CON-CAN Movie FestivalWorld Wide WebOctober 11, 2005 February 27, 2006Deadline: August 31, 2005
Two short-form series, the new SHANE'S KINDERGARTEN COUNTDOWN (a spinoff of the popular SHANNA'S SHOW) and new installments of ADVENTURES IN NUTRITION WITH CAPTAIN CARLOS, premiered June 20 during Playhouse Disney's new "Breakfast with Bear" hour on Disney Channel. The programming block will now air weekdays from 7:00-8:00 am.
The International Animation Festival ANIMACOR 2005Córdoba, Spain October 25-30, 2005Deadline: August 31, 2005
ANIMACOR is a festival that celebrates the best works in film, shorts and TV series. During ANIMACOR 2005, in addition to the competition categories, the event will host a Spanish-German meeting of animation producers, a tribute to an international animation industry celebrity, Spanish animation round-table conferences and a exhibition.
Mainframe Entertainment has acquired international distribution rights for a new CG animated direct-to-video film based on the tremendously popular ARTHUR children's book series. Mainframe, Lions Gate Family Entertainment and RichCrest Animation have partnered to create the feature film, ARTHUR'S MISSING PAL, which will mark the first time that the beloved aardvark will come to life in 3D CG animation. IDT Entertainment Sales (IDTeS) will sell international distribution rights for the film on behalf of Mainframe.
Sedelmaier Productions has summoned his creative crew to produce a series of vitally important cartoons depicting the heroic actions of the Maxim Ranger as he strives to show man how to protect his precious sense of manhood in these perilously confusing times. The heroic figure is an animated icon for MAXIM MAGAZINE, the highly successfully mens entertainment publication.
The art direction and gags in the new animated new comedy, DISNEYS THE BUZZ ON MAGGIE, from Walt Disney Television Animation, may leave viewers bug-eyed like the design of its insect stars in a series that is quite a departure for the Disney Channel. The show debuted June 17, 2005, at 8:00 pm and now airs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the channels weekend block at 5:30 pm.
wondertouch announced PARTICLEILLUSION FUSION VOLUME 1: THE FUSION OF ADOBE AFTER EFFECTS AND WONDERTOUCH PARTICLEILLUSION, the first training DVD in the new Creative Cow Master Series.
PARTICLEILLUSION FUSION is designed to teach experienced and beginning level users of particleIllusion, wondertouch's award-winning, sprite-based particle effects software application, how to work efficiently with After Effects, Adobe's leading motion graphics and visual effects software.
In its largest project, London-based Double Negative has created nearly 300 vfx shots for Warner Bros. BATMAN BEGINS, opening June 15. Production vfx supervisors Janek Sirrs and Dan Glass challenged Double Negative to tackle work that would require the team to completely revamp its design facility, creating a new working pipeline and installing new infrastructure to accommodate the huge workload.
Warner Bros. has landed the film rights to turn Kathryn Lasky's children's fantasy series GUARDIANS OF GA'HOOLE into a CG feature, reports VARIETY. This will be the first project for producer Donald De Line under his new three-year first-look deal with the studio. Lasky will adapt her books as well as exec produce.
Lasky's seven-book series is set in a parallel universe where owls can perform magical transformations. The first book follows a young barn owl who joins a mysterious school for orphaned owls after being pushed out of his family's nest by his older brother.
Wolfgang Petersen's remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is gaining actors quicker than the doomed shipping takes on water. Mia Maestro (TVs ALIAS), Freddy Rodriguez (TVs SIX FEET UNDER), Kevin Dillon (TVs ENTOURAGE), Jacinda Barrett (LAST KISS) and Jimmy Bennett (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR) have all joined the star-studded cast for the Warner Bros. tentpole, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Maestro will play a stowaway. Rodriguez will play a member of the crew. Dillon plays a blowhard poker player. Barrett and Bennett will play a mother and son.
Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films have started development on NATIONAL TREASURE 2, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Jon Turteltaub will return as direct from a script by Gregory Poirier (forthcoming SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON remake). The studios are keeping the plot on the down low and as of yet none of the original cast has been resigned. Jason Reed shepherd the project for Disney with Chad Oman, Mike Stenson, Aviv and Segars are exec producing.
Sony Online Ent. Inc., and Warner Bros. Interactive Ent. announced exclusive long-term licensing agreements allowing SOE to develop a DC Comics massively multiplayer online game for PC and next generation consoles, as well as the acquisition of THE MATRIX ONLINE game by SOE.
BBC Worldwide unveils two new properties at this year's L!censing Show. DOCTOR WHO is about an intergalactic adventurer who, with his companion, travels through time and space witnessing things beyond our imagination. CHARLIE AND LOLA is about a funny four-year old little girl who knows her own mind and "will not ever, NEVER eat a tomato" and her imaginative older brother who persuades her they are really Moonsquirters from the land of Moon. At L!censing International 2005, New York, running June 21-23, 2005, BBC will be located at booth #3933.
Tonight, WIA hosts this months Storyboard Pitch Nigh, which already has a lineup of four people presenting their work. The event takes place from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at The American Animation Institute, 4729 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood. The event is $5 for non-members and free to WIA members.
For more information, contact Jessica Kreig at Anim8ed33@aol.com or call her at (818) 384-2197.
Ray Bradbury Future Fest is a celebration organized by California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Film/Video faculty member E. Michael Mitchell, in association with J.R. Smith, alumni and select advanced students from School of Film/Video Program in Character Animation. The event presents artwork and film exploring the writings of sci-fi master Ray Bradbury, who will make several unscheduled appearances at the event.
Lucasfilm has sent out a letter to potential network buyers inviting bids for the TV broadcast rights to the STAR WARS film franchise, reports VARIETY. The price tag for the six-film series could go as high as $50 million.
Discovery Kids and Mike Young Prods. shows have each scored double finalist honors in the 31st Humanitas Prize childrens animation category. The finalists in all six categories will be competing for $115,000 in prize money to be handed out at the annual luncheon, which will be held on Wednesday, June 29, 2005, at the Hilton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California.
The 2005 Indie Memphis Soul Of Southern Film FestivalMemphis, Tennessee, USAOctober 21-27, 2005Deadline: July 15, 2005
28th Starz Denver International Film Festival (SDIFF)Denver, Colorado, USANovember 10-20, 2005Deadline: August 1, 2005
30th Annual New England Film & Video FestivalBoston, Massachusetts, USAOctober 2005Deadline: August 15, 2005
On Wednesday, Walt Disney Studios unveiled the first public screening of its digitally restored BAMBI at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the monthly Gold Standard series. The 1942 masterpiece was digitally projected using the same master provided for the recent DVD.
Family, friends and colleagues of pioneering Disney artist/storyman Joe Grant will celebrate his life and career on June 28 at The Alex Theatre in Glendale at 7:00 pm. Grant, who passed away May 6 at the age of 96, designed the Queen/Witch character in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS and co-wrote DUMBO.
Warner Bros. reported that BATMAN BEGINS bowed Wednesday with $15,068,368, ranking it 11th on the all-time list for mid-week openings. Not surprisingly, BATMAN BEGINS tracked very well among males, which comprised 64% of the audience.
RE:Vision Effects has released a major update to its Shake version of Twixtor, the popular retiming solution, and a minor update to ReelSmart Motion Blur (RSMB), which adds and removes motion blur based on per-pixel calculated motion.
Nick Brooks, Academy Award and Emmy Award winner for visual effects, says, "Twixtor 4.5 represents a new touchstone in retiming. The difference in accuracy means that retiming artifacts are either drastically reduced or disappear on the hardest to retime footage. "
Animation house Super 78 supplied the 3D work for CURSE OF THE DARKASTLE debuting this month at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The next generation attraction, which takes thrill-seekers on an immersive journey through a frozen Bavarian castle, is a dark ride in which patrons travel through the 40,000 square foot castle environment in computer-controlled, motion-based sleighs as rear-projected, 3D imagery appears all around them.
