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AWN Headline News

Comedy Headline News

South Park Creators Re-Up Three More Years & 42 New Episodes on Comedy Central

Comedy Central and SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have renewed their contract in a deal that will keep the creative duo at the cable channel through the end of 2008.

Viewers may look forward to three more years of SOUTH PARK episodes with 14 new episodes each year. Parker and Stone will continue under the new agreement to write, direct, voice and edit every episode, as they have since the creation of the show.

Animation Headline News

Submit Your Animation, Machinima and Game Trailers to the ION Fest

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 12:00am

ION Animation, Games and Film Festival 2005Los Angeles, California USADecember 2 4, 2005Deadline: September 30, 2005

The ION International Animation, Games and Film Festival will return to Los Angeles this fall and organizers are looking for submissions of animated films, machinima, game trailers, music videos, live-action short films, short documentaries, TV spots, movie trailers and films made for mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs.

Headline News

Revolution Sponsors Henchman vs. Sidekick

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, September 8, 2005 at 12:00am

Revolution Studios has optioned a comedy pitch titled HENCHMAN VS. SIDEKICK via the studios former founding partner Todd Garner's new production house Broken Road, reports VARIETY. The spoof follows the fight between a sidekick and a henchman after their respective superhero and supervillain kill each other. Writers Kathy Gori and Alan Berger hatched the idea.

Software Headline News

LookAhead Applies Robotics to Videogames and Animation

LookAhead Decisions Inc. (LDI) announced the release of its breakthrough software product for videogames and animation. Locust uses proprietary simulation-based look-ahead methods similar to those used by world-championship chess programs, except it handles in realtime aspects such as uncertainty, complex time/cost tradeoffs and dozens of parallel decision-makers.

Autodesk Headline News

Autodesk TV Suite Gets Global Play

Autodesk Inc. announced that it has seen rapid demand for its Autodesk TV Suite from broadcasters and post-production houses around the globe. From Tokyo to Rome, the Autodesk TV Suite is being used to realize ideas for high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) television content.

Animation Headline News

CAT2 Starts Shipping

Character Animation Technologies Ltd has released CAT Version 2. A plug-in for Autodesk's 3ds Max, CAT2 is the next generation of the industry-acclaimed character system CAT (Character Animation Toolkit). CAT2 offers a unique set of tools to help game development, film and television artists produce better animations more quickly in a completely flexible environment.

Team Headline News

A52 Goes for Mystique & Mythology in Rome Main Titles

ROME, the new HBO/BBC co-production, which recently debuted on HBO, boasts the mystique of Rome in 52 BC via a main title sequence created by award-winning Los Angeles visual effects and design company A52. The :90 main titles, created entirely in-house at A52, will introduce each episode.

This venture, our third with A52, proves what a powerful creative force they are, said Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Ent.

Effects Headline News

Garman Herigstad Joins Side Effects Software

Side Effects Software, developer of the award-winning Houdini family of 3D software, has appointed industry veteran Garman Herigstad as production consultant. Herigstad will leverage more than 19 years of experience in 3D animation and vfx at Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks to provide on-site production and training support to studios using Houdini software.

Film Headline News

Slade Slated for 30 Days Horror Flick

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

Columbia Pictures has hired former music video director David Slade to helm the horror film 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, according to the trades. Ghost House Pictures will be the production firm on the film with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert producing. Grant Curtis will shepherd the film for Ghost House. Mike Richardson, Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will serve as exec producers. Shannon Gaulding and Adam Milano will shepherd for Columbia.

Television Headline News

SCI FI Imagines What If With New Alternative Reality Project

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

SCI FI Channel continues to test the boundaries of imagination with WHAT IF, a speculative future project that poses intriguing scenarios of alternate realities. The program, from NBC Universal Television Studio in association with New Line Television, asks... What if a moment in time could change the world forever?

Animation Headline News

Sam Chen's Eternal Gaze Arrives on DVD

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

Inspired by the life and torment of Alberto Giacometti, ETERNAL GAZE is a story about an artist, his art and reciprocated love. ETERNAL GAZE is a computer-animated film about a real person in a real location. The screenplay was inspired by a combination of ideas and facts based on Giacometti's real life stories with fantasy added in.

Headline News

4Kids TV To Feature Bratz, G.I. Joe & Magical DoReMi

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

4Kids Ent. Inc. announced its new 4Kids TV lineup for fall 2005. 4KIDS TV, which airs Saturday mornings from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (ET) on FOX affiliates nationwide, launches its fourth season on Sept. 10, 2005.

The lineup includes the U.S. debut of MAGICAL DOREMI, BRATZ and G.I. JOE SIGMA 6. Returning to the 4Kids TV lineup with all-new adventures are well-known and popular properties ONE PIECE, WINX CLUB, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, SONIC X and MEW MEW POWER.

Nickelodeon Headline News

Danny Phantom Gets in Game for the First Time

Nickelodeons popular Danny Phantom character is available for the first time as a videogame, DANNY PHANTOM: THE ULTIMATE ENEMY, which THQ Inc. has released to retail outlets throughout North America. This fast-paced, action game based on a special episode of the popular Nickelodeon television series, DANNY PHANTOM.

The videogame recreates all of Danny's TV powers, allowing players to walk through walls, shoot ghostly beams and howl a ghostly wail as he travels through time to save the world.

Awards Headline News

George Lopez to Host Creative Arts Emmy Awards Show Sept. 11

George Lopez will host the 2005 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 11, 2005, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Sean Hayes (WILL & GRACE) will present Jerry Lewis with the prestigious Governors Award at the 2005 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, which is not part of the Emmy awards network broadcast on September 18.

Animation Headline News

Newest Animation World Mag Acrobat Now Online!

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

The March Acrobat edition of Animation World Magazine is now ready for download. The theme this time around is direct-to-video. Greg Singer sizes up the direct-to-video biz in his in-depth analysis. Joe Strike stakes a claim on Disneys direct-to-video sequels. Karen Raugust looks at HIT Ent. home entertainment empire. Rounding out the theme, Chris Panzner takes a more historical look at Japans V-cinema.

Animation Headline News

AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for September 6, 2005

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 at 12:00am

This week in AWN's Forums, a member asks how do you pitch an idea to the studios? Another member has an FPS question. A senior member asks for advise in keeping characters look consistent from pose to pose. Another member is looking for fellow voice over actors. There a thread on vector based 2D animation programs being used at the studios. A blogger asks whats wrong with animation in India? Others continue to post their work for critique.

Digital Headline News

Lustre Digital Color Grading System Shines Worldwide

Autodesks Discreet Lustre digital color grading system has been adopted by more than 15 additional post-production facilities and film studios. The Lustre system is being used on several upcoming feature films, including KING KONG, STAY, PENNY DREADFUL and DOMINO.

Headline News

Alias Celebrates Six New Maya Masters

The 2005 Maya Masters, announced and honored at the Alias Global Users Assn. (AGUA) annual event last month during SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, include:

* Drew Berry works for The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia and creates scientific visualizations for science documentaries, museum exhibits and gallery installations around the world. His most recent project involved creating animations of the very nasty bugs Smallpox, Ebola and Anthrax for a National Geographic documentary on Bioterrorism.

Headline News

Animazoo Supports Dubai Men’s College with Gypsy MoCap

Animazoo supported students at Dubai Mens College through an intense seven-day production with Gypsy motion capture systems.

Using Gypsy as their core technology, the students managed the MoCap pipeline for a popular animated mascot nicknamed Mobda conceived to improve relations between children and the Dubai police force.

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