BOXX Technologies announced that its 8200 series of high-performance workstations based on dual Intel Xeon processors are certified for the Blackmagic DeckLink HD Pro, a high-quality broadcast video card designed for the most demanding high-end television and feature film post-production.
On its first day of release, THE INCREDIBLES sold five million units on DVD and video in North America, it was announced today by Steve Jobs, chairman/ceo of Pixar Animation Studios and Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Ent. Fresh off the heels of winning two Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature Film, Achievement in Sound Editing), the five million units sold to date has THE INCREDIBLES on track to be the best-selling DVD and video of 2005.
Known for creating strong female characters for his hit TV series BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Joss Whedon has been hired by Silver Pictures to write and direct the feature film adaptation of WONDER WOMAN. Joel Silver and Leonard Goldberg will produce the film, which Warner Bros. Pictures will release worldwide. William Moulton Marston created the original Wonder Woman character, which appeared in DC Comics.
Texas Instruments (TI) DLP Cinema technology, the digital cinema projection technology deployed in movie theatres worldwide, assisted the directors and visual effects team of Miramax's and Dimension Films' SIN CITY during post-production to achieve the desired comic-book feel of the movie. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller relied upon DLP Cinema projectors to ensure rich and consistent color in the movie.
4Kids Ent. Inc. announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with Hasbro Inc. to broadcast the new G.I. JOE SIGMA SIX animated series on 4Kids TV, beginning September 2005. 4KIDS TV is the 4Kids Ent.'s four hours of children's programming airing Saturday mornings on FOX.
The Gnomon Workshop, in conjunction with Design Studio Press, has released two new training DVDs by renowned matte painter and concept designer Christian Lorenz Scheurer. Utilizing Adobe Photoshop, Lorenz Scheurer shares his techniques for executing high-concept painting, including architecture, vehicles and characters.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2004.
Nickelodeon has announced the nominees for the 18th Annual Kids Choice Awards, which will take place April 2 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) and will be hosted by Ben Stiller.
Were thrilled to welcome Ben Stiller as a first-time host of Nickelodeons Kids Choice this year, said Marjorie Cohn, evp, Nickelodeon development and original programming. Hes hilarious, beloved by kids and a movie veteran of the kind of irreverent mayhem that is the hallmark of our slime-meets-stars Awards.
VFXWORLD turns technical this week as Andy Stout talks to users of Iridas new SpeedGrade DI software, which offers a completely non-destructive way of working, saving all color, conform and compositing information as XML-based metadata alongside the unaltered source material. This means that users can save as many versions of each shot as they want at any stage in the production process without requiring any additional storage, before baking in the changes during one final session.
Sony Computer Ent. of America Inc. (SCEA) has more than doubled its motion-capture output as a result of deploying the MX40 system from Vicon Motion Systems. SCEA Motion Capture operates as a service bureau available to all of Sonys first-party game titles that require motion capture. The outfit installed a 24-camera Vicon MX40 system in September of 2004, and in just six months has already exceeded the amount of motion capture produced in all of the previous year.
As with THE LORD OF THE RINGS, look for two TITANIC DVD sets when Paramount Home Ent. releases the all-time box office juggernaut in October: a four-disc COLLECTORS EDITION and a two-disc SPECIAL EDITION. No street date or SRP were announced at yesterdays Paramount/Fox joint press conference (the latter will handle international markets). The COLLECTORS EDITION will contain two bonus discs with including nearly an hours worth of deleted scenes that can be accessed through branching while watching the feature or viewed separately.
Herb Scannell and Bill Roedy have been appointed to the positions of vice chairman, MTV Networks and president, Nickelodeon Networks and vice chairman, MTV Networks and president, MTV Networks International, respectively.
Sumner M. Redstone, chairman/ceo of Viacom Inc. is exploring the possibility of dividing the corporations businesses into separate publicly-traded companies, to achieve important corporate objectives and to better deliver value to shareholders in a tax-efficient manner, a company statement read. Viacom expects to announce further details regarding the possible separation in the second quarter of 2005.
Iridas, a pioneer in uncompressed playback technologies, announced the release of FrameCycler Professional 3.5, the newest version of the leading resolution-independent review and analysis software. FrameCycler 3.5 is based on the MP (multi-platform) architecture that Iridas introduced last year.
