Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. has launched an enhanced consumer website for the CGI animated boys action property Dragon Booster, offering a new interactive game, RACE FOR POWER, where players can create their own dragons, race them on personally designed race tracks and ultimately customize their DRAGON BOOSTER experience.
Global distributor/producer BKN has entered the home entertainment and new media distribution business by forming BKN Home Ent. Ltd. in the U.K. and BKN Home Ent. Inc. in the U.S. to take greater control of the distribution of the companys content in all emerging forms and venues.
Matthew Graham-Clare has bee named md of the U.K. operation with Mark Saxe serving as production director.
CBS and DIC Ent. will partner to launch an all-new, Saturday morning branded kids programming block, CBSs Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party, in fall 06.
As part of the multi-year deal, CBSs Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party, will feature three hours of FCC-compliant childrens programming and serve as a platform to introduce new kids programs created by DIC.
The Awards Entry Deadline for both Promax/BDA Europe and Arabia Awards has been extended by one week from Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, to Friday, Jan. 27.
This is the final deadline and will not be extended further. Entries and Marketing Objectives must be submitted online. Entrees will not be able to edit the marketing objectives after this date. Tapes must be sent direct to the Promax/BDA offices. Payment must be received either directly. Entries, tapes and payment must reach us by 27th January 2006.
Content 360Cannes, FranceApril 3-7, 2006Deadline: February 14, 2006
MIPTV featuring MILIA 2006 has launched "Content 360" a new international competition to commission innovative, interactive content and applications for mobile and broadband. The winning projects will receive a share of a minimum 75,000 development fund.
Cartoon Networks new Saturday 9-11:30 am lineup, launched Jan. 14, 2006, includes three new shows produced outside of the U.S. New series include BEN 10, ROBOT BOY, DRAGON HUNTERS and ZIXX, along with the second season of hit series, THE LIFE & TIMES OF JUNIPER LEE.
4Kids Ent. Inc. has finalized a broadcast agreement with ITV Network for Season 4 of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, one of the most successful action brands in global kids TV entertainment. Season 4 of 26 animated episodes is expected to launch on ITV Network in early 2006.
Nelvana has inked a video-on-demand agreement with British Telecommunications Inc. (BT) in the U.K. Coming on the heels of recent North American partnerships with Comcast and Rogers (along with preschool broadcaster Treehouse), this deal widens the scope of Nelvana's on-demand initiatives to include Europe.
MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST, LITTLE BEAR, BABAR, MAX & RUBY and THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS are among the initial family entertainment programs Nelvana will make available to BT's next-generation TV offering, slated to launch by late summer/fall 2006.
German director Michael "Bully" Herbig is planning a 3D animated spoof of German "Heimat" films rural melodramas popular in the years following World War II, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Titled LISSI UND DER WILDE KAISER (LISSI AND THE WILD KAISER), the film is particularly parodying the Austrian SISSI trilogy of the 1950s, which starred Romy Schneider as a teenage princess caught between love and royal responsibilities.
ADV Films is releasing five titles on Jan, 17, 2006, beginning with the 10th and final volume of GANTZ! Other Jan. 17 releases include the first volume of KALEIDO STAR: NEW WINGS, new volumes of AREA 88 and GODANNAR and the new thin-packed GRAVION COMPLETE COLLECTION.
This week in AWN's Forums, a thread on whether anime is killing a new generations view of animation is getting a lot of traffic. Equal amount of debate is raging on the topic of videogames being the most successful animation industry. A member has a question about voice-acting in England. Another member wants to know if others went to Ottawa and got the Cartoon Network pitch magnets. Theres also a thread debating the idea of bringing holographic images to the stage.
Ballistic Publishing is now offering PAINTER, showcasing a collection of the world's finest digital artwork created with the natural media painting program, Corel Painter. PAINTER exhibits 209 works by 135 artists across diverse categories such as Portraits, Concept Art, Fantasy, Editorial Illustration and Abstract art. PAINTER is presented in a high quality volume consisting of 192 pages and is available in a leather-bound Special Edition and Soft Cover.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz. Check out the latest installment from quizmaster Karl Staven, an accomplished independent animator and head of the Animation Department at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
From 1926 through 1997 there were a total of 51 animated features produced in Europe (most after WWII). From 1997 to 2002 Europe produced 34 animated features. It's quite obvious that production is picking up overseas. This quiz asks questions about European animated.
