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Geographical Region: Europe

Animation Headline News

Curious Pictures Expands VFX Department

Curious Pictures visual effects department in New York has selected seven new computer graphics and vfx specialists for Curious ever-growing slate of branded entertainment projects. The new talent roster includes animators Seth Lippman of PDI/DreamWorks, Weta Digital and Sony Pictures Imageworks, who worked on SHREK 2, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and ANTZ, and Dr. John Alex, a former software engineer and technical director for Pixar, who led animation teams for TOY STORY 2, MONSTERS, INC. and FINDING NEMO, and wrote software applications for THE INCREDIBLES.

Animation Headline News

NaturalMotion Announces endorphin 2.5

NaturalMotion announced the forthcoming release of endorphin 2.5, the newest version of the companys award-winning 3D character animation software. endorphin 2.5s powerful new transitioning, blending and behavior features, combined with enhancements to asset repurposing tools and improved FBX support, allow animators to create realistic, fully interactive 3D character animation faster and easier than traditional keyframe or motion capture techniques.

Marvel Headline News

Konami Signs Deal With Marvel, Set to Release 2 New Sports Games

Konami Digital Ent. Inc. announced a multi-year agreement with Marvel Enterprises Inc. and Upper Deck Ent. that gives Konami exclusive worldwide interactive rights to develop games for current and next-generation videogame systems based on Upper Decks best-selling Marvel Trading Card Game. This is the latest addition to Konamis collection of interactive trading card based properties, which also includes the tremendously successful YU-GI-OH! series.

Festival Headline News

Corpse Bride Premiere & Miyazaki Headline Venice Fest

Tim Burton's stop-motion animation CORPSE BRIDE is among many features that will have their world premieres at the upcoming 62nd Venice Intl. Film Festival where animation film director Hayao Miyazaki will become the first Japanese to receive an honorary Golden Lion award for his career achievements.

Festival Director Marco Muller said Miyazaki's style expressed romanticism and humanism in spectacular narratives while the fictitious worlds the director depicts always contain something eye-opening to catch the imagination of adults, awakening their inner child.

Short Headline News

Paris Int’l Short Film Fest Wants Your Toons

Paris International Short Film FestivalParis, FranceJanuary 9-17, 2006Deadline: September 15, 2005

Paris International Short Film Festival is open to filmmakers from all countries entering a recent short work (less than 60 minutes), of all kinds (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental). Films are selected to one of the following sections: French-speaking competition, International panorama, First European films and Night UFO. For more information, visit www.paristoutcourt.org/.

Boom Headline News

Cartoon Network UK Buys Berliner Film’s Da Boom Crew

Cartoon Network UK has bought the first season of DA BOOM CREW, a European production from the Berliner Film Companie, slated for its U.K. premiere on Sept. 5, 2005, at 5:00 pm.

Now airing on Kids WB! In the U.S., the sci-fi comedy/adventure follows four young friends who create their own action-packed intergalactic videogame, but when a freak power surge opens up an electrical vortex, they get sucked into a parallel world exactly like their game.

Games Headline News

Videogame.it Tackles Italian Pirates

Softwrap, a leader in digital rights management (DRM), announced that it has partnered with Italy's largest online games distribution website www.videogame.it to battle against piracy. The site is a subsidiary of Leader SPA group, one of the most important videogames distributors in Italy. Softwrap is licensing its technology to Videogame.it in order to fulfill all its security requirements for titles sold electronically through its website.

Animation Headline News

Big Business Meets Big Ideas at Ottawa 05's TV Animation Conference

Once again this September, Ottawa will play host to some of the leading animation execs from North America and around the world. Representatives from internationally renowned studios such as Aardman Animation and Nelvana as well as broadcasters such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Kids WB! will converge at the 2nd Annual Television Animation Conference (TAC), taking place on September 21 and 22 at the Chateau Laurier.

Mobile Headline News

Billy Wright to Head Mobile Activities for Warner Bros. Online

Billy Wright has been named vp, worldwide wireless, Warner Bros. Online. Reporting directly to Jim Noonan, svp/gm, Warner Bros. Online, Wright will lead the company's Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) strategic mobile teams as they develop, produce, publish and market content, including wallpapers, video and games based on the studio's world-renowned brands. The group also works to develop promotional mobile content that raises awareness for upcoming studio projects. Currently based in London, Wright will relocate to Glendale, California, in the fall.

Studio Headline News

FlickerLab Expands with New Partner

FlickerLab founder, Harold Moss, and independent producer Tammy Walters, have formalized their long-term association, as Walters becomes a partner in his fast-growing animation studio. Moss and Walters first met at Curious Pictures, where Walters was head of the companys digital division.

Home Headline News

Jay Jay Flies Onto Video with Paramount & PBS

Paramount Home Ent. and PBS Home Video have acquired the North American rights to PorchLight Ent.s JAY JAY THE JET PLANE, with plans to relaunch the property on home video in the spring of 2006. Under the multi-year deal, Paramount Home Ent. will distribute and market a minimum of two new titles per year in North America under the PBS Kids label.

Headline News

Justine Bannister to Head Int'l Distribution & Acquisitions for TV-Loonland

The latest in a flurry of appointments at Munich-based production/distribution outfit, TV-Loonland is the appointment of Justine Bannister to head of international distribution and acquisitions, responsible for managing the television, video/DVD and licensing sales and pre-sales worldwide for the extensive TV-Loonland catalog. Bannister will be based in the companys London office and report directly to Olivier Dumont, TV-Loonlands recently appointed coo.

