CARTOON NETWORK’S SAMPLES RESURFACES AT HGTV
          A N I M A T I O N  F L A S H
Tuesday, September 18, 2007              Volume 12, Issue 25
________________________________________________________________________
         The Animation Flash E-mail Newsletter
        an Animation Games
         ****Industry News Headlines****
Business
  1. DISNEY‘S IGER CALLS BRAND DEPTH KEY TO EFFECTIVE GLOBALIZATION.
  2. TOEI ANIMATION SELLS SHARES TO HEDGE U.S. INFLUENCE.
  3. ULTRAMAN CREATOR ACQUIRED BY APPLESEED PRODUCER.
  4. WORLD SERIES OF VIDEOGAMES ENDS SEASON EARLY.
  5. EYETRONICS EXPANDS TO CANADA.
People
  6. LAIKA TAPS FORMER H-B EXEC, RAISES TRAVIS KNIGHT.
  7. ATLANTYCA ENT. TAPS KAREN K. MILLER TO OVERSEE U.S. ANIMATION
   PRODUCTION.
  8. CARTOON NETWORK’S SAMPLES RESURFACES AT HGTV.
  9. NICK NAMES JASON ROOT DIGITAL SVP.
 10. DREAMWORKS NAMES NEW CHIEF ACCOUNTANT.
 11. RIOT EXPANDS FEATURE VFX TEAM.
In Passing
 12. 3-DAY GAMING BINGE LEADS TO DEATH.
Film
 13. TOON VETS GOBBLE UP ANIMATION LAB’S WILD BUNCH FEATURE.
 14. WARNER BROS. TAPS Harry Potter PRODUCER FOR PADDINGTON.
 15. BAD SANTA HELMER BUILDS $40,000 MAN.
 16. TRIO JOIN THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT.
 17. WEINSTEINS WRITE CHECK FOR DIARY OF THE DEAD.
 18. STAR TREK FINDS NEW UHURA.
Television
 19. CATDOG CREATOR SELLS WALLY CHAPTER BOOK TO CARTOON NETWORK.
 20. STARS SHINE ON DISNEY‘S PHINEAS AND FERB VO CAST.
 21. WALLIAMS TO STAR IN STORYMAN ADAPTATION.
 22. DECODE ACQUIRES DISTRIBUTION OF SUPER WHY.
 23. FRANCE 3 PICKS UP ANGUS & CHERYL.
 24. ALCUNI TO DEBUT PRE-TEEN SERIES.
 25. LOONLAND’S OWL FLIES TO BBC.
 26. LIVE-ACTION BEN 10 MOVIE HITS CARTOON NETWORK.
 27. CARTOON NETWORK GOES LIVE WITH DAVID DUCHOVNY.
 28. BEIJING KAKU TV BEGINS NATIONWIDE CARTOON SATELLITE BROADCAST.
 29. ANIME NETWORK EXPANDS U.K. PROGRAMMING.
 30. SPIELBERG NEEDS NEW TALISMAN TO PROTECT KING ADAPTATION.
Commercials
 31. BRICKYARD VFX LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT FOR SPRINT.
Internet & Interactive
 32. PORCHLIGHT LAUNCHES “YOUTUBE FOR KIDS.”
 33. ZULA PATROL TO GO VIRTUAL WITH IBM.
Home Entertainment
 34. SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY LAUNCHES NEW DC UNIVERSE OF DVDS.
 35. IL LUSTER RELEASES BEST ANIMATION FROM HOLLAND DVD.
 36. ORDER OF THE PHOENIX TO FLY ON DVD, HD DVD & BLU-RAY.
Licensing
 37. HIT TO REP AARDMAN LICENSING & DVD IN U.S. & CANADA.
Education
 38. STUDIO ARTS TO OFFER TRA-DIGITAL TRAINING WITH TOON BOOM IN FALL.
 39. GNOMON WORKSHOP ADDS THREE NEW DVDS.
Technology
 40. THIRD GENERATION OPTERON TECHNOLOGY BOOSTS BOXX’S POWER.
 41. NVIDIA QUADRO FX 5600 NOW AVAILABLE TOP TO BOTTOM.
 42. ROBOT DRIVEN BY MASSIVE SOFTWARE BRAIN DEBUTS AT WIRED NEXTFEST.
Awards
 43. PERSEPOLIS REPRESENTS FRANCE AT OSCARS.
 44. FANTOCHE LIKES FOOLISH GIRL.
 45. AARDMAN ANNOUNCES NEW STORYTELLING AWARD.
Call for Entries
 46. COMPUTER ANIMATION FESTIVAL TO EVOLVE FOR SIGGRAPH 2008.
 47. KC JUBILEE FIRST DEADLINE COMING SOON.
Events
 48. OTTAWA ANIMATION FEST TO SPOTLIGHT TECHNOLOGY.
 49. DISNEY CHANNEL PRES ROSS TO KEYNOTE AT MIPCOM JR. 2007.
 50. TYRUS WONG ARTWORK SPOTLIGHTED IN ACADEMY EXHIBITION.
 51. SAN SEBASTIAN INT’L FILM FEST BEGINS THIS WEEK.
 52. SCAD HOSTS SMART CAREERS OUTLOOK ROUNDTABLE.
 53. SCENE FILM & MEDIA HOSTS “FALL INTO FALL” MEDIA MIXER.
 54. USC HOSTS BUSINESS OF GAMING EVENT.
 55. VO PROS CAN WORK OUT WITH CASTING DIRECTORS.
 56. CALARTS SHOWCASE FILMS FROM PLATFORM INT’L ANIMATION FEST.
 57. APEM SUMMIT BRINGS ASIAN TRENDS TO L.A.
 58. NAVIGATE THE CHANGING INDUSTRY AT INDIA DIGITAL NETWORKS SUMMIT.
 59. XBOX 360 BRINGS VIDEO Games LIVE TO THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL.
 60. UPCOMING EVENTS IN ANIMATION.
Upcoming Films
 61. UPCOMING THEATRICAL RELEASES.
           ****SUBMIT YOUR NEWS!!!!****
If you have news, review materials, events or other items of interest for
the ANIMATION Flash send it to: Editor, ANIMATION Flash, 6525 Sunset Blvd.,
Garden Suite 10, Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA. E-mail: editor@awn.com; or Fax:
1-323-466-6619.
            ****Industry News****
Business
1. DISNEY‘S IGER CALLS BRAND DEPTH KEY TO EFFECTIVE GLOBALIZATION.
DISNEY President and CEO Robert A. Iger discussed his views on
globalization and technology at a luncheon yesterday with members and
guests of the Pacific Council on International Policy. Iger stressed that
building brand identity is important for the American entertainment
industry, especially when branching out globally, and that identifying
“local tastes and market trends” is important for global industry,
especially in the growing markets of China, Russia and India. Being
apolitical and attuned to local markets, according to Iger, has been
advantageous to the Walt DISNEY Co., whose most recent animated film,
RATATOUILLE, was produced in 45 languages.
The discussion was led by Pacific Council Member and Motion Picture Assoc.
of America President and COO Robert Pisano. Pacific Council co-chair and
Chairman and CEO of Edison International John Bryson presided over the
event.  Bryson announced the upcoming winter 2008 launch of the Pacific
Council’s Media and Ent. Committee, which will focus on the entertainment
industry’s impact on international policy and engage in programs and events
similar to this one in the future.
For more information, visit www.pacificcouncil.org.
2. TOEI ANIMATION SELLS SHARES TO HEDGE U.S. INFLUENCE.
Toei ANIMATION plans to sell 935,000 shares, valued at $5 million, to its
parent company Toei as a way to prevent U.S. hedge fund Steel Partners, a
5% stake holder in Toei ANIMATION, from solidifying too much influence,
reports VARIETY. Previously, Toei ANIMATION sold TV Asahi 110,000 shares
and Fuji TV 410,000 shares. Both companies already hold large stakes in the
Japanese ANIMATION giant. The move hopes to keep outsiders, such as Steel
Partners, from changing corporate governance rules or gaining a board seat.
3. ULTRAMAN CREATOR ACQUIRED BY APPLESEED PRODUCER.
TYO, an advertising, film and ANIMATION firm, is acquiring the creator of
ULTRAMAN, Tsuburaya Prods., reports ICv2.com. After a restructuring of
Tsuburaya, TYO plans to heavily exploit the ULTRAMAN franchise, which has
already spawned more than 20 live-action and anime TV series and feature
films. The property is also a merchandising bonanza, including toys and
videoGames. TYO produced the anime series APPLESEED EX MACHINA.
4. WORLD SERIES OF VIDEOGames ENDS SEASON EARLY.
Midway through its second season, the World Series of VideoGames, has been
forced to shut down due to the lack of sponsorship.
Despite support from Intel, WSVG producer, Games Media Properties, stated,
“The continuing challenges of securing adequate revenues to sustain the
production of the WSVG’s large scale events and television programming, in
a very crowded field of competitive gaming leagues, has prompted us to
re-evaluate our direction as an organization.”
Games Media Properties will now focus on growing its online advertising
network of websites, which reach seven million users each month.
Games Media Properties said it would refund the entry fee for all
registered WSVG Los Angeles competitors and will pay the winners from its
WSVG events once the requisite paperwork is completed.
5. EYETRONICS EXPANDS TO CANADA.
Eyetronics will expand its high resolution scanning services to Canada. The
first satellite office will open in Montreal in September, with plans to
roll out further expansion to Toronto and Vancouver in 2008.
Eyetronics has provided 3D scanning for several feature films lensed in
Canada. These include OUTLANDER, THE LAST MIMZY, THE FOUNTAIN, LAND OF THE
DEAD, ICE PRINCESS, BLADE: TRINITY, PAYCHECK, FREDDY VS. JASON, CATWOMAN
and BULLETPROOF MONK. Eyetronics is currently in production on a number of
new feature film and television projects being shot in Montreal, Toronto
and Vancouver.
Eyetronics has also worked on several high profile commercials produced in
Canada, including British Telecom and Honda, and has forged relationships
with many Canadian game developers. Eyetronics’ success in efficiently
producing hyper-real 3D scans of more than 1,400 Major League players and
coaches for Games from Sony and 2K Sports generated such new business as
the scans for Edmonton-based BioWare’s recent, highly innovative game MASS
EFFECT.
Eyetronics’ 3D scanning was also chosen for many of this past summer’s
feature film releases, such as OCEAN’S 13, RUSH HOUR 3 and THE INVASION.
“We have a solid client base in Canada and having our new offices in place
over the next twelve months in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will provide
greater service and convenience for our customers,” said Nick Tesi, VP of
Operations.  ”And although our systems are extremely mobile and give us the
capability to be anywhere in the world within 24 hours or less, the growth
of production in Canada demands that we have systems in place at all
times.”
Eyetronics, known for its unique ability to deliver highly photorealistic
scans of all species of animals, has developed powerful new technology
capable of producing a full body scan in 90 seconds. The accelerated scan
time has been especially appealing to producers of films with large casts
of characters. Scan data from Eyetronics’ lightweight, portable equipment
is processed in the company’s proprietary software and exported as fast and
accurate 3D models with 4K texture and color data, ready for immediate
integration in production pipelines.
Eyetronics (www.eyetronics.com) has corporate offices in Leuven, Belgium,
and Los Angeles, and recently opened a satellite office in Montreal,
Canada.
