Category: Business

A new videogame rating category, E10+ (Everyone 10 and older), was introduced by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), to help consumers more easily differentiate between games that have content appropriate for the whole family and games that are suitable for ages 10 and older.

Sheer Force of Will Pictures Llc, a new feature film production company, has opened in Glendale, California. The new company is owned by co-founders Kevin Kutchaver, a visual effects veteran who concurrently remains head of visual effects design and production company HimAnI Prods. and feature film producer Linda Drake. Sheer Force of Will Pictures plans to produce two-three original feature films a year. The duo also announced the start of production on the companys first feature film, RESCUE ROCKET X-5, which begins in late February 2005 in Los Angeles.

On Feb. 23, 2005, negotiations broke down in the ongoing dispute between the Spanish-language voices of THE SIMPSONS union and a Mexico City-based dubbing studio, spurring the cast to go on an official strike, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

The cast alleges that its employer, formerly known as Grabaciones y Doblajes, breached its contract with their union, the National Actors' Assn. Union, by hiring union-member actors. The company claims that the contract was made void when its administration and company name changed to Grabaciones y Doblajes Internacionales (GDI).

RUN LOLA RUN producer X Filme and David Groenewold's media investment group Promedium Gesellschaft fuer Medienfinanzierung have launched an animation firm, reports VARIETY. The Berlin-based firm will be run by Stephen Schesch, former head of the animation company Ellipse Deutschland.

Animation X has already begun its first feature, an adaptation of Tomi Ungerer's children's book THE THREE ROBBERS. The film has a budget of E3.5 million ($4.5 million) and is funded by Groenewold's GFP 2 fund.

Vicon Motion Systems has acquired Peak Performance Technologies, Inc., enabling the combined company to expand its market reach, broaden its product range and strengthen the company's technology expertise in the motion capture field.

OMG Group chief exec Julian Morris commented: "We believe that this is an excellent acquisition for the group, bringing expansion into the sports market and video-based motion capture. Peak and Vicon, together, provide a compelling proposition across a wide market and product range."

At a Wall Street analysts meeting in Orlando, Florida, Disney studio chairman Dick Cook commented on a new animation division and the possible release of SONG OF THE SOUTH. REUTERS reports that Cook announced the studio was setting up a new animation division in Glendale to produce sequels to various Disney/Pixar collaborations. The TOY STORY 3 feature would be the first film produced with a targeted release in 2008.

On Jan. 26, 2005, a Los Angeles judge denied a new trial to Stephen Slesinger Inc. -- owners of the U.S. marketing rights for WINNIE THE POOH in their lawsuit against The Walt Disney Co., reports REUTERS. Superior Court Judge Charles McCoy threw out the initial suit last March, ruling that Stephen Slesinger Inc. had stolen evidence and tainted the case.

ShoPro Ent. Inc. and VIZ Llc., two prominent North American-based companies specializing in Japanese content, are merging this spring to create a new entertainment company. The still unnamed venture, to be based in San Francisco, will leverage the unique collaboration, vision and ownership of three global powerhouses in Japanese manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc. and Shogakukan Production Co. Ltd. (ShoPro Japan).