To further enhance its growing presence in Central and Eastern Europe, Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has promoted Iwona Hordziej to sales director and appointed Oi Yee Wong as sales exec for Central and Eastern Europe.
On May 31, 2005, Geneon Ent. will release the third volume in their critically acclaimed series SAMURAI CHAMPLOO. Powered by fresh sounds from Tsutchie, fat jon, Nujabes and FORCE OF NATURE, SAMURAI CHAMPLOOs visuals and story are the creative collaboration of character designer and animation director Kazuto Nakazawa (KILL BILL VOL. 1), creative director Shinichiro Watanabe (COWBOY BEBOP, THE ANIMATRIX) and weapons designer Mahiro Maeda (THE ANIMATRIX, LAST EXILE).
George Lucas has given the greenlight to Jeff Nathanson's recent draft for INDIANA JONES 4, reports VARIETY. Director Steven Spielberg has also given the script a thumbs up and only star Harrison Ford needs to give approval for the film to move into pre-production.
SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION director Frank Darabont had previously written a draft of the script, which passed by Spielberg and Ford, but was rejected by Lucas. Spielberg then enlisted Nathanson to pen the screenplay after having worked with the scribe on CATCH ME IF YOU CAN and THE TERMINAL.
THE LIFE & TIMES OF JUNIPER LEE, an animated comedy/adventure created by comicbook auteur Judd Winick, premieres May 30, 2005, at 7:00 pm on Cartoon Network and then will air regularly on Sunday nights at 7:30 pm. The series centers around 11-year-old Juniper Lee, a seemingly normal Asian American girl who possesses magical powers to protect the world.
The Force is definitely with George Lucas: On the heels of the record breaking box office results from the first week of his last STAR WARS saga, EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH, Lucas will receive the American Film Institute's (AFI) 33rd Life Achievement Award on June 9, at a gala event. Filmmaker, friend and past recipient Steven Spielberg will present Lucas with the award at the tribute, which will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. THE 33rd AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE LUCAS will air on USA Network on June 20, at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
Feature film production executive Margaret French Isaac has joined Vanguard as evp, production & development, be responsible for the development of feature films, nurturing relationships with filmmakers, and shepherding Vanguard Films (live action) and Vanguard Animation projects from development through production.
Luis Goicouria has been promoted to vp of digital media for MTV Networks Latin America. He will oversee the companys New Media division in Miami and report to Charlie Singer, evp of programming, creative and strategic marketing, MTV Networks Latin America.
Goicouria oversee all strategic and operational aspects of interactive digital media, and continue to ensure the integration and expansion of both online and mobile businesses. He will also lead the development and distribution of proprietary digital content for MTV Networks brands across Latin America.
STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH has tied SPIDER-MAN 2 for the fastest feature to reach $200M in only eight days. The final STAR WARS saga has tallied $200.4M domestically and $356.9M overseas for Fox, according to boxofficemojo.com.
The Discovery Channel will broadcast one of the major battles of the 20th Century, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, as a one-hour cable show on May 29, 2005, at 8:00 pm with a rebroadcast at 10:00 pm. This is one of a series of historical shows produced by Morning Star Ent., with 3D-animated effects by Double Edge Digital, the Glendale, California studio that did the vfx on the first show of the series, ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA.
Disney has hired 102 DALMATIANS helmer Kevin Lima to direct the live-action and CG-animated feature, ENCHANTED, according to the trades. Lima also directed the animated feature TARZAN. Barry Josephson and his Sonnenfeld Josephson production house obtained the rights to the film in 1997 and will serves as a producer. Chris Chase and Sunil Perkash are exec producers. Disney execs Doug Short and Jill Morris are shepherding with Jason Reed and Nina Jacobson.
Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor Mike Fink (CONSTANTINE, the X-MEN movies) will lead a panel on the history of vfx as part of the 2005 VES-VFX Festival of Visual Effects, June 25 at 9:00 am. Fink, who is also a VES chair, is calling his panel: Visual Effects Paradiso 700 Years of Visual Effects. The annual festival by the Visual Effects Society will take place June 24-26 at the recently renovated Aero Theater in Santa Monica.
Marie Johnston, the wife of legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston, passed away on May 20 from complications due to pneumonia, at her home in Flintridge, California. She was 87 years old and had been in declining health. The Johnstons celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary earlier this year.
Evan St. Lifer joins vp/gm of Scholastic Library Publishing to oversee the editorial, marketing and sales efforts. He will have day-to-day oversight of Scholastic Library Publishing's major reference and nonfiction imprints including Grolier, Grolier Online, Children's Press and Franklin Watts, which include such notable reference resources as ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA, the newly released ENCYCLOPEDIA LATINA, NEW BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE and NUEVA ENCICLOPEDIA CUMBRE EN LINEA.