People
6. LAIKA TAPS FORMER H-B EXEC, RAISES TRAVIS KNIGHT.
LAIKA Inc. has made two new appointments to its management team. Former
Lucasfilm and Hanna-Barbera exec Alan Keith has joined the studio as VP,
Business Operations/CFO, and Travis Knight has been promoted to VP,
ANIMATION.
Keith, who has more than 20 years of finance experience in both corporate
and movie studio settings, will be responsible for leading the expansion of
LAIKA’s business operations as LAIKA continues to grow its pipeline of
animated feature films, television commercials, music videos, broadcast
graphics and short films.
“Alan’s diverse set of business and financial skills are critical to LAIKA
at this time in our company’s growth,” said President/CEO Dale Wahl. “He
has excellent experience balancing creative and business perspectives and
he will make a significant contribution to LAIKA’s advancement in the
ANIMATION and commercial production businesses,” Wahl said.
Keith comes to LAIKA after two years as Corporate Finance Director at
Genentech Inc., a biotech and life sciences companies. Prior to that, Keith
held senior management roles in the entertainment industry for more than 18
years, most recently with Lucasfilm, as the corporate VP of Administration
& Secretary for the company. In addition to his corporate responsibilities
for Lucasfilm, Keith oversaw finance and business operations for Industrial
Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, as well as administration for Lucasfilm
ANIMATION, the company’s newest division established in Singapore. Keith
joined Lucasfilm after four years as VP, Business Operations/Controller at
Hanna-Barbera Inc. Before that, he was Chief Accounting Officer/Controller
at Hanna-Barbera Ent. Co. Inc., where he oversaw the financial activities
between joint venture partners Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc. and the
Apollo Investment Group. The alliance funded the buyout of the
Hanna-Barbera cartoon library from Great American Ent. Co. Prior to that,
Keith held respected tenures at Turner Ent. Co. and with Price Waterhouse.
In his role as VP of ANIMATION, Knight will continue many of the
responsibilities he has discharged as Head of ANIMATION for the past two
years. He continues as one of the Lead Animators on LAIKA Ent.’s CORALINE,
the first stop-motion animated film to be originally produced in 3-D, to be
released by Focus Features in 2008. This promotion formally recognizes his
extensive influence across the entire LAIKA slate of films. He is a key
member of the team responsible for property acquisitions, development and
greenlighting and he also provides creative direction regarding the look
and feel of LAIKA’s portfolio of releases. With this promotion, his
involvement in the business operations of the company will also deepen.
“Over the past two years Travis has played an increasingly active role in
the studio’s creative direction in his role as head of LAIKA’s ANIMATION
department,” says Wahl. “His appointment as VP is a logical move for the
studio and allows us to continue to benefit from his considerable creative
talent and valued leadership skills.”
Knight joined Vinton Studios (which was later re-named LAIKA Inc.) in 1998.
He started animating full time on THE PJS, primetime television’s first
ever stop-motion animated series, which Vinton produced with Imagine Ent.
and Eddie Murphy Prods. The series won three Emmys in its run on Fox-TV. He
also worked on the Vinton-produced animated series GARY & MIKE for UPN. He
served as Supervising Animator on the award-winning CG short MOONGIRL,
directed by Henry Selick. He has animated numerous commercials produced by
LAIKA/house, for clients including Gateway, McDonald’s, Nestle and Fox,
amongst others.
In 2002, Travis took a seat on LAIKA’s Board of Directors and since then
has been increasingly involved with the business operations and creative
direction of the company as it builds its production slate in both CG and
stop-motion feature films and expands its commercial production activities.
For more information, visit www.laika.com.
7. ATLANTYCA ENT. TAPS KAREN K. MILLER TO OVERSEE U.S. ANIMATION
PRODUCTION.
Italy-based publishing and production company Atlantyca Ent. has appointed
entertainment production and development exec Karen K. Miller to oversee
its U.S.-based ANIMATION production operations. Based in Los Angeles,
Miller will work with Italy based executives, Chairman Pietro Marietti and
Senior Manager/Exec Producer Caterina Vacchi.
“Karen is one of the entertainment industries top production executives
with a vast range of experience, she is a tremendous asset to our company
as we take our properties into the U.S. market, said Marietti. “Her
creativity and knowledge of the acquisition and licensing of children’s
properties through to production of network series makes her the ideal
executive to lead Atlantyca’s ambitious production strategy goals, starting
with our GERONIMO STILTON animated series.”
Miller’s first initiative for Atlantyca is to oversee the development and
production details for the GERONIMO STILTON television series, which is
based on the award-winning international chapter book series. Miller’s
responsibilities will include working with Atlantyca’s home office in Italy
on U.S. distribution and developing U.S. licensing initiatives for GERONIMO
and other future entertainment properties.
Miller joins the company on the heels of completing production on THE
SIMPSONS MOVIE. For the past 18 years Miller worked at Warner Bros., most
recently as the VP, Property Acquisitions for Warner Bros. Consumer
Products, where she was responsible for identifying and analyzing worldwide
properties in television, film, videoGames, Internet and toy concepts.
Miller’s credited with acquiring and developing preschool series FIREHOUSE
TALES for WBCP and CARTOON NETWORK; acquired and developed THE HIP HOP KIDZ
into a nationally recognized lifestyle brand; and acquired the preschool
series HARRY AND HIS BUCKET FULL OF DINOSAURS for CARTOON NETWORK.
Prior to joining the Consumer Products Division, Miller was a producer for
Warner Bros. Television. Over the 10-year period with the television
division, she produced such hit animated and live-action series as BABY
BLUES, THE OBLONGS, KIRK and MEEGO.
Atlantyca Ent. was established in September 2006, a result of the worldwide
publishing success of celebrated kids book series GERONIMO STILTON. The
company seeks co-production partners to produce content for TV, movies and
multi-platform for a variety of their other renowned book properties,
including ULYSSES MOORE and TEA SISTERS.
8. CARTOON NETWORK‘S SAMPLES RESURFACES AT HGTV.
Former CARTOON NETWORK chief Jim Samples, who resigned over a publicity
stunt that led to a terrorism scare in Boston, is now working as the Head
of Scripps Networks’ HGTV.
Samples stepped down in February as GM and exec VP of CN following a
promotional campaign in which dozens of blinking circuit boards featuring a
cartoon character giving the finger appeared in 10 cities. In some cases,
police closed roads and sent in bomb squads. Samples had been at CN since
2001.
Scripps President John Lansing said: “Few people have the breadth and depth
of experience that Jim brings — experience that is very relevant to our
growth strategy for HGTV. [He] knows how to create compelling, original
programming that viewers love, while also broadening the appeal of the
brand to attract new audiences.”
9. NICK NAMES JASON ROOT DIGITAL SVP.
Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group announced the promotion of digital
executive Jason Root to SVP, Digital, Nick.com and Nickatnite.com. The
announcement was made by Steve Youngwood, EVP, Digital Media for
Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, to whom Root will continue to
report.
As SVP, Root will oversee all management and creative operations for the
top Kids‘ site Nick.com, as well as the growth and development of
NickatNite.com, Nicktoonsnetwork.com, Nicktropolis.com — the fastest
growing youth virtual world — and Nickelodeon’s innovative broadband video
site, TurboNick.com. He will guide the development of immersive sites for
all Nickelodeon hit television properties, such as SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS,
THE NAKED BROTHERS BAND and AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, as well as many
other online Nick initiatives, such as Kids Pick the President and Kids‘
Choice Awards. His team will also focus on developing new digital-first
ways to help incubate properties and characters.
In addition, Root will play a key role in expanding Nick’s online gaming
efforts, including the existing franchise New Game of the Week, giving it a
multiplayer focus. The first new effort in this space is 3D SLIMEBALL on
Nick.com. His group will also build multiplayer cooperative gaming into
Nicktropolis, complementing the video, safe chat, and virtual economy
capabilities already integrated into that site.
In his previous position as VP, Nick.com, Root worked closely with network
executives to execute convergence and online interactivity around
Nickelodeon’s key properties and television events, including the network’s
20th Annual Kids‘ Choice Awards overall online presence, which set records
for kid voting, and “BubbleCast,” an early ground-breaking TV and online
play-along application that Root co-created. Some of his recent successes
include the interactive portion of Nickelodeon’s ME:TV — the first
television programming block featuring user-generated content provided by
Kids — and the online vote-driven SpongeBob’s Best Day Ever convergent
event. Under his leadership, Nick.com has continued to hit new traffic
highs and has garnered two prestigious Webby Awards.
Root is a seven-year veteran of Nickelodeon and Nick.com. Prior to joining
the company, he held several new media management positions at the Walt
DISNEY Co., most notably in the DISNEY Online group. Previously he was with
Rabbit Ears Prods., a small multimedia family entertainment company. He is
a graduate of Bates College and lives with his wife and four children in
Connecticut.
10. DREAMWORKS NAMES NEW CHIEF ACCOUNTANT.
DreamWorks ANIMATION SKG has announced that Philip Cross, who has been
serving as a consultant to the company, has been named Chief Accounting
Officer. Cross will be responsible for managing the company’s accounting
functions and will report to Lew Coleman, DreamWorks ANIMATION’s President
and Chief Financial Officer.
“We are very pleased to welcome Phil to DreamWorks ANIMATION,” said
Coleman. “As a seasoned finance professional, Phil brings a wealth of
experience and knowledge that comes from over 35 years in both accounting
and the entertainment industry.  We are fortunate to have an individual
with his level of expertise join our team.”
From 1980 until retiring in June 2006, Cross was a partner with
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, serving as a senior partner in that firm’s
Technology, Information, Communications and entertainment practice. Cross
was previously a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
England and Wales and has served on the Board of Directors of the American
Cinematheque. He also served as an advisor to the British American Film and
Television Academy of Los Angeles. Cross is a certified public accountant
and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
11. RIOT EXPANDS FEATURE VFX TEAM.
Riot of Santa Monica has made several senior level additions to its Feature
Visual Effects team as it moves forward on a series of new film projects.
Visual Effects Supervisor David Jones, best known for his work on BLACK
HAWK DOWN, BAD BOYS II and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, now heads the studio’s
creative team and oversees work on all of its feature-related projects.
Additionally, Riot has brought on Digital Effects Supervisor Jamie Hallett,
formerly with Intelligent Creatures, and Visual Effects Producers Ben
Seymour and Erika McKee, both formerly of Rhythm & Hues.
“Riot has made a strong commitment to growing its feature team and our aim
is not simply to become larger, but rather to build a truly first class
creative team capable of collaborating with filmmakers at the highest level
in crafting spectacular visuals,” said Riot Managing Director Michael
Taylor. “The arrival of David, Jamie, Ben and Erika is a strong step in
that direction. They are special talents and are a great addition to what
was already an excellent core group.”
“I’ve worked with each of these individuals in the past and have been very
impressed with their talent and dedication,” said Lindsay Burnett, Exec
Producer for Feature Films. “I look forward to doing more great work with
them.”
Riot, which recently wrapped work on HAIRSPRAY and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD,
is currently serving as sole visual effects supplier for TOWN CREEK, a
supernatural thriller for Gold Circle Films and Director Joel Schumacher.
It is also slated to produce all the visual effects for the upcoming New
Line release THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE and is about to deliver a vfx package
for THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING for Fox.
