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AWN Headline News

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.

Headline News

Splinter Cell May Become a Reality at DreamWorks

DreamWorks is in final negotiations to acquire the film rights from Paramount to Tom Clancy's videogame franchise SPLINTER CELL, reports VARIETY. Daniel Pyne (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE remake) is set to write the screenplay. Michael Ovitz, Clancy's longtime manager, will still produce.

Production Headline News

Fox Scratches Stars for Garfield 2

Bill Murray is in talks to reprise his role as the voice of the fat, orange cat for 20th Century Fox's GARFIELD 2, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The original films live-action stars Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt have already signed on to return. However, Hewitt's role will be small due to her commitment to the forthcoming CBS series GHOST WHISPERER. Lucy Davis (U.K. version of THE OFFICE) and Billy Connolly (MRS. BROWN) have been added to the cast.

Games Headline News

Videogame.it Tackles Italian Pirates

Softwrap, a leader in digital rights management (DRM), announced that it has partnered with Italy's largest online games distribution website www.videogame.it to battle against piracy. The site is a subsidiary of Leader SPA group, one of the most important videogames distributors in Italy. Softwrap is licensing its technology to Videogame.it in order to fulfill all its security requirements for titles sold electronically through its website.

Headline News

Rhythm + Hues Teaches Target Dog New Tricks

Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios, collaborating with Peterson Milla Hooks/Minneapolis, has created a new campaign for Target featuring a fully CGI dog who has learned a whole lot of new tricks.

The Target ads are fresh and hip so we were thrilled to be a part of this campaign, says Amy Hassler, exec producer/director of marketing. It was a creative convergence for our studio on a variety of levels: it showcased our art direction and seamless Flame compositing capabilities and gave us the opportunity to create a CGI version of the iconic Target dog.

Production Headline News

Rhythm + Hues Commercial Hires New Production Head & Director

Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios has gained two new additions to its staff including director Mark Dippé and Lisa White, who is the new head of production, commercial digital.

Dippé joined George Lucas Industrial Light & Magic in 1988 and was a major part of the digital filmmaking group there. His work in photorealistic computer generated characters includes THE ABYSS, the liquid metal T-1000 in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY. He also had a principal role in creating the first living digital creatures in JURASSIC PARK.

Boom Headline News

Cartoon Network UK Buys Berliner Film’s Da Boom Crew

Cartoon Network UK has bought the first season of DA BOOM CREW, a European production from the Berliner Film Companie, slated for its U.K. premiere on Sept. 5, 2005, at 5:00 pm.

Now airing on Kids WB! In the U.S., the sci-fi comedy/adventure follows four young friends who create their own action-packed intergalactic videogame, but when a freak power surge opens up an electrical vortex, they get sucked into a parallel world exactly like their game.

Digital Headline News

Digital Domain Leverages Houdini for Stealth

Side Effects Software announced that Digital Domain employed Houdini Digital Assets technology to create the vfx for STEALTH, which immerses viewers in a photorealistic experience with jet planes flying at supersonic speeds. In order to develop this effect, Digital Domain created hyperrealistic shots that could only be created in the computer. Therefore, Digital Domain chose Side Effects Software's award-winning Houdini to create more than 650 shots ranging from heat signatures, engine effects, lift condensation and even a two-mile ring of fuel bursting into flame.

Anime Headline News

Animation Declining in Japan

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) has released an updated report on the status of the Japanese animation industry. Surprisingly, the anime market sales in Japan declined from a high of 213.5 billion yen in 2002, to 191.2 billion yen in 2003 (a 10.4% drop). There are about 430 anime production studios in Japan, with 264 of them concentrated in greater Tokyo and 70 of those are in the Suginami district.

Studios Headline News

Platinum Studios Snags Brian Altounian For COO

Platinum Studios, an entertainment company that controls the world's largest independent library of comicbook characters, has appointed Brian Altounian Platinum Studios as coo. Altounian brings with him more than 17years of experience in the entertainment and high-tech industry, having overseen operations of the west coast offices of National Geographic Television and Time Warner Interactive.

Animation Headline News

Renegade Animation to Animate Tom Chapin Children’s DVD Series

Renegade Animation has struck a deal with three-time Grammy winner Tom Chapin to produce a series of 10 animated childrens video style shorts based on his best known songs for children. Renegade will market them as a DVD series and is also pursuing broadcast and cable opportunities. Renegade has already completed production on the first video, THIS PRETTY PLANET.

Headline News

Rob Moore New President at Paramount Pictures

Rob Moore joins Paramount Pictures as president, worldwide marketing, distribution and operations, responsible for domestic and international marketing and distribution, administration, legal and business affairs, and backlot operations.

Moore comes to Paramount from Joe Roth's Revolution Studios, where he served as Roth's partner overseeing the film and media production company for the past five years. Prior to Revolution, Moore served at the Walt Disney Studio for 13 years, most recently as evp of operations and finance.

Headline News

Ex’pression College Students Create NASA Trailer

Expression College for Digital Arts announced that several students in its Digital Visual Media program helped create a three-minute trailer showing highlights of a proposed interactive visual game for NASA targeted for use in schools at K-12 level, titled the Miranda Project.

Brazil Headline News

Frantic Films Deploys Brazil Rendering System

SplutterFish announced that Frantic Films has placed a large order for Brazil r/s, SplutterFishs award-winning 3D rendering suite, to be the primary rendering backbone in its new large-scale production pipeline. Early Brazil r/s adopter Frantic Films will increase its reliance on Brazil r/s based on its own in-house benchmark testing.

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