CineVegas Film FestivalLas Vegas, Nevada, USAJune 10-18, 2005Deadline: April 8, 2005
CineVegas Film Festival highlights independent films, shorts and documentaries. Celebrating 100 years of Vegas and 100 years of film, the festival will be held at the Palms Casino Resort. World premiere films, high-profile tributes and Vegas nightlife will all be part of the excitement. For additional information, visit www.cinevegas.com.
International Open Image (IOI) 2005World Wide WebApril 15, 2005Deadline: April 15, 2005
Janine Bottazzi has been promoted to producer at the visual effects and animation studio Guava. Bottazzi, who has been with the company since its founding in 2002, will oversee visual effects and animation work for commercials, music videos and other media, and serve as a liaison between clients and Guavas artistic staff. Her current projects include commercials for Coldwell Banker and Neutrogena.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
This week in AWN's Forums, a junior member talks about his boss telling him hes a slow animator.
Mercy College, a private liberal arts college located in New York, will begin offering its Animation program in Manhattan at the Roy Disney Animation + Drawing Studios beginning September 2005.
Women In Animation International will elect its new board of directors and treat members to a panel discussion about The Evolution of Flash, April 19 from 6:30-9:00 pm at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, California. Panelists include those who make FLASH work on the Internet and in television animation, along with helping you to build your own home studio, lead by Heather Kenyon, Cartoon Network senior director of development/original animation.
Imagi Services president/ceo Tom Gray announced the signing of Kevin Munroe to write and direct a new CGI-animated feature-length TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES film. Now in pre-production, the film is targeted for U.S. release in spring 2007.
Starz Ent. Group LLC (SEG) threw the switch on the largest re-branding effort in the history of television. Effective at 6:00 am (MT) March 28, 2005, all 13 of the Starz and Encore channels sport new on-air looks and logos. Eleven channels have been renamed. Three new channels Starz Edge, Starz Comedy and Starz Kids & Family launched. In addition, an upgraded website for Starz, www.starz.com, and a new site for Encore, www.encoretv.com, will debut April 1.
First Argentinean is set to tell the stories of 12 tango dancers and bring to the world what authentic tango is all about, reports ETTODAY.COM.
The film was originated by Cecelia, a graphic designer who works as a part-time tango instructor at this tango school, which is quite popular in this neighborhood of Buenos Aires. In 2003, she joined a Cuban multimedia designer named Raquel and started on this animated production.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. announced it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for a secondary offering of $500 million of shares of its Class A common stock. All shares will be offered to the public by current stockholders of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and therefore the company will not be issuing additional shares or receiving any proceeds from the offering.
NAB is joining forces again with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Ent. Technology Center at USC (ETC-USC) to present the fourth annual Digital Cinema Summit. The two days of speakers, panels and new product announcements center on the now complete Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) specifications; the issues faced in implementing them through SMPTE standards; and the impact of digital cinema on entertainment, technology and theatrical exhibition worldwide. The Digital Cinema Summit will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 16 and 17, 2005.
ACM SIGGRAPH announced the content of the courses program for SIGGRAPH 2005, the 32nd International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, being held July 31Aug. 4, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Presenting tutorials, half-day sessions and full-day sessions taught by leading experts, the 39 courses teach beginning, intermediate and advanced skills on the hottest topics in computer graphics and interactive techniques. Skills learned by attendees can be implemented across numerous application areas and disciplines.
While waiting for BATMAN BEGINS, you might want to check out an early serial on DVD, BATMAN AND ROBIN THE COMPLETE 1949 MOVIE SERIAL COLLECTION (Columbia TriStar Home Ent., $29.95), available March 22. Be forewarned: Its even campier than the TV series, and apparently not as good as an earlier 1943 serial, but, still, its a Dark Knight relic for those who want to explore the entire oeuvre. The 15-episode, two-disc set features capers and cliffhangers galore, as Robert Lowery and Johnny Duncan fight The Wizard, who wants to control the world with a remote control death ray.
Sonys GUESS WHO, the comedic remake of GUESS WHOS COMING TO DINNER, debuted in the top spot with $20.6M for the Easter weekend ended March 27, 2005. Coming in a distant second was another comedy, Warner Bros. MISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS, which tallied $14M. DreamWorks THE RING TWO, which debuted in the top spot last week, fell to third place with $13.6M (vfx by Rhythm & Hues) for a cume of $57.9M. The 3D-animated ROBOTS claimed the fourth spot for Fox/Blue Sky with $12.9M and $87.3M.
Broadband network Heavy.com will debut a new Machinima series, PIMP MY WEAPON, that was created in partnership with Sony as part of its pre-promotion for it's highly anticipated release of GOD OF WAR. This marks the first time that a studio-endorsed Machinima will reach a broadcast-scale audience through cable or broadband and will be shown exclusively on Heavy.com (www.heavy.com).
Santa Monica, California-based Entity FX has just announced its new commercial representation, Connie Mellors and Ellen Dempsey of Connie Mellors & Co.
We want to work on commercials that push the creative envelope, said Kymber Lim, head of production for Entity FX. Someone of Connies experience and reputation will help us to attract those kinds of projects.
Peak Entertainment Holdings Inc. has licensed 4Kids Entertainment Inc. the North American television broadcast, home video and merchandising rights to the new concept, THE WUMBLERS.
Topanga Film Festival 2005Topanga, California, USAAugust 20, 2005 Deadline: July 1, 2005
Topanga Film Festival is determined to provide filmmakers and the community with a forum to share work and exchange creative ideas in an intimate open-air setting that inspires others to pick up a camera, lose their inhibitions, ditch excuses and go out there to make movies. Eligible are all short films or videos (under 30 min.) of artistic merit. For more information, e-mail info@topangafilmfestival.com or visit www.topangafilmfestival.com.
2005 Telluride Film Festival Telluride, Colorado, USASeptember 2-5, 2005Deadline: July 15, 2005
Animex International Student Animation Festival 2006Middlesbrough, U.K.January 2006Deadline: October 1, 2005
Universal Pictures has announced that principal animation has started on its big screen adaptation of CURIOUS GEORGE. Will Ferrell will voice The Man in the Yellow Hat and will be joined by Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Dick Van Dyke, Joan Plowright and Ed O'Ross. Jun Falkenstein (THE TIGGER MOVIE) is directing with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer producing. The 2D feature will contain original songs by Jack Johnson. It is set for release on February 10, 2006.
As a special farewell to the popular series, UPN will broadcast the final two episodes of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE back-to-back on May 13 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT).
The first episode "Terra Prime" will complete a two-part arc revealing the first steps in the foundation of the Federation. Captain Archer and the crew must stop Paxton (guest star Peter Weller), a well-armed, radical human isolationist leader, who is threatening to destroy Starfleet Command unless all aliens leave Earth immediately.
Wild Heart Ranch Inc., a content driven childrens toy and publishing company, continues to offer non-violent entertainment to all with its free, online ARMADILLO COWBOY CLUB arcade game. The game is based on an original story about three Armadillo Deputy heroes that capture criminal coyotes with slingshots, firing bees and fast flying lassos. The game takes you into desert scenes, an old fashioned street shoot out and a saloon fight.
Instant Effects Inc. announced new product developments to create and deliver 3D presentations from within the presentation standard already mastered by millions, Microsoft PowerPoint. Expanding the product family, Instant Effects announced the latest version of its flagship product OfficeFX, for use by consumers, educators and business presenters, and also unveiled OfficeFX Professional.