Jones recently served as Visual Effects Supervisor at Asylum, where he
worked on more than a dozen films, including BLACK HAWK DOWN, THE RING,
CHARLIE’S ANGELS 2: FULL THROTTLE and BAD BOYS II. He previously held a
similar post at Manex Visual Effects, where his credits included THE
ANIMAL. His background also includes a senior visual effects post with Sony
Pictures Imageworks, where he worked on HOLLOW MAN, CONTACT and other
films. A native of Bristol, England, Jones studied philosophy at King’s
College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He began his career with DISNEY.
Jones said his mission is to help Riot compete for the best film projects
in Hollywood. “I want to take this very talented group of people and give
them the opportunity to work with the best film makers in the business,” he
added. “We want to create effects that no one has ever seen before–or even
imagined.”
Hallett arrives after three years at Intelligent Creatures, where his work
included the films THE FOUNTAIN and THE NUMBER 23. His background also
includes a post as Technical Imaging Artist for IMAX, where he worked on
the IMAX version of THE MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS, and as an Optical Cameraman
and Digital Compositor at Film Effects.
Seymour recently worked as a Look Development Production Manager on BEOWULF
for Sony Pictures Imageworks. He spent three years at Rhythm & Hues, with
credits such as SCOOBY-DOO and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE
WITCH AND THE WARDROBE.
McKee’s credits at Rhythm & Hues include the film SCOOBY DOO: MONSTERS
UNLEASHED. She has also worked as a staff producer at Centropolis FX (THE
MATRIX RELOADED, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS) and Digital Domain (ARMAGEDDON,
RED PLANET). She began her career as a VFX Miniatures Coordinator with
Warner Bros.
In Passing
12. 3-DAY GAMING BINGE LEADS TO DEATH.
In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a 30-year-old man died of
exhaustion following a three-day Internet GAMING marathon, the state media
reported. Paramedics, after they were called to a cyber cafe after the man
fainted, were unable to revive him. No mention was made of the game the man
was playing. After the incident, nearly 100 frightened Gamers left the
cyber cafe.
China has one of the biggest markets for online GAMING. Each year, clinics
across the country treat children and teenagers for “Internet addiction.”
Film
13. TOON VETS GOBBLE UP ANIMATION LAB’S WILD BUNCH FEATURE.
Israel’s ANIMATION Lab has added seven veteran animators and storytellers
to its first feature film, THE WILD BUNCH (working title).
Joining the film’s director Alex Williams and its producer Jim Ballantine
in the studio’s Jerusalem headquarters will be seasoned ANIMATION veterans
Barry Cook (MULAN, BEAUTY  & THE BEAST, LITTLE MERMAID), Daniel Cacouault
(SHREK, CORPSE BRIDE, ROAD TO EL DORADO), Woody Woodman (MULAN, LILO &
STITCH, BROTHER BEAR), Monty Kimball (SHREK I & II, THE SIMPSONS, ANTZ) Dan
Forte (BEE MOVIE, SHARK TALE, STUART LITTLE, FLUSHED AWAY) and Louis-Philip
Vermette (LEGEND OF SECRET PASS). In addition, Barry Jackson (SHREK, HOW
THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, ANT BULLY) worked from the U.S. on behalf of
the film where he developed many of the initial character designs.
“Together these individuals have contributed to the development of some of
the entertainment industry’s most successful animated films,” said the
film’s Exec Producer Douglas Wood.
Ayelet Weinerman, President of ANIMATION Lab, added, “We believe their
collective passion and combined talent will thrive in the environment we’ve
established and that it will be represented in the creative work being
produced in the film.”
Based on a script by MULAN and POCAHONTAS writer Philip LaZebnik, the story
is a comedy adventure dealing with the controversial topic of genetically
modified crops, where a group of evildoing genetically modified cornstalks
attack another group of common wildflowers that are determined to defend
their meadow home.
Based in Jerusalem and Los Angeles, ANIMATION Lab combines CG technology
and interactive digital media to produce animated feature films and
ancillary branded content for the international family audience. The
studio’s mid-range budgeted features are being financed by a group of
international venture funds led by the Chairman and Founder of ANIMATION
Lab, Erel Margalit, Managing Partner of JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners).
14. WARNER BROS. TAPS Harry Potter PRODUCER FOR PADDINGTON.
Warner Bros. Pictures is bringing Michael Bond’s children’s classic,
PADDINGTON BEAR, to the screen in a live-action family comedy format for
the first time. David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter film franchise,
will produce through his Heyday Films. Writer Hamish McColl (MR. BEAN’S
HOLIDAY) is attached to adapt.
“We’re eager to collaborate once again with David, as well as with our
London creative team, on this ageless classic,” said Jeff Robinov,
President, Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.
Heyman added, “PADDINGTON BEAR is a universally loved character and I have
wanted to bring him to the screen for some years. Michael Bond’s PADDINGTON
books have such wit, wonder and charm. Essentially, Paddington’s story is
that of an immigrant (bear) arriving in London, and trying to find a home
and a family. Above all, I love Paddington’s unique take on life — he is a
great comic creation.”
Paddington Bear appears to be a quintessentially British character, with
his meticulous manners, but he is actually a refugee from Peru who arrives
at Paddington Station in London with only with his duffle coat, hat,
Wellington boots, a battered suitcase containing an almost empty jar of
marmalade, and a label around his neck stating, “Please Look After This
Bear. Thank you.” When the Brown family spot him looking lost on the
station platform, the Brown family decides they must invite this homeless
bear into their house — without realizing quite what comic mayhem he will
bring to their everyday family life. Paddington’s compulsive curiosity
leads him into endless comic misadventures — yet somehow his blithe
optimism and sense of wonder always help him to escape unscathed from his
own chaos.
U.K.-based production VP Ollie Madden will oversee the project with
L.A.-based EVP of production Kevin McCormick. Rosie Alison will supervise
for Heyday Films.
Stephen Durbridge of the Agency (London) Ltd. represented the rights holder
Paddington and Co. Ltd. and the author Michael Bond in the sale of the
rights to Warner Brothers. He also worked with Nicholas Durbridge of The
Copyrights Group Ltd., the worldwide merchandising agent for PADDINGTON
BEAR.
15. BAD SANTA HELMER BUILDS $40,000 MAN.
New Line Cinema has hired director Terry Zwigoff to helm its comedy THE
40,000 MAN, reports the trades. Zwigoff will work with his GHOST WORLD and
ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL collaborator Dan Clowes on retooling the script.
The story follows a fame astronaut, who after being severely injured in an
accident is remade as a bionic man by the government on the paltry budget
of $40,000. Johnathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley penned the original
screenplay.
Benderspink’s Chris Bender and JC Spink are the producers with Jake Weiner
exec producing. Dave Neustadter and Cale Boyter will shepherd for New Line.
16. TRIO JOIN THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT.
Gold Circle Films and Lionsgate have added Elias Koteas, Martin Donovan and
Kyle Gallner to the cast of the horror film THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT,
according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. They will join lead Virginia Madsen.
The director of the animated short WARD 13, Peter Cornwell, will make his
live-action film debut on HAUNTING.
The script from Tim Metcalfe and Adam Simon is based on a true story, which
follows a family forced to move near a clinic where their teenage son was
being treated for cancer. After the family begins experiencing violent,
supernatural events, they discover that their house was once a mortuary
with a dark past.
Gallner (BIG LOVE) was cast as the teenage son of Madsen and Donovan (TV’s
WEEDS). Koteas (THE PROPHECY) is playing cancer survivor and the priest,
who helps the family deal with the supernatural events.
Shooting has begun in Winnipeg.
17. WEINSTEINS WRITE CHECK FOR DIARY OF THE DEAD.
The Weinstein Co. have snatched up the North American and Mexican rights to
George A. Romero’s DIARY OF THE DEAD for $2 to $2.5 million, according to
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The purchase came on the heals of its screening at
the Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness. Some of the offers coming out
the fest were for home entertainment only, so the Weinsteins’ sweetened the
deal with a theatrical guarantee.
The fourth sequel in Romero’s LIVING DEAD series follows a group of film
students who encounter real zombies during the production of a horror
flick.
Produced by Artfire Films and Romero-Grunwald Prods., the film was written
and directed by Romero. Peter Grunwald, Art Spigel, Sam Englebardt and Ara
Katz were the producers while Dan Fireman, John Harrison and Steve Barnett
exec produced. Cinetic Media handled the sale for the producers while Barry
Gordon and Michal Podell did the same for The Weinstein Co.
18. STAR TREK FINDS NEW UHURA.
Paramount Pictures has added Zoe Saldana (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE
OF THE BLACK PEARL) as Uhura to the cast of J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK, reports
VARIETY. In the original series, Uhura was the U.S.S. Enterprise’s
communications officer.
Abrams will produce the prequel via his Bad Robot company. Alex Kurtzman
and Roberto Orci have penned the script. Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof are
the exec producers. The release date is set for Christmas Day 2008.
Television
19. CATDOG CREATOR SELLS WALLY CHAPTER BOOK TO CARTOON NETWORK.
Peter Hannan, creator of Nickelodeon’s CATDOG, has inked a development deal
with CARTOON NETWORK to turn his chapter book series — WALLY, KING OF
FLURB — into an animated TV show. Hannan is in the process of writing and
illustrating the series for HarperCollins. Hannan’s other HarperCollins
series of chapter books, SUPER GOOFBALLS, continues with an all-new issue
on Oct. 2, 2007.
20. STARS SHINE ON DISNEY‘S PHINEAS AND FERB VO CAST.
DISNEY Channel has secured a star-studded cast of recurring and guest
voice-over actors for its new animated series PHINEAS AND FERB, according
to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Malcolm McDowell, Allison Janney, John O’Hurley,
Jane Carr and Barry Bostwick will have recurring roles on the musical 2D
series. Sandra Oh, Steve Zahn, Billy Ray Cyrus, J.K. Simmons, French
Stewart, Vicki Lawrence, Tim Curry, Geraldo Rivera, Evander Holyfield and
father-and-daughter Joel and Jennifer Grey are set to make guest
appearances. The regular VO cast includes Ashley Tisdale, Caroline Rhea and
Kelly Hu.
Created by Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, who also voices characters and exec
produces with Dan Povenmire, the show follows brilliant Phineas Flynn and
his inventive stepbrother Ferb Fletcher as they set out to make every day
of summer vacation an adventure.
The sneak peek posted good numbers in August and will air again on Sept.
28. The series debut is set for January.
21. WALLIAMS TO STAR IN STORYMAN ADAPTATION.
U.K.-based independent production company Brown Eyed Boy and ANIMATION
studio Lupus Films are teaming up to produce an animated version of BBC
Radio 4’s celebrity improv show STORYMAN, C21 MEDIA reports. The pilot will
star LITTLE BRITAIN’S David Walliams and actor/comedian Andrew Clover will
take on the role of Storyman, conducting interviews in which celebrities
share the “innermost workings of their psyches” through the medium of
storytelling. The show features designs and ANIMATION by Airside and a
soundtrack by Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly fame.
Camilla Deakin, partner at Lupus Films, said that the Storyman pilot is
already attracting attention from broadcasters in the U.K. and in the U.S.
22. DECODE ACQUIRES DISTRIBUTION OF SUPER WHY.
Decode Ent. augments its slate of third-party programming with the
acquisition of worldwide TV distribution rights (excluding the U.S.) to Out
of the Blue Ent.’s preschool literacy series SUPER WHY. The 65×22 show is a
co-venture between BLUE’S CLUES producer Out of the Blue, co-founded by
Angela C. Santomero and Samantha Freeman, and Decode. SUPER WHY is already
airing on PBS in the U.S. and has also been picked up by Canada’s CBC.
