What’s in Store for the M&E Industry in 2025
While the use of AI in M&E continues to grow, so does virtual production powered by real-time technology, which reduces costs and time to delivery as well as allow artists in film, TV, games and immersive experiences greater flexibility to iterate and deliver higher fidelity work.
SAG-AFTRA and Nickelodeon Reach Tentative Agreement
Deal between the union and network for their 2025 SAG-AFTRA/Nickelodeon Animation Studios Basic Cable Television Animation Agreement now heads to the National Board for review.
‘Big Mouth’ Final Season Trailer Shows the Kids Coming into Their Own
After 8 seasons and more than 689 masturbation jokes, the ground-breaking Netflix adult animated comedy from Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg hits the streamer with one last set of raunchy new episodes on May 23.
Aaron Waltke Boards Prime Video’s ‘Wings of Fire’ as Showrunner
The ‘Unikitty!’ and ‘Trollhunters’ writer/producer will also executive produce and co-write the animated series alongside ‘Wings of Fire’ book series author Tui T. Sutherland.
Titmouse Celebrates 25th Anniversary with ‘Blood’ Stains, Laughs, and Battle Scars
A blowout party at the studio’s Burbank headquarters included the ‘Branded by Blood’ event, which pitted blindfolded ‘Floggers’ against squeaky-footed ‘Victims’ in a 10x20-foot cage match of ‘blood-soaked’ pool noodles.
‘Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom’ Coming in 2026
Aardman partners with Sky to release new animated feature in UK cinemas and VOD, with STUDIOCANAL distributing internationally.
Call for Entries: Claims Conference’s 2025 Emerging Filmmaker Contest
Aiming to educate and spark powerful discussions, the worldwide competition focuses on short films about the Holocaust; the submission deadline is June 16.
BlueBolt Delivers 232 VFX Shots for ‘A Thousand Blows’ Disney+ Series
The studio enhanced brutal bare-knuckle boxing fights as well as created digital environments for key story locations and a CG aerial London cityscape, totalling 125 shots for Season 1 and another 107 shots for the upcoming Season 2.
Producer Mary Alice Drumm Talks ‘Elio’
Watch INDAC’s Johannes Wolters interview the Pixar creative (associate producer of ‘Coco’) at an April screening in Munich where she talks about team building, tough deadlines, and protecting artists so they can make the best film possible.
Videogame Companies Make Final Offer to SAG-AFTRA
Tentative agreement on 24 of 25 proposed points had previously been reached, with talks stagnating for nearly 300 days over concerns regarding consent and compensation for AI replica use; union claims to have issued counteroffer with no response.
Universal Drops Final ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Trailer
Hitting theaters June 13, Dean DeBlois’ live-action reimagining of the first film in DreamWorks Animation’s hugely successful animated franchise sees Hiccup befriend Toothless, an injured Night Fury dragon, and against all odds, try to save his village while defying centuries of hateful tradition.
‘Ren & Stimpy’ Co-Developer, Character Designer Jim Smith Passes at 70
Best known for co-founding Spümcø and co-developing the ‘The Ren & Stimpy Show,’ the veteran animator also contributed to ‘Tiny Toon Adventures,’ Batman: The Animated Series,’ ‘Ice Age,’ ‘The Oblongs,’ ‘Over the Garden Wall,’ and many others.
ROOF Studio Reveals ‘The New Yorker’ Animated Short
Watch it from ‘cover’ to ‘cover’… in partnership with Le Truc, The Condé Nast Creative Marketing Team, and Human, the promotional project celebrates the publication’s 100th anniversary.
Anime Tokyo Station to Host ‘Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-’ Exhibition
The latest installment in the ‘Gundam’ series, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, is a collaboration between studio khara (‘Evangelion’) and SUNRISE (‘Gundam’); exhibits run May 24 - August 11.
‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Release Delayed Until 2026
The highly anticipated next installment in the ‘GTA’ video game franchise, which takes place in the fictional state of Leonida, home of Vice City and beyond, is now set to release May 26, 2026.
FMX 2025 Releases Final Program Update, Teaser Shorts Series
Ahead of tomorrow’s Day 1, the conference teases ‘Mufasa’ technical innovations, new VFX talks, Dave Gouge’s studio insights panel, targeted career sessions, and a short film YouTube series diving into topics such as taking cinematic images from Unreal Engine.
Netflix Shares Cast for ‘Long Story Short’ from ‘BoJack Horseman’ Creator
Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s new animated series that follows the Schwooper siblings from childhood to adulthood and back again, chronicling their triumphs, disappointments, joys, and compromises, streams August 22.
Lenovo to Bring Vidu Generative Video to PCs, Smart Hardware Ecosystem
The solution streamlines production of high-quality transitions, HD video outputs, 48 kHz sound effects and music, and animated character transitions.
PFX Delivers 750 VFX Shots for ‘Locked’ Feature
Sequences for the thriller, which stars Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins and is set completely within a high-tech SUV, include digital doubles, FX, environments, and complex greenscreen compositing.
Netflix Debuts ‘Lost in Starlight’ Teaser Trailer, Poster
The streamers’ first Korean original animated film, which tells the love story of an astronaut and a musician who find each other among the stars, debuts May 30.
Pluto TV Unveils Anime Content Refresh
In celebration of Ani-May, the free streaming service has added over 800 hours of programming and more than 120 movies, such as ‘Food Wars,’ ‘Inuyasha: The Final Act,’ ‘Bleach: Hellverse,’ ‘ZOM 100: Bucket List of the Dead,’ and ‘Hunter x Hunter.’
Watch New ‘Buzzard’s Bay’ Short from Adult Swim SMALLS
The 2-part animated short series from Torey Strahl and Elena Ridker is set in 2003 on Cape Cade, where 4 horny teens living their beach town dreams who get schooled by a talking seagull.
Exclusive: Supernova Design Drops ‘Creatures of Chaos’ Teaser Trailer
Studio’s 6-minute 2D short explores mental health with a story of 4 neighbors whose emotional struggles take on the physical forms of creatures they attempt to conceal; world premiere set for May 3 at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Apple Pummeled in Epic Games Lawsuit as ‘Fortnite’ to Return to U.S. iOS App Store
All developers can also now offer their own payment service, effectively ending Apple’s monopoly on payment services and fees; ‘developers are free to pass along savings to customers.’
The Animation Guild, CVL Economics Release CA Animation Tax Incentives Study
BRIC Foundation and Titmouse Foundation also partnered on ‘Reclaiming California’s Role in Global Animation,’ which substantiates the significant impact of the Animation Industry on job growth and innovation, and makes the case for modern animation tax credits.
