Oscar-winning Ryan to Premiere on Sundance Channel
Sundance Channel has acquired the pay television rights to the recent Oscar-winning short film, RYAN, directed by Chris Landreth and will broadcast it in fall 2005.
AWN Headline News
Homburg New Finance Director at TV-Loonland
Karl W. Homburg (48) has been appointed finance director at TV-Loonland, following Selma Käppel, who has been chairman of the managing board at TV-Loonland since Jan. 21, 2005. Homburg, who answers directly to the managing board, oversees mergers, acquisitions, finance and controlling.
The production/distribution companys finances came into question earlier this year when TV-Loonland head Peter Voelkle left the company as shadows of tax evasion charges loom over him from the Munich district attorney's office.
Sony Computer Ent. America Stages Biggest Presence Ever at GDC
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) is staging its biggest presence ever at the 2005 Game Developers Conference, held March 7-11, 2005, in San Francisco to feature the newest PlayStation platform, PSP (PlayStation Portable), innovations for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and EyeToy, as well as tools and technologies designed to encourage game development on all platforms.
Sony experts in game development, programming and technology have been scheduled to speak at numerous sessions during the 19th annual conference.
Half-Life 2 Scores Multiple Wins at Game Developers Choice Awards
HALF-LIFE 2 and Eugene Jarvis took top honors in the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards given by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) at a ceremony the evening of March 9, during the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.
The big guns at the show were 3: HALO 2 (from Bungie/Microsoft), HALF-LIFE 2 (Valve/Vivendi) and WORLD OF WARCRAFT (Blizzard) all of them huge budget productions with great visuals and sound, but a surprising audience favorite was KATAMARI DAMACY (Namco), which was simple, but very creative.
New Line To Breathe Life into Phantasm Franchise
New Line Cinema is in final talks with filmmaker Don Coscarelli to resurrect his cult horror franchise PHANTASM, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Coscarelli would serve as producer on the remake. New Line exec Jeff Katz, who championed the project, will oversee the film along with George Waud and Stokely Chaffin. The original 1979 film followed the emerging psychic Mike and his friends as they went up against the grave robbing Tall Man and his deadly flying spheres.
Family Guy Live On Stage
Seth McFarlanes Emmy Award-winning animated comedy series FAMILY GUY celebrates its historic return to primetime network television with the U.S. premiere of the unprecedented live stage event, FAMILY GUY LIVE!, starring the cast of the series. The show features a live reading of a classic episode, a live performance from the eagerly anticipated FAMILY GUY LIVE IN VEGAS comedy album, a sneak peek at the new FAMILY GUY episode and a Q & A with the cast/creators of the series.
The Orphanage Finishes Off Sin City’s Yellow Bastard
The Orphanage Inc. announced that it has completed nearly 600 visual effects shots for the That Yellow Bastard chapter of the highly-anticipated feature film, SIN CITY, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller and adapted from Millers graphic novels. Visual effects supervisor and company partner Stu Maschwitz headed up The Orphanages team with Marc Sadeghi serving as exec producer in charge of the production and Jody Echegaray serving as producer.
Ex’pression Adds New Technology For Gaming & Animation Students
Expression College for Digital Arts announced that it is teaming up with Spatial View Inc. (SVI) to open a new dimension in visual arts and gaming. SVI is donating its new technology: polarized, lenticular, computer screens and the software that displays movies, animations and images in 3D without the need for glasses to Expression College for use in its academic environment.
Softimage & Epic Games Collaborate on Game Development Solution
Avid Technology Inc. announced that its Softimage subsidiary and Epic Games have collaborated to co-develop the UnrealActor X Exporter for the XSI toolkit a solution for those interested in creating interactive titles with SOFTIMAGE|XSI animation software and Epics Unreal Engine technology. The Unreal Actor X Exporter for the XSI toolkit enables game developers to use technologies from both companies together in a game development pipeline.
Playmakaz $50,000 Contest Calls for Entries
Game Playmakaz ContestWorld Wide WebSeptember 9, 2005Deadline: July 31, 2005
Zango, the provider of exclusive free premium content online, announced the official launch of its Game Playmakaz Contest for independent game developers. The winning submission will be awarded a $50,000 game development contract with Zango. Finalist submissions will also be considered for Zango licensing agreements. Zango will announce the winning game during the Austin Game Conference in Austin, Texas.
In Call for Entries, Visual Effects, Call for Entries, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All
Disney Interactive Announces Narnia Games
Disney Interactive announced new details about its upcoming action/adventure title, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, for the PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, Nintendo GameCub, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PC. Inspired by the upcoming highly anticipated motion picture from Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, the games will launch this holiday season, in conjunction with film's release.
Warner Bros. Online Partners With IBM for the Matrix Online Game
Warner Bros. Online announced that IBM will provide the on-demand technology and services to power THE MATRIX ONLINE, Warner Bros. Interactive Ent.'s first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), co-published with SEGA of America. Based on THE MATRIX film trilogy, THE MATRIX ONLINE will be released in North America on March 22, 2005, and in Europe on April 8, 2005.
TELETOON Gets Some SMAX! from Mattel
Canadas TELETOON has launched an on-air and online promotion to support the new Mattel toy SMAX! The online initiative includes a TELETOON-designed SMAX! Squeeze Web game, which highlights the new toy and uses color combinations to collect points. The campaign will run until March 27, 2005.
