It was announced today at the Adult Swim Festival by Aqua Teen Hunger Force creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro that an all-new mystery-adventure with Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad is on the way! The all-new original movie titled Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm is coming to Digital, 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray on November 8, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. This is the second film adaptation inspired from one of Adult Swim’s longest running animated series.
Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm is priced to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack (U.S. $39.99 SRP; Canada $44.98 SRP) and Blu-ray (U.S. $29.98 SRP; Canada $39.99 SRP) as well as on Digital. Preorders will be available on August 7. The flick will also be available on Movies Anywhere.
Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm features everyone’s favorite rascals, the Aqua Teens: the brainy Frylock, the mouthy Master Shake, the loveable Meatwad, and everyone’s favorite perverted neighbor, Carl, as they split up then get back together to fight everyone’s favorite corporate overlord, Amazin, led by everyone’s favorite tech mogul, Neil (voiced by everyone’s favorite, Peter Serafinowicz) and his trusty scientist sidekick, Elmer (Paul Walter Hauser, who is everyone’s favorite).
“Maiellaro and I are excited to finally bring book IIV of the Aqua Teen Plantasm series to the big screen that is little and inside your house. It’s funny and entertaining and it has colorful drawings that move about in a rapid fashion, but not so rapid as to cause seizures,” said Willis.
“Luxuriate your eyes in our updated animation! Revel in the mature themes and coherent storytelling! This is not your grandad’s Aqua Teen! Also, this movie has no superheroes in it. That is the Aqua Teen Hunger Force guarantee: no superheroes! No star war stuff either. If you’re looking for a star war or a yoda, this is probably not the movie for you. Do you doubt me? Watch the movie. And if you don’t like it, you have no taste and your “hot take” is not one to be trusted. I just trolled you, son. Now tweet @adultswim with your pointless rage. Bring the thunder!”
Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm stars series voice cast Carey Means (The Brak Show) as Frylock, Dana Snyder (Squidbillies) as Master Shake, and co-creator/EP Dave Willis (Squidbillies, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell) as Meatwad. The film also stars Serafinowicz (The Tick), Hauser (Black Bird), Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Robert Smigel (Bob’s Burgers) and Tim Robinson (Detroiters). The movie was written and directed by Willis and Maiellaro and produced by Williams Street Productions.
In 2023, Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm will also be available for streaming on HBO Max and will air on Adult Swim.
Earlier this week, we were excited to offer a pre-premiere sneak peek at the new Netflix animated series Super Giant Robot Brothers, a colorful action-comedy about two misfit mecha siblings — childlike and bubbly Shiny and steely-serious Thunder — who help their whiz kid inventor Alex Rose save the planet from attacking space monsters (when they stop squabbling). Created and executive produced by Love, Death + Robots alums Victor Maldonado and Alfredo Torres and directed by Oscar winner Mark Andrews (Brave), the 10 x 27′ Kids & Family series is now available to stream after launching on Thursday, August 4.
On the eve of the premiere, we heard from series executive producer Jared Mass, Head of Reel FX Originals, and Steve O’Brien, CEO of Reel FX (reelfx.com), which has emerged as a solid animation player with outposts in Hollywood and Montreal since setting up its Dallas HQ in 1995 with eight employees. Having used its CG skills to bring the Oscar-nominated feature The Book of Life as well as Free Birds, Rumble, Back to the Outback and Scoob! to screens, the studio tested the newly charted waters of real-time virtual production for Super Giant Robot Brothers.
Here’s what Steve and Jared taught us about the secrets of building relatable robo siblings:
Animation Magazine: When did you and the Reel FX team get involved with Super Giant Robot Brothers?
Steve O’Brien: We were working on a film project with Victor and Alfredo back in 2016, and that project was put on hold, so we asked them to pitch us a couple ideas for our development slate to pass some time. One of those ideas was “Brobots” which we immediately fell in love with, and later became Super Giant Robot Brothers.
What were the key inspirations/aesthetic goals for the design and animation?
