Film Roman Inc. has reported that revenue increased by 19% to $9.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2001, over $7.9 million for the same period last year. Net loss attributable to common stock for the second quarter of 2001 was $1,293,641, or $0.15 per share, compared with a net loss attributable to common stock of $800,260, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2000.
Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., a leading developer of 3D technologies for the Internet, reported their financial statement for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. The firm posted that their net revenues rose 162% to US$652,000 over $249,000 from last year. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2001 were $1,042,000 compared to $436,000 for the same six-month period in 2000. Brilliant Digital reported a net loss of $1,219,000, or $0.08 per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001, compared to a net loss of $4,452,000, or $0.30 per share for the second quarter of 2000.
Academy Award-winner Christopher Walken has joined the voice cast of Columbia Pictures' STUART LITTLE 2. He joins a voice cast, which includes Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Steve Zahn and Melanie Griffith. Walken will voice the character of Falcon, a sharp-beaked villain who puts Stuart and a new friend in danger. Scheduled to hit theaters July 19, 2002, the sequel follows the continuing adventures of Stuart (voiced by Fox), the beloved mouse who was adopted by the Littles, a human family. Rob Minkoff will return as the director of the film.
Wild Brain has completed production on the animated opening title sequence for Paramount's upcoming film RAT RACE, directed by Jerry Zucker (AIRPLANE!). Wild Brain director Julia Tortolani provided the title design and animation. The opening title sequence features animated Photo Collage Puppets of the movie's characters. The sequence comes to a climax when four of the characters take the director's credit and run across the desert, through a collaged version of Las Vegas and into the front door of the Venetian Hotel.
With THE SIMPSONS still remaining the top dog, KING OF THE HILL jumps over FAMILY GUY to become the second rated primetime toon. Moving up from 44th to place 35th, THE SIMPSONS scored 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL finished in the 64th slot, garnering a 3.9 rating/7 share. Sliding into the 66th slot, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.8 rating/7 share. Meanwhile, FUTURAMA forged 3.3 rating/7 share in 78th place. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.
id Software is bringing its classic shooter game, DOOM, to Game Boy Advance. The project is a joint development effort by id Software and David A. Palmer Productions. Published by Activision, Inc., DOOM for Game Boy Advance will allow gamers to battle horrific demons on the go. The handheld version features up-to-four-players support through the Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable. "DOOM redefined gaming on the PC and now it's back to change the way we think about mobile games," said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software.
Macromedia has released the Macromedia Flash Jump Start Kit, a free two-CD training collection for Macromedia Flash 5. The free kit is available to users who purchase Macromedia Dreamweaver 4, Macromedia Flash 5 or any product studio containing either software. The Macromedia Flash Jump Start Kit contains: the MickeyLive!
Pinnacle Systems has shipped Commotion Pro 4, the company's integrated paint, composite and special effects software. Commotion Pro 4 offers speed gains of 30% in compositing and 200% in painting. New grouping and browsing controls provide a comprehensive solution for managing composites and working with multiple layers. Users can add mattes, color corrections or other filters and motion controls to multiple layers at once. A new timeline browser gives users an overview of the entire composite with controls for selecting, moving and deleting groups and layers.
The Art Institutes - Journey Education Marketing National Animation Competition is sending first prizewinner 21-year-old Cody Pierson of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh on an all-expense paid trip to the SIGGRAPH Conference. Pierson's winning entry featured a rhino racing across a desert, which stops suddenly in mid-charge to watch a television showing four short vignettes that demonstrate Pierson's experiments with animation and style. He developed the animation using 3D Studio Max and AfterEffects.
TriStar Pictures is set to release METROPOLIS, directed by Rintaro (X) and written by anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), in the U.S. on November 9. Based on the classic comic by Osamu Tezuka, the film is set in the futuristic city populated by humans and robots. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young female android created to succeed the leader of Metropolis. The film is a combination of cel and digital animation.
Los Angeles-based development and production company, Collision Entertainment, has acquired the film and television rights to MAX PAYNE, one of the most highly anticipated video game releases of the last several years, from game producer 3D Realms. Dimension Films will distribute the property in the U.S., with Abandon Entertainment handling international distribution. Max Payne is a DEA operative deep undercover, torn between avenging the mafia murders of his wife and child and being framed for the murder of a fellow agent.
Los Angeles-based Whamo Entertainment and Australia-based Burbank Animation Studios have announced the completion of their Halloween special, THE CANTERVILLE GHOST. The special is the tale of an American family that inherits an English castle, inhabited by the ghost of Simon de Canterville who tries to get rid of the family. The film is the sixth and last animated special from the Animated Classic Gold Collection 1. The other titles from the collection include EASTER IN BUNNYLAND, JOSEPH AND THE COAT OF MANY COLORS, ANNA & THE KING, SILENT NIGHT and D4: THE TROJAN DOG.