SUPER WHY was created to help Kids learn the fundamentals of reading
through interactive storybook adventures. The series focuses on the
adventures of four fairytale friends who transform into literacy-powered
superheroes called the Super Readers: Alpha Pig with Alphabet Power, Wonder
Red with Word Power, Princess Presto with Spelling Power and Super Why with
the Power to Read. The home viewer is Super YOU, the superhero sidekick
with the Power to Help.
23. FRANCE 3 PICKS UP ANGUS & CHERYL.
French public channel France 3 has acquired the broadcast rights to BRB’s
new hi-def 3D series ANGUS & CHERYL (104×2). The dialogless program
co-produced by BRB Internacional, Screen 21, Televisió de Catalunya and
Tuba Ent. will also be available for download from the channel’s Kids
website at www.toowarm.fr. Broadcast of the first season will begin
worldwide fall 2007. The second season will be presented, along with plans
for Games and interactive features, this week at Cartoon Forum in Girona,
Spain.
24. ALCUNI TO DEBUT PRE-TEEN SERIES.
In a departure from its previous shows geared to younger Kids, Italian
ANIMATION producer Gruppo Alcuni will unveil a new adventure series about
teenagers at Cartoon Forum next week, C21 MEDIA reports. The older-skewing
2D SLASH:// (26×26), coproduced with broadcaster Rai Fiction, follows a
diverse group of teenagers who discover how to travel through the Internet.
Each episode of SLASH:// will revolve around a specific website that will
provide real-world information for its pre-teen audience.
Author and creative director Sergio Manfio said that after the success of
the earlier CUCCIOLI (78×13) and LEONARDO (26×13), the company has pursued
an older target audience. “Gruppo Alcuni has been producing CIAK JUNIOR, a
television program consisting of short films for pre-adolescents, since
1989,” said Manfio. “We felt it was practical to also reach this same age
group with our animated cartoons. Plus we believe there is a shortage of
products for this age group and those that do exist fail to meet the
pre-adolescents’ expectations. SLASH:// is our attempt to fill these gaps.”
The company’s GM, Francesco Manfio, who is also VP of producers’ guild
Cartoon Italia, said Italian cartoon production suffers currently from the
absence of a unified national approach to ANIMATION.
“The major difficulty for producers in Italy is the lack of a proper
production groundwork. By this I mean a network that brings together
producers, broadcasters, distributors and anyone else in the field for a
common goal,” said Manfio. “Such a network would allow the Italian cartoon
industry to be perceived as a more cohesive and mature ‘enterprise’ instead
of a ‘hotchpotch of pioneers,’ as it is today. This cohesion is the key for
dealing with a changing market.”
25. LOONLAND’S OWL FLIES TO BBC.
TV-Loonland has announced that its multiplatform CGI series THE OWL (52×1)
has been acquired by BBC for its re-branded children’s channel, CBBC. The
show launched on Sept. 4 and will air every weekday at 7:55 am and 3:40 pm.
Already broadcast with huge success by France 3, THE OWL was the
second-most-watched children’s show in July. The hilarious comedy was
picked up to support the CBBC goal of attracting a wider audience of boys
and girl aged six to 12 years old and to contribute to the BBC’s
repositioning as a multiplatform brand.
Justine Bannister, Head of International Distribution & Acquisitions at
TV-Loonland, commented: “We are so thrilled to have found such a perfect
‘nest’ in the U.K. for our beloved little pink fellow. The short one-minute
format, superb quality of ANIMATION and storytelling appear to fit well
into CBBC’s multiplatform goals. As an integral part of the Channel’s
impressive lineup, we believe THE OWL will begin its career in the UK with
perfect TV exposure and from there on lead a full and successful life on
mobile and internet platforms.”
THE OWL is a co-production of TV-Loonland, Paris-based Studio Hari and
French broadcaster France 3.
26. LIVE-ACTION BEN 10 MOVIE HITS CARTOON NETWORK.
CARTOON NETWORK announced today it has completed production on BEN 10: RACE
AGAINST TIME, a live-action made-for-TV movie based on its hit animated
series. Alex Winter of BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE takes the helm as
director for CN’s first action-adventure movie, which will air in November.
Graham Phillips (EVAN ALMIGHTY) stars as Ben Tennyson, a normal 10-year-old
boy who is able to transform himself into a variety of super aliens like
the powerful Heatblast or the beastly Wildmutt. Lee Majors (THE SIX MILLION
DOLLAR MAN) also stars as Grandpa Max, who uses his past experiences with
the paranormal to guide and protect his grandchildren, Ben and Gwen,
through their many adventures in fighting evil.
Haley Ramm (X-MEN 3) is Gwen, Ben’s level-headed 10-year-old cousin and
Ben’s much needed voice of reason because despite his ability to change
physically, Ben is still a kid at heart and has a little trouble figuring
out how to act like a superhero when the pressure is really on. Christien
Anholt (RELIC HUNTER) plays Eon of Chronia, Ben’s nemesis in the movie. Eon
was the first alien ever captured by Max’s secret organization, “The
Plumbers.” The now-escaped Eon is trying to locate the doomsday device that
was taken and hidden when he was captured. The device is capable of opening
a gateway to Earth, signaling the start of an alien invasion that would
mark the end of humankind.
27. CARTOON NETWORK GOES LIVE WITH DAVID DUCHOVNY.
CARTOON NETWORK has greenlit a pilot presentation for a new live-action
project from exec producers David Duchovny, Matt Dearborn and Robert Mora.
Written by Dearborn, the untitled show follows a junior high student, whose
family is filled with newsmen, who turns the audio-visual club into a
serious citywide news program.
Duchovny is best known for his starring role on THE X-FILES. He now stars
in and exec produces CALIFORNICATION on Showtime. Dearborn is the creator
of DISNEY’s live-action series EVEN STEVEN, which starred TRANSFORMERS star
Shia LaBeouf. Mora produced DISNEY Channel’s PHIL OF THE FUTURE and
Nickelodeon’s THE SECRET LIFE OF ALEX MACK.
CN branched out into live-action in December 2006 with the
live-action/animated movie RE-ANIMATED. With the success of that project,
the cable net spun off the movie into the series OUT OF JIMMY’S HEAD, which
debuted last Friday. CARTOON NETWORK has also aired the reality series
PROPS, where Kids are given the opportunity to meet their famous heroes.
28. BEIJING KAKU TV BEGINS NATIONWIDE CARTOON SATELLITE BROADCAST.
Three-year-old Beijing Kaku TV (www.kaku.tv), China’s first dedicated
cartoon channel, began nationwide broadcasting via satellite network in
September. One of three satellite cartoon channels licensed by the Station
Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), Kaku TV airs 20 hours
of programming daily to a large Beijing audience aged 4-14. It has over
2,500 hours of cartoons and other animated content in its library.
29. ANIME NETWORK EXPANDS U.K. PROGRAMMING.
Following its successful debut on Propeller TV, Anime Network’s edgy,
two-hour injection of anime is now airing nightly on SKY Channel 195
between 8:00-10:00 pm, with new content shown on weekends. Positive viewer
feedback to the block launched in early June encouraged the network to beef
up its programming.
“We received a tremendous response to the Anime Network block during its
13-week debut,” said Andrew McKinnon, Propeller TV Commercial Director.
“This is clearly content our viewers are demanding, so we’re happy to give
them what they want.”
Presented by Sci-Fi Guy extraordinaire Stuart Claw (T4) and Sweatdrop
Studios’ Emma Vieceli (illustrator of SelfMadeHero’s MANGA SHAKESPEARE),
Propeller TV’s Anime Network block is filled with comedy, action,
adventure, science fiction and horror. The exciting lineup, which will
continue to air such animated favorites as COYOTE RAGTIME SHOW, NEON
GENESIS EVANGELION, GUYVER: THE BIO-BOOSTED ARMOUR and ELFEN LIED on
weeknights, will now feature new themed programming blocks on weekends,
with Saturday devoted to Shoujo (Girl) Power and Shonen Night on Sunday.
For more information on Propeller TV’s Anime Network block, visit
www.animenetwork.co.uk.
30. SPIELBERG NEEDS NEW TALISMAN TO PROTECT KING ADAPTATION.
Once again, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy’s planned mini-series
version of Stephen King’s THE TALISMAN has come to a halt, says THE
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Sources tell the trade paper that after scripts were
turned in, the budget bloomed on the six-hour mini. Based on King and Peter
Staub’s novel, the project was set to air in the summer of 2008.
The story follows a boy’s journey in a parallel universe called the
Territories in search of a talisman that can save his mother’s life.
DreamWorks TV and TNT are still committed to the project, but need to work
out the unexpected price-tag increase first.
Spielberg and Kennedy optioned the rights to the novel nearly 25 years ago
when they were based out of Amblin Ent. At first it was to be made as a
feature written by Richard LaGravenese. In 2000, the project was at ABC as
a four-hour mini-series to be written and directed by THE STAND helmer Mick
Garris, but budget concern derailed that attempt as well. Then the project
went back to the realm of features at Universal and DreamWorks. Writers
circling the project at that stage included Ehren Kruger, Carlo Bernard and
Doug Miro, with rumored directors including Vadim Perelman and Ed Zwick.
The project ended up at TNT after DreamWorks TV and TNT teamed up on the
12-hour mini-series INTO THE WEST.
Commercials
31. BRICKYARD VFX LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT FOR SPRINT.
Brickyard VFX of Santa Monica completed work on another spot project for
Sprint. The ad, LIGHT TRAIL, uses a similar light-painting motif featured
in the current broadcast, print and outdoor campaign for Sprint via Goody,
Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.  The spot began airing this week and
was directed by the Snorri Bros. via production company Smuggler.
Following a trail of light through dimly lit time-lapse tableaus, the
viewer hops onto a bus, then travels down a flight of stairs, through an
outdoor café and past a busy promenade of shops with passers by and a
fire-breathing street performer. The light trail continues up the side of a
skyscraper and into a corporate board room where it artfully bounces across
the conference table, exits the building and crosses the street to the
front of a movie theater where the light beams into the mobile phone of a
woman receiving a call. The voiceover plays over the final sequence,
“getting the signal you want at the speed of light, that’s Sprint speed.”
The spot closes with 22 different end tags, each tailored with an evening
time-lapse view of the specific city in which the spot is being broadcast.
Brickyard VFX effects artist Mandy Sorenson participated on location in
Vancouver to supervise the spot’s vfx. While all the light trails were shot
in camera, extensive cleanup and compositing was required to give the
commercial a polished look. The light trail effect was achieved by having a
person dressed in all black run the Flashlight through shots that were
filmed with really long exposures. Brickyard’s work involved painting out
the individuals driving the light trails in select shots, compositing
multiple layers in several of the scenes, as well as shooting time-lapsed
photography of Phoenix and San Bernardino for the regional end-tags.
“The directors did a great job with the R&D on LIGHT TRAIL, and achieving
the bulk of this spot’s effects in camera,” commented Sorenson. “The
biggest challenge on this project was achieving a believable ANIMATION of
the people in the scenes in a subtle but convincing way, and compositing
scenes with people interacting with the light.”
