DIC Rides Off with New Horseland Deals
DIC Ent. has finalized new international broadcast and home entertainment distribution deals for the new series HORSELAND.
DIC Ent. has finalized new international broadcast and home entertainment distribution deals for the new series HORSELAND.
The Gnomon Workshop welcomes two new Emmy Award-winning artists to its training library with the release of new character animation and fluid dynamics DVD titles. Scott Easley, principal animator for Heavy Iron Studios, shares his techniques for developing a solid character animation pipeline using Maya. Wayne England, CG supervisor at Sway Studio, introduces Real Flow and his techniques for sculpting fluid dynamic simulations.
DVD Descriptions:
* PIPELINES FOR VIDEO GAME ANIMATIONCHARACTER ANIMATION TECHNIQUES WITH SCOTT EASLEY
Blizzard Ent. announced WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE BURNING CRUSADE broke the day-one sales record to become the fastest-selling PC game ever in North America and Europe, with a worldwide total of nearly 2.4 million copies sold in the first 24 hours of availability on Jan. 23, 2007. THE BURNING CRUSADE, the first expansion set for WORLD OF WARCRAFT, was simultaneously released in North America, Europe, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia on January 16, and on January 17 in Australia and New Zealand.
DECODE Ent. has sold a second season commission for PLANET SKETCH to Nicktoons Network in the U.S., Nickelodeon's 24-hour animation network. Nicktoons Network has ordered all 26 11-minute episodes of the hit Aardman Animations co-production to air in spring 2007.
Entertainment Rights Plc (ER) has acquired worldwide publishing phenomenon, WHERE'S WALDO? Internationally, the popular character is known as Where's Wally? Through the deal with series creator Martin Handford, ER has audio visual, licensing and merchandising, publishing, live events and digital rights to the Where's Waldo? brand, worldwide in perpetuity. Handford will continue to create and publish the WHERE'S WALDO? picture books in their original format.
Twentieth Television has cleared off-net sitcom FAMILY GUY on 12 additional stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, thereby increasing its U.S. coverage to 82%, for fall 2007.
General Mills and Disney are launching a new line of breakfast cereals this month at the suggested retail price of $1.99. The line promises to offer whole grains and a good source of vitamin D and calcium to meets Disney's recently announced food guidelines for ready-to-eat cereals.
Nelvana and Spin Master Ltd. have teamed up on a line of specialty toys and games developed from two new animated action adventure series. The toys and games from the animated series DI-GATA DEFENDERS and BAKUGAN, which is in production and will begin airing in 2007, are set to make their debut at the Spin Master booth at the Canadian Toy & Hobby Fair on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007, at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto (Booth #602). Both companies, headquartered in Toronto, are working together to market and promote the toys.
For the ninth consecutive year, the German city of Potsdam is hosting an annual gathering for European animation with the celebration of Cartoon Movie 2007, a business forum organized by the European Association of Animation Film. Some 500 professionals will meet in the Babelsberg Studio on Mar. 7-9, 2007, for this event aimed at boosting the financing and distribution of European animated films.
Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeons 24-hour animation network, premieres THE SECRET SHOW, an original series from U.K. producer Collingwood OHare Ent., on Jan. 20, 2007, at 8:30 pm. The 13 half-hour series, which is packed with covert missions, layers of secrecy and original storylines, will air regularly Saturdays at 8:30 pm on Nicktoons Network.
EM.Ent. has licensed new rights to library titles in both France and Eastern Europe. The French broadcaster Canal J has acquired a program package encompassing exclusive marketing rights for pay and free TV respectively (cable and satellite) as well as non-exclusive exploitation rights for IPTV and Mobile. Further more, EM.Ent. has granted DVD/video marketing rights for Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to InterDomino whilst the Eastern European free TV channel Minimax has also purchased formats from the company's distribution portfolio.
Since its launch three months ago at MIPCOM 06, Aardman Animations' SHAUN THE SHEEP has racked up television sales in 60 countries and tied up licensing deals in several key territories worldwide.
Following its success as the most viewed show at MIPCOM Jr., the series has been sold by Aardman Int'l to multiple broadcasters across the globe, including France, Japan, Asia and Latin America.
For the first time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released a shortlist of contenders for the foreign-language Oscar. The Mexican visual effects spectacle PAN'S LABYRINTH, which features effects from Café FX, is among the short-listed films. The other eight films include: DAYS OF GLORY (Algeria), WATER (Canada), AFTER THE WEDDING (Denmark), AVENUE MONTAIGNE (France), THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Germany), BLACK BOOK (The Netherlands), VOLVER (Spain) and VITUS (Switzerland).