Phoenix-based animation house Rainbow Studios has digitally cloned and animated 3D dinosaurs for MPH Entertainment's upcoming A&E Network documentary special THE LOST DINOSAURS OF EGYPT. "We did a lot of things different on this project," said director Jim Milio of MPH Entertainment.
Visual effects and broadcast design house A52 has produced the visual effects for three new 30-second Infiniti Q45 spots. The project was completed for Anonymous Content and director Andrew Douglas for ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day LA. In "Speed Effect," a new Q45 sits motionless while smoke, leaves, wind and rain create speed tunnels around it. A52's CGI team used Houdini and Renderman to create steam that was blended with 2D elements, while visual effects supervisor/inferno* artist Simon Brewster removed reflections and composited-in rain effects and a group of girls walking around the car.
Sesame Workshop and Encore Software have signed an exclusive, five-year deal to publish Sesame Workshop-owned gaming titles worldwide. Under the agreement, Encore Software will market, promote and distribute Sesame Workshop's SESAME STREET for PC and console platforms, and DRAGON TALES for PC. This year, new Sesame Workshop PC CD-ROMs will include two ELMO'S WORLD titles and two collections featuring SESAME STREET characters. In addition, DRAGON TALES: DRAGON LAND FESTIVAL and new SESAME STREET toddler and preschool titles will debut later this year.
* Short Attention Span Film & Video Festival: Friday, August 03 - Thursday, October 18, 2001, North American Tour, USA.
The 2001 SHORT ATTENTION SPAN Film and Video Festival will be a touring event bringing two hours of two minute movies from around the world. It will showcase the best of short animation, comedy, sci-fi, documentary, poetry and more. Festival locations and dates are:
PACIFIC NORTHWEST:
* Side Effects' SIGGRAPH 2001 Houdini Training Seminar: Sunday, August 12, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA.
* Animation Brainstorming Session: Wednesday, August 15, 2001, Glendale, CA USA.
A court issued an injunction in favor of 20th Century Fox against Marvel, Tribune and Fireworks, preventing them from violating Fox's rights in its X-MEN movie. Moreover, the court also held that Fox can go to trial to recover monetary damages from Marvel and Tribune's use of MUTANT X as the title of their new television series, as well as a permanent injunction on the title of the series.
Pixar Animation Studios announced their financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. For the quarter, Pixar posted earnings of US$8.8 million, or $0.17 per diluted share. These results compare to earnings of $8 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter were $16.7 million, compared to $18.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Pixar also announced that it is raising projections for 2001 from the previous range of $0.40 to $0.55, to a new range of $0.50 to $0.58.
Cinar Corporation has released a letter to shareholders providing its financial information for the six-month period ended May 31, 2001. President and chief executive officer Barrie Usher stressed in the opening of the letter that the report is unaudited because "current senior management cannot presently provide the required assurances with respect to financial periods prior to its appointment." The troubled firm had some positive developments in the past six months, including the okay by Telefilm Canada, a Canadian government funding organization, to develop official co-productions.
Ubi Soft Entertainment generated consolidated sales of US$53.2 million (60.39 million euros), up 162.5% for the first quarter of 2000/2001 ended June 30. Without taking into account the acquisition of 3D Planet (Italy), Sinister Games (U.S.), Red Storm (U.S.), and Blue Byte (Germany), and the assets of TLC's Entertainment division, consolidated sales for the quarter were $32.44 million dollars (36.81 million euros), up 60%. Highlights of the quarter were the release of MYST III: EXILE, launched in the U.S. and Australia in May.
TechnologyHelp, Inc. has completed a second round of funding and officially changed its name to Cinemetrix. The new round of financing came from Vanguard Atlantic, a New York-based venture capital firm. Terms of that transaction were not disclosed. George Gagliardi, president and chief executive officer, said, "We are now positioned to expand the sales and marketing of our technology and know-how to clients who understand the power of professionally produced TV-quality presentations.
Rezn8, an award-winning design and communication company, has produced a graphic-intensive show open and complete graphics package for FLIPPED, a new reality-based television series on MTV. The package included the logo design, animated open, graphic bumpers and backgrounds for the show. The show opens with 30-seconds of show footage propelled at the viewer through a tunnel effect which concludes with the series logo emerging from the back of the tunnel flipping the positions of the two P's.
Broadcast design and visual effects firm Creative Bubble has created the title sequences and promos for Showtime's SNOW IN AUGUST and GOING TO CALIFORNIA. For the TV movie SNOW IN AUGUST, the promo features a young boy walking through a snowy landscape and through an iron gate. "The film deals with a young boy in the '40s who is in love with comics and comic book imagery," explained Showtime art director Damian Mager. "We decided to make his world much like that of a comic book." Creative Bubble designer Doug Dimon said, "The producers had selected the clip for the titles.
