Electronic Arts and Starz Media's Film Roman are starting production on an animated movie based on DANTE'S INFERNO. The feature-length project will expand on the story in EA's new, game coming out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010.
marblemedia has begun production on the North American version of the U.K.'s smash-hit, animated/live-action series, SKATOONY.
TV-Loonland has secured a distribution deal for both original and classic content adapted from MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE. Within the deal TV-Loonland acquired worldwide (excluding USA and Canada) home entertainment rights for the brand new 44-minute MY LITTLE PONY TWINKLE WISH ADVENTURE Special, which is currently in production, as well as the original animated TRANSFORMERS GENERATION 1 series (98 x 26) and the G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO animated series (95 x 26) and feature animated film (1 x 94).
At the 2009 Durango Independent Film Festival, which concluded March 8, Swedish animated short ASTON'S STONES won for Best Animated Short and the audience award for Best Short. The film is directed by Lotta & Uzi Geffenblad.
THE CAVE: AN ADAPTATION OF PLATO'S ALLEGORY IN CLAY, directed by Michael Ramsey, won for Animated Short Jury Commendation at the Colorado-based film festival.
This week in AWN's Forums, a member is looking to start an independent, Christian-themed animated movie, and is looking for some pointers on how much it might cost and how to get funding.
The 16th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film (May 5-10, 2009) has chosen a varied selection of 13 animated films for its competition AniMovie. AFRO SAMURAI: RESURRECTION is celebrating its European premiere whilst CORALINE and THE MISSING LYNX are celebrating their German premiere.
Twentieth Century Fox has hired director Tom Dey to develop a feature adaptation of MARMADUKE, the comicstrip from Brad Anderson, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The newspaper strip started in 1954, about a mischievous Great Dane who lives with the Winslow family. Marmaduke has appeared in animated episodes of HEATHCLIFF and GARFIELD AND FRIENDS.
Fox, who is releasing the CG-live action mix ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL on Christmas Day, has not announced whether MARMADUKE will be live action, animated or a hybrid.
LAIKA, the Portland-based animation studio whose first feature film, CORALINE, was released by Focus Features on February 6, has announced that Travis Knight has been named President and CEO of the company. Knight, the son of LAIKA's owner Philip H. Knight, succeeds Dale Wahl, who has held the position since 2005. Travis Knight, who sits on the LAIKA Board and has been Head of Animation since 2007, was one of the lead animators on CORALINE, the first stop-motion animated feature film to be produced in 3-D.
Among the 1,800 films submitted to the 16th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film is the short animated film Oscar winner LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES from Japan.
Dutch media company Telescreen has been granted the exclusive worldwide (excluding Germany, French-speaking Europe and Denmark) distribution rights of JEP's new animated production RUDOLF, including broadcasting, home entertainment, merchandising, internet, mobile phone, audio and book publishing rights.
The fabric of intergalactic justice is threatened -- until Hal Jordan arrives for his initial mission -- in the animated GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT, the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe's animated original PG-13 movies. A co-production of Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the illuminated hero's first-ever full-length animated film is set for release by Warner Home Video on July 28, 2009 as a special edition two-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray as well as single-disc DVD.
This week in AWN's Forums, members are discussing Sunday night's Oscar winners WALL-E and LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES.
WALL-E is the winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Winners of the 81st Academy Awards were announced Sunday, February 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
The Animated Feature Symposium celebrates the work of the 2008 Oscar nominees in the Animated Feature Film category. The nominees (subject to availability) will discuss their film's development and their creative process as well as present clips illustrating their techniques.
The 2008 nominees are: BOLT -- Chris Williams and Byron Howard KUNG FU PANDA -- John Stevenson and Mark Osborne WALL-E -- Andrew Stanton
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
Portfolio Ent. has 200 episodes of combined sales in a variety of territories in Europe, Africa and Asia for animated tween comedy series, CARL2; children's astronomy program, HEADS UP!; preschool puppet series, IGLOO-GLOO and animated adventure series, TOAD PATROL.
Oscar-Nominated Animated Feature SymposiumBeverly Hills, California, USAFebruary 19, 2009
The Animated Feature Symposium celebrates the work of the 2008 Oscar nominees in the Animated Feature Film category. The nominees (subject to availability) will discuss their film's development and their creative process as well as present clips illustrating their techniques.
The 2008 nominees are:BOLT -- Chris Williams and Byron HowardKUNG FU PANDA -- John Stevenson and Mark OsborneWALL-E -- Andrew Stanton
During a black-tie event at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, ASIFA-Hollywood handed out prizes at the 36th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year's best animation across film, television, commercials, videogames and short subjects.
To kick off Oscar Week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present "Shorts!," a program featuring screenings of all the 2008 Academy Award-nominated films in the Animated and Live Action Short Film categories, on Tuesday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The program will feature onstage discussions with the nominated filmmakers (subject to availability).
The 2008 Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film nominees are:
Animated Short Film
Celebrating 100 years of German animated film, the 16th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film will present a comprehensive anniversary retrospective. The changeful history of this innovative genre will be visualized in six programs. The screenings comprise artistically ambitious works, outstanding commercials and state-of-the-art 3-D animation.
The MoonScoop Group's Taffy Ent. has secured deals for two of its newest animated TV series on key broadcasters across Spain. Cartoon Network Spain has picked up all three seasons of TITEUF and TV Catalunya also snapped up broadcast rights to the new preschool series AVA RIKO TEO.
Independent animation company Calon TV has teamed up with Merrill Osmond, lead singer of the 1970s family music group The Osmonds, to develop an animated movie for TV.
The Welsh independent TV production company, known for the BAFTA-winning preschool animated series HANA'S Helpline, is working to turn Osmond's idea of a mythical horse called SHILOH into a feature-length film. Osmond will perform the film's soundtrack.
Street-smart feline Heathcliff is about to make a comeback as media property development company Fitzroy Media (FRM) has tapped Renegade Animation to produce a series of new projects featuring the mischievous cat.
This month, Renegade will begin production of 50 two-minute animated interstitials. Animation director Darrell Van Citters, who leads Renegade's creative team, will develop an updated look for the new animation. Targeting an adult and tween audience, the new Heathcliff will focus on comedy set against a hip, club-music sound.
Disney will launch Disney XD, a boy-focused, girl inclusive entertainment brand for kids age 6-14, with a 24-hour, ad-supported basic cable network as its centerpiece, on Friday, February 13 (12 midnight, ET/PT).
Producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and director Shane Acker's upcoming animated feature 9 has a newly-released trailer. Based on the 2005 Oscar-nominated animated short, the feature has the voice talents of Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly and Elijah Wood and is due September 9, 2009 (9/9/09) from Focus Features.
In it, a rag doll must face a monster that is hunting his brethren and stealing their souls. Acker wrote the story, with a screenplay by Pamela Pettler.
See it at Apple.com.