HP announced the availability of a new entry-level workstation and desktop PC that feature the latest Intel technology, including the new dual-core Intel Pentium D processor and 945G chipset for greater performance and increased business productivity.
Digital-Tutors announced the worldwide availability of the MAYA ADVANCED: ULTIMATE FLUIDS training kit, the follow-up to the popular MAYA UNLIMITED: FLUID EFFECTS and latest release in a growing library of industry leading training resources for emerging digital artists. Using the combination of comprehensive project-driven training, Digital-Tutors is helping users to discover the difference and become their best in more than 3.5 hours of valuable training.
John Libbey Publishing will release in June a new book titled, YURI NORSTEIN AND TALE OF TALES: AN ANIMATOR'S JOURNEY, written by Clare Kitson. The book looks at how Norstein was able to make his famed TALE OF TALES under Soviet rule. The film fuses Norstein's memories of his past and hopes and fears for the future, his post-war childhood and remnants of the personal tragedies of war. The 168-page book will sell for £17.50. For more information, visit www.johnlibbey.com.
Film and game industry experts from Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Turner Studios and Weta Digital are scheduled to present Alias MasterClasses at SIGGRAPH, Aug. 1-5 in Los Angeles. May 31 is the early bird deadline to receive 20% off the cost of classes. Getting in early guarantees the opportunity to learn techniques that push the boundaries of creativity and improve production workflows.
Bauhaus Software Inc. announced the immediate availability of Boardomatic, a new set of digital storyboarding tools for the Mirage 2D animation and special effects system. Designed for 2D animators and storyboard artists accustomed to working on paper, Boardomatic allows artists to quickly and easily produce fully digital storyboards and animatics. Boardomatic is available to all current Mirage owners and users who downloaded the full-use Mirage demo version.
I, ROBOT and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (Fox Home Ent., $26.98) finally get two-disc collectors edition DVDs released on May 24, 2005, showing off their celebrated vfx (Digital Domain worked on both and Hydraulx, ILM, The Orphanage Custom Film Effects, Tweak Films and yU+Co contributed to TOMORROW). The Oscar-nominated I, ROBOT (titled ALL-ACCESS) benefits the most since its previous release was very bare bones. DAY AFTER TOMORROW now contains more docs and featurettes.
New I, ROBOT bonus features include:
POOHS HEFFALUMP MOVIE (Buena Vista Home Ent., $29.99), made by DisneyToon Studios and its former Tokyo animation unit, which has now regrouped independently as The Answer Studio, makes its way to DVD May 24, 2005. The irresistible movie introduces the charming mother and child Heffalumps to the Hundred Acre Wood and gives Roo the chance to shine when his pals are spooked and run for cover in this tale of overcoming Xenophobia. Voice cast includes Jim Cummings as Pooh, Paul Winchell as Tigger, John Fiedler as Piglet, Nikita Hopkins as Roo and Brenda Blethyn as Mama Heffalump.
London-based Framestore CFC created both the digital visual effects and the DI for THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN'S APOCALYPSE, the cult favorite comedy series that makes its way to the big screen June 3 in the U.K. Written by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and starring Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith, THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN'S APOCALYPSE was produced by Greg Brenman and Ed Guiney, and directed by Steve Bendelack.
Last weeks E3 conference here in L.A. not only provided a plethora of exciting games on display, but also a chance to speak with industry insiders about the challenges ahead related to the next-generation consoles: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Revolution. With PS3 and Xbox 360 in HD, you can be sure that the next versions of 3ds Max, Maya and MotionBuilder will play to their strengths with improved character animation, lighting, hair and cloth.
VIBE Magazine and POW! Ent. have announced an exclusive partnership to create an urban superhero. The relationship will be the first of its kind for VIBE, which is aiming to increase its brand beyond print while still leveraging the magazine.
DreamWorks Animation's MADAGASCAR THE GAME from Activision Inc. has hit stores in time for the May 27 release of MADAGASCAR. Based on the highly anticipated CG feature, MADAGASCAR THE GAME lets players discover their true animal instincts when an adventurous journey lands them on the remote island of Madagascar. Gamers must master each animal's individual survival skills in order to tackle obstacles and foes in scenarios from the movie and beyond.
JONA/TOMBERRY, the animated short directed by Rosto of the Netherlands, was awarded the Cannes Film Festivals Grand Prix Canal+ du Meilleur Court Métrage. The Award Ceremony of the Semaine International de la Critique / International Critics Week took place on May 20.