Brickyard VFX credits include:
* VFX Supervisor/Lead Compositor: Mandy Sorenson
* Lead Compositor: Patrick Poulatian
* Compositor: Narbeh Mardirossian
* Colorist: Keith Hamm
* Online Artist: George Fitz
* Exec Producer: Kirsten Andersen
* Producer: Cara Farnsworth
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX (www.brickyardvfx.com) is
an independent visual effects boutique completely artist owned and
operated. Brickyard’s problem-solving expertise on set and in the studio
has been applied to model, animate, light, texture, track, color correct
and render seamless digital effects for XM Radio, Citibank, Volkswagen,
Honda, Tyson Foods and many other accounts.
Internet & Interactive
32. PORCHLIGHT LAUNCHES “YOUTUBE FOR Kids.”
PorchLight Ent. is launching KidVideos.com, a family-safe Internet site
that will provide a secure place dedicated exclusively to Kids who are
interested in film, video and ANIMATION production. Currently in the public
beta stage, when fully released, the advertiser-supported site will also
provide online tools and services for recording and editing videos online.
Bruce Johnson, PorchLight’s President/CEO, said, “As parents, we wanted to
offer a safe, secure environment online for Kids to post their own content.
That’s why we created KidVideos.com. The site is for Kids, by Kids and
about Kids. KidVideos.com is all about user-generated content, offering
Kids of all ages a safe harbor to share their own creations, express
themselves via their own video blogs and send their creations to others.”
Staff editors screen all submissions to KidVideos.com before posting to
ensure age-appropriateness and preserve the family-safe nature of the site.
Parents, teachers, caregivers, and advertisers can have complete confidence
in the content safety of KidVideos.com.
William Baumann, Porchlight COO, added, “We envision that the KidVideos.com
content will include original animated and live-action short movie ideas,
as well as videos about a variety of aspects of children’s lives, ranging
from humorous events to holiday happenings, from pets and pals to birthdays
and everything else that lights up the imagination of Kids in general.
Parents and grandparents will also have fun posting videos of their
children and grandchildren.”
“Watching my Kids use this site for the first time really validated how fun
and easy KidVideos.com is to use.” concluded David Wood, SVP/GM of
PorchLight’s new Digital Media Group. “The design and functionality really
won them over in its ability to transport them into a vast online landscape
of imagination and creativity. At first, they enjoyed just watching the
videos in a full-screen television-like experience. But, once they got
comfortable with the notion of making their own videos, they realized that
KidVideos.com offers endless opportunities to create their own
entertainment.”
PorchLight Ent. is a multi-faceted company focused on the production and
distribution of family entertainment and licensing and merchandising
representation for children’s and family brands and trademarks. For more
information, visit www.porchlight.com.
33. ZULA PATROL TO GO VIRTUAL WITH IBM.
The producers of Kids‘ CGI science series ZULA PATROL are joining with IBM
to create a virtual world based on the popular property, report C21 MEDIA
and KidsCREEN. “Zulaworld,” which launches later this year, will be a
“marriage of Second Life with Club Penguin,” according to creator Deborah
Manchester. The immersive environment, which targets 4- to 8-year-olds,
will be not only for the home market, but for educational establishments as
well.
“The reason we’re partnering with IBM on this is that their mission is
similar to our goals to have a global reach and to revolutionise the way
young people are introduced to these concepts of science, math and
technology,” Manchester told C21. “Kids are becoming more and more
disengaged with what’s happening in schools. What we’re trying to do is get
them re-engaged in a way that makes things very fun.”
IBM’s Linda Ban, who handles client and program strategy for the 3D
Internet and digital convergence division, added that Zulaworld was a
“natural fit” for the company. “IBM, from a corporate citizen perspective,
has a deep interest in math, science and technology education for children
and teenagers. It’s critically important going forward to prepare the next
generation for what’s going to come,” she said.
The large site will have multiple points of entry and layered content to
correspond with the needs of Kids at different stages of development. At
the same time, educators and teachers will have access to a virtual world
that supports lesson planning and global communication, while parents can
access a host of different website controls.
The ZULA PATROL TV series, which debuted on PBS in the U.S., reaches 72
million households on 75% of PBS affiliates. It begins airing this month on
Canadian preschool network Treehouse TV, and plans call for both the series
and the site to be available in China by the middle of next year.
Home entertainment
34. SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY LAUNCHES NEW DC UNIVERSE OF DVDS.
SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY, which inaugurates the DC Universe line of original
animated films, makes its direct-to-DVD premiere on Sept. 18, 2007.
SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY is produced by Warner Bros. ANIMATION, presented by DC
Comics and distributed by Warner Premiere and Warner Home Video.
Produced by Bruce Timm (JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES) and written by Duane Capizzi (THE BATMAN, THE BATMAN VS. DRACULA),
SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY is inspired by the best-selling graphic novel of all
time, DC Comics’ THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN. When the intergalactic serial
killer Doomsday is unearthed, Superman meets the creature head on in the
battle to end all battles. Going punch for punch, Superman finally ends the
threat of Doomsday as he throws one last punch and collapses forever –
making the ultimate sacrifice to save Metropolis and all those he once
loved. And that’s just for starters.
Combining the vast DC Comics’ tradition with some new wrinkles, SUPERMAN
DOOMSDAY features the voices of Adam Baldwin (INDEPENDENCE DAY) as
Superman, Anne Heche (MEN IN TREES) as Lois Lane and James Marsters (BUFFY
THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) as Lex Luthor. The film is rated PG-13 for action
violence.
35. IL LUSTER RELEASES BEST ANIMATION FROM HOLLAND DVD.
Il Luster Prods. has released a collection of animated shorts titled BEST
ANIMATION FROM HOLLAND VOL. 1. The eleven much awarded films on the DVD are
unique and remarkable products noted for their high quality, clever
ingenuity and daring approach to subject matter. The graphic design
reflects the centuries old and high-standing Dutch graphic arts. Films
include: Borge Ring’s ANNA AND BELLA, Evert de Beijer’s THE CHARACTERS,
Piet Kroon’s DADA, Maarten Koopman’s FAMOUS PAINTINGS, Gerrit Van Dijik’s I
MOVE, SO I AM, Christa Moesker’s SIENTJE, Paul Driessen’s 3 MISSES, Michael
Dudok de Wit’s FATHER AND DAUGHTER, Adriaan Lokman’s BARCODE, Rosto’s THE
RISE AND FALL OF THE LEGENDARY ANGLOBILLY FEVERSON and Erik van Schaaik’s
VENT.
The DVD is PAL format (does play on U.S. PCs and Macs, but will not play on
U.S. TV). All films are presented in their original aspect ratio (3:4 or
16:9) with the audio Dolby 2.0 (Dolby Digital 5.1 for BARCODE, ANGLOBILLY,
VENT).
You can purchase the DVD from the Il Luster’s ANIMATION Webshop store at:
http://www.illuster.nl/webshop/product_info.php?products_id=95&language=en
You can view VENT now in the AWN’s Media Center at http://media.awn.com.
36. ORDER OF THE PHOENIX TO FLY ON DVD, HD DVD & BLU-RAY.
Harry Potter AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX arrives Dec. 11 on DVD ($34.99
for Two-Disc Special Edition), HD DVD Combo ($35.99) and Blu-ray Disc
($35.99) from Warner Home Video.
With VFX from Double Negative, MPC, Framestore CFC, Cinesite, ILM and
Rising Sun Pictures, THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (directed by David Yates)
marks the fifth film in what is now the highest grossing franchise in
history. Lord Valdermort returns and Harry must secretly train a select
group of students for the wizard war that lies ahead.
Also available is a 12-disc Limited Edition Gift Set, which comes in a
collectible “suitcase,” and includes two-disc editions of all five HARRY
POTTER films. The Harry Potter Limited Edition DVD Gift Set will be
available in Standard Definition for $119.97 and on HD DVD and Blu-ray for
$149.99.
The Two-Disc Special Edition DVD contains the following special features:
* Additional Scenes: 17 minutes of never-before-seen footage.
* Trailing Tonks: Spend a day with Actress Nat Tena and receive a very
personal and often wacky tour of the Harry Potter AND THE ORDER OF THE
PHOENIX stages.
* Harry Potter: The Magic of Editing: Director David Yates and Editor Mark
Day show what a difference a good edit makes to allow the viewers to edit a
scene.
* A&E Documentary: THE HIDDEN SECRETS OF Harry Potter: Viewers take a
thrilling look back at the past Harry Potter films in search of clues to
the mysteries of the upcoming Harry Potter saga.
* DVD-ROM: This will include a timeline, a link to sneaks of HP6, along
with other materials.
The HD/DVD combo also contains:
* In Movie Experience: Join the cast from Dumbledore’s Army as they come
together to share memorable moments.
 * Web-Enabled Features: Pick Your Favorite Scene - Assemble favorite clips
from the movie to create a montage. Live Community Screening – Viewers can
create, organize and invite their buddies to their very own screening.
Mobile Downloads – Viewers can scan and select cool images and ringtones to
send to their mobile phones.
* The Blu-ray disc also contains:
* Focus Points: Enjoy these fun and fascinating “making of” featurettes to
discover just what is involved to create those amazing scenes and
characters.
The Limited Edition Gift Set contains the following additions:
* Hogwarts Challenge: A bonus disc containing a unique interactive DVD
GAMING experience with 14 adventure Games based on the first three HARRY
POTTER films, and containing clips from the fourth and fifth films.
* Bonus materials: A bonus disc containing more than three hours of all-new
content from the past Harry Potter films.
* The Harry Potter Bookmark Collection: Five unique souvenir metal
bookmarks made especially for this gift set
* Harry Potter Trading Cards: Collect them all with these four packages
containing cards from the first four films
Licensing
37. HIT TO REP AARDMAN LICENSING & DVD IN U.S. & CANADA.
Aardman ANIMATIONs has hired HIT Ent. to handle licensing and DVD sales in
the U.S. and Canada. With immediate effect, HIT will manage the rights of
three properties, WALLACE & GROMIT, SHAUN THE SHEEP and AARDMAN CLASSICS.
Stephen Moore, COO, Aardman ANIMATIONs, said, “We are delighted at the
prospect of partnering with HIT in the U.S. and Canada on these, our two
most precious properties –their talent in managing top international
brands will give SHAUN and WALLACE & GROMIT a great springboard for
tremendous success.”
Peter Byrne, EVP Consumer Products Worldwide, HIT Ent. commented, “HIT Ent.
continues to explore new and exciting children’s properties, adding to our
portfolio of world-renowned brands.  We are delighted to be working with
Aardman, whose reputation is second to none in creating and developing some
of the most unique and endearing properties in the business.”
Education
38. STUDIO ARTS TO OFFER TRA-DIGITAL TRAINING WITH TOON BOOM IN FALL.
Studio Arts has announced it will be offering a full suite of training
classes using Toon Boom ANIMATION’s Digital Pro and Storyboard Pro
software. The intent of the beginning-to-advanced training courses is to
provide 2D animators and other artists a thorough grounding in Toon Boom’s
“paperless” ANIMATION system. Toon Boom courses are due to start Oct. 6,
2007 and, along with CSATTF and ETP funding, there will be “scholarship
seats” for each class that are fully-funded by Studio Arts.
