REALVIZ announced that it is offering a free copy of the award-winning image based 3D modeling software, ImageModeler 3.5 (which retails for 750 Euros/$850) with all purchases of MatchMover Pro 3.0 (which retails for 9,600 Euros/$11,000) made between June 14- 30, 2004.
Donald Edmund Trumbull, a two-time winner of the Academy's Sci-Tech Award has died, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. He was 95. He died June 7, 2004 of natural causes at his daughter's home in Graeagle, California.
Iranian animator Mohammad-Mahdi Khoda Karami has won the Bronze Knight Award of the 13th International Zolotoi Vityaz (Golden Knight) Film Festival for the film DIALOGUE. Produced by the Hamedan branch of IRIB, the seven-minute animation shows a yarn character searching for his ball who meets a wire character from another town. The film beat out 26 other contenders to win the award. The festival was held in the southern Russian city of Irkutsk from May 21 - 31, 2004.
Linux WorkshopLos Angeles, California, USAJune 26, 2004
Pendulum Studios has completed a CG trailer for Activisions much anticipated game, CALL OF DUTY: FINEST HOUR, which is set to store this fall. The :60 trailer that premiered at the 2004 E3 conference depicts the heroic sacrifices, chaotic environments and extraordinary events that Allied soldiers experienced during World War II.
German avant-garde animator Albrecht Ade, attending the German Animation Festival, that opened June 6, 2004 at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, said that the festival organizers are determined to devote a special section to Iranian animations at the 2006 German Festival.
Spain-based Filmax Animation's long-in-the-works PK3: PINOCCHIO 3000 feature will feature a Hollywood flare with voice provide by Whoopi Goldberg, Malcolm McDowell and Howie Mandel, reports VARIETY. The futuristic spin on Carlo Collodi's classic tale is also being produced by Canada's CineGroupe, and France's Animakids.
Mandel will voice Spencer, a cyber-penguin who helps tinkering inventor Geppetto. Goldberg voices Cyberina, a big-mamma holographic fairy. McDowell will voice Scamboli, the low-life mayor of the high-tech city of Scamboville.
In a surprise move, Jordan Levin resigned his post as chief executive of the WB Network. WB chairman Garth Ancier will be responsible for running the network and said he would soon appoint an entertainment president to oversee programming.
Warner Bros. chairman/ceo Barry Meyer, who oversees the WB, reportedly told Levin he wanted Ancier to be the sole leader at the helm of the network. Levin could stay on in his former post as entertainment president, which Levin rejected in favor of a producing deal with Warner Bros. Television.
The new Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA) at Boston University is enrolling students of all ages and experience levels for a variety of certificate programs and workshops in digital filmmaking, photography, 3D animation, game design and visual effects.
Students may sign up for intensive training through a nine-month certificate program or basic skills through a foundation certificate or workshop series. Courses range from Beginning Photography for the Digital Age to Digital Film Boot Camp and all levels of Photoshop, editing, lighting and real-world assignments.
LORENZO director Mike Gabriel was stunned at winning The Grand Prix at Annecy. How could we have won? he told AWN. There were 50 world class shorts we were competing against, shorts that were all imaginative, and it was completely intimidating. We felt like we were welcomed into the club.
Warner Bros. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN faced stiff competition in its second week for the weekend ended June 13, 2004, dropping nearly 63% yet still racking up nearly $35M.
The Shreking of America continues, as DreamWorks SHREK 2 passed Disney/Pixars FINDING NEMO for top grossing animated feature in domestic history. The computer-animated sequel grabbed $23.3M over the weekend, reaching an astounding $353.3M in only 26 days. Last fall NEMO hit $339.7M after its triumphant summer debut. Along the way, SHREK 2 has set these additional records:
* Best Four-Day Memorial Day Weekend Gross: $95,578,365
The coveted short film grand prize at the 28th International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy went to Mike Gabriel for LORENZO while Chris Landreth received the Special Jury Award for RYAN. The judges selected the 2D film over the 3D film for the top prize, wishing to recognize "true magic does not rely on technology and can start with the artist's hand-drawn art." The awards were presented at the closing ceremony held on Saturday, June 12, 2004 in Annecy, France. Congratulations to all the winners!
The Short and Feature Fiction Films Category winners are:
The 2004 Moondance Film Festival has announced its winners. The event is an international film festival dedicated to enhancing the role of women in and on the silver screen as well as promoting, encouraging, educating and rewarding non-violent conflict resolution in the arts and film.
Below is a list of the animation winners.
CALYPSO AWARDA Yoon JunBIG SOUL
COLUMBINE AWARDIl-Hyang JangPOINT OF VIEW
SEAHORSE AWARDWooksang Chang & Jaehong KimIN THE FOREST
Universal has finally confirmed that Andy Serkis, the actor who brought Gollum to life in the LORD OF THE RINGS series, will indeed play the giant ape in director Peter Jackson's version of KING KONG, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. In addition, Serkis will play Lumpy the cook, a ship member on the Venture as it ventures to Skull Island.
In an effort to appeal to local audiences, DreamWorks will have the voice of underwater TV journalist Katie Current, voiced differently Down Under, reports VARIETY. In the States, the character's inspiration TODAY host Katie Couric will provide her voice; with Australian TODAY host Tracy Grimshaw, voicing the character for Aussie audiences. DreamWorks hasn't announced whether other regions of the world will feature their own journalist celebs in the role. The film opens in Australia Sept. 30, 2004 and in the U.S. on Oct. 1.
This week the Theatrical Release Database features a bunch of new pages and three trailer for big fall releases.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, a member posts an article about Japanese losing jobs to outsourcing.
Digital Video, the makers of Toonz animation software, has launched TAB 2.2, the new version of its paperless animation software, tailored to create original animation content for the Web. Based on a new technology that includes an intuitive vector handling technique that uses dynamic control points and an adaptive fill system, the TAB allows animators to draw in a natural and intuitive way.
From June 28 August 20, 2004, TELETOON will be hosting Camp TELETOON, the network's summer morning block of popular cartoons from 7:00 am -11:00 am, Monday through Friday. The lineup includes:
7:00 am: Totally Spies 7:30 am: Tom & Jerry 8:00 am: The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show 8:30 am: Scooby Doo9:00 am: Codename: Kids Next Door 9:30 am: What's with Andy 10:00 am: My Dad the Rock Star 10:30 am: Cardcaptors
Two of the most popular shorts at Annecy this week were Mike Gabriels LORENZO and Chris Landreths RYAN. You can be sure that both cutting edge digital works (from Disney and Copper Heart Ent./National Film Board of Canada, respectively) will be vying for an Oscar next year, and VFXWorld is proud to offer an exclusive visual development gallery for LORENZO and an in-depth profile of RYAN by Greg Singer.
An intrepid group of students from Minneapolis will be trekking to Northern California to attend VES 2004, the Visual Effects Society's sixth annual Festival of vfx, June 18-20 in San Rafael. This will be the third year in a row that the aspiring visual effects artists and animators from The Art Institutes International Minnesota (AIM) will attend the festival, accompanied by faculty member Michael Heagle, an instructor of Visual Effects and Motion Graphics.
I Castelli Animati Animated Film Festival has announce its short animated film project, which brings together eight Israeli students and eight Palestinian students who will work together in Rome on the storyline and the original drawings. The film is being produced by a number of Italian animation studios with the artistic supervision of Emanuele Luzzati and Giulio Gianini.
The aim of the project is not only to make a cartoon, but also to show that a common effort can be made between young Palestinians and Israelis to collaborate constructively and peacefully.
