Press Start: February 2008 -- No Need for Intervention
For the February 2008 edition of "Press Start," Peter "The Rizk" Rizkalla makes his thumbs sore playing Portal, Burnout Paradise, NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, No More Heroes and Buzz! The Mega Quiz.
NATPE: The 'T' is Expanding
NATPE (National Association of Television Programming Executives) has been the marketplace for the trading of television shows to domestic and international outlets since May of 1962. The evolution of NATPE has been put into high speed in the last several years in order to establish a new direction.
The Financial Syndication Act of 1994 deflated the syndication market, which was NATPE's prime function. NATPE brought television stations, station groups, networks and producers together to fill those local access times with unique and popular programming. Oprah, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy and Judge Judy can thank today's version of syndication for their success. But prior to 1994, animation was a huge seller and reigned equally next to live action at NATPE. Stations bought up anything new and unique for their kid audience, knowing Mattel, Hasbro and General Foods would follow with lucrative ad dollars for the local market.
Sundance Film Festival: Spotlight on Animation
Mary Ann Skweres focuses the spotlight on the animation that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival.
Career Coach: Leap Year Thoughts about Time
Pamela Kleibrink Thompson, in this month's "Career Coach" column, offers some suggestions for how to spend your extra day in 2008.
Slamdance: 'Bush vs. Bin Laden' and 'Blood Will Tell...' and More
Mary Ann Skweres highlights some of the top of the crop of animated shorts from this year's Slamdance Film Festival.
Slamdance -- Best Animated Short: 'Blood Will Tell'
Director Andrew McPhillips took home the Slamdance Grand Jury Award and a $2,500 Credit at Filmworks/FX for his animated short film Blood Will Tell (2007, 6 min, Canada), which incorporates 3D computer animation, 2D matte painting and live action with music written and performed by Sigur Ros, to tell the story set in 16th-century Holland of a mysterious visitor who attempts to hide from death in a dark, mosquito-infested well.
McPhillips started working on Blood Will Tell when he was at PDI. "I started doing some painting, because I paint a lot," McPhillips says. "I ended up telling what...
Dr. Toon: 'Persepolis' Who?
In a rare, good old-fashioned rant, Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman takes to task the distribution of indie animation, which makes NYC and L.A. happy, but leaves the majority of the country asking -- Persepolis who?
From Swampy & Dan Emerges 'Phineas and Ferb'
Joe Strike chats with Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh about their careers and the creation of Disney Channel's new animated series Phineas and Ferb.
Web Toons You Need to See 2008
The AWN Media Center brain trust of Rick DeMott and Mo Whelan have scoured the Net looking for a collection of Web animation from 2007 that we feel needs to be seen. Witness what special treats we have found.
Future Film Festival: We Have Seen the Future, and We is Schizophrenic
Russell Bekins chronicles the eclectic mix of films from the East and the West at the Future Film Festival.
Between Director and Producer at Madhouse
Bill Desowitz previews some of the top movies that VFXWorld will be covering this year.
Studio B Co-Founder Chris Bartleman Talks DHX Merger
Joe Strike braves the (virtual) cold of the Canadian winter to report on the merger of two of Canada's premier producers of animation.
The Animated Scene: How To Make an Animated Film 101 (version 20.08)
In this month's "The Animated Scene," Joseph Gilland explores the sea change that's come about in the animation process.
'George of the Jungle': Hey, Watch Out for that Revamp
Joe Strike swings through the jungles of production (misses a tree) and finds the details behind Classic Media's revamp of the TV classic, George of the Jungle.
Yes, But is It Animation?
With the growth of motion/performance capture, Oscar-winning animator Gene Deitch contemplates the future of animation.
'Chowder': A Recipe That Cooks for Kids
Joe Strike samples a bit of the behind-the-scenes work that went into cooking up Cartoon Network's latest series.
Book Reviews: 'Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!', 'The Art of Bee Movie' and 'The Hanna-Barbera Treasury'
Andrew Farago cracks open three new books from Jerry Beck to see if they stack up to the high standard of his previous work.
Seriously Silly: 'The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything'
Janet Hetherington talks to the creators of the new VeggieTales movie about the challenges of animating vegetables and making pirates more jolly and less jolly roger.
Mind Your Business: The Negotiating Battle
In this month's "Mind Your Business," Sgt. Simon fights for a good contract, offering survivaltips for artists.
Press Start: January 2008 -- Games That Rock Your Face!
For the first "Press Start" column of 2008, Peter "Rizk" Rizkalla takes a look at Unreal Tournament III, NiGHTS Journey of Dreams, Assassin's Creed and Dementium: The Ward.
Dr. Toon: Growing Up Princess
In this month's "Dr. Toon," Martin Goodman contemplates the Princess explosion and whether fairy-tale role models are good for little girls.
Career Coach: The Times They Are A-Changing
In the first "Career Coach" of 2008, Pamela Kleibrink Thompson discusses the only constant in life -- change.
Development & Pitching (& Development): A Primer in Three Parts
Craig Miller gives readers a basic course on the development process from a writer's perspective.
Big Ideas: Behind the Scenes of Studio Development
In their quest for the next big idea, feature film studios are open to simple, elegant pitches with a strong core concept. Karen Raugust reports.
Nancy Cartwright Chats with Charlie Adler
In this edition of her bimonthly column, Nancy Cartwright interviews Charlie Adler, veteran voice actor and voice director, who has worked on classic cartoon series such as The Rugrats, as well as the recent live-action blockbuster Transformers.