Headline News

THQ Inc. Investors Win Three-for-Two Stock Split

Investors must be glad they got in the game with THQ Inc. which today (Aug. 9, 2005) declared a three-for-two stock split of the company's outstanding shares of common stock to be dolled out as a 50% stock dividend.

On or about September 1, stockholders will receive one additional share of common stock for every two shares owned on the record date of August 19 with cash to be paid in lieu of any fractional shares.

After the split, THQ will have approximately 62 million shares of common stock outstanding.

Headline News

Steamboy Flies Onto DVD

Katsuhiro Otomos STEAMBOY has now arrived on DVD from Columbia TriStar Home Ent. This original directors cut of the film is available in both a single disk edition ($26.96) and a special gift set ($49.95). The first feature Katsuhiro Otomo has written and directed since his watershed AKIRA (1988), STEAMBOY offers a fantastic, sepia-toned vision of the past-as-future. In place of the dystopic Neo-Tokyo of AKIRA, STEAMBOY is set in England in 1866. Young Ray Steam receives a Steam Ball, a mysterious, powerful device, from his inventor grandfather.

Animation Headline News

AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for August 8, 2005

This week in AWN's Forums, a member asks whether ToonBoom Studio is worth the price. A student wants to know the pros and cons of the New England Institute of Art versus Ringling or Sheridan. Another student is looking to find a lead animator to interview for a school project. A member asks whether you can do traditional 2D animation in Flash. Others are looking for members to critique their work. As well as, tools for teaching animation, the business of animation and, as always, brand new stuff to check out in show and tell!

Award Headline News

ACM SIGGRAPH Announces Award Winners

ACM SIGGRAPH presented three awards at this weeks SIGGRAPH 2005 conference (which attracted more than 29,122 participants to Los Angeles) to recognize individuals who made a significant contribution to the computer graphics community:

* Tomoyuki Nishita of the University of Tokoyo received the prestigious Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics for his inspirational work on rendering of natural phenomena.

Headline News

Axel Springer Buys ProSiebenSat.1 From Saban

Axel Springer Verlag, the largest German publishing company, has purchased a majority stake in ProSiebenSat.1, Germanys largest commercial broadcasting network, from Haim Saban and an investment group including Quadrangle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Entertainment Headline News

CCI, Collingwood O’Hare Ent. & Silver Fox Partner on Bucket Full of Animati

By Guest (not verified) | Friday, August 5, 2005 at 12:00am

Two U.K. animation companies are partnering for the first time to produce HARRY AND HIS BUCKET FULL OF DINOSAURS, a 52-episode preschool animation series based on the best-selling books by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds.

Collingwood OHare Entertainment and Silver Fox Films are joining forces for the production, along with Canadian production and distribution company CCI Entertainment. Directors are Collingwood OHares Tony Collingwood and Silver Foxs Graham Ralph.

Headline News

REALVIZ Launches SMART New Tracking Products

By Guest (not verified) | Wednesday, August 3, 2005 at 12:00am

REALVIZ (SIGGRAPH 2005 booth #1161) is introducing a new range of tracking products employing the companys Scalable Matching Architecture for Tracking (SMART). All will be identified as being Powered by SMART.

Animation Headline News

Lucasfilm Animation Hires Kubsch to Run Singapore Operation

Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. announced that it has hired Christian (Chris) Kubsch, a production and animation exec with more than 20 years of experience, to helm its animation studio in Singapore. As gm of Lucasfilm Animation Co. Singapore B.V., Kubsch will pull together and oversee all elements of the digital animation studio, including recruiting key talent and running its day to day operations. Kubsch will report to Gail Currey, head of animation.

Cartoon Headline News

TCM Gives Cartoon Alley Weekly Block

Turner Classic Movies is expanding its classic cartoon franchise, Cartoon Alley, from once a month to once a week, to air every Saturday morning at 11:30 am, beginning Sept. 3, 2005. Cartoon Alley, hosted by TCMs weekend daytime host, Ben Mankiewicz, is a half-hour programming block featuring three classic cartoons themed around a particular subject.

Production Headline News

TV-Loonland Adds Olivier Dumont & Kourtney Kaye to Key Posts

TV-Loonland is filling out its ranks, appointing Olivier Dumont as its new coo and Kourtney Kaye head of creative affairs and development.

Dumont, to be based in Paris and London, will define the strategy for the development, production and distribution of programming targeted at kids and families. He will report directly to the TV-Loonland ceo/chariman Selma Käppel and, with her, will also run the business development strategy for TV-Loonland.

Motion Headline News

InterSense Sensors Go Gothic with Animazoo’s New Motion Capture Suit

InterSense Inc., the market leader in body worn, inertial tracking technology, continues to support Animazoo, a world leader in motion capture technology, with InertiaCube3 sensors for use in the GypsyGyro-18 MoCap suit. Animazoos most recent delivery of the GypsyGyro-18 went to Piranha Bytes, for speeding the production of character animation in the upcoming game title GOTHIC III. Piranha Bytes is a German game developer who created one of Europes most popular role playing games with its GOTHIC series.

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