Jared Mass: Mark Andrews and Tommy Blacha were inspired by old kaiju movies from the ’60s and ’70s and worked with our production designer Katy Wu to make a show that’d live alongside other shows in the genre like Johnny Socko and His Flying Robot and Ultraman. Because we knew we’d be visualizing and making the show in the Unreal Engine and Mark is a big fan of harder lines and angles we worked to augment some of the references with more of a video game aesthetic.
In a nutshell, what was the real-time process like for this project? How did it vary from other “standard” CG productions?
Steve: First, the front-end is entirely different. Storyboards are optional — we used comic-style story panels as our shooting guide. Unlike traditional animation, you are on the stage creating bins of shot options for editorial to pull from as you would for a live-action shoot. You’re building assets ahead of time for use on stage, and then you come off the stage with a rough layout, which is an alternative or complementary to the storyboard phase.
Secondly, many aspects of digital production are transformed, from surfacing to character rigs to lighting setups. So yes, most everything is transformed or impacted in some way from ‘standard’ CG productions.
Were there any major learning curves in creating a real-time series?
Steve: We essentially built a completely new pipeline, and we produced a new show at the same time — kind of like laying tracks just a few feet in front of the train. Definitely a major learning curve, but having a highly tested scalable pipeline for shows like this is the breakthrough that came out of the process. We have several more shows we are planning as we speak.
Since the show was directed in real time alongside mo-cap actors and a whole crew, was this a new experience for the team?
Steve: Even though our director Mark Andrews came from Pixar, he is completely comfortable working this way and actually prefers it, and our producers and crew who managed the shoot are very experienced in virtual production. Many animators don’t like the idea of using mo-cap, but for this show and our process, mo-cap wasn’t a replacement for key frame animation. Rather, the mo-cap data served more as a framework for layout and incredible reference as a jumping off point for our animation team. Once the animation team got into it, they loved the process.
What was it like working among people again after the isolated pandemic years?
Steve: It was fun! Of course, we shot the series in between COVID waves, which caused some delays, and we had the healthcare company there doing daily tests and so forth. That part was a pain, but if you take a look at the BTS video that’s floating around, it’s clear how much fun it was for the whole team to be together.
The Robo Bros have a lot of personality for two giant machines — how did the artists and animators create such engaging performances?
Jared: Shiny and Thunder were designed to be a reflection of Alex Rose’s personality at the age she invented them. At two years old, the artists thought genius Alex would be more into simple shapes and thus created Shiny with a bulbous body, intense curiosity and a childlike spirit. At 12, Alex has been taking life and her job more seriously and thus would have designed Thunder to be more pragmatic and centered.
The animators were able to get the best ever reference from the data given to them caught using motion-capture performance, and then they’d augment that data to enhance character performance. It was a big win for the process of creating engaging characters.
Which creators, films or TV shows have inspired you the most in your animation career?
Steve: I grew up watching Saturday morning shows — some I remember most are the Japanese shows like Speed Racer, Kimba the White Lion and Ultraman … one of the original robots versus kaiju shows. We’ve been lucky to work with so many inspiring creators and filmmakers, and I try to absorb something new from each experience. Mark has been a great partner and collaborator on this series, not to mention his energy level is off the charts so it’s been a fun ride working together.
Jared: I’m inspired by storytellers; animation or live-action doesn’t matter as much to me. Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Tim Burton, Alexander Payne. Movies like Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Goonies, Up. Shows like Beavis and Butt-head, South Park and old Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
If you could, would you rather be a kaiju or a giant robot?
Jared: Definitely a robot — probably a Transformer, because who wouldn’t want to save the world and turn from a robot into a cool car and a gnarly beast?
Steve: If only robots could have feelings, I’d definitely be a giant robot like Shiny or Thunder. Wait, can robots actually have feelings? You’ll have to watch ALL of Season One to find out.
What kind of reactions have you heard to Super Giant Robot Brothers so far? What do you hope the Netflix audience gets out of this monster-blasting action-comedy?
Steve: We were at Annecy, and took part in several events with Epic where we debuted the Super Giant Robot Brothers trailer and gave a peek behind the scenes of how it was made. The audience seemed to be really into it and we had a lot of fun talking to the animation community about it.
