Monster Distributes Ltd. recently completed deals with ITV in the U.K. and Kika in Germany to broadcast KIDS TEN COMMANDMENTS. The series, which Monster picked up at NATPE, ahs a few minor deals and is ready for a big launch at MIPCOM, reports Andrew Fitzpatrick, chairman of Monster Distributes.
The ROBOCOP trilogy has just been reissued on DVD (MGM Home Ent., $39.96), and the real selling point is the availability of Paul Verhoeven's unrated director's cut of the original 1987 movie, with a bit more graphic violence involving the half-man, half-robot protagonist portrayed by Peter Weller. This uncut version had previously been available only on the out of print Criterion Collection edition. But this new MGM disc contains an enhanced anamorphic presentation with finer detail (except for the deleted footage, which is not as clean).
A few months ago Rick Mischel, ceo of Mainframe Ent., alluded to AWN that a sales/distribution entity would be in place soon for IDT Ent. and now that has become a reality. IDT Ent. has formed IDT Ent. Sales (IDTeS) a new company responsible for the worldwide distribution of content from its companies, as well as third-party producers. IDT Ent. companies include Anchor Bay Ent., Manga Ent., DPS, DPS/Film Roman, Mainframe Ent. and DKP Effects.
With little fanfare and no company statements, Turner Broadcasting has named Mark Lazarus, president of the entertainment group, to president of the company's animation division, which oversees cable channel Cartoon Network and its animation studio, according to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, which was confirmed by a CN spokesperson.
Many have been waiting to see who would head the animation group, when Turners new ceo Philip Kent restructured Turner last year into three separate divisions: entertainment, news and animation.
Nickelodeon, celebrating its 25th birthday this year, will kick off the 49th annual PROMAX&BDA conference at the Summer Garden at Rockefeller Center in New York City with a cocktail reception on the opening night, 8-11:00 pm on June 23, 2004 for conference attendees and other invited guests.
"We've celebrated every milestone in our 25 years by showcasing our work at PROMAX&BDA and it's part of our legacy to be judged by the best critics in the business our peers," said Russell Hicks, svp, Nickelodeon Creative Resources.
Professor Ron Morse, as part of the Asian studies program, will start a new course on anime and manga at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, reports THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL.
"Most people stop reading comic books when they're six years old," said Morse. "It's more than childish stuff. It's a serious sociological critique."
The class was spurred by the growing influx of anime in the U.S. Morse comments that serious issues such as drug addiction, prostitution and murder make anime worth studying at a university level.
French f/x house BUF Compagnie is in final negotiations to create the futuristic cityscapes and environments for Paramount's live-action version of AEON FLUX, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The Paris-based firm would handle the previs, on-set supervision and more than a hundred CG shots. The original animated series created by Peter Chung followed a female assassin who lives in the future where disease has wiped out all humans except for one protected city.
The animated BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER series is getting a pilot, reports TV GUIDE. The live-action series' stars Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon and Anthony Stewart Head will voice their respective characters, but title character Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, will be replaced with Giselle Loren, the videogame voice of Buffy. Fox and creator Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy will be showcasing the pilot for potential distributors next month.
TBS has added an hour block of FAMILY GUY to its summer primetime lineup. Starting July 7, 2004, the cable net will broadcast back-to-back episodes on Wednesdays from 8:00-9:00 pm. TBS previously aired the toon afternoons last summer. The toon will also continue to air on TBS' sister channel Cartoon Network, where its the highest rated programming the network's Adult Swim block. After being cancelled, the series surprise success on DVD has spurred Fox to renew the series for 22 new episodes, which will begin airing in 2005.
Computer Master Institute of Technology (CMIT) has announced that, along with its e-Business and New Media Studies Diploma graduates, CMIT's first all female class of Advanced Digital Animation students have completed their studies.
Congrats to Mike Gabriel (LORENZO) and Chris Landreth (RYAN) for recent their triumphs at Annecy. By now youve become very familiar with these highly imaginative and technically innovative animated shorts, thanks to VFXWORLDs timely coverage. Obviously both are must-sees. Meanwhile, later in the week, Henry Turner travels around world to discover the vfx wonders that lie within Disney and Walden Media's remake of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.