Tonight's the VFX Bakeoff at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and best of luck to the participants involved in CASINO ROYALE, ERAGON, NIGHT AT THE MUSUEM, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST, POSEIDON, SUPERMAN RETURNS and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND. VFXWORLD will have extensive coverage on Friday with lots of great clips. Meanwhile, this month we turn our attention to the business side of the industry and begin with Adrian Pennington's report on Autodesk's roadmap for future development.
4Kids Ent. Inc. brings 52 new episodes of the CG animated television series VIVA PINATA to NATPE 2007.
FRANNY'S FEET will return with its second season of 13 half-hour shows premiering February 3, 2007, on PBS KIDS. The series, produced by DECODE Ent. in association with Thirteen/WNET New York, debuted in the U.S. last summer and has become a hit for kids 4-7.
Franny's adventures take her and her viewers to places around the world, where she meets new friends and tries to help them solve problems, sharing her feelings, fears and advice with the audience along the way. Global awareness, science and vocabulary development are woven together with entertaining storytelling.
SCI FI Channel announced at the Television Critic's Assoc. Tour that it has greenlit production on FLASH GORDON, based on the popular comic strip franchise. Production on the 22 one-hour episodes begins in Canada in early 2007. The series, produced by Reunion Pictures, is slated to debut on SCI FI this July, with a broadcast syndication window to follow.
Under an agreement with property owner King Features Syndicate, the new series is being produced by RHI's Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. (TIN MAN, LEGEND OF EARTHSEA, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS).
GD Multimedia, a recently launched global distribution company, will attend NATPE 2007 for the first time with a brand new animated comedic adventure series, GOING WILD, available to U.S. and international broadcasters.
The Ebeling Group announces that director/designer Tennant has completed several animated pieces that promote the HP Halo, the new videoconferencing technology from DreamWorks Animation and HP. Working with HP Halo's advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the South Africa-based director created six :40-:60-vignettes that individually communicate the benefits of HP Halo to a corporate-level audience. One of the vignettes was directed by TEG company Lobo. The films will be played across two HD screens hung side-by-side outside of the Halo demo suites at HP offices.
On Jan. 10, 2007, NASSCOM, the premier trade body of the IT software and services industry in India, closed its two-day NASSCOM Animation & Gaming India event in Hyderabad.
NASSCOM also released the annual report on the Animation and Gaming Industry in India -- 2007. Key findings of the report include an expected CAGR for Indian Animation industry at 25% over 2006-2010 and a CAGR of 72% over 2006-2010 for gaming.
Last December, VFXWORLD was invited to visit the northern France region of Valenciennes, home of the superb Supinfocom animation school and the annual E-magiciens student festival. You can read my report of the delightful DCC going on there this week. Meanwhile, Alain Bielik explores the animation of Passion Pictures and its seamless integration into live-action plates by Cinesite on MISS POTTER (opening Jan. 12 from The Weinstein Co.).
Bill DesowitzEditor
NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors have been selected to deliver the ultimate visual experience in innovative touch-enabled HP entertainment PCs designed for Microsoft Windows Vista.
Unlike standard PC processors, NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors are designed to deliver smooth HD video, vivid pictures and realistic 3D animation while increasing overall system performance in Microsoft Windows Vista and an increasing number of mainstream software applications, such as Apple iTunes, Adobe Acrobat 8.0, Google Earth, Google Picasa and Cyberlink PowerDVD.
Granada Int'l is set to launch a raft of brand new titles at NATPE 2007, marking its return to the main floor. Granada Int'l will be located at Booth #918.
BKN Int'l AG reports that its wholly owned Spanish subsidiary BKN New Media SL is bringing three animated TV series to NATPE 2007. The company will have such 39x24 animated series as LEGEND OF THE DRAGON, DORK HUNTERS FROM OUTER SPACE and ZORRO -- GENERATION Z.
Nickelodeon and Movie Park Germany, a premiere film and entertainment theme park, have signed a multi-year strategic partnership to bring Nickelodeon's children's animated television programs to life in a 15,000 square-meter interactive adventure zone called Nickland. Scheduled to open in April 2007 at Movie Park Germany in Bottrop-Kirchellen, Nickland will feature seven all-new immersive attractions and will be the first Nick-themed adventure site in Europe.