Our child-genius main character, Rose, invents one robot as a toddler and another as a tween/teen and infuses her view of the world at that age into each, which you can imagine is quite different as she grows and matures. Having raised three kids who are now all grown up, this resonated with me a lot and I think it will resonate with others as well, regardless of age. Apart from that, the audience will love watching giant robots and kaijus beat the crap out of each other along with great characters and lots of fun and funny moments in every episode.
Jared: The kids we’ve shown it to so far have all loved it. It’s got something for boys and girls, and parents feel a sense of nostalgia watching it because its reminiscent of cartoons we used to watch growing up. I hope the audience loves watching the sibling rivalry of Shiny and Thunder play out on the world’s biggest stage with everything on the line. It’s high stakes and very funny and our heroine is a genius young girl who invented giant robots to save the planet. I hope she’s an inspiration to kids to go out and make something cool.
Super Giant Robot Brothers is now streaming on Netflix. Watch it here! The first episode is also available to watch in full on YouTube.
Eagerly awaited by his fans around the world, Agent G is back on the big screen this weekend as the brand-new CG-animated feature GG Bond: Ocean Mission premieres in China on August 6 — sure to make a splash with theater-going families this summer vacation. The movie is the seventh inspired by animation studio Winsing’s flagship IP GG Bond, which is also in its seventh series season.
Following GG Bond’s adventure in the Mesozoic Era in Dino Diary, Ocean Mission finds our agent adrift in the vast sea working to overcome his fears with the help of Noah, a beautiful yellow angelfish looking for his lost brother. In addition to thrilling oceanic adventure, the movie highlights positive messages of persistance, courage, the importance of family and celebrating friendship.
As GG Bond would say, giving up is the only real way to fail!
Winsing notes that the VFX and CG animation in this film offer one of the most realistic viewing experiences for audiences to conect with these undersea characters. To reproduce the scenery under the waves, the production team conducted multiple field research trips to make sure the film accurately represented our knowledge of the marine environment to young viewers.
Anime Expo and Iconic Events Releasing launch AX Cinema Nights, an in-person movie event series that celebrates the best new and classic anime films brought to local theaters across North America, giving fans nationwide an opportunity to gather as a community at local cinemas and share their love for anime films.
For its next engagment, AX Cinema Nights presents Eleven Arts’ The House of the Lost on the Cape, an Official Selection at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, which will be released on September 7. The film will initially open in Los Angeles and New York, then expand to several other markets in North America over the following weeks. Anime fans will be able to watch both versions of the film (original Japanese audio with English subtitles and original English audio) in participating theaters nationwide.
Synopsis: When a devastating natural disaster leaves 17-year-old run-away Yui and eight-year-old orphan Hiyori without a home, they are taken in by Kiwa, a strange old woman who offers to let them stay in an abandoned yet suspiciously well-kept house overlooking the sea, known as a Mayoiga: a legendary house, said to look after lost travelers. Despite Yui’s hesitation to trust anyone and Hiyori’s inability to speak, they begin to form a sisterly bond that allows them to find comfort in the Mayoiga and embrace Kiwa’s hospitality. However, when a menacing entity is accidentally released and threatens their new home, the three must face their fears to save it.
The Japanese-language, English-subtitled trailer is also availalbe here.
Making his feature directorial debut, The House of the Lost on the Cape was directed by Shinya Kawatsura (Non Non Biyori, Kokoro Connect, Sagrada Reset) and written by Reiko Yoshida (A Silent Voice, Violet Evergarden, K-On!). The film was animated by David Production (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series, Cells at Work!). Earlier this year, the film won Best Animation Film at the 76th Annual Mainichi Film Awards.
The House of the Lost on the Cape is based on the award-winning Japanese novel by Sachiko Kashiwaba, which was originally serialized in the Iwate Nippo daily newspaper from May 2014 to July 2015, and later published by Kodansha. The novel won the 54th Noma Children’s Literature Award in 2016. The film adaptation, along with other anime films, was released in 2021 as part of the Continuing Support Project 2011+10 (Zutto Ouen Project 2011+10), which marked the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Kashiwaba has inspired many artists and films, including Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001).
