AWN Headline News

NewTek Inc. announced the release of a free update for VT[4] owners, version 4.6. The new version of the award-winning VT[4] Integrated Production Suite includes improved 3D animation and motion graphics tools, enhanced support for multiple monitors, improvements to the NewTek codec and all computer sources, including attached DV cameras, and can be used as a downstream key (DSK). The feature and maintenance update is a free download for registered VT[4] users.

NANNY MCPHEE, the new children's fantasy film, directed by Kirk Jones and starring Emma Thompson and Colin Firth, from a screenplay by Thompson, opens Jan. 27 through Universal Pictures. A team of more than 80 artists and technicians at Framestore CFC in London worked for nine months on the films digital vfx, providing some 150 shots. In addition, Framestore CFC's Digital Lab facility created the film's distinctive Digital Intermediate.

Brickyard VFX expanded its work for Volkswagen from visual effects to end-to-end creative direction with 14 short films to promo the 2006 Volkswagen (VW) Passat. VW and advertising agency Arnold Worldwide tapped Brickyard as one of a handful of production entities to conceive and produce the clever and artsy :15-second films, each of which focuses on one of the features of the new "beyond-loaded" Passat. The Volkswagen Passat Feature Films Project has been rolled out via www.vw.com and traditional broadcast media.

It's fitting that on the same day that TOY STORY 2 returns to DVD in a special edition collection (Dec. 27, 2005), TOY STORY is earmarked for preservation on the Library of Congress' National Film Registry 2005.

Kicking off January's highly anticipated Rose Bowl, ABC Sports has tapped Concrete Pictures to produce the open for the Bowl Championship Series' (BCS) National Championship game between University of Southern California and the University of Texas. The 1:40 spot, helmed by Tripp Dixon, will feature famed college football broadcaster Keith Jackson guiding fans through the thrilling tale of the 2005 college football season.

For the newest ANY ROAD spot to promote the launch of the 2006 Lexus IS sport sedan, A52 was asked to "winterize" it from beginning to end.

"We have a long history of relying on A52 for complex visual feats," explained Jack Epsteen, exec producer with ad agency Team One, "and in this case, we felt that tapping into the company's artistic expertise to add snow effects to this spot would be an interesting way to back-up the 'Why live in one dimension' tagline. They met the challenge in their typical exemplary style."