We close 2004 at VFXWORLD with a wide array of informative coverage: Mary Ann Skweres speaks with a number of prominent insiders about the very hot topic, Getting Respect for Invisible VFX; Andy Stout reports back with highlights from the inaugural UK CGI Festival in London; and The Digital Eye discusses The Promise & Peril of VFX Jobs b
Actor Jerry Orbach, who voiced Lumiere in Disneys BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, has died of prostate cancer at 69 in Manhattan on Dec. 28, 2004. Orbach is best known for his work on TV and the stage. He starred as veteran cop Det. Lennie Briscoe on LAW & ORDER and was the original narrator in the off-off-Broadway hit THE FANTASTICKS, which ran for more than 40 years.
Slave Labor Graphics has announced that INVADER ZIM creator Jhonen Vasquez will make his return to comics with FILLERBUNNY IN MY WORST BOOK YET!, due out in March. Fillerbunny, originally created as a one-page filler character, will continue his long-suffering existence in this 24-page black & white comic, with two pages in color, for $2.95.
SCI FI celebrates 2004, with the channels highest-rated and most-watched year yet. This is the third consecutive year SCI FI has garnered recor- breaking primetime ratings. The channel also delivered its best-ever primetime rating, with 1.0 HH rating/1.2 million P2+ average for the year. Now fully-distributed to 84 million homes, SCI FI scored with viewers in nearly every key demographic, ranking within the Top 10 of all basic cable nets for ratings among P25-54, M25-54, P18-49, M18-49 and F25-54.
The SIGGRAPH 2004 Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Presentations DVD-ROM set is now shipping. This highly anticipated six-disc box set features more than 400 presentations totaling more than 250 hours of content. Recorded sessions include: Papers, Sketches, Courses, Special Sessions, Web Graphics, Panels and Keynote and Awards. New features include: a custom search engine, links to additional online research and all live demos. For more information, visit www.siggraph.org/soma/s2004dvd/.
AIFF artistic director Buzz Schwall announced the winners of the audience awards and director Meni Tsirbas THE FREAK was presented with the best short film prize. This marks the 18th such honor for the CGI short, which also won awards at the Palm Springs Film Festival and the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
THE FREAK is in pre-production as a feature with The Hatchery. Tsirbas follow up effort, TERRA, has collected 12 awards including Best Animation at the USA Film Festival.
More information is available at www.menithings.com.
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced his annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be added to the National Film Registry. This group of titles brings the total number of films placed on the registry to 400.
GenArts Inc., a leading provider of digital visual effects plug-ins for the film, broadcast and video industry, announced it has permanently reduced the price of its industry renowned Sapphire Plug-ins for Apple's Shake compositing software.
The price tag for a single GUI license of Sapphire Plug-ins for Shake has been cut from $2,995 to $1,995. The price for render licenses is also being reduced from $995 to $595.
THE OFFICE creator and star Ricky Gervais is scripting an episode of THE SIMPSONS at the personal invitation of the toons creator Matt Groening, it was reported by VARIETY. Gervais will also lend his voice to the episode.
He will not reprise his role as an animated version of David Brent, the paper company regional manager who was at the center of THE OFFICE, a character retired after filming THE OFFICE Christmas specials.
iO Film, a technologically advanced, full-service digital film finishing facility specializing in film and video projects, has promoted Evan Edelist from svp/development to gm/evp. Edelist will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the facility, overseeing production, scheduling and sales.
He will also help design the companys new 26,000-square-foot Hollywood facility, slated for a summer 2005 movie-in, working closely with iO Films cto Kevin Mullican.
Mike Hackett is on board as a staff editor at Crush Editorial, a leading post-production editorial company specializing in TV commercials, motion picture trailers, promotional content for videogames and other video programming, according to Cindy Carey, Crush Editorials exec producer.
Mike Hackett has edited more than 200 TV commercials and music videos, and assistant edited some 600 TV spots, as well as assistant edited 22 episodes of fifth season of the TV series BABYLON 5 and two related TV movies.
Cartoon Network has positioned its new J-Pop inspired series, HI HI PUFFY AMIYUMI, center stage for a four-hour New Years Eve event for kids that features a brand new episode on Dec. 31, 2004. Real life singers Ami and Yumi will join FRIDAYS on-air hosts Tommy and Nzinga at 11:55 pm for the countdown to midnight that then launches into the mini-marathon with special CN series airing up to the countdown.