Tickets and participating location info will be available soon at ax-cinemanights.com.
Global gaming phenomenon Cuphead is celebrating a year of massive success, from the debut of the acclaimed series The Cuphead Show! in February, to the June 30 release of the highly-anticipated video game expansion Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course — which has already reached platinum status. Studio MDHR’s eight-time platinum-selling video game continues to be a fan favorite!
Ahead of new episodes dropping later this month, fans can tune in tonight (Friday, August 5) at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT for a special, interactive, social gaming experience: The Cuphead Show! Presents: Roll the Dice, executed by the creative agency GLOW (weareglow.com), where viewers around the world will have their Cuphead knowledge tested and be given exclusive access to never before seen content from the second batch drop of The Cuphead Show!.
The engaging and interactive livestream was made available to fans through a ‘flock to unlock’ call to action on the show’s social channels, where the character, Stickler, implored fans to help him restore The Devil’s records in order to return the “Roll the Dice” game show to the air. During this evening’s livestream, fans can crowdsource answers in their respective chats to drive outcomes in the game through challenges like ‘Name That Tune’, rounds of Trivia and ‘Roll the Dice.’ Players will then be sent to a mystery prize room where exclusive prizes await!
Take a chance and roll them virtual bones but joining the fun on Twitter, Twitch or YouTube!
Cuphead interactive campaign by GLOW
Cuphead interactive campaign by GLOW
Cuphead interactive campaign by GLOW
Since The Cuphead Show! debuted in February, the animated adaptation of the award-winning video game has received high praise for its stunning designs and classic animation art style. The Cuphead Show! is executive produced by Dave Wasson, Chad Moldenhauer, Jared Moldenhauer and CJ Kettler, with Cosmo Segurson serving as co-executive producer and music by Ego Plum. Cuphead, Mugman and the Inkwell Isles crew will be returning to Netflix with new episodes and more misadventures on August 19.
The original Cuphead video game is celebrated by fans around the world for its arcade-action gameplay, highly original art design and award-winning soundtrack, featuring almost three hours of original jazz, early big band and ragtime music. A true cultural phenomenon, the game has sold millions of units worldwide and won over 20 major awards.
Ahead of the highly anticipated U.S. release of his Venice Biennale and TIFF selected feature Inu-Oh, GKIDS has announced additional theaters where fans can experience this mind-blowing animated feature, and released a new trailer for their Masaaki Yuasa collection.
Featuring the films Mind Game (2004, Studio 4°C), Lu Over the Wall (2o17, Science Saru), The Night Is Shorts, Walk on Girl (2017, Science Saru) and Ride Your Wave(2019, Science Saru) as well as his latest, Inu-Oh, The Works of Masaaki Yuasa is a showcase of the acclaimed director’s varied approaches, bold style and perpetual ability to astound the senses.
Described as a 14th century rock opera, Inu-Oh is named for one of hte main characters: a boy born into an esteemed family but afflicted with an ancient curse twisting his form. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past voiced by Queen Bee’s Avu-chan, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair quickly become business partners and inseparable friends as crowds flock to their electric, larger-than-life concerts. But when those in power threaten to break up the band, Inu-oh and Tomona must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts.
The film opens nationwide on Friday, August 12. In addition to previously announced theaters, GKIDS has added the following markets to the release. Find theaters and showtimes near you at inu-oh.com.