According to Eric Huelsman, President of Studio Arts, “We are thrilled to
get started with this program. We have, for many years, been trying to find
a digital 2D ANIMATION product that we can be confident gives 2D animators
a viable opportunity for sustained work in the ANIMATION industry. With the
successes of features like THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, (Starz/Film Roman) and the
gearing up for productions like THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Walt DISNEY
Feature ANIMATION,) we see Toon Boom as the way to go to for those who want
to stay employed in the 2D ANIMATION industry.”
“We are honored to have Studio Arts on board. The quality of their training
combined with their proximity to the largest Hollywood ANIMATION studios
offer animators a unique opportunity to get hands-on training on the
industry standard ANIMATION technology,” shared Joan Vogelesang,
President/CEO at Toon Boom ANIMATION Inc.
Toon Boom’s Digital Pro users can draw original art, import digital
pictures or reuse predefined assets from a library, set-up scenes in a 3D
environment and move a camera in realtime.
Huelsman continues, “We have seen a lot of trends come our way over the
last 5 to 10 years.  Right now digital 2D is hot. We’ve been doing a lot of
Flash, Mirage and After Effects training lately… and I can tell you that
our school is currently training more 2D artists in 2D apps (like
Storyboard and Digital Pro) than we are in Maya or any other 3D software
application… seems to me that 2D is back and in a big way.  With that in
mind, we are offering several full scholarships in Toon Boom to those
affected by the layoffs in the last few years.”
Studio Arts are offering grants and scholarships to both working and
out-of-work 2D ANIMATION artists. Scholarships will be determined on a
case-by-case basis. Contact Studio Arts at (323) 227-8776 or e-mail them at
admin@studioarts.tv for more information.
39. GNOMON WORKSHOP ADDS THREE NEW DVDS.
The Gnomon Workshop announced three new additions to its 3D and 2D
libraries. Zack Petroc (SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW) returns with
Volume 2 of his ART DIRECTION AND DIGITAL SCULPTING series, utilizing
ZBrush 3. Meanwhile, new instructors Henry Goecke (POSEIDON) and Jeremy
Vickery (RATATOUILLE, WALL-E) offer the basics of modeling surfaces in
StudioTools and light and color theory from a practical perspective as
applied to 2D and 3D image creation, respectively.
DVD Descriptions:
* THE DIGITAL MAQUETTE, VOLUME TWO
ART DIRECTION AND DIGITAL SCULPTING WITH ZACK PETROC
Petroc outlines the creation of the Froad Rider, the costume and peripheral
accessories using ZBrush. Watch as he develops the character from a
low-resolution organized mesh for the head, and box meshes for the costume
and accessories. After posing the character using ZBrush’s new Transpose
tools, he documents the process for outputting the character as a 3D print
with Gentle Giant Studios. Petroc presents the workflow with the artist in
mind, highlighting specific tools and techniques and focusing on how they
add to the creative freedom of the design process. He also discusses how to
define your character from both an art directing and digital sculpting
perspective..
* MODELING ESSENTIALS WITH STUDIOTOOLS
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN TECHNIQUES WITH HENRY GOECKE
The knowledge and understanding of NURBS based 3D design modeling is a
crucial step in the mastery of modern design and production techniques.
StudioTools is an industry standard program that helps release your
creative ideas. Goecke lays the foundation needed to understand this
program’s rich and detailed features. Methods are covered in detail and the
curves you need to create the example model are supplied. This puts the
focus on creating surfaces and trouble- shooting. This DVD is intended for
beginners and as a refresher course for professionals. At the end of the
lecture you will have a visually complex, richly detailed model to inspire
further learning of the software.
* PRACTICAL LIGHT AND COLOR
THEORY AND APPLICATION WITH JEREMY VICKERY
Intended as an introduction to understanding light and color, the lecture
covers topics such as bounced light, shadows, atmosphere and camera
effects, going beyond basic color theory while staying relatively
untechnical. Vickery demonstrates many practical examples of how to apply
the concepts to both 2D and 3D image creation.
Since 2000, The Gnomon Workshop (www.thegnomonworkshop.com) has provided
artists and students with the educational resources they need to succeed as
artists in the entertainment industries. The Gnomon Workshop is the sister
company of The Gnomon School of Visual Effects, which provides professional
caliber visual effects instruction to students and professionals in Los
Angeles.
Technology
40. THIRD GENERATION OPTERON TECHNOLOGY BOOSTS BOXX’S POWER.
BOXX Technologies announced that its APEXX 4 Super-Workstation and
renderBOXX Classic 7500 will now deliver twice the processing power using
AMD’s new Quad-Core Opteron. This third generation Opteron is also equipped
with several power saving technologies that provide high performance per
watt, an important benefit for today’s power-hungry VFX studios.
“The Quad-Core AMD Opteron is the only processor technology that enables us
to design our APEXX line of super-workstations. Now, APEXX 4 delivers the
power of 16 cores which makes applying complex effects and rendering on the
fly a breeze,” said Francois Wolf, Director of Marketing for BOXX
Technologies.
In applications like rendering, performance scaling is almost linear
compared to Dual-Core Opterons, providing almost twice the rendering
capacity. Additionally, by doubling the number of processing cores,
high-end realtime Digital Intermediate tasks such as color correction and
compositing with 2K resolution material will be tremendously accelerated.
For BOXX’S renderBOXX Classic 7500, the Quad-Core Opteron means more
floating point power. The new Wide Floating Point Accelerator drives up to
four times the previous Opteron CPUs.  This is a critical factor because
ray tracing, the heart of rendering, is a floating point intensive
computation.
BOXX Technologies Inc. (www.boxxtech.com), headquartered in Austin, Texas,
is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance workstations
and render nodes specifically designed to meet the high-performance and
reliability requirements of digital content creators working in the 3D,
ANIMATION, visual effects, digital film, architecture, game development and
broadcast markets.
41. NVIDIA QUADRO FX 5600 NOW AVAILABLE TOP TO BOTTOM.
NVIDIA extends its Quadro FX 5600 and Quadro FX 4600, based on an
industry-changing unified architecture, with the launch of new mid-range
and entry-level 2D and 3D Quadro boards for professionals in the CAD/CAM,
DCC, medical imaging, digital video and financial sectors.  The new Quadro
professional graphics also redefine the price/performance dynamic for
professional graphics — from the Quadro FX 370, available for the
unprecedented entry price of $129 MSRP to the Quadro FX 1700, with an MSRP
of $699. These new boards have the capabilities required to visualize the
latest generation of complex 2D, video and 3D content. Now there is a
Quadro solution for many types of users, projects and budgets.
The NVIDIA Quadro professional series now includes:
Entry-Level 3D — Quadro FX 370, 256 MB — $129
Professional 2D — Quadro NVS 290, 256 MB — $149
Professional 2D — Quadro FX 570, 256 MB — $199
Mid-Range 3D — Quadro FX 1700, 512 MB — $699
“NVIDIA breathed new life into the upper end of the professional graphics
market, and now they’re pushing in the other direction with the Quadro FX
370 — driving current generation GPU technology to a very aggressive sub
$150 price point– and this focus should be rewarded once more,” said Jon
Peddie, Principal, Jon Peddie Research. “There are a lot of budget
conscious professionals out there who may have opted for consumer-class
graphics in the past, but will now take the step to the promise of better
performance and reliability of ISV-certified Quadro FX hardware.”
The new NVIDIA unified architecture dynamically allocates geometry,
shading, pixel processing and compute power, allowing 3D content developers
to use the full power of the board’s rendering capabilities regardless of
the type of rendering they require. Game developers that have
performance-optimized polygonal models with lots of textures will devote
more of the board’s shaders to textures. Automotive and aerospace
engineers, whose models consist of high-density polygonal models and few or
no textures, will use most of the board’s power for vertex calculations.
And a styling designer working with both polygon and vertex-based models
will find that the board dynamically allocates the shader pipeline based on
what part and how much detail of the model is visible.
In addition to sharing the same core unified architecture and drivers, all
NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics solutions are now Shader Model 4.0
compliant and come with the increased frame buffer capacity needed to make
them fully Microsoft Vista ready.
These latest boards also support the new NVIDIA CUDA GPU-computing software
architecture. Computing with CUDA technology extends the functionality of
the GPU to address a wide range of mathematically intensive problems. This
breakthrough computing architecture in NVIDIA’s latest generation of GPUs
is complemented by the CUDA C language programming environment and tool
suite.
“With a complete line-up of new graphics technology, HP and NVIDIA can now
provide engineers and artists with a choice of solutions to meet their
needs,” said Will Wade, Global Product Manager for HP workstations.  ”This
complete line-up provides the latest technologies of NVIDIA’s unified
architecture and Shader Model 4.0 to every user, from the entry-level
review of assembly drawings all the way up to the most extreme designer.”
“NVIDIA continues to elevate graphics performance for professional
Softimage|XSI artists in the 3D ANIMATION community, and the company’s
certification programs and ongoing commitment to driver development ensures
stability in the production pipeline,” said Marc Stevens, General Manager
and VP of Softimage. “By unifying its Quadro series of graphics with its
high-performance unified architecture, NVIDIA solutions combined with
Softimage ANIMATION tools offer outstanding graphics performance,
reliability and price points to the most demanding 3D artists.”
NVIDIA Quadro solutions are widely available through leading system
manufacturers such as HP, Dell, IBM, Lenovo and Sun; leading workstation
system integrators; and NVIDIA channel partners PNY Technologies (U.S. and
EMEA), Leadtek (APAC) and Elsa (Japan).
NVIDIA Corp. (www.nvidia.com) is a worldwide leader in programmable
graphics processor technologies. The company creates innovative,
industry-changing products for computing, consumer electronics and mobile
devices. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has
offices throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas.
42. ROBOT DRIVEN BY MASSIVE SOFTWARE BRAIN DEBUTS AT WIRED NEXTFEST.
At this week’s Wired NextFest in Los Angeles, Hanson Robotics introduced
“Zeno,” a robot that uses breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI)
software to reason and get smarter over time. Hanson Robotics partnered
with Massive Software to design a robot that is able to view a 3D mental
image of his environment to determine and control physical action and
reactions.
The vision and decision-making capabilities in Massive software give Zeno
the ability to navigate, make facial expressions and move his body based on
what he sees in his physical environment. Hanson has also created a
character engine with speech recognition and conversational AI for language
reasoning so that Zeno can recognize and remember both speech and faces and
interact accordingly. The robot is highly articulated with more than 28
built-in servos (specialized motors) in its legs, torso, arms and face. He
is an intelligent character robot that can show emotions with his very
flexible expressive face and perform stunts with his agile and
self-balancing body. He can lie down, get up to standing, gesture with his
arms, smile, make eye contact, open and close his eyes, mouth and much
more. Zeno is driven wirelessly by a standard home PC.
Zeno, the namesake and likeness of inventor David Hanson’s son, is being
shown as a prototype, with the aim of producing this robot as a mass-market
consumer product.  ”We are thrilled to show Zeno publicly for the first
time at Wired NextFest,” said Hanson, Founder of Hanson Robotics. The
technology incorporated in Zeno has a huge potential for the consumer home
entertainment market,” “Zeno’s pre-defined movements and actions have
unlimited permutations and he will get smarter and more aware over time.
The goal is to bring it to market as a children’s toy, able to tutor,
express and teach a variety of different subjects.”
“In just three-and-a-half months, Hanson Robotics developed a way for Zeno
to interface with Massive, which is incredibly exciting for us,” said Diane
Holland, CEO, Massive Software. “With very little modifications to our
software, they are controlling the physical actions and reactions of a
robot in the real world, which has very exciting implications for Massive
in a variety of markets outside of the ANIMATION industry.”
