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Category: Visual Effects

Film Headline News

New Sprite High Def Spot Splashes on Bigscreen

With captivating, contemporary imagery, eye-popping colors and an irresistible dance mix, Coca Cola's SPRITE REMIX high-definition spot recently spashed onto movie screens nationwide. Finished in 1080/24p by PostWorks New York, SPRITE REMIX is the creative vision of Ogilvy Mindshare, New York, to promote the new Sprite Remix tropical fruit flavored soft drink.

Effects Headline News

Instant Effects Showcases the Power of ATI Technology with OfficeFX

Instant Effects announced the company's first product, OfficeFX, which will become available later this month from www.instanteffects.com for $149.95. A seamless addition to the popular presentation software package, Microsoft PowerPoint, OfficeFX allows users to deliver effective presentations with the tool they already know. Instant Effects is also proud to announce that a trial version of OfficeFX will ship with all desktop products from ATI Technologies Inc., a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative visual processor solutions.

Digital Headline News

Levy Promoted at Sony Pictures Digital

Don Levy has been promoted to svp of marketing and communications, Sony Pictures Digital (SPD). In his new position, Levy will continue to direct the corporate communications, marketing and public relations for SPD's operating units, including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Pictures Digital Networks, Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Online Entertainment. In addition, Levy will continue to be responsible for the coordination of marketing and brand strategy between Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Electronics and others.

Lucas Headline News

VES to Honor Lucas with First Lifetime Achievement Award

In recognition of his enormous impact on the vfx industry, George Lucas will receive the first lifetime achievement award from the Visual Effects Society at the Second Annual VES Awards ceremony on Feb. 18, 2004, at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood.

Festival Headline News

3D Festival Announces 2004 Event

3D Festival 2004, Europe's largest convention and exhibition for the creative 3D industry, will happen May 3-6, 2004 at Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. The festival encompasses animation, post-production, digital visual effects, games, architectural visualization and design. Leonard Teo, md, Ballistic Media Pty Ltd., will chair the conferences, with organizer Jimmy Hassel taking an advisory role.

Digital Headline News

Modern VideoFilm Remasters Alien’s Director’s Cut

Modern VideoFilm used da Vinci's 2K Plus color enhancement systems as a part of its digital intermediate (DI) workflow to remaster and restore Ridley Scotts new directors cut of ALIEN. The 2K Plus interfaces directly with the Quantel iQ servers in Modern VideoFilm's Glendale digital intermediate facility, enabling the staff to maintain a cohesive DI workflow that allows them to perform color correction, restoration and other post-production tasks through a single user interface.

Effects Headline News

Sapphire Plug-Ins Keep Flames Burning at Brickyard

Turbo-charged with GenArts' Sapphire Plug-ins, Brickyard has been able to flaunt its effects and compositing systems on a number of new commercial projects, including "Pods Unite" (a shared marketing effort between VW and Apple) and the monster.com "Driver" Super Bowl spot. The work ranges from blowing up trucks into gas stations, to the slightly less glamorous removal of unwanted rigs.

Animation Headline News

VFS Restructures Production Training with New Appointments/Promotions

With the appointment of five high profile industry leaders and four additional department promotions, Vancouver Film School (VFS) has stepped up its strategy for entertainment production training.

The new appointments announced by managing director Marty Hasselbach include:

Larry Bafia, head of 3D Animation & Visual Effects. Bafia previously served as a commercial animation director at PDI/DreamWorks, where he directed for Coca-Cola, Sega, Intel, Kraft, Circle K and Saturn. He also worked as sequence lead animator on ANTZ, BATMAN & ROBIN and A SIMPLE WISH.

Media Headline News

Sonic Launches PrimeTime Deluxe for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

Sonic Solutions has released Sonic PrimeTime Deluxe, the premium version of the PrimeTime line of DVD creation software, for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Launched in conjunction with Microsoft's release of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, PrimeTime Deluxe expands upon the Media Center experience by making it easy to archive personal digital media such as recorded TV shows onto DVDs that can be played on set-top DVD players and multimedia PCs.

Headline News

R!OT Makes Pink Feel Good

R!OT Santa Monica helped to make an "Angel" out of Pink by providing vfx and final post services for the singer's new video FEEL GOOD TIME. The song is the theme from CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE and the video, directed by Dave Meyers of @radical media, casts Pink as a fourth member of the secret agent squad.

Headline News

Warner Bros. Technical Ups Antonellis and Dages

Warner Bros. technical operations has promoted Darcy Antonellis to evp, distribution & technology operations, and Chuck Dages to evp, emerging technology. Both Antonellis and Dages will report directly to technical operations president Chris Cookson.