New markets (alphabetical by state):
Alaska: Anchorage
Arkansas: Little Rock
California: Bakersfield, Beaumont, Contravista, Daly City, Dublin, Folsom, Glendora, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Long Beach, Milpitas, Modesto, Ontario, Oxnard, Pleasant Hill, Sacramento, Salinas, Santa Rosa, Simi Valley, South Gate, Stockton, Vacaville, Woodland
Florida: Fort Myers, Gainesville, Aventura, Davie, Kissimmee, West Melbourne, Winter Park, Panama City Beach, Tallahassee, Brandon, Pinellas Park, Seminole, Jensen Beach
Michigan: Canton, Novi, Rochester Hills, Ypsilanti
Minnesota: Eagan, Lakeville, Plymouth, White Bear
Missouri: North Kansas City, Springfield
Montana: Missoula
North Carolina: Winston-Salem, Cary
Nevada: North Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks
New Mexico: Albuquerque
New York: Albany, Buffalo, Poughkeepsie
Ohio: Cincinnati, Mason, Elyria, North Canton, Valley View, Willoughby, HIllard, Beavercreek, Toledo
Oklahoma: Tulsa
Oregon: Bend, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard
Pennsylvania: Lancaster, King of Prussia, Moosic
Rhode Island: Lincoln
Souoth Carolina: Summerville
Tennessee: Knoxville, Nashville
Texas: Austin, Pflugerville, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Denton, Grand Prairie, Hurst, Lewisville, Plano, The Colony, El Paso, Pharr, Conroe, Katy, Pasadena, Stafford, The Woodlands, Webster, Laredo, San Antonio, College Station
Utah: Ogden, Orem, Providence, Provo, Salt Lake City, Sandy, St. George, Vineyard, West Jordan, West Valley City
Crunchyroll and anime studio MAPPA have unveiled a blood-spattered new trailer for Chainsaw Man, the highly anticipated series based on the original manga created by writer-illustrator Tatsuki Fujimoto. The partners also revealed the Japanese-language voice cast. Check out the subtitled 30″ trailer below or the full-length trailer on MAPPA’s YouTube channel.
Synopsis: Denji is a teenage boy living with a Chainsaw Devil named Pochita. Due to the debt his father left behind, he has been living a rock-bottom life while repaying his debt by harvesting devil corpses with Pochita. One day, Denji is betrayed and killed. As his consciousness fades, he makes a contract with Pochita and gets revived as “Chainsaw Man” — a man with a devil’s heart.
The Japanese voice cast just announced features:
Kikunosuke Toya as Denji
Tomori Kusunoki (Natsume in Deca-Dence) as Makima
Shogo Sakata (Karin Sasaki in Fire Force) as Aki Hayakawa
Fairouz Ai (Jolyne Kujo in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean) as Power
The series adaptation is directed by Ryu Nakayama (JUJUTSU KAISEN Ep. 19), with Masato Nakazono (JUJUTSU KAISEN, SSSS.Gridman) as assistant director, from a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko (Mob Psycho 100,JUJUTSU KAISEN). The core creative team also includes background art director Yusuke Takeda (Vinland Saga,JUJUTSU KAISEN), character designer Kazutaka Sugiyama (Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation), ‘Devil’ designer Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Flip Flappers, Space Dandy) and action director Tatsuya Yoshihara (Black Clover, Yatterman Night); music by Kensuke Ushio (A Silent Voice, Devilman Crybaby).
Fans can find out more about the project from MAPPA Producer, Executive Director & Rights Management Director Makoto Kimura and CEO Manabu Otsuka this weekend during the Crunchyroll Expo. The Chainsaw Man panel is scheduled for Sunday, August 7 at 1 p.m. PT.
DreamWorks Animation announced their intent to release their proprietary production renderer, MoonRay, as open source software later this year. The studio’s state-of-the-art Monte Carlo Ray Tracer has been used on feature films such as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Croods: A New Age, The Bad Guys and the upcoming Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
MoonRay was developed by DreamWorks’ world-class engineers, and includes an extensive library of production-tested, physically based materials, a USD Hydra render delegate, multi-machine and cloud rendering via Arras.
“We are thrilled to share with the industry over 10 years of innovation and development on MoonRay’s vectorized, threaded, parallel and distributed code base,” said Andrew Pearce, Vice President of Global Technology at DreamWorks. “The appetite for rendering at scale grows each year, and MoonRay is set to meet that need. We expect to see the code base grow stronger with community involvement as DreamWorks continues to demonstrate our commitment to open source.”
