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AWN Headline News

Studio Headline News

Disney Offers More Studio Ghibli on DVD

MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS (1999) and POM POKO (1994), two animated features from director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, make their DVD debuts (Buena Vista Home Ent., $29.99) on Aug. 16, 2005. The former provides nine amusing comic book-style tales in the life of the quirky Yamada family, punctuated by a haiku.

Animation Headline News

AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for August 15, 2005

This week in AWN's Forums, a junior member is looking for ideas on how to animation production in America. Another junior members continue to have questions about schools. Another member is organizing a group picture of forum members comprises of individuals drawings. Theres a thread on editing .SFW Flash animation. Others continue to discuss FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS. A musician is looking for animators to work with. There are additional posts with members artwork for others to check out.

Imax Headline News

Batman Begins Sets Another IMAX Box Office Record

IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2D release, reaching the milestone in less than nine weeks. With total grosses of $14.5 million on 72 worldwide IMAX screens, it eclipses the record set by THE MATRIX RELOADED: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, which grossed a little more than $14 million in 22 weeks. For the three-day period from Aug. 12 to Aug.

Animation Headline News

Toon Boom Among Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards

Toon Boom Technologies is among the the recipients of the 2005 Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards recently announced by The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Recipients will receive their awards during the non-televised Primetime Creative Arts ceremony on Sept. 11, 2005, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Following are the 2005 Primetime Emmy Engineering Awards recipients:

Cartoon Headline News

Brazilian Shorts Series Premieres on Cartoon Network Latin America

PIXCODELICS, a new series of shorts premiered on Cartoon Network Latin America Aug. 13, 2005, at 12:00 pm. PIXCODELICS, consisting of 65 five-minute interstitials, was produced with MoP Brasil Digital, a 3D animation studio in San Paulo (www.mopdigital.com.br) and features a group of kids fighting to keep the Internet out of the clutches of a web tycoon.

Headline News

Kids’ WB! Doubles Up Pokémon Advanced Challenge

Beginning Saturday, Aug. 20, 2995, Kids' WB! will add a double-dose of POKÉMON ADVANCED CHALLENGE at 10:30 am ET/9:30am PT, to give viewers an hour-block of anime adventures.

The weekday lineup is as follows:3:00 pm: POKÉMON3:30 pm: JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES4:00 pm: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN4:30 pm: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN

The revised Saturday morning schedule, beginning Saturday, August 20, is as follows (all times Eastern, Pacific time is one hour earlier):8:00 am: THE BATMAN8:30 am: THE BATMAN

Silver Headline News

Kidman to Star in Hirschbiegel's Invasion

Nicole Kidman is set to star in a sci-fi thriller, INVASION, for Warner Bros. Joel Silver is producing through Silver Pictures, reports DAILY VARIETY. Silver chose Oliver Hirschbiegel, the German helmer of DOWNFALL, to direct INVASION as his first English-language studio feature.

David Kajganich penned the script about a behavior-changing epidemic that decimates the human race. Kidman will play a D.C. psychiatrist who figures out that extraterrestrials are behind the invasion and battles to protect her son, who may hold the key to stopping the takeover.

Headline News

Frank Miller’s Ancient 300 Tale Coming to Theaters

Warner Bros. Pictures is set to bring to life Frank Millers ancient Greece-set graphic novel, 300, into a feature film, according to VARIETY. Zack Snyder (DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) will direct and Atmosphere Pictures MM and Hollywood Gang Prods. are producing. Gerard Butler (THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) will star. Filming will begin Oct. 17 in Montreal.

The true story follows 300 elite Spartan fighters who, led by King Leonidas (Butler), fought to the death against King Xerxes' overpowering Persian army during the battle of Thermopylae in 481-480 B.C.

Film Headline News

Universal Sets 9/11 Film Flight Plan

Universal and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY director Paul Greengrass will make 9/11 inspired feature, FLIGHT 93 with production set to start October 1, according to VARIETY. Working Title Films partners Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce.

The $15 million film will run in realtime chronicling the takeoff and hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 by terrorists. The drama will follow the discovery of the passengers that other planes had been hijacked and crashed into buildings and their decision to take over the plane themselves.

Festival Headline News

Ottawa Announces Films in Competition

The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announced the films that have been invited to compete in this year's event. Out of 1,883 entries the festival received from 64 countries, only 109 were chosen for Official Competition. An additional 46 films will be shown in out-of-competition Showcase screenings. The 16th edition of the now-annual OIAF runs from September 21-25 in Ottawa, Ontario.

Headline News

Viking Tale Finds Path To Rings Actor

LORD OF THE RINGS actor Karl Urban is in talks to star in PATHFINDER, a Viking epic produced by Phoenix Pictures and director Marcus Nispel (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake), according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. 20th Century Fox will distribute.

The film is a remake of Nils Gaups 1987 Norwegian picture, which Phoenix acquired the rights to in 2001. The original followed Norway's warlike clans around the year 1000 A.D., however the redo script from scribe Laeta Kalogridis (ALEXANDER) moves the action to North America around the same time.

Film Headline News

India's First Live Action/Animation Hybrid Set For Release

India s first live-action/animation hybrid feature, BHAGMATI THE QUEEN OF FORTUNES, is set for release, reports NewIndPress.com. The work was completed entirely in three years by 120 animators from Z.I.C.A. (Zee Institute of Creative Arts).