The robot is 17″ tall, weighs 6 lbs and runs on lithium polymer batteries.
The body walks and balances gracefully and the face is extremely
expressive. The robot can keep track of where people’s faces are and will
turn around to make eye contact, and will learn the names and faces of the
people that interact with it. The robot body was designed by Japan’s
leading robot designer Tomotaka Takahashi, and is reminiscent of the
beloved Japanese television character, Astro Boy.
Dallas, TX-based Hanson Robotics (www.hansonrobotics.com and
www.zenosworld.com) develops expressive and intelligent conversational
character robots.
New Zealand-based Massive Software (www.massivesoftware.com) the
Oscar-winning creator of artificial intelligence-based 3D ANIMATION
systems.
Awards
43. PERSEPOLIS REPRESENTS FRANCE AT OSCARS.
France’s film organization CNC has chosen Marjane Satrapi and Vincent
Paronnaud’s animated feature PERSEPOLIS to represent the country at the
2008 Oscars, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Based on Satrapi’s popular autobiographical comicbook, the story follows a
spunky and outspoken young girl growing up in Iran during Islamic
Revolution. The voice cast includes Simon Abkarian, Catherine Deneuve and
Chiara Mastroianni. 2.4.7 films produced the movie.
Sony Pictures Classics plans to release a redubbed version of the Cannes
jury prize-winner later this year. The English-language version will
feature the voices of Gena Rowlands, Sean Penn, Iggy Pop and Deneuve.
PERSEPOLIS was a box office hit in its home country, selling 1.12 million
tickets. In June, upon protests from the Iranian government, the film was
pulled from the lineup at the Bangkok International Film Festival.
44. FANTOCHE LIKES FOOLISH GIRL.
The main award at this year’s Fantoche, the “High Risk” award, has been won
by a Russian film, FOOLISH GIRL, by director Zoya Kireeva. The sixth
Fantoche is Switzerland’s biggest and most prestigious animated festival.
This lends weight to the organizers’ plans to make the festival an annual
event.
Fantoche 07 is drawing to a close having attracted record audiences. The
festival attracted a total of 25,000 people to Baden, 25% more than two
years ago. Morning performances were very well attended, and evening
performances were largely sold out. The fringe events also enjoyed great
popularity. Furthermore, the Festival Center on Theaterplatz proved to be a
big draw for the Fantoche festival-goers, who were largely young people of
all nationalities.
The seventh Fantoche will run from Sept. 8-13, 2009.
Thirty-five films battled it out for a total of six awards in the
“International Competition” section. Two Russian films won the jury awards.
FOOLISH GIRL won the 10,000-franc main award. According to the jury, it was
a “(…) celebration of a comic female figure, with an unconventional
script, with universal appeal through small moments, thanks to its
wonderful drawings, emotions and action.”
The “Hot Talent” award, which came with a 5,000-franc prize, was won by
Anastasia Zhuravleva for her student film CAUTION, THE DOORS ARE OPENING,
in which the lead role was played by thousands of buttons. The jury gave
the following reasons for its choice: “The blend of amusing abstraction and
narrative form… creates a work which is both funny and contemporary.”
The winners are:
High Risk Award
FOOLISH GIRL by Zoya Kireeva, RU, 2006
Hot Talent
CAUTION, THE DOORS ARE OPENING! by Anastasia Zhuravleva, RU, 2006
Best Visual
ENERGIE! by Thorsten Fleisch, DE, 2007
Best Sound
Labryrinth by Omid Khoshnazar, IR, 2007
Best Script/Best Idea
T.O.M. by Tom Brown, Daniel Gray, GB, 2006
Special Jury Citation
ANIMAL by Tatu Pohjavirta, FI, 2005
“International Competition” Public Award
HUNTING by Ramil Usmanov, KZ, 2006
Public Award
MY LOVE by Alexander Petrov, RU, 2006
For more information, visit www.fantoche.ch.
45. AARDMAN ANNOUNCES NEW STORYTELLING AWARD.
Aardman ANIMATION has announced the launch of “The Aardman Award for
Storytelling,” a prize that will be available to EU students who have made
a frame-by-frame or computer-assisted animated film between Oct. 1, 2006
and Oct. 1, 2007. The winner will receive an expenses-paid trip to the
Aardman Studio in Bristol, as well as several days of dramaturgical/script
support to discuss the development of his or her film.
Paula Newport, Head of HR at Aardman Studio said, “We’re really excited
about the prospect of providing dramaturgical/script support for the winner
of the Aardman Award for Storytelling. It’s an exciting time for the studio
at the moment, as we embark on a new three-year deal with Sony Pictures
Ent. We are also looking forward to the prospect of engaging with some of
the fresh and exciting student work that is submitted into the Animex
Awards.”
For more information and an application form, visit www.animex.net/awards.
Call for Entries
46. COMPUTER ANIMATION FESTIVAL TO EVOLVE FOR SIGGRAPH 2008.
Submissions are now being accepted for SIGGRAPH 2008’s Computer ANIMATION
Festival, according to entertainment Director Jill Smolin. Adopting the
theme Evolve, the conference returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The conference will take place Aug. 11-15, with the exhibition occurring
Aug. 12-14.
Among the changes you can expect for the 2008 edition of the Computer
ANIMATION Festival:
* Three main venues:
1. The Competition Screenings
These are screenings of all accepted juried submissions
Pieces must have a completion date of no earlier than Jan. 1, 2007
Pieces will be juried by a panel of international experts
2. The Showcase Screenings
Pieces are curated from both solicited and unsolicited entries
Screenings may follow a theme, and will be of special interest.
Screenings may be of a short or full-length nature.
3. Festival Conversations
Panels, talks, interviews related to CG ANIMATION.
Commentary by the creators; curated and juried.
* Special Features designed to make this Festival truly unique.
In addition to Festival Awards (the short selected as Best of Show
qualifies the piece for Academy Award consideration), the Computer
ANIMATION Festival is introducing the Audience Award. This award will
encourage the audience to participate in the festival. We will announce a
daily favorite, and, at the end of the Festival, present the award to the
piece with the highest number of votes.
Complete the online submission form by Jan. 30, 2008:
Upload all content for the jury screenings by Feb. 27, 2008.
Find more information on formats, rules, etc. here:
http://www.siggraph.org/s2008/submissions/juried/caf/
(The Feb. 27 deadline is for jurying only. If your submission is accepted,
the Festival will request final materials with specific format requirements
at a later date.)
“These deadlines are final,” Smolin emphasized. “There will be no
exceptions, so please make a note of them. We’re happy to answer any and
all of your questions before the deadline — We don’t want you to be left
out.”
For more info, contact Smolin at caf2008@ siggraph.org.
SIGGRAPH 2008 will bring an estimated 25,000 computer graphics and
interactive technology professionals from six continents to Los Angeles,
California, for the industry’s most respected technical and creative
programs focusing on research, science, art, ANIMATION, GAMING,
interactivity, education and the web from Aug. 11-15 at the Los Angeles
Convention Center. SIGGRAPH 2008 includes a three-day exhibition of
products and services from the computer graphics and interactive
marketplace from Aug. 13-15. More than 250 international exhibiting
companies are expected. Registration for the conference and exhibition is
open to the public. More details are available at www.siggraph.org/s2008.
47. KC JUBILEE FIRST DEADLINE COMING SOON.
Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee 2008
Kansas City, Kansas, USA
April 16-20, 2008
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2007
The Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee is a juried festival for short films
under 30 minutes from across the U.S. and around the world. Its open
division has subdivisions of ANIMATION, documentary, narrative,
experimental and underground. The event includes screenings, seminars,
jazz/blues and a BBQ. A new category for this year is work inspired by
Jazz. Kansas City has a rich jazz heritage and it has always been a part of
our festival.  You can add to that heritage by creating and entering work -
dramas, comedies, music videos, documentaries or experimental works –
inspired by jazz — make them cool or hot, improvisational. The best films
will be held in the archives of the American Jazz Museum and the Mutual
Musicians Foundation in Kansas City.
There are multiple deadlines starting with Oct. 1. The final deadline is
Dec. 1, 2005. For forms and guidelines visit its website www.kcjubilee.org
or go to www.withoutabox.com.
Events
48. OTTAWA ANIMATION FEST TO SPOTLIGHT TECHNOLOGY.
Some of the world’s leading ANIMATION technology companies are coming to
the Ottawa International ANIMATION Festival (OIAF) for the 3rd annual
Technology Forum, a series of panels and presentations showcasing cutting
edge ANIMATION software. The Technology Forum takes place on Friday (Sept.
21) and Saturday (Sept. 22) at the National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage.
“ANIMATION software and hardware is advancing rapidly and our Technology
Forum gives producers and artists the opportunity to discover the latest
tools and techniques,” said OIAF Technical Director André Coutu. “This is
the technology that will be used to make tomorrow’s animated films,
television shows and videoGames.”
On Friday, Marlon West of Walt DISNEY ANIMATION Studios will present
Keeping It Old School: Looking Like the ’40s in a Digital Age. West, the
Visual EFX Supervisor and Artistic Coordinator for HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME
THEATER, takes us behind the scenes of this new Goofy short and explains
how the filmmakers used a paperless system to recreate the look of the 40’s
Goofy classics.
A panel of software gurus will look at how ANIMATION technology has evolved
in order to meet the constant needs of today’s artists at The Evolution of
ANIMATION Software. Panelists will share their personal history with
software development and highlight the new direction software is headed
toward. Featured panelists include Kim Davidson from Side Effects Software,
Erik Goulet from Softimage and Steve Bowie from MyToons.com.
On Saturday, the Technology Forum presents Visual Effects and the Role of
the Animator, a sequel to last year’s panel on the role of the animator in
the GAMING industry. The panel will discuss what visual effects ANIMATION
is and why one would want to work in that field. Panelists Larry DeFlorio
(Rainmaker ANIMATION) and Lon Molnar (Intelligent Creatures) will focus on
the changing role of the animator in visual effects. Specific topics that
will be covered include the increased use of motion capture, “invisible
effects” ANIMATION and what new skill sets animators should have. This will
be a crash course about vfx and what makes it different from more
traditional ANIMATION jobs.
OIAF 07 will be held Sept. 19 – 23 in Ottawa. Events at the OIAF include
screenings, panels, workshops parties and the Television ANIMATION
Conference. The OIAF is a leading competitive ANIMATION film festival,
featuring cutting edge programming, catering to industry execs, trend
setting artists, students and ANIMATION fans. For more info, please visit
www.ANIMATIONfestival.ca.
49. DISNEY CHANNEL PRES ROSS TO KEYNOTE AT MIPCOM JR. 2007.
Rich Ross, President of DISNEY Channel Worldwide, will present a keynote
address on the second day of MIPCOM Junior, which will be held on the Oct.
6-7, 207, at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes.
Rich Ross, who has been with The Walt DISNEY Co. for 11 years, manages the
company’s successful and burgeoning global Kids‘ TV business, a total of 67
channel feeds around the world. He is a key member of the team behind the
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL franchise. Ross will share the reasons behind the
channel’s phenomenal success during his keynote speech at MIPCOM.