DreamWorks’ in-house MCRT renderer, MoonRay, was designed from the start with a focus on efficiency and scalability, with the mantra to “…keep all the vector lanes of all the cores of all the machines busy all the time with meaningful work,” as well as provide modern features for full artistic expression. It can deliver a broad range of images from photorealistic to strongly stylized. MoonRay is built on a leading-edge, highly-scalable architecture with no prior legacy code, allowing quick, feature-film quality artistic iteration using familiar tools.
Additional high-performance features include support for distributed rendering, a pixel matching XPU mode that offers improved performance by processing bundles of rays on the GPU as well as the CPU, ray processing via Intel Embree, shader vectorization utilizing Intel ISPC compilation and bundled path tracing. MoonRay includes a USD Hydra render delegate for integration into content creation tools that support the standard.
“We are proud of our close collaboration with DreamWorks on MoonRay with its impressive photoreal ray tracing rendering performance supported by open source Intel Embree and Intel Implicit SPMD Program Compiler (Intel ISPC), both distributed in the Intel one API Rendering Toolkit,” said Jim Jeffers, Sr. Director, Sr. Principal Engineer, Intel Advanced Ray Tracing.
“MoonRay’s features like hair and fur rendering were developed in collaboration with Intel. The resulting improvements are included in Intel Embree’s ray tracing kernel library and exemplify how using open software benefits the entire ecosystem. By adopting Intel ISPC, MoonRay embraces vector instruction parallelism for dramatic performance improvements. Intel looks forward to new opportunities to apply oneAPI cross-architecture, cross-vendor support to this open source project for all creators.”
MoonRay utilizes DreamWorks’ distributed computation framework, Arras, also to be included in the open source code base, to provide innovative multi-machine and multi-context support. Multi-machine rendering speeds up the interactive display for the artist, decouples rendering from the interactive tool which increases interactive robustness. Using MoonRay and Arras in a multi-context mode, the artist can simultaneously visualize multiple lighting conditions, varying material properties, multiple times in a shot or sequence, or even multiple locations in an environment.
“We see using MoonRay with Arras on Microsoft Azure as a game-changer in the hands of artists, providing faster iterations on lighting, and also enabling multi-context rendering. As visual effects and animation content grows in complexity, so does the compute requirements to create and render,” said Simon Crownshaw, Microsoft’s Director of Business Strategy for Media & Communications. “Microsoft Azure allows studios and artists to access MoonRay with Arras for the first time and power the platform with a broad portfolio of compute capacity in the cloud and scale on demand across the globe.”
Bill Ballew, Chief Technology Officer at DreamWorks, noted, “MoonRay has been a game-changer for our productions. We have over a billion hours of use at DreamWorks. As the open source community continues to embrace and enhance it we’ll see significant benefits to the animation and visual effects industry as well as academia.”
DreamWorks intends to make MoonRay available under the Apache 2.0 license. Further information and updates will be available at OpenMoonRay.org.
A division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, within NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, DreamWorks Animation is a global family entertainment company with feature film and TV brands supported by a robust, worldwide consumer products practice. DWA’s feature film heritage includes beloved characters and franchises such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Spirit, Trolls, The Boss Baby and 2022’s The Bad Guys, which have amassed more than $15 billion in global box office. DreamWorks Animation’s award-winning original TV content reaches consumers in more than 190 countries.
Maxon, the developers of professional 3D modeling, animation, rendering and motion design software solutions, have announced the speaker lineup and schedule for its upcoming 3D and Motion Design Show for SIGGRAPH 2022.
Taking place all day from Tuesday, August 9 to Thursday, August 11, this supersized show is packed with presentations from 13 incredible speakers, with specialized experience across a variety of industries including feature films, automotive, sports graphics and video games. The presenters will be showcasing how users can improve their workflows across a range of motion design, animation, and visual effects using the Maxon suite of tools. With demonstrations of new features in Cinema 4D S26, videos featuring Red Giant effects, Sci-Fi Loops and Robots, and more, there truly is something for everyone at this month’s show.
