who steals the movie as the voice of Marvin, the kvetching robot. Imaginative vfx by Cinesite, creatures by Jim Hensons Creature Shop and models by Asylum Models & Effects.
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. has appointed BBC Worldwide (U.K.), m4e (Germany) and ABC (Australia) licensing agents for new children's stop-motion animated property, LUNAR JIM. Each of the licensing agents, working alongside master toy licensee, Fisher-Price, will oversee the licensing program, including securing new licenses and managing product launches, in their respective territories.
YTV is underway with its new fall programming which started with a special sneak preview to kids over Labor Day of its new series CATSCRATCH; D.I.C.E.; AVATAR; HI HI PUFFY AMI YUMI; UNFABULOUS; SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH and THE FRESH PRINCE OF BELL AIR, and new episodes of THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY NEUTRON: BOY GENIUS; MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT; DANNY PHANTOM; ALL GROWN UP; SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS; BEING IAN; 15/LOVE and MARTIN MYSTERY.
The lineup features:CATSCRATCH on Fridays at 4:30 pm and Sundays at 10:30 am
Nickelodeon will premiere the one-hour movie, DANNY PHANTOM: THE ULTIMATE ENEMY, from creator Butch Hartman (THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS) on Sept. 16, 2005 from 8-9:00 pm. The series hero, Danny Fenton (voiced by David Kaufman) finds being back at school while simultaneously fighting ghosts is too much for him. When he decides to cheat on a test, Danny suffers the consequences and must face his ultimate enemy or risk turning to the dark side forever.
Prix Jeunesse International 2006 Munich, GermanyMay 510, 2006 Deadline: December 12, 2005
Verizon Wireless and Gameloft have launched the first realtime multiplayer mobile game on Verizon Wireless V CAST consumer multimedia service. Available exclusively to Verizon Wireless V CAST customers, ASPHALT URBAN GT: MULTIPLAYER allows players to simultaneously compete in Gamelofts latest 3D driving game.
The School of Art at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, through the offices of NASAD The National Association of Schools of Art and Design, an organization that accredits art and design programs, has issued a call for art supplies to help the children and artists affected by Hurricane Katrina.
On Sept. 15, 2005, Animation Block Party will end the sweltering NYC summer with a festival featuring more than 50 short films in three September screenings at BAM Rose Cinemas in Brooklyn. Animation Block Party received almost 650 submissions over the course of 2005.
HBO has greenlit a second season of its new series ROME, reports the trades. The new 12 hourlong episodes will air in 2007.
The first episode, Aug. 28, harvested 8.9 million total viewers over the course of 11 plays on HBO and HBO2 spread across the entire week. The Sunday primetime broadcast scored a 9.1 household rating the best number for a new-season debut episode since the fourth-season premiere of SIX FEET UNDER in 2004.
Hong Kong Disneyland officially opened on Sept. 12, 2005. The grand opening ceremony began with a colorful display of spinning parasols which parted to reveal children welcoming the spectators in English, Cantonese and Putonghua. Classical Chinese tradition joined with Disney heritage as the ceremony continued with the 100-voice Hong Kong Children's Choir, Chinese acrobats and dancers and Disney ambassadors representing all of the Disney theme parks worldwide Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and the U.S.
GC, a leading gaming event in Leipzig, Germany, wrapped up with its Best of GC awards. The jury of experts reviewed 102 nominated games and chose the best brand-new game of the fair in nine categories (eight platforms plus the most innovative product). The following games were awarded the Best of GC seal, which they can use from now on for their own publicity:
PC - F.E.A.R. (Vivendi Universal Games Deutschland GmbH)GameBoy - FIRE EMBLEM SACRED STONES (Nintendo)Nintendo DS - NINTENDOGS (Nintendo)
The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the schedule of events for eDIT 8. The Filmmakers Festival, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany, from Oct. 911, 2005. Focusing on storytelling in the digital age, eDIT 8 will feature more than 40 different presentations covering a wide range of production aspects, including editing, writing, digital cinema, sound design, producing, visual effects in commercials, television design and much more.
Ken Faier has departed Alliance Atlantis to join Nerd Corps Entertainment as president, responsible for the overall management and administration of the company's library of existing and new intellectual properties, including arranging financing, co-production partners, distribution and licensing and merchandising deals as well as work with the management team to oversee expansion of the companys infrastructure into a full service global player in the childrens market.
SOUTH PARK and STAR WARS: CLONE WARS VOLUME 2 won the Animated Programming categories in the 57th Annual Emmy Awards race during the 2004-2005 Creative Arts Primetime Emmys presentation Sept. 11, 2005, for programs and individual achievements at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS and LOST won in the Visual Effects categories.
HBOs animated CLASSICAL BABY tied with the live action NICK NEWS WITH LINDA ELLERBEE: NEVER AGAIN? -- FROM THE HOLOCAUST TO THE SUDAN from Nickelodeon for Outstanding Childrens Program.
2006 Roma Independent Film FestivalRome, ItalyMarch 24-31, 2006Deadline: December 15, 2005,
After the success of the fourth edition, the Roma Independent Film Festival with the support of the Directorate for Cultural Policies of the City of Rome and with the contribution of the Ministry for Cultural Activities (DGC) and of the Lazio Region is becoming an important appointment for independent cinema, on a national and international level.