Bauhaus Software Inc. announced the immediate availability of Mirage 1.5, a new version of its powerful 2D animation, paint and vfx system. A true paperless digital animation system, Mirage dramatically broadens the capabilities of traditional 2D animators, allowing users to create any classical or digital style 2D animation, from cel animation and anime, to rotoscoping, stop motion and more, in a fully-digital pipeline. Mirage is proven to drastically reduce costs and decrease animation production time by up to 50 percent when compared with traditional 2D pipelines.
Walt Disney Television Animation president Barry Blumberg has signed an overall deal with Mike Moon and lengthened his long-term agreement with KIM POSSIBLE creators Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, reports VARIETY. The new deals give the studio first look rights to the toon makers TV projects. The move is the studios effort to ramp up animation production to fill timeslot on its Playhouse Disney, Jetix and Disney Channel networks.
Cartoon Network, Lucasfilm and ASIFA-Hollywood are teaming up March 18-19, 2005, to present Animation A-Go-Go! Two Nights With Genndy Tartakovsky at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. This two-night mini-tribute will feature everything from student films to sneak peeks at future projects, as well as a helping of classic cartoons by some of Tartakovskys animation heroes. Animation writer Jon M. Gibson will discuss these works with Tartakovsky in an extended discussion each night.
March 18 7:30 pmGenndy Tartakovsky Tribute Program #1
In Singapore, three more polytechnics have been offering animation courses to meet increased demand from both students and industry, reports CHANNEL NEWS ASIA.
Cartoon Network and its Turner Broadcasting sibling the Atlanta Braves are joining forces in creating an all-new entertainment and dining experience for kids and families titled Tooner Field." The Cartoon Network-branded, interactive area will be located at Turner Field's East Pavilion off the Grand Entry Plaza. This multi-million dollar project will have its first phase a three-story, layered facade featuring the colorful homes of Cartoon Network's most popular characters ready for opening day, April 8 (Braves vs. the New York Mets).
On March 15, 2005, the trial began in the lawsuit between Roger Rabbit creator Gary Wolf and the Walt Disney Co., reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Wolf alleges the 5% royalty he received from revenue for movies, merchandise and other goods should also include the estimated value of promotional tie-ins with McDonalds, Burger King and others -- even though Disney was not paid for those deals. In Wolfs 1983 agreement, he is entitled to a percentage of gross receipt, which he claims should include cash and "all other considerations.
Paramount Pictures has hired THE RING TWO director Hideo Nakata to helm the American remake of Hong Kong horror film, THE EYE. C/W Prods. will produce. Vertigo's Roy Lee and Doug Davison will exec produce along with the original films producer Peter Chan. The story follow a young blind girl who after receiving a cornea transplant begins to see ghosts and premonitions.
The Gotham Group has signed French animation producer/distributor Marathon as a client. The Gotham Groups first priority is making a deal for an animated feature film version of Marathons hit animated series TOTALLY SPIES. The series is plays on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and is carried by more than 200 markets worldwide. The show follows the adventures of three teenage girls from Beverly Hills who has been recruited as secret agents. The trio must juggle boys, shopping and of course, saving the world, while still finding time to do their homework.
A&E Television Networks (AETN) announced that after 21 years at the helm of the company, Nickolas Davatzes will be stepping down effective April 1, 2005. Abbe Raven, who is currently president of A&E Network-USA, will succeed Davatzes to become the second president/ ceo in the companys history. Davatzes will assume the title of ceo emeritus and, in transitioning to retirement, will remain an adviser to AETN from its offices in Stamford, Connecticut. His is the longest tenure of any cable programming chief executive in the industrys history.
The Grand Prix at Tampere 35th International Short Film Festival has been awarded to the Norwegian Pjotr Sapegin for his film GJENNOM MINE TYKKE BRILLER (THROUGH MY THINK GLASSES) (2004). The jury characterized the clay animation as skillful and imaginative, a work of art and humanity and remarked that it portrays the human nature in a poetic and loving way.
GISH and WIK AND THE FABLE SOULS were the grand prizewinners at the 7th Annual Independent Games Festival, which has come to be known as the Sundance Festival of the videogame world. GISH won in the Open category while WIK captured the Web/Downloadable grandprize, netting each of the game development teams $15,000, at a ceremony March 10, 2005, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco,
