Sarah Baisley's Recent Posts

Uli Meyer Studios has completed BANKING, an animated spot featuring CGI characters Lil Red and an animated piggy bank called Floyd that promotes the interactive features of BSkyB's Digital Broadcasting, such as the ability to check your bank balance.

Independent film producers Jeffrey Sneller (The Adventures of Pinocchio) and Charles Fries have recently formed Santa Barbara Home Video to market and distribute indie films on home video. The independent distribution company is a subsidiary of Santa Barbara Filmed-Entertainment, which is co-producing the feature film Doctor Lopez in the fourth quarter of 2003 in association with Andrew Steven's Powerhouse Entertainment. The first SBHV release is the Sneller/Raju Patel produced The New Adventures of Pinocchio.

CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG was the big winner again of four nominations, topping all other animated shows, at The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Award nominations announced on March 12, 2003. Almost exactly a year ago, on March 13, 2003, CLIFFORD led the animation pack with five noms. The PBS series is produced by Scholastic Productions and Mike Young Productions. Close behind was Nicks DORA THE EXPLORER, nabbing three nominations, including one for Outstanding Children's Animated Program.

Cineme 2003, the first Chicago International Animation Film Festival invites local, national and international animation professionals in the genres of Film, Television, Media, VFX, Gaming, Web, Music and Experimental; Storyboard Artists and Artisans; TV and Screenwriters, as well as directors, producers, distributors and investors to participate in this groundbreaking competition to be held in Chicago, Illinois, Nov. 6-9, 2003. The entrance fees and deadlines vary per category. Entry form, release form, rules and regulations are available online at www.Cineme.org.

Oscar-nominated animation short THE CHUBBCHUBBS can be downloaded for free via the Oscar Showcase on Movielink (www.movielink.com). This is the first time the film has been available online for a secure download. THE CHUBBCHUBBS is the first digitally animated short film produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks, which debuted in theaters, paired with the MEN IN BLACK 2 release and was included on the MIBII DVD. Movielink, the online movie download service, is offering the free, legal download of THE CHUBBCHUBBS to promote its Oscar Showcase section where users can rent and download previous Academy Award-winning and nominated films, such as BRAVEHEART, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, JERRY MAGUIRE, PHILADELPHIA, PLATOON, ERIN BROCKOVICH and others. After downloading movies from Movielink, customers can store movies for up to 30 days for a fee ranging from $2.95 to $4.99. Minimum requirements call for a PC with a broadband connection, Windows 98 and either RealPlayer 8.0 or Windows Media Player 7.1. Los Angeles-based Movielink is an online movie rental service offering U.S. broadband customers an extensive selection of recently released films, as well as content from film libraries spanning a wide range of genres.

Is a trend and new opportunity for actors and agents underway as live actors are cast to be the animation reference for CGI characters staring in live-action motion pictures? Andy Serkis was the reference for the CGI creation Gollum in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS. Now Alan Tudyk has been cast as the animation reference for the CGI character Sonny in the sci-fi action feature I, ROBOT for Twentieth Century Fox. AWN talked to a few agents and entertainment attorneys to get their views.

Veteran marketing exec Steve Sohmer has left the ABC network as its EVP of marketing, advertising and promotion according to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. No replacement has been announced and the executives in each department will report for now to ABC Entertainment Group chairman Lloyd Braun. The network declined to comment on his departure. Sohmer was hired last summer to promote ABC's fall schedule, including his successful campaign for new sitcoms like 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER.

Editor Robert Pennington joins Northern Lights Post's roster of talent at the company's recently launched visual effects/design division. Pennington recently finished editing two feature length independent films, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROBERT WILSON (working title), a documentary about the famed experimental theater director, and A TALE OF TWO PIZZAS, a romantic comedy directed by Vincent Sassone starring Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent and Patty D'Arbanville. Pennington's recent commercial assignments include a montage-driven, two-spot image campaign for Ford Motor Co.

Upheavals at RAI have been resolved for the time being with the appointment of Paolo Mieli, head of publisher Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, as president of Italy's pubcaster, along with four new board members, according to VARIETY. Mieli, a journalist and author of books tracing the history of Italy's leftist politics, replaces Antonio Baldassarre. Baldassarre and RAI board member Ether Albertoni submitted their resignations in response to government pressure on February 26, 2003.