A consortium of animation organizations presents its third forum on the state of the animation industry with a focus this time on television Wednesday, February 19, 2003 at 6:30 pm at the Glendale Public Library Auditorium in Glendale, California. Independent studio representatives will discuss trends, cartoons in development and the potential animation job market. Scheduled panelists include: Lenora Hume, Sr.
Moviegoers lifted DAREDEVIL out of relative comic book hero obscurity as the Twentieth Century Fox theatrical release starring Ben Affleck took in $43.5M, the biggest haul ever for a movie opening over Presidents Day weekend. Based on the Marvel Comics blind superhero, the film easily surpassed the previous best of $20.3M for last year's JOHN Q and was the second-best February debut ever behind HANNIBAL two years ago at $58M. Rich Thorne supervised visual effects for Fox with work done primarily by Rhythm & Hues, Pixel Magic and Digital Domain.
Check out the winners of AWN's Valentine's Day Character Design Contest...
Fox Kids Europe (FKE) has promoted Oliver Fryer from director of legal and business affairs to general counsel, responsible for FKE's contractual, legal and business affairs issues, legal outsourcing, corporate governance and the company's legal team. Fryer replaces Kate Trinder (who held the post for five years) and reports to Bruce Steinberg, CEO. Fryer worked for Herbert Smith, the Simkins Partnership and Zenith Entertainment before joining FKE in June 2001.
Motion tracking manufacturer Ascension Technology has hired the entire staff of Internav, Inc., an Essex Junction, Vermont company, which dissolved at the end of 2002. Established in 1997, Internav develops highly innovative magnetic tracking devices for medical clientele. Ascension acquired the Internav team to increase its skill sets for developing new tracking devices. Ascension trackers are widely used to capture ultrasonic image planes for making 3D images of organs, to guide instruments to targets within the human body, and to provide viewpoint control in medical training devices.
Creative editorial company Lost Planet has added editors Saar Klein and Peter Mostert. Kleins notable feature film credits include THE THIN RED LINE, which earned him an Academy Award nomination; the 2000 film ALMOST FAMOUS, which won him an ACE award and another Academy Award nomination; and the 2002 action film THE BOURNE IDENTITY.
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. (SPI) has hired Diane St. Clair and Jana Day as recruiting consultants for its Culver City, California facility. The studio is gearing up an intensive 2003-2004 production slate, requiring artists and technicians to create visual effects and CG animation for such films as THE MATRIX RELOADED, CHARLIES ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE, BAD BOYS II, THE POLAR EXPRESS, HAUNTED MANSION, BIG FISH and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, in addition to upcoming projects from Sony Pictures Animation. Formerly St.
NYC-based Classic Media has appointed former AOL Time Warner exec Robert Friedman president to take its well-known properties such as Underdog, Lassie and The Lone Ranger and create new value out of them across film, television and video. Friedman will also be looking to license these characters to companies such as breakfast-cereal manufacturers for advertising and tie-ins. Friedman started his TV career in the 1980s in the original development team that created MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon.
How do legal minds view the predicted demise of 35mm? The Film and TV Screen Entertainment Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Section of L.A. County Bar Association will explore this during its panel "Digital Delivery: Now Available at your Nearest Screen" Wednesday evening, February 26, 2003 at the Olympic Collection, 11301 Olympic Blvd., Suite 204, Century Ballroom in Los Angeles. Registration begins at 6:30 pm with dinner at 6:30 pm and the program at 7:00 pm. The panel of exhibition experts from distribution and new technologies will feature Bruce Eisen, EVP, CinemaNow, Inc.; Peter Sheil, GC, Movielink; Jay Swerdlow, EVP, Pacific Theaters; Steve Gilula, president of distribution Fox Searchlight and moderater David Bloom, reporter for "Variety." Registration is limited, call 213-896-6560.
Hollywood-based visual effects shop Eden FX just delivered a huge, three-minute long CG animation project for client Delphi Productions to appear on the Jumbotron screen at the Daytona Speedway during this weekend's Daytona 500 Event. The piece introduces the winner of Pontiac's Daytona 500 Pace Car Design Contest. It features five animated 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix pace cars (each bearing a paint job designed by one of the five contest finalists) racing from their high-tech factory across the U.S.