Broadcast live from Maxon’s SIGGRAPH booth (445) from 10 a.m. PDT each day, presentations will also be available on-demand shortly after on 3DMotionShow.com as well as the Maxon YouTube channel. Viewers are encouraged to participate in the artist-led conversations by sending in questions via chat for live Q&A.
Including presentations from:
Anthony Bari Jr.– Emmy award-winning post production expert with 15+ years in the entertainment industry
Chris Schmidt– Longstanding Cinema 4D legend and the founder of Rocket Lasso
EJ Hassenfratz – A multi-Emmy winning freelance motion design artist and Cinema 4D Master Trainer
Elly Wade – U.K.-based expert trainer and self-taught Cinema 4D artist
Eric Say– Freelance motion graphics artist specializing in sports graphics
Joey Camacho– Director and digital artist specializing in designing rich tech-centric visuals
Jonathan Winbush – Hollywood-based motion graphics artist and founder of Winbush Immersive
Justin Goby Fields – Concept designer and creative director servicing feature films, video games, and other visual media
Mahnoor Barry – Motion Graphic Artist at FOX Television and a district award-winning artist
Athanasios “Noseman” Pozantzis– Cinema 4D Master Trainer with 30+ years in the advertising industry, and founder of Noseman Productions
Russ Gautier– Emmy-nominated freelance designer and director for film and television at Robot Astronaut
Steve Talkowski– Creative Director at Sketchbot Studios with 30+ years on the computer animation scene
Victor Dimitrov– 3D generalist with a background in editing, modeling, compositing, and rotoscoping
Visit 3DMotionShow.com to see the full three-day presentation schedule.
On September 13, Shout! Factory will release Cool World Collector’s Edition, marking the cult hit hybrid film’s first time on Blu-ray. Directed by underground animation legend Ralph Bakshi (The Lord of the Rings, Fritz the Cat), Cool World stars a remarkable cast of Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential), Brad Pitt (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects).
Showcasing Bakshi’s unique and creative animation style, the 2D/live-action dark comedy creates a fantasy world where human characters and animated roles coexist — now reflected more richly with a new 4K scan featured in the Collector’s Edition Bllu-ray. The new version was scanned from the original camera negative approved by Bakshi himself. The release also features a new retrospective featurette, “The Wild Minds of Cool World,” including brand-new interviews Basinger, Bakshi and producer Frank Mancuso, Jr.
Synopsis: When ex-con cartoonist Jack Deebs (Byrne) was behind bars, he found escape by creating Cool World, a cartoon series featuring a voluptuous vixen named Holli Would (Basinger). But the ‘toonsmith becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli pulls him into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. A hard-boiled detective (Pitt) – the only other human in Cool World – cautions Jack with the law: Noids (humans) don’t have sex with doodles (cartoons). The flesh proves weaker than ink, however, as Holli takes human form in Las Vegas, starting a trans-reality chase that threatens the destruction of both worlds. With a splashy mix of stylish animation and colorful live-action sequences, Cool World delivers the hottest action around!
● NEW 2022 4K scan from the original camera negative, approved by director Ralph Bakshi
● NEW The Wild Minds of Cool World – A retrospective featurette including brand-new interviews with star Kim Basinger, director Ralph Bakshi, and producer Frank Mancuso, Jr.
Inspired by the popular How to Train Your Dragon franchise, seven new episodes of DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms arrive on Hulu and Peacock August 18. Check out the soaring Season 3 trailer below!
In S3, the discovery of the Fire Realm poses a challenge as the Dragon Riders struggle to traverse it safely. Meanwhile, the unhinged Buzzsaw is on the lookout for a mysterious “Lightning Bird” making it harder to keep dragons a secret. Tom, Jun, D’Angelo and Alex face off against the most powerful dragon they’ve ever encountered in a high-stakes mission to save the Crystal Realm. And much to everyone’s chagrin, Jun’s pesky, nosey brother is coming uncomfortably close to learning what actually happens in Dragon Club.
