China Lifts Longstanding Ban on Marvel Films
While no specific reason for the official policy change was revealed, China’s ban is over, for the time being, allowing both ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ and ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’ to premiere in February now they’ve been approved by the China Film Administration.
DNEG Releases Open-Source xSTUDIO Playback and Review Application
Now available on the Academy Software Foundation GitHub, the flexible, feature rich program is designed to meet the diverse needs of a broad range of review scenarios across teams of connected users, whether on set, in office, or remote.
Submissions Now Open: 2023 LXiA Spark Animation Grant
Supported by Netflix, the community outreach program awards 3 emerging independent Latinx animation filmmakers with money, mentorship, and support for production of an animated short film; the submission deadline is February 3.
‘Alien’ Series in Pre-Production at FX
Filming for the prequel, set on Earth 70 years from now, sans franchise heroine Ripley, will commence later this year.
Jared Leto to Lead Disney’s ‘Tron: Ares’ Sequel
The upcoming film in the decades-spanning sci-fi franchise is being penned by Jesse Wigutow, with ‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ director Joachim Rønning in talks to helm the project.
Voice Cast Revealed for ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ and Reception is Mixed
While some ‘Harry Potter’ fans anxiously await the upcoming game, others are trepidatious given author J.K. Rowling’s loud and divisive opinions pertaining to the trans community, and lead Simon Pegg is caught in the crosshairs.
Stephen Colbert Boards ‘The Chronicles of Amber’ Series Adaptation
The late-night host will serve as executive producer for the show, based on prolific sci-fi and fantasy author Roger Zelazny's 10 book series about a royal family with the ability to travel through different dimensions of reality, who rule over the one true world: Amber.
A Studio Digital’s ‘BurgerWorld’ to Debut at Sundance 2023
Maddie Brewer's 2D animated short, from Bento Box and FOX Digital, tells the story of two fast-food workers who accidentally discover a portal to another realm… a ‘burger’ world where big meat oppresses the vegetable populace.
‘Velma’ Debuts to Disappointing Audience Scores
The adult animated comedy series focusing on the origin story of ‘Scooby-Doo’s Velma Dinkley and the formation of ‘the greatest team of mystery solvers ever’ has garnered the worst audience score on IMDB as well as a 6% Rotten Tomatoes audience score.
Nominations Announced for 2023 BAFTA Awards
‘Guillermo deo Toro’s Pinocchio,’ ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,’ ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,’ and ‘Turning Red’ get nods for Animated Film, while ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ ‘The Batman,’ ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ garner noms for Special Visual Effects.
Genius Brands Consolidates Consumer Platforms Under Newly Created ‘Genius Networks’
Veteran Media and Entertainment executive Todd Steinman named President, Genius Networks, Uniting Kartoon Channel!, Ameba TV, and Frederator Network.
Maxon Announces Integration of Redshift in ZBrush
Key updates for Maxon One line expand Forger capabilities with modeling toolset, including subdivision surfaces and symmetry; performance upgrades in Red Giant Trapcode’s improve particle simulation creation in Adobe After Effects.
MARZ Announces Breakthrough ‘Vanity AI’ De-aging VFX System
New technology is 300 times faster than traditional pipelines, cost-effective, and without capacity constraints; currently in beta, the solution is available as a service, with licensing expected to be available later this year.
Alkemy X Expands to Canada
The award-winning entertainment company launches a new Vancouver office led by Emmy-nominated head of 2D Michael Porterfield, who joined the company last summer.
The-Artery Adds Nick Haynes to NYC Studio
Recent Carbon NY and former MPC executive producer brings 20+ years of industry experience, having held various production and managerial positions at companies including Absolute Post and the Mill.
Autodesk Releases RV Open Source Version
Now available on the Academy Software Foundation GitHub, Open RV, the open source version of the tech giant’s Sci-Tech award-winning media review and playback software, will benefit from continued vendor development as well as community-driven updates.
Post House Levels Audio Expands its Animation Department
The award-winning studio has teamed up with supervising sound editor Hunter Curra (‘Rick and Morty,’ ‘BoJack Horseman’) and senior sound designer James Singleton (‘Big Mouth,’ ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’) on a number of animated projects, including Lord and Miller’s ‘Clone High’ reboot.
Exclusive: GKIDS Shares ‘New Gods: Yang Jian’ Making of Video
Light Chaser Animation’s 2nd installment of the ‘New Gods’ franchise, inspired by Chinese mythology, comes to theaters nationwide January 20.
VFX Breakdown: BlueBolt Delivers 1950s Nostalgia to ‘The Policeman’
Challenged with creating accurate portrayals of Brighton Beach across 2 timelines, the studio’s team delivers 152 seamless VFX shots; breakdown reel highlights the studio’s visual effects work creating the backdrop for the romantic drama, which spans decades.
‘Snowpiercer’ Series will Not Continue on TNT
In another money-saving move from Warner Bros. Discovery, the final season of the post-apocalyptic drama has been cut from its mother network, and is being shopped to other outlets.
Netflix Reveals 2023 Kids & Family Slate
New animated movies include ‘Leo,’ ‘Nimona,’ ‘The Monkey King,’ and ‘The Magician’s Elephant,’ with new and returning series including ‘My Dad the Bounty Hunter,’ ‘Princess Power,’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight.’
Nickelodeon Animation Agrees to Voluntarily Recognize Production Workers
Production staff to be represented by The Animation Guild in upcoming negotiations after overwhelmingly deciding to unionize early last month.
Gnomon’s Real-Time Short ‘The Voice in the Hollow’ Shows Power of Unreal Engine
The 10-minute animated African horror fable by instructors Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma - known as Half M.T. Studios - employed hand-drawn and cutting-edge 3D techniques, with tools like ZBrush and Maya for characters and Substance Painter for texturing, and was rendered exclusively in the game engine.
Stray Vista Studios Debuts the Largest Virtual Production Studio in Texas
The 40x80x16 foot LED Virtual Production Volume wall displays interactive, computer-generated perspectives and includes an LED ceiling for fully immersed lighting.
Looney Tunes Share ‘Bugs Bunny Builders’ Lunar New Year Short
The new year ushers in more Looney hijinks with new episodes of Cartoonito’s ‘Bugs Bunny Builders’ and HBO Max’s ‘Looney Tunes Cartoons;’ more fun launches later this year with ‘Tiny Toons Looniversity.’