Other key conferences during the two-day MIPCOM Junior include the Buyers’
Summit, which will bring together top programming executives from
international broadcasters to answer the fundamental question: what do
buyers want? The Digital Kids! Panel will look at the latest opportunities
in cross-platform Kids‘ entertainment and social communities. Conference
speakers include leading executives from such companies as Warner Bros.,
BBC, SuperRTL, ABC Children, Al Jazeera Children’s Channel, ZDF, Hasbro,
Fisher Price and Jetix.
Leigh Anne Brodsky, President of Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products,
will be president of the jury at this year’s “MIPCOM Junior Licensing
Challenge.” The competition will be held on Oct. 6, and gives delegates the
opportunity to put their property forward to the TV community in the hope
of finding tomorrow’s licensing star. A jury of experts, predominantly toy
manufacturers, agents and broadcasters, will evaluate a total of five
non-aired projects selected on the basis of their strong potential for
licensing and merchandising exploitation. This year a record 47 projects,
including 11 from the United Kingdom, have been entered.
On Oct. 6, participants are invited to attend the “Kick-off Session:
Improve your Pitch” for personal guidance to perfect pitching skills. Also
on Saturday, in conjunction with the “India Day” special country focus
taking place at MIPCOM on Monday, Oct. 8, MIPCOM Junior will host a panel
of high level speakers from the Indian entertainment industry who will
discuss programming produced in India and broadcast in both the domestic
and international markets.
The number of programs screened at the 2006 edition of MIPCOM Junior
reached an all time record with the easy-to-use digital video library
launched in 2004. A total of 42,848 screenings were recorded compared to
39,134 in 2005. Once again this new digital technology will offer optimal
screening conditions for all the programs listed in the MIPCOM Junior 2007
catalog.
MIPCOM Junior 2006 welcomed, 829 participants from 529 companies and from
52 countries. 937 programs were presented of which 562 were new.
MIPCOM Junior is organized in partnership with the International Licensing
Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA), the French consultancy agency
Kazachok, the Canadian magazine KidsCREEN and the specialized magazine
LICENSE! GLOBAL.
For the latest information, go to  www.mipcomjunior.com.
50. TYRUS WONG ARTWORK SPOTLIGHTED IN ACADEMY EXHIBITION.
Fine art illustrations created by Tyrus Wong during the production of BAMBI
(1942) will be highlighted along with dozens of other films from the late
1940s through early 1990s in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences’ new exhibition, “The Art of the Motion Picture Illustrator:
William B. Major, Harold Michelson and Tyrus Wong,” opening on Sept. 28, in
the Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery in Beverly Hills. Admission is free.
Featuring more than 110 color and black-and-white storyboards, sketches and
watercolor renderings, the exhibition will honor an essential but rarely
publicized member of the moviemaking team: the illustrator.
As the tools available to motion picture artists continue to change,
particularly with the widespread use of computer programs, the impressive
skills of Major, Michelson and Wong define an era when the film industry
prized art school training and an ability to paint and draw quickly at the
highest professional levels.
Motion picture artists sketched and painted numerous scenes for each film,
drew hundreds of pages of storyboards, and illustrated key sets: they
enabled production designers to convey their ideas to directors,
facilitated set construction, and helped directors and cinematographers
alike visualize their most important shots.
Major and Wong attended Otis Art Institute, while Michelson studied at the
Art Students League and Pratt Institute in New York. Wong worked for three
years at DISNEY, where his distinctive watercolor style shaped the entire
look of BAMBI. He then went to Warner Bros., where he illustrated for three
decades. He continues his personal artistic pursuits to this day.
“The Art of the Motion Picture Illustrator” will be on display through Dec.
16. The Academy’s galleries, located at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly
Hills, are open Tuesdays through Fridays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and
weekends, noon to 6:00 p.m. The Academy will be closed during the
Thanksgiving holiday weekend –- Thursday, Nov. 22, through Sunday, Nov. 25.
For more information call (310) 247-3600.
51. SAN SEBASTIAN INT’L FILM FEST BEGINS THIS WEEK.
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2007
San Sebastian, Spain
Sept. 20-29, 2007
San Sebastian International Film Festival will be celebrating its 55th
consecutive edition. Conceived as an International Film Week for the
purpose of screening and marketing films, it was not long before the IFFPA
granted it B status (non-competitive), thanks to the success of its first
edition. A year later it was called the International Film Festival, and in
1955 the IFFPA recognized the festival as competitive, specializing in
color films. In other words, it could now grant official prizes. This
marked the emergence of the “Concha” or shell — at the time only awarded
in silver - determined by an international jury. For more information,
visit www.sansebastianfestival.com.
52. SCAD HOSTS SMART CAREERS OUTLOOK ROUNDTABLE.
SCAD’s smART Careers Outlook Roundtable
Savannah, Georgia, USA
Sept. 20, 2007
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is launching its first smART
Careers Outlook roundtable with academic and industry thought leaders from
the interactive design and GAMING field. The group will debate industry
trends and the impact on education and employment. Speakers include:
* Peter Weishar, SCAD’s dean of the School of Film and Digital Media
* Brenda Brathwaite, game designer and SCAD Interactive Design and Game
Development professor
* Bryan Godwin, senior art director, Electronic Arts
* Scott Howard, network game product manager, Nokia
For more information, visit www.scad.edu.
53. SCENE FILM & MEDIA HOSTS “FALL INTO FALL” MEDIA MIXER.
“Fall Into Fall” Media Mixer
New York, New York, USA
Sept. 26, 2007
SCENE Film & Media is hosting an afterwork networking mixer for New York’s
media, arts and entertainment world. The event brings together
professionals from New York’s media, arts and entertainment industries for
a night of drinks, hors d’oeuvres, networking and conversation, beginning
at 6:30 pm. It will take place at Alibi, 116 Macdougal Street, New York,
New York. Complimentary appetizers will also be provided. Registration
required. Register at scenemixer.eventbrite.com.
54. USC HOSTS BUSINESS OF GAMING EVENT.
USC Business of GAMING
Los Angeles, California, USA
Sept. 28, 2007
The University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and Delta
Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity joined forces to create The
Business of GAMING as an event to educate students about the financial
world that is quickly developing behind the Games they play. In order to
make a successful new game or console, much more than game designers and
programmers are needed; there is an entire business oriented aspect that is
often left out of the spotlight. Issues such as marketing, advertising,
financing, business models, licensing, entrepreneurship and development are
key to the GAMING industry and the event will highlight these concepts. For
more information, visit www.uscdsp.com/businessofGAMING/.
55. VO PROS CAN WORK OUT WITH CASTING DIRECTORS.
Pro/Adv ANIMATION VO Class
Burbank, California, USA
Oct. 10 - Nov. 7, 2007
M.J. Lallo is holding a five-week pro ANIMATION workshop for VO artists who
have had previous classes in VO and feel ready to work out with
professional directors and agents. The class is a good opportunity to work
with guest directors and make contacts. All guest directors will accept
your demos at the class that night.
The classes will run Wednesdays from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm at MJ Prods., 4020
W Magnolia Blvd., Suite K. The cost is $475 pre-registration in one payment
by Oct. 6, or two payments of $250 on Oct. 15 and during the fourth week of
class. To register, call (818) 980-6576 or e-mail mjlallo@adelphia.net. For
more information, visit www.creatingvoices.com.
56. CALARTS SHOWCASE FILMS FROM PLATFORM INT’L ANIMATION FEST.
Highlights From Platform International ANIMATION Festival
Los Angeles, California, USA
Oct. 15, 2007
CalArts and REDCAT are hosting a screening highlighting films from the
Platform International ANIMATION Festival. The screening will feature work
from Don Hertzfeld, Miwa Matreyek and Luis Cook. The Jack H. Skirball
Series event will take place at the REDCAT at 8:00 pm. Admission is $9, $7
for students. For more information, visit redcat.org/.
57. APEM SUMMIT BRINGS ASIAN TRENDS TO L.A.
APEM Summit 2007
Los Angeles, California, USA
Oct. 17-18, 2007
The APEM Summit explores a range of hot issues that are creating buzz
within the entertainment and media industries in Asia and throughout the
rest of the world. Join these interactive panels to be engaged with what’s
going on in Asia with regards to latest trends like IPTV, User-generated
Content and much more. Hosted by entertainment Asia Network (EAN), the
event is a two-day executive-level conference and networking forum focused
on discussing, analyzing and identifying critical areas of business in the
entertainment industries of Asia. It was organized to bring some of Asia’s
most recognized, high-profile film/TV production and distribution houses,
online game companies, mobile service providers, product manufacturers,
legislative leaders and more to discuss and analyze how to most effectively
generate and maximize profits in the Asia regions. It is the industry’s
most Asia-focused business conference that provides the opportunity to gain
vital up-to-date market information, discuss business strategies and
network with some of the most high-profile executives and major Asian and
Western media conglomerates that do business in this rapidly growing
region. For more information, visit www.apemsummit.com.
58. NAVIGATE THE CHANGING INDUSTRY AT INDIA DIGITAL NETWORKS SUMMIT.
India Digital Networks Summit 2007
New Delhi, India
Oct. 17, 2007
The India Digital Networks Summit will look into the growing concern over
heightened competition, fragmentation and costs in the media sector. In its
third year, sponsored by both the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
and the Telecom Regulatory Authority in India, the event helps producers
navigate regulation, TV channel proliferation and fragmentation, CAS, DTH,
broadband, investment, expansion strategies and returns. For more
information, visit www.media-partners-asia.com.
59. XBOX 360 BRINGS VIDEO Games LIVE TO THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL.
Video Game Live in London
London, U.K.
Oct. 22, 2007
Video Games Live is coming to London thanks to Microsoft Xbox 360, IMG
Artists and Raymond Gubbay, in association with the Southbank Centre. It
will be the opening event of the London Games Festival. The biggest scores
from the most iconic Games will be performed by members of the Philharmonia
Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall at 7:30pm. Tickets can be bought from
the Royal Festival Hall box office on 0871 663 2500, or
www.southbankcentre.co.uk/calendar?action=production&production=17937&
performance=17938.
Hosted and Conducted by co-creators Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, the
Philharmonia Orchestra and a Choir will perform live alongside exclusive
video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo
performers, electronic percussion, live action and unique interactive
segments. Special events surrounding the show commence at 5:30 pm,
including a pre- and post-show festival, featuring all the Xbox 360
blockbuster Christmas titles. Guests will enjoy game demos, a cosplay
contest with exclusive prizes for the best outfit, game competitions and
meet-and-greets with T Tallarico, Wall and other leading industry names.
This event will feature a special arrangement from the iconic HALO 3,
composed by Marty O’Donnell, to be performed live by the Philharmonia
Orchestra for the first time.
The London Games Festival, running from Oct. 22-26, is a celebration of
GAMING and interactive entertainment featuring diverse events for different
audiences across the capital. Visit www.londonGamesfestival.co.uk for more
details.
60. UPCOMING EVENTS IN ANIMATION.
Search AWN’s expansive Calendar of Events section for a list of ANIMATION
and visual effects events spanning into the year 2008. Find out about all
the places where you can see the hottest toons or showcase your own work at
http://events.awn.com.
Upcoming Films
61. UPCOMING THEATRICAL RELEASES.
Want to know what’s hitting your local movie house this weekend, or what
your favorite director is working on? Then go online to
http://releases.awn.com and check out AWN’s new Upcoming Theatrical
Releases database to find out the release dates for the forthcoming feature
animated and visual effects flicks!