BKN International AG has opened a subsidiary in Barcelona named BKN Kids New Media SL, headed by md Laura Tapias, to handle its activities in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Latin America.
Tapias joined BKN New Media Ltd. UK in 2004 as vp, sales & marketing, for Spanish, Portuguese and Italian speaking territories. Tapias, with a decade of international sales and marketing experience in the entertainment industry, previously served with leading Spanish TV producers and distributors.
DIC Ent. (DIC) announced that McDonald's Corp. has entered into an agreement naming Cornerstone Group's China Retail Management (CRM) subsidiary the master licensee for McDonald's McKids line across Asia, excluding Japan and India. The multi-million dollar deal is the first major international initiative of DIC's new role as global consumer products and entertainment agent for McDonald's Corp.
Vicon has installed a 44-camera Vicon MX40 system for facial, hand and full-body capture to leading game company Square Enix Co. Ltd.
Square Enix acquired the system to take advantage of the immediate performance gains of Vicon MX when recording actors for cinematic sequences and in-game play, and to support higher camera counts and complexity for motion capture on next-gen titles.
Square Enix has created such popular game franchises as FINAL FANTASY and DRAGON QUEST, and has been an experienced motion capture user for many years.
Alienware is now featuring the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor on both the Aurora ALX and Aurora 7500 desktop platforms.
Greg Gilhooly joins Cookie Jar Ent. Inc. as vp, business and legal affairs. Based in the companys Toronto head office, his responsibilities will support Cookie Jars dynamic growth as the company continues to introduce several new shows a year, expands its entertainment operations globally and solidifies its new business initiatives.
Imagina 2006, to be held Feb. 1-3 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, has released details of its conference schedule.
Feb. 1* 2:00 pm 3:30 pmKeynote: Ken Perlin (professor, Information Science department), Media Research Laboratory, New York UniversityTHE ILLUSION OF LIFE - REVISITEDProcedural animation has reached a degree of verisimilitude, which enables an interactive virtual actor to express emotions. Videogames are thus gaining access to a type of narration that was previously limited to the cinema.
* 3:45 pm 4:45 pm
At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Google Inc. announced the planned opening of the Google Video Store, the first open video marketplace enabling consumers to buy and rent a wide range of video content from a major television network, a professional sports league, cable programmers, independent producers and filmmakers.
Transart Institute announced that 12 scholarships, amounting to $40,000, have become available to students of its low-residency Master of Fine Arts program for the academic year 2006/7. Eight scholarships of $2,500 each will go to students of merit and four scholarships of $5,000 are available to candidates from East Europe and new EU-member countries.
Application deadline for the academic year 2006/7 is April 1, 2006.
News Corp. has promoted Jeremy Philips to EVP/office of the chairman and will focus on acquisitions and strategy across the company and will oversee Internet investments. He will continue to report to News Corp. chairman/ceo Rupert Murdoch.
Philips, 33, will also join the company's executive management committee.
Prior to joining News Corp., Philips was vice-chairman of ecorp Ltd., and worked at Citigroup and McKinsey & Co.
MFORMA announced that it has released Activision Inc's. CALL OF DUTY 2 to mobile users everywhere. A sequel to MFORMA's CALL OF DUTY mobile game of 2004, one of the most successful mobile games of all time, CALL OF DUTY 2 is the mobile version of Activision's critically-acclaimed CALL OF DUTY 2 game.
HIT Ent. Ltd. (HIT) London announced a raft of new agent appointments to represent its properties across the world. "This marks a major shift in gear for HIT as we reinvigorate our licensing business in all key markets," said Peter Byrne evp of International at HIT. "It's all part of a major refocus of the company and our aggressive expansion drive into international territories."
Mexico's media conglom Televisa is preparing an animated version of its 1970s children's comedy EL CHAVO DEL OCHO, reports VARIETY. Televisa plans to open pre-sales for the series later this month in Las Vegas at the National Association of Television Program Executives meeting.
Anima will produce the 26x30 series, which will update the Spanish-language afternoon classic with a modern spin. The series will be ready to air in late 2006.