Films Headline News

Disney Vet Hausfater To Co-Head Miramax Int’l

Industry veteran Jere Hausfater has joined Miramax Films as evp/co-head of Miramax International. Based in Los Angeles, Hausfater will report to Miramax Films coo Rick Sands, and will work alongside Stuart Ford in heading Miramax International. He will also work in conjunction with Agnes Mentre, who heads Miramaxs acquisitions group, to acquire product for sale and distribution outside of North America. Additionally, Hausfaters business affairs background will be tapped to help Miramax develop European co-financing structures.

Marvel Headline News

Marvel Mulls Entering Film Production Arena Alone

Comic and licensing company Marvel Enterprises is mulling over entering the world of film production on their own, confirms a company representative. Since the overwhelming success of its characters like Spider-Man and Daredevil on the big screen, the company is contemplating middle budget theatrical or direct-to-video productions based on some of their lower-profile characters. The films would have a budget range of between $8 and $50 million.

Headline News

Screen Gems Greenlights Underworld 2 & 3

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, September 25, 2003 at 12:00am

Upon the success of UNDERWORLD in its opening weekend at the box office, Lakeshore Entertainment and Screen Gems have quickly greenlit two additional UNDERWORLD films. Original films writers Danny McBride and Len Wiseman will begin writing the sequels screenplay immediately. Wiseman plans to return as director as well, hoping to start filming as soon as possible. The third film is tentatively set as a prequel to the first film.

Headline News

MTV Selects Pinnacle Systems' Liquid Editing Solutions

MTV Networks Europe will deploy Pinnacle Systems' Liquid blue, chrome and Liquid Edition (formerly Liquid purple) editing tools within their new, shared workflow operations in Benelux. The purchase is part of an extensive program by MTV Networks Europe to build a fully networked broadcast environment for their MTV, TMF and Nickelodeon TV channel groups within the region.

Headline News

rhinofx Creates FX for RSA and GMC

rhinofx created the effects on LOGICAL ENGINEERING, the :30 GMC spot that aired nationally in August. Working with Jim Sonzero of RSA USA, Los Angeles, California, and Lowe, New York, the rhinofx team was headed by senior inferno artist/partner Vico Sharabani.

Effects Headline News

Ron Thornton joins DAVE School Team

The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School has added Ron Thornton to its team of instructors. Thornton was a founder of the legendary Animation house Foundation Imaging in Valencia, California, and a pioneer in the use of computers for vfx. His credits include BABYLON 5Babylon 5 (for which he won the Emmy for best visual effects), STAR TREK VOYAGER, DEEP SPACE 9 and ENTERPRISE. He was recently nominated for his work on the series finale of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

Headline News

AMD Announces Winner in Athlon 64 High-Tech Treasure Hunt

By Rick DeMott | Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 12:00am

AMD has announced the grand prize winner in the AMD Athlon 64 processor High-Tech Treasure Hunt. Marty Rice of Cleveland, Ohio, won the grand prize of an AMD Athlon 64 processor-based desktop system and $6,400 cash. The virtual geocaching contest asked participants to find 64 global locations that have significance to 64-bit computing, AMD or technology. More than 10,000 people entered the contest between August 25 and September 15.

Production Headline News

E-on Ships Vue 4 Professional

e-on software, the developer of award-winning 3D natural scenery products, has released Vue 4 Professional for MacOS X and Windows, the newest addition to its line of products for professional 3D designers and digital video production houses.

Star Headline News

Star Wars: Episode III Wraps Ahead of Schedule

STAR WARS: EPISODE III wrapped principal photography at Fox Studios Australia on Sept. 17, 2003, five days ahead of schedule, according to a Lucasfilm announcement.

"It's almost unheard of for a major motion picture to come in under-schedule," boasted producer Rick McCallum of the shoot that was originally scheduled for 12 weeks.

Headline News

It's a Bird, it's a Plane, it's…Smallville on DVD

The WB's popular SUPERMAN spinoff series, SMALLVILLE, comes to DVD in THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON set (Warner Home Video, $64.92) on Sept. 23, 2003. The deluxe six-disc package offers the origins of the characters, numerous plotlines and deleted scenes and other bonus features.

Disney Headline News

No Holes in This Disney DVD

HOLES, the family adventure concerning an ancient family curse and kids forced to dig holes to build character, comes to DVD (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, $29.99) on Sept. 23, 2003. Starring Stanley Yelnats (Disney Channel's EVEN STEVENS), HOLES is based on the Newberry award-winning book by Louis Sachar.

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