The devastating tsunami caused by an earthquake Dec. 26, 2004, off Sumatra, 1,620 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, traveled at an average speed of 700 kph across the Indian Ocean as fast as a jetliner according to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, it was reported by THE DAILY YOMIURI.
The first four volumes of Dark Horse's new SIN CITY trade paperback editions are set to arrive in stores February 16, 2005. The volumes include A DAME TO KILL FOR, THE HARD GOODBYE, THE BIG FAT KILL and THAT YELLOW BASTARD. The three later titles make up the plot of SIN CITY feature, which hits theaters April 1. The new 6" x 9" Chip Kidd-designed editions were originally scheduled to ship in January.
ADV Films has announced the release of its titles for Dec. 28, 2004. Titles include: NEON GENESIS EVANGELION PLATINUM: 04, ROBOTECH REMASTERED: NEW GENERATION COLLECTION 2 VOLUME 7, BUBBLEGUM CRISIS TOKYO 2040: ESSENTIAL ANIME COLLECTION, VOLUME 2 and WEDDING PEACH: BLACK HEART.
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION PLATINUM: 04 is the popular series -- directed by Hideaki Anno (NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES); produced by GAINAX (FLCL), NAS (YU-GI-OH!) and TV Tokyo (SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN); and animated by Production I.G. (GHOST IN THE SHELL) and GAINAX.
Last week, Disney shareholder Frank Wierenga put forth a proposal to the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co. to open a seat on the board to a member of the Disney family. Roy Disney responded with gratitude, but declined the proposal on behalf of the Disneys. Below is Roy Disneys response to the proposal.
German director Roland Emmerich will be president of the international jury for the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Emmerich is best known for his blockbusters INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.
In other vfx and animation news from the festival, THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU will compete in the official competition. The 55th Berlin International Film Festival runs Feb. 10-20.
World Editors has launched plans to turn Latino comicstrip CONDORITO into an animated TV series in the U.S., reports VARIETY. World Editors recently opened licensing and business development office in Miami. David Taggart and Brad Bushell, a licensing and syndication consultant for GARFIELD owners Paws Inc., will oversee the project. Chile-based Cineanimadores, producer of the animated feature OGU & MANPATU, will create the initial visual concepts.
This week in AWNs Theatrical Release Database, we have trailers for some of the big 2005 summer releases.
This week in AWN's Forums, a post from India wants to know the pricing for six minutes of broadcast quality animation. More members talk about why Santa doesnt have a pet. Theres also a thread listing members favorite holiday toons. Others debate the Indian animation industry and where 2D animation is headed. Additionally, theres a thread that debates the merits of screening and releasing banned cartoons that contain possible offensive material.
These days vampires dont merely poof away with a fabled stake through the heart, they combust into bits and vaporize away. At least thats what happens when vampires are vanquished in New Line Cinemas BLADE: TRINITY, thanks to scanning technology from Eyetronics.
U.K.-based Shorts International, the short film distribution arm of Britshorts Ltd., has become the exclusive distributor for the entire short film library of American Vantage/Hypnotic. American Vantage/Hypnotic, a subsidiary of American Vantage Media Corp., has one of the largest high-quality short film and animation libraries in the world. The combined entity gives Shorts Intl the largest short film distribution capability across the globe.
Bert Smets has chosen Telescreen to handle all commercial rights to his animated HOPLA series (104x5) so he can focus on the creative process.
Smets commends Telescreen for its, all round knowledge with regard to animation productions and licensing forms, making it the perfect combination with my own creative perspective. I am sure that we can mean a lot for each other.
Mt. Sierra College, a leading media arts and design, business and technology college in the San Gabriel Valley, California has been selected to participate in the Howard Schaefer Pasadena Angels BTC Business Competition along with nine other Southern California colleges and universities. The competition, co-sponsored by the Business Technology Center of Los Angeles (BTC) and the Pasadena Angels, challenges teams of Southland students to develop a business plan, feasibility study or marketing plan to raise funds for an early-stage technology company.
With Blue Sky Studios wrapping production on ROBOTS (which parent company Twentieth Century Fox will release March 11, 2005), director Chris Wedge took time out to talk to VFXWORLD about his eagerly-awaited follow-up to ICE AGE. The 3D-animated feature will open day-and-date in IMAX DMR on IMAX screens around the globe.
