Leading post-production boutique Post Logic Studios has added three new members to its management team as the company prepares to roll out a multimillion-dollar capital expansion under the leadership of president Steve Hendricks.
Starlight Home Ent. has released the childrens classic DAVEY AND GOLIATH VOLUME 1 on DVD. The nostalgic stop-motion animated series will be released in a special edition collectors set loaded with tons of extras. DAVEY AND GOLIATH originally aired on network TV from 1960-1975, with special seasonal TV airings seen throughout the years. VOLUME 1 will hit shelves on June 7, 2005, and sell for $19.99.
Effective July 18, 2005, the entire Manga Ent. Inc. catalogue will be distributed by Anchor Bay Ent. Canada. Manga was previously distributed in Canada by Sony Music Video.
Messengers dressed as the lead space marine in Microsoft videogame HALO descended on the studios June 6 with the screenplay based on the bestselling franchise, reports VARIETY. Microsoft and Bungie Studios paid 28 DAYS LATER writer Alex Garland $1 million to pen the script. Microsoft has also tapped former Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel to shepherd the project as well as serve as a producer.
Paramount has stopped development on the highly-anticipated film adaptation of the classic comicbook series, THE WATCHMEN, according to VARIETY. The studio has now put the project into turnaround, allowing producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin to shop the Paul Greengrass (THE BOURNE SUPREMACY) directed project to other studios.
Warner Bros. Animation and the Kids WB! announced the all-star voice cast for the Looney Tunes-inspired series, LOONATICS UNLEASHED, set to debut on Kids WB! in fall 2005. Headlining the ensemble cast for the series are Emmy Award-winning Rob Paulsen (PINKY & THE BRAIN, ANIMANIACS), Emmy Award-nominated Kevin Michael Richardson (THE BATMAN, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS), Charlie Schlatter (DIAGNOSIS MURDER, FERRIS BUELLER), Jason Marsden (SPIRITED AWAY, STATIC SHOCK), Candi Milo (¡MUCHA LUCHA!, DEXTERS LABORATORY) and newcomer Jessica DiCicco (THE BUZZ ON MAGGIE).
With vfx and animation flicks KILL BILL VOL. 2, SPIDER-MAN 2 and THE INCREDIBLES being beat out my indie nerd fest NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, the big vfx winner of the night was THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW for its destruction of Los Angeles sequence as the Best Action Sequence. Other animation related news includes CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK: ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAY from Vivendi Universal Games winning the award for Best Videogame Based on a Movie.
With LAYER CAKE director Matthew Vaughn leaving the project, Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Ent. have hired RUSH HOUR director Brett Ratner to direct X-MEN 3, reports VARIETY. The film is still set to begin filming in August and hit theaters Memorial Day weekend 2006.
In addition, the studios have also confirmed that Kelsey Grammer (TV's FRAISER) will be playing Beast, Vinnie Jones (SNATCH) will be playing Juggernaut and Maggie Grace (TV's LOST) will be playing Kitty Pryde.
Warner Bros. Pictures has announced the lead actors for Wolfgang Petersen's tentpole remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Signed cast members include Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Emmy Rossum (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) and Mike Vogel (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake). Andre Braugher (TV's HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET) is in negotiations to join the cast.
Former Microsoft production manager and a producer of top-selling SIM CITY videogame, Matthew Thornton, established on June 1, 2005, the digital animation and production company One Red Room and is already producing two series for Disney.
This week is a light week for updates in the Theatrical Release Database, but we still have four big new trailers.
This week in AWN's Forums, a big debate surrounds DreamWorks' newest animated adventure MADAGSCAR.
An official with the Chinese broadcasting regulatory agency told broadcasters and animation producers to expect more domestically produced cartoons to be broadcast and there was support to encourage the play of more animated cartoons during golden broadcasting slots, it was reported by PEOPLE'S DAILY ONLINE.
Kerstin Guehne returns to DIC Ent. as vp, International Television & Home Entertainment Sales, overseeing television programming and home video/DVD sales across German-speaking Europe and Central Europe. She will be responsible for DICs extensive catalog of programming and home entertainment product in these territories.