Jeep Brand and Genesis Orlando, a digital animation production company, have entered into a licensing and marketing agreement to launch the animated film property, TUGGER, THE JEEP 4X4 WHO WANTED TO FLY. Genesis Orlando created the story, which centers on a Jeep vehicle who dreams of flying like an airplane. The film is being released in connection with the official launch of the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee in fall 2004.
Bobby "Boom" Beck and Carlos Baena of Pixar Animation Studios and Shawn Kelly of Industrial Light & Magic have launched the new online animation school, AnimationMentor.com. The interactive school is a place where students will learn from guest professionals in the feature film industry. AnimationMentor.com hopes to become an international education hub that is more affordable than traditional art schools. Classes are scheduled to begin in fall 2004, and students can join at any time until seats are full. Enrollment will begin in September 2004.
Atlanta-based Fathom Studios has signed with new management/production group Key Creatives to represent the animation house's services and to sell worldwide rights to its first CGI feature, DELGO, reports VARIETY.
"The timing for an independently produced CG feature couldn't be better. The filmmakers sought and secured their own funding, created and wrote their own story, built their own studio and made the picture happen," said Key Creatives' Ken Kamins.
Prague, Czech Republic-based Cenega Publishing has signed a deal with Altar Interactive to publish the forthcoming PC-CD ROM title, UFO: AFTERSHOCK, due to release in Q3 2005.
Click 3x has completed the graphics package for the 2004 AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial. The studios creative team, headed by creative director/designer Susan Armstrong, created a 50-second opener for the show as well as more than two-dozen graphics introducing awards categories. Click 3xs show opener follows a young creative as he strolls through an urban landscape and finds inspiration in non-assuming features of the environment like the bricks of a crumbling wall and the plywood barrier of a construction site.
Pendulum Studios has wrapped production on two CG shots for production company, Oasis Films' :30 DuPont spot, TRUNK CREW. In the commercial, NASCARs Jeff Gordon is shown driving a brand new black Monte Carlo. After being coated in DuPonts Car Care product by a pit crew, which travels in Gordons trunk, the live-action car is doused with extremely muddy water by a passing truck. But, due to the protective coat, the car is able to shake itself completely clean in an almost dog-like manner.
2004 China International Cartoon and Digital Art Festival (CICDAF)Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, ChinaSeptember 28 - October 7, 2004Deadline: August 10, 2004
Director Bryan Singer's upcoming remake of MGM's 1976 science fiction drama, LOGAN'S RUN, is scheduled to start production in Vancouver in September, reports HOLLYWOOD NORTH REPORT. The production will be one of the first to shoot in the Canadian Motion Picture Park, a new 64,000-square-foot, four-stage complex in South Burnaby. Singer's production has booked studio space through September 2005. Ethan Gross and Paul Tadisco are writing the script based on William Nolan's novel. The story follows a police officer in a futuristic utopia, which kills its citizen at age 21.
Mobile ExposureHouston, Texas, USAFebruary 1, 2005Deadline: November 31, 2004
The Mobile Exposure handheld video program is an exploration of the potentials of mobile motion imaging. Practitioners are invited to submit all lengths of work, although the focus will be on short works (less than 15 minutes in length). This international exhibition of mobile video will be presented by Microcinema International and curated by Patrick Lichty.
Director Darren Aronofsky will start shooting his long-delayed sci-fi drama THE FOUNTAIN in Montreal, Canada, November 1, reports NEWSDAY. Hugh Jackman will star the immortality tale that takes place over three centuries. Cate Blanchett, Ellen Burstyn and Sean Gullette will also star. Aronofsky and Ari Handel penned the scripted. New Regency and Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures are producing the film, which is set to be released by Warner Bros. in 2005 or 2006.
David Janollari has been named president of entertainment for The WB Network, it was announced today, June 15, 2004, by Garth Ancier, chairman of The WB. Janollari will be responsible for primetime program development including series, movies and specials; primetime current programming and scheduling as well as Kids WB! programming.
Accel-KKR, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Alias management announced the completion of the acquisition of Alias from SGI for $57.5 million. Accel-KKR is a technology-focused private equity firm and Teachers' is one of Canada's largest pension plans with net assets of more than $75 billion CDN.
Consumer products veteran Juanita Palomino has joined DIC Entertainment (DIC), as vp of Domestic Licensing at DIC, reporting to Nancy Bassett, svp, Worldwide Consumer Products, DIC. Palomino replaces Cindy Davis, DICs former vp of Domestic Licensing, who left the company following the Licensing Show.