SMAX! are new collectible action figures whose heads pop off to reveal a colored "brain" inside. Each color, (purple, green, orange) indicates the winner in each battle, while all the characters have special personalities and names.
Digital Musings From the Editor:
With GDC taking place in San Francisco this week, VFXWORLD asked Fred Galpern to review TEKKEN 5, the latest entry in Namcos 10-year fighting game franchise. From a vfx and animation standpoint, TEKKEN 5 offers lush cinematics, three brand new characters, all new in-game animations, a story mode, all-new environments and unlockable bonus accessories for all characters. You can read all about it later this week.
Jorgen Klubien To Direct Feature Film Story For Vinton Studios
Renowned director/screenwriter/storyboard artist/designer/animator Jorgen Klubien has been named a director of story for feature film at Vinton Studios where he will be responsible for developing animated feature film properties for the Portland-based entertainment studio, including his own original concepts as well as story ideas already in the Vinton pipeline.
Nick Slates Five Animated & Whoopi Goldberg Live Series For 2005
Nickelodeon will roll out six new live-action and animated series for the 2005-06 season, and premiere 248 episodes of 18 returning hit Nick and Nick Jr. series, totaling 124 hours of new, original programming. Cyma Zarghami, president, Nickelodeon Television, announced the ambitious slate during the networks upfront meeting presentation to advertisers in New York City.
Registration Open for Spring Term at Gnomon School
Registration for the spring term at the Gnomon School, which runs April 4 through June 12, is in full swing. You can register online at www.gnomon3d.com/registernow.html, in person, via mail or by fax. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. You can also call 323/466-6663 to make an appointment.
Colorist Seamus O’Kane to Join The Mill
Seamus O'Kane has left VTR to join The Mills transatlantic telecine team of Fergus McCall, Adam Scott, Paul Harrison, Jamie Wilkinson, Tom Poole and James Bamford.
OKane, who begins in April, has worked with award-winning directors Ivan Zacharias, Steve Reeves, Stuart Douglas, Chris Palmer, Vince Squibb and Tom Carty. Among his many recent credits are: Stella ENGLISH AIRMAN (Zacharias), HSBC EASY RIDER (Palmer) and Lynx KUNG FU ROMANTIC (Tom Carty).
Bionatics Launches natFX 3 for Maya
Bionatics announced the launch of natFX 3 for Maya at GDC 2005 (booth #924). Designed to accommodate the most challenging next generation animation and videogame production requirements, this major release of natFX has been developed with a performance-driven mind-set to facilitate fast creation and animation of massive plant datasets.
The Foundry Helps Tune The Piano with OpenFX
Leading visual effects developer, The Foundry, announced the completion of the first OpenFX project: the indie feature THE PIANO TUNER OF EARTHQUAKES, due for release in November. An open API for visual effects software, OpenFX has been used on the film in conjunction with FilmLights Baselight grading and finishing system by German vfx facility, Optical Art.
New Maxon Plug-in Connects Bodypaint 3D with Softimage|XSI
Maxon Computer announced the immediate availability of a new plug-in that connects its renowned 3D painting program, BodyPaint 3D, to SOFTIMAGE|XSI. Now the unique 3D painting features of Maxons industry proven tool are available to all users of the latest generation of SOFTIMAGE|XSI. Character animators, game developers and motion picture artists in particular appreciate the versatility of BodyPaint 3D when it comes to texturing the most complex models without distortions.
Microsoft Reveals First Details of Next-Generation Xbox
Microsoft Corp. announced the first details of its next-generation Xbox video game system platform at GDC, highlighting how hardware, software and services are being fused to power enhanced game and entertainment experiences.
Microsoft corporate vp and chief XNA architect J Allard further outlined the companys vision for the future of entertainment, citing the emergence of an HD Era in video games that is fueled by consumer demand for experiences that are always connected, always personalized and always in high-def.
Discreet Announces Support for Next Generation Xbox Platform
Discreet announced that its 3ds max software is aligned as a leading 3D animation solution to support the next generation Xbox platform. The Discreet division of Autodesk has been a close partner with Microsoft since the introduction of the first Xbox video game system from Microsoft, with the most 3ds max-created game titles for Xbox on the market above any other digital content creation (DCC) tool.
Keanu Sets Sail on 8th Voyage of Sinbad
Columbia Pictures has hired Keanu Reeves to topline its long gestating THE 8TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD project, reports VARIETY. XXX director Rob Cohen will direct with Neal Moritz producing. Charlie Mitchell has been hired to rework the script from Cormac and Marianne Wibberly and Tedi Sarafian. The eighth-century tale will place Sinbad and his crew in China searching for the Lamp of Aladdin, while encountering a supernatural Chinese general, gorgeous empress and fantastical creatures. Director John Singleton was previously attached to this project.
In Films, Visual Effects, Films, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, South America
Blur’s RockFish Gets Diesel Sized Treatment
Blur Studios short ROCKFISH will be transformed into a CG feature via Vin Diesels One Race Films. Diesel will also lend his voice to the main character. One Race is trying to secure financing for the sci-fi film, which it believes will cost under $30 million. In addition Diesel will produce alongside his partner George Zakk and Blur creative director Tim Miller, who wrote and directed the short and will direct the feature.