Despite the current box office malaise, MADAGASCAR took over the top spot after debuting last week at number three. The computer-animated comedy grabbed $28.1M for DreamWorks to reach $100M for the weekend ended June 5, 2005. Paramounts THE LONGEST YARD held the second spot with $26M and a two-week cume of $95.7M. However, despite falling to third place with $25M, Foxs STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH (with its stunning vfx by ILM) managed to break the $300M barrier at a record pace, with its $300.7M total.
Rendercore announced that RenMan client 2.64 is supporting three new Autodesk products: Autodesk VIZ 2006, 3ds Max 6&7 Service Pack 1 and 3ds Max V-Ray 1.47.03.
Autodesk VIZ 2006 features include:* mental ray 3.3 The latest improvements to the most powerful rendering system are included.* Global illumination It automatically captures subtle lighting effects that add depth and realism to images.* Real-world lighting Viz 2006 supports physically based lighting in your scenes.
Noga Communications and Pil Animation have launched a new 26x2 series, JUST A MINUTE. Noga will be attending Annecy and MIFA with the project.
This animated show provides kids 6-12 with core knowledge in nature, science, architecture and history. Each clip presents at least five interesting facts on any given subject. For example, the program's viewers will learn why it is that Leonardo da Vinci wrote backwards, or why the Food Chain should not be confused with a fast-food joint.
Leading visual effects studio Digital Dimension completed several dozen visual effects shots for the recent New Line feature MONSTER-IN-LAW. Seamless composites and digital effects created by Digital Dimension in collaboration with director of photography Russell Carpenter are a perfect fit for the film's gorgeous Southern California look and sets.
Warner Home Video (WHV) and DIC Ent. (DIC) have announced the release date for TROLLZ VOLUME 1: BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE and TROLLZ VOLUME 2: MAGIC OF THE FIVE, the first two of nine planned movies from the newly launched Trollz property. Both full-length, made-for-video animated movies will be available in stores Sept. 6 and will retail for $19.98.
Its Fathers Day and TELETOON pays tribute to dads everywhere with special daddy dearest programming on Sunday, June 19 including:
* ATOMIC BETTY 9:30 am The Really Big Game/And the Winner Is
In The Really Big Game, Betty and her Dad are competing in a fishing derby with Penelope and her father. But Betty gets called into space, because DeGill has been captured by his old nemesis, the big game hunter, Pontifadora the Conquistadora. Betty must help DeGill in time to return to the fishing derby.
ANIMAX Entertainment won a Belding Bowl in the interactive category from the Advertising Club of Los Angeles. The Beldings were presented in Hollywood on May 26, 2005. ANIMAX won for the COPING WITH CHEMO website and series of animated webisodes, produced for the Starlight Starbright Childrens Foundation (www.slsb.org/chemo).
The studio competed against more than a dozen other contenders to win one of only two interactive bowls awarded at this years Beldings, with the other interactive Bowl going to giant megashop Saatchi & Saatchi.
The seventh annual Leo Awards took place on May 27 and May 28, 2005 at the Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina. The awards honor the best film and television work in British Columbia. The ceremony will be televised on Cable 4 on June 3 at 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 11:00 pm and on June 4 at 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm.
The big animation winner was BEING IAN, winning for Best Animation Program or Series, Best Direction/Storyboarding in an Animation Program or Series and Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series.
The Access Grid, new cutting edge technology for users and participants of collaborations, makes its debut at SIGGRAPH 2005, the 32nd International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, July 31-Aug. 4, 2005, in Los Angeles. At SIGGRAPH 2005, the Access Grid supports a global collaborative performance piece, international art panels and multi-site community interaction. This emerging, scalable teleconferencing technology enables interaction between individual desktops, 3,000-person theaters and everything in between.
In its first-ever ad project, Luma Pictures teamed with Wieden & Kennedy and Notorious 24:7 director/vfx artist Brent Bonacorso to create a new series of spots for Nike that compare NBA players to some of the most fearsome forces of nature. Luma, best known for its movie vfx for UNDERWORLD and SKY CAPTAIN, created a series of surreal CG environments, seamlessly melding images of the Serengeti, the Brazilian rain forest and other natural environments with a pro basketball court.