Film Headline News

Mexico’s #2 TV Net Enters Theatrical Toon Distribution

Mexicos #2 television network TV Azteca entered the theatrical feature film distribution business with the release of the 3D animated, PIRATES EN EL PACIFICO (PIRATES IN THE PACIFIC), reports VARIETY. TV Azteca partnered with leading exhibitor Cinepolis on the venture and is set to release the film in the U.S. this fall.

Effects Headline News

Look Effects Finishes First Season of Malcolm

Look Effects, which recently worked on THE LIFE AQUATIC, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, THE O.C. and CSI: NEW YORK, has just finished its first season of producing vfx for the long running Fox series MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE.

Look Effects partner Henrik Fett, an industry vet who has worked on projects such as JOAN OF ARCADIA and THE LIFE AQUATIC, served as the series visual effects supervisor and will oversee both the on-set effects shoots at the Fox studios as well as the animation and compositing teams at Looks Hollywood facilities.

Headline News

Jim Riche Joins Nice Shoes Family

Award-winning exec producer, visual effects supervisor and director Jim Riche has joined the Nice Shoes Family, consisting of Nice Shoes, Guava and Freestyle Collective, acting as head of production for both Nice Shoes and Guava. Riche will oversee the companies production staffs, work to foster collaboration between the two studios and capitalize on the natural synergies that exist between their services and artistic staffs. Riche will also serve as a visual effects supervisor for special projects on a bicoastal basis.

Post Headline News

Post Logic Expands Colorist Talent Roster

Leading post-production boutique Post Logic Studios has added to its talent roster by hiring senior colorists Mike Cosola and Eric Alvarado for its Hollywood and New York digital studios, respectively. The additions come at a time when Post Logic is poised to implement a significant capital expansion of equipment and digital intermediate services.

Headline News

SketchBook Pro Software Bundled With ThinkPad Tablet PC

Alias SketchBook Pro software will be bundled with the recently released Lenovo x41ThinkPad Tablet PC. A full-feature trial software version of Alias digital pen-based sketching and annotation software, Alias SketchBook Pro, will be included on all ThinkPad X41 Tablet units. As part of Lenovos offering, customers will have the ability to download, install and use Alias SketchBook Pro without restriction for a 15-day trial period, with a limited-feature version after the trial expires.

Headline News

Baraka Post Creates VFX for New Paddingtons’ Music Video

Baraka Post Production recently completed vfx and other post duties on a new rock and roll pop promo titled 50 TO A £ (POUND) for indie band, The Paddingtons, directed by Caswell Coggins and produced by Patrick Holtkamp from Draw Pictures. Tom Bird at Mercury Records commissioned the video.

The music video portrays the band smashing up a pub-kind-of-gig and initiating a rather considerable punch-up.

Headline News

Four Brothers Captures Weak Box Office

Paramounts action-packed FOUR BROTHERS (with vfx support from Mr. X and Creature Effects) debuted in the top spot for the weekend ended Aug. 14, 2005, with $21.1M. But the slump continued as the top 12 movies were off by 16% from last years numbers. Another newcomer, Universals frightener, THE SKELETON KEY (with vfx from Rhythm + Hues), bowed in second with $16M. Sinking to third was Warner Bros. THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, which managed only $13M for a two-week cume of $57.4M. New Lines WEDDING CRASHERS landed in fourth place with $11.8M and $163.8M to date.

Design Headline News

Heavenspot Designs Hustle & Flow Online Game

Heavenspot, a full service international design agency located in Hollywood, recently completed an online game design for Watson DG on HUSTLE AND FLOW, a newly released feature film from Paramount Studios.

Catering to the features core youth market and hip-hop audience, the game package includes fresh sound effects, innovative flash interfaces, a progressive design theory and the ability to email your customized ride to a friend.

Studio Headline News

Studio Center Acquires Tele-Talent International Agency

Studio Center Worldwide Audio, a production group with 16 studios in four cities, as acquired Hollywood-based Tele-Talent International, Inc. as part of its nationwide expansion.

"We love the Los Angeles market and Tele-Talent International, Inc. has been very successful there for 23 years, said William "Woody" Prettyman, ceo of Studio Center Worldwide Audio. We are extremely excited about the long-term prospects of this acquisition."

Series Headline News

Naruto to Debut Sept. 10 on Cartoon Network

Anime series NARUTO will make its worldwide English-version debut on Sept. 10, 2005, at 9 pm during Cartoon Networks primetime action block, Toonami.

The recently produced series (2202) from Japan centers around Uzumaki Naruto, a rebellious ninja in training, first featured as a popular manga series created by Masahi Kishimoto. The series has already acquired a huge fan base in the U.S. through DVD sales and bootleg tapes. Cartoon Network has acquired 52 episodes of the anime series.

Films Headline News

Rushes Into Overtime For Top Toon Winner

The annual Rushes Soho Shorts Festival has announced its winners. The Annecy Student Award winner OVERTIME, which pays tribute to the work of Jim Henson, took home the Vue Animation Award. The film was produced by Oury Atlan, Thibaut Berlano and Damien Ferrie via Supinfocom. The animation runners-up were CITY PARADISE by Gaelle Denis at Passion Pictures and MAESTRO by Geza M. Toth at Kedd Ltd.

Headline News

Westworld Remake Moving Ahead with Cell Director

Is Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, Ill be back for the WESTWORLD remake? VARIETY reports that Warner Bros.-based producer Jerry Weintraub is moving ahead with the film with THE CELL director Tarsem at the helm. Schwarzenegger was attached to the project before he was elected governor of California. He not involved at this point in the project, but his status could change depending on whether he decides not to run for re-election in January 2007 or loses. Schwarzenegger had not only been attached to star, but also produce.

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