FMX 2013 Announces Pixar Highlights, Cloud Computing and More

 

February 27, 2013. Two months before FMX [1] opens its doors, Europe's most influential Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia is pleased to announce that two Pixar films are part of the FMX Conference program. Firstly, the Director and Scriptwriter Saschka Unseld presents his latest work, the Pixar animated short The Blue Umbrella, in Stuttgart. Furthermore, newly-awarded Oscar winner Brave has been confirmed for a presentation. In April 2013, the technical focus at FMX includes a series on "Cloud Gaming" and "Cloud Computing" opened by keynote speaker Jon Peddie (JPR). What's more, Austria, Toronto and Turkey count among this year's "Innovative Places." In addition, market leaders such as Adobe and Autodesk invite attendees to take part in exciting Workshops, while the premiere of the "Fast Forward Education" seeks to build bridges between academia and industry.

Pixar's genius: "The Blue Umbrella" and "Brave"

The 3D animated comedy Monster's University, the prequel to 2001's Monsters, Inc., is released June 21st. The highly anticipated movie is preceded by the Disney Pixar short The Blue Umbrella. Two months before the actual release date, Director and Script-Writer Saschka Unseld, who successfully completed his studies at the Institute of Animation at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2004 and started working at Pixar in Los Angeles in 2008, presents the short film at FMX. Unseld sheds light on the original idea behind the love story between two umbrellas in the pouring rain in a making-of presentation from both an artistic and a technical perspective. Furthermore, Unseld's Pixar colleague and curator Christophe Hery discusses Lighting & Rendering questions in The Blue Umbrella as well as other movies, while Production Manager Joshua Hollander gives an overview of the technical, production and creative processes behind Pixar's stereoscopic releases. Furthermore, Alexander Nehls, Character TD at Pixar, dedicates his presentation to simulation in Brave, the animated adventure that fascinated cinema visitors of all ages in 2012 and received an Academy Award in the Category "Best Animated Feature Film" last Sunday for its innovative realization.

Cloud Computing: From smart phone to virtual reality

Jon Peddie, digital media pioneer, much-cited specialist author and computer graphics marketer, gives two presentations at FMX. In his keynote for the "Cloud Computing" series curated by NVIDIA ARC's Ludwig von Reiche, the Jon Peddie Research (JPR) founder explores what Cloud Computing means for design, animation, visual effects and neighboring industries. Peddie demonstrates how devices, displays and other gadgets for immersive and augmented reality experiences in different environments offer new visionary perspectives for design and communication. Peddie is supported by JPR Vice President Kathleen Maher who also presents a talk on "Managing and Making Entertainment" that illustrates the advantages and challenges involved in the creation of digital content in the Cloud. The "New Technology" series features another presentation where Peddie gives a global overview of the latest technical changes triggered by the ongoing paradigm shift.

Renowned companies and schools at FMX

As a long-standing and proven tradition, acclaimed companies contribute to the Conference program and the Forum at FMX, allowing FMX guests to benefit from their expertise and innovation. The Marketplace gathers software and hardware companies such as Ncam and Solid Anim whose technologies were both applied in Scorsese's Hugo; both provide real time camera tracking technologies. What's more, outstanding studios and companies offer Workshops to deliver practical information, among them Adobe, Maxon, Next Limit Technologies and Shotgun - who will talk about their 5.0 release, which offers collaboration and review tools designed specifically for artists and supervisors - as well as Side Effects and Imagineer Systems whose Mocha Pro software was distinguished with a Technical Academy Award. Even though the VFX industry is currently facing a crisis, several renowned companies continue to look for creative talent at the FMX Recruiting Hub, among them industry leaders such as Method Studios (VFX for Cloud Atlas and Argo), MPC (VFX for Life of Pi and Skyfall), video game company Crytek and regional CG specialists such as eder Medien Management. In addition, Autodesk invites visitors to get an inside seat at their four-day Company Suite. Notable partners, international schools and educational institutions further enrich the FMX program. "Fast Forward Education" is a brand-new type of presentation that builds bridges between academia and industry where film, media and design schools present upcoming projects, outstanding talent and inspiring ideas. Many international schools from as far away as New Zealand have already booked their "Fast Forward Education" slots.

New trends from abroad

Regional specifics and cultural characteristics influence and transform digital entertainment. FMX gives this fact due credit by highlighting innovation and inspiration across the globe. This year's series "Innovative Places" looks to Austria, Toronto and Turkey. Hosted by Max Hoefferer, General Secretary of the IG Computergrafik, who introduces Austria's CG industry, the track on Germany's neighboring country features You get me - Walt Disney Record's full-CG music video by Producer and Lead Animator Kris Staber (Arx Anima), "Microworlds" - an overview of animated microscopic images by Reinhold Fragner  (Industrial Motion Art Filmproduktion GmbH) and alternative production pipelines presented by Roman Saravia (Friendly Fire Communications GmbH) among other talks. What's more, FMX focuses on Turkey's evolving VFX and animation sectors. Curated by Digital Colorist and ColorMeUp! academy founder Andreas Brueckl, the track comprises presentations by 3D Animator & Director Murat Izzet Arslan and Post-Producer Cenk Koksal  (both 1000 Volt) as well as Anima Instanbul's Director and Partner Mehmet Kurtulus. Shifting its gaze to Canada, William Cheng - set designer for Total Recall, Resident Evil 4: After Life and the highly-anticipated Guillermo del Toro movie Pacific Rim - curates a program on Toronto, supported by the Ontario International Marketing Centre Munich. This track includes presentations by Bill Skolnik, Executive Director/CEO of DGC Ontario, and Randy McLean, Acting Film Commissioner at the City of Toronto Film Commission.

Press contact & interview requests

If you wish to interview speakers, curators as well as FMX organizers, get in touch as soon as possible please, as we need to coordinate all interviews in advance.

press@fmx.de [2]

Marie Ketzscher
Press Relations & Public Relations (International)
+49 7141 6889322

Lars-Christian Daniels
Press Relations & Public Relations (National)

Nicola Steller
Conference Press Coordinator

Press accreditation

Press accreditation is possible via the in the press section [3] on the FMX website.

Press pictures

At www.fmx.de [4] journalists find photo impressions from last year's FMX, the current logo package [5] for FMX 2013 as well as the FMX CI-Guidelines [5].

Editor's Notes:

FMX is an event by Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg [6], organized by the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction [7], hosting the Animation Production Day 2013 (APD [8]), a joint venture with the Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart (ITFS [9]). It is an event in cooperation with Visual Effects Society (VES [10]), ACM SIGGRAPH [11], the 5D Institute [12] and Eurographics [13]. FMX is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts [14] and the Ministry for Finance and Economic Affairs [15] of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the MFG [16] Film Funding and the FFA [17] German Federal Film Board.