THE VENTURE BROS., a new animated special from Noodlesoup Productions, premieres Sunday, February 16 at 11:30 pm on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It's a spoof of the old-fashioned JONNY QUEST cartoons from the mid-sixties, as well as THE HARDY BOYS and TOM SWIFT boys' adventure novels of the past. With elements of spy and science fiction, the Venture brothers -- Hank and Dean Venture -- travel with their father, renowned scientist Doctor Venture, to New York for the unveiling of a fantastic new invention at the United Nations.
Watch Bart Simpson scrawl his 300th "I will not" lesson at his school chalkboard this Sunday, February 16, 2003 at 8:00 pm on FOX as THE SIMPSONS will air its historic 300th episode during a special 90-minute presentation. "Barting Over" shows Bart splitting from the family when he discovers Homer spent money Bart unknowingly earned to pay off a blackmailer to get back photos of Homer dangling Bart as a baby over the railing of a hotel balcony.
London-based Elephant Prods. is expanding its slate of animated projects it will take to MIP-TV. Heading the slate is WAVERLY A HAMSTER OF SOME IMPORTANCE. The 2D series follows the adventures of the Wilson family and daughter Jessicas most unusual pet, a quirky hamster that speaks only to Jessica. The series is written by Roger Planer whose previous credits include, ROMUALD THE REINDEER for the BBC, THE NEW MAGIC ROUNDABOUT and HILLTOP HOSPITAL. The companys animation studio, Elephant Egg, is producing the show for kids 4-8.
South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive brings together the media industry as part of the legendary SXSW music and film festival. This year, the winners of the SXSW Website Competition will be revealed at its Sixth Annual Web Awards on March 9, 2003 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin, Texas. The competition seeks to discover individuals who are leading the way in the development of cutting-edge creative and technologically sophisticated Websites. Finalists in the competition are currently available online and voting for the People's Choice Awards will be open until March 1, 2003.
Brown Shoe Company, Inc. has signed a licensing partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to create four new footwear lines, featuring Looney Tunes characters Tweety and Taz, and the DC Comics super heroes, Superman and Supergirl. The launch of all four character lines is scheduled for the 2003 back-to-school season, and will include athletic and casual shoes, boots and slippers. Supergirl footwear will debut first, appearing at select retailers in spring 2003. Targeted to kids ages 3-7, the footwear lines will be available in children's sizes 9-3.
Veteran media executive Allan Grafman joins Archie Comics Entertainment as president to expand the company's worldwide operations. His mandate is to increase the media exploitation of such characters as Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats. Several Archie characters have been developed for films and TV shows, which Grafman will pursue as well as opportunities in video, video games, music, live events and licensing. Grafman led the turnaround and restructuring of Hallmark Entertainment where he served as XVP.
CINAR Corp. has named former WWF Entertainment head Stuart C. Snyder its new president and CEO. Snyder has extensive management experience in video, television, film, animation and live-action entertainment, as well as contacts in the production and distribution communities plus retail and licensing. The CINAR board is counting on Snyder to return the entertainment division to profitability and broaden the range of family products.
Bankrupt Stan Lee Media is suing Merrill Lynch brokerage, seeking $10 million for the firm's alleged part in the company's demise, according to a report by Associated Press. The Internet company named after comics creator Stan Lee filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleging the brokerage firm didnt do enough to keep Stephen Gordon, former VP Stan Lee Media, and his brother Jonathan, a Merrill Lynch financial consultant, from running an alleged scheme to manipulate the price of the company's stock.
JM Entertainment, based in Seoul, Korea and Glendale, California, has started production on its first 2D/3D animated feature film THE TOY WARRIOR. Hollywood TV animation writer Brian Swenlin wrote the script about the Land of Toys, an imaginative world ruled by the popular doll, Princess Sherbert. When a dark force threatens her toy kingdom, Jinoo, a trouble-making boy from the real world, must save the day. JM Entertainment president Ji-Moon (Jeff) Lim and Seoul Movie president Chang-Rok Jun are executive producers.
NXN Software's alienbrain VFX digital asset and production management system is now being implemented by Sony Pictures Imageworks for the production of visual effects, digital character animation and full-length CG motion pictures including the upcoming films THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and THE POLAR EXPRESS. Sony Pictures Imageworks has deployed NXN alienbrain VFX studio-wide to track motion-capture data, 3D models, rendered film clips and digitized live-action plates in upcoming productions.