Set 1,300 years after the events of How To Train Your Dragon, in Dragons: The Nine Realms, dragons are now just a legend to the modern world. When a geological anomaly opens up an immense, miles-deep fissure in the Earth’s surface, scientists from all over the world gather at a new research facility to study the mysterious phenomenon. Soon a group of misfit kids, brought to the site by their parents, uncover the truth about dragons and where they’ve been hiding — a secret they must keep to themselves to protect what they’ve discovered.
Dragons: The Nine Realms
The series stars Jeremy Shada as Tom Kullerson, Julia Stiles as Olivia Kullerson, Haley Joel Osment as Buzzsaw, Marcus Scribner as D’Angelo Baker, Aimee Garcia as Alexandra Gonzalez, Ashley Liao as Jun Wong, Lauren Tom as May Wong, Keston John as Philip Baker, Justina Machado as Carla Gonzalez and D’arcy Carden as Linda.
Recurring roles are also voiced by Pavar Snipe (Angela Baker), Angelique Cabral (Hazel Gonzalez), Carrie Keranen (Wilma Sledkin) and Vincent Tong (Eugene).
John Tellegen is showrunner and executive producer for Dragons: The Nine Realms, Chuck Austen and Henry Gilroy are also executive producers, with Beth Sleven as supervising producer.
Paramount+ today announced Baby Shark’s Big Movie! (working title), the first-ever feature-length original animated film based on the globally beloved preschool property, is set to premiere holiday 2023 in the U.S.
Co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation and The Pinkfong Company and directed by Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award winner Alan Foreman (The Casagrandes, Welcome to the Wayne), the movie will follow Baby Shark and his family as they move to Chomp City, the big city of sharks.
In Baby Shark’s Big Movie!, Baby Shark is forced to leave the world he loves behind after his family’s move to the big city, and must adjust to his new life without his best friend, William. When Baby Shark encounters an evil pop starfish named Stariana who plans to steal his gift of song in order to dominate all underwater music, he must break her spell to restore harmony to the seas.
The Daytime Emmy Award-nominated hit preschool series Baby Shark’s Big Show! launched globally in 2021 across Nickelodeon branded channels and platforms and was recently picked up for a second season. The show ranks as the #1 preschool series on all TV in the U.S. for 2Q22.
Baby Shark’s Big Show! features a swim-sational lineup of voice actors: Kimiko Glenn (Orange Is the New Black) as Baby Shark, Luke Youngblood (Fast & Furious Spy Racers) as William, Natasha Rothwell (Insecure) as Mommy Shark, Eric Edelstein (We Bare Bears) as Daddy Shark, Debra Wilson (MADtv) as Grandma Shark and Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld) as Grandpa Shark.
Pinkfong Baby Shark launched on YouTube in November 2015 and took the world by storm, becoming the world’s first video ever to hit 10 billion views on YouTube, making it the platform’s all-time most-viewed video. With music, characters, story and dance all combined together, the song certified RIAA Diamond and 11x platinum single for selling over 11 million units in the U.S., and spawned a viral phenomenon, #BabySharkChallenge, generating over 1 million cover videos around the globe.
Baby Shark’s Big Movie! is produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, Calif., with production overseen by Eryk Casemiro, EVP Nickelodeon Animation, Global Series Content.
Baby Shark’s Big Show! is executive produced by Gary “Doodles” DiRaffaele (Breadwinners) and Tommy Sica (Breadwinners), with Whitney Ralls (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls) serving as co-executive producer. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, Calif., with production overseen by Casemiro.
Nickelodeon is whipping up epic culinary adventures in the brand-new series The Tiny Chef Show, premiering Friday, September 9, at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT). Produced in association with Imagine Kids+Family and Nickelodeon Animation, the series follows the titular social media sensation and herbivore as he introduces and cooks new recipes for the world’s tiniest plant-based dishes from his tree-stump home.
The Tiny Chef Show will premiere on Nick’s preschool platforms in the U.S., as well as Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels internationally. Paramount Consumer Products will lead consumer products licensing for Tiny Chef worldwide in partnership with Imagine Kids+Family.
In Season 1 of The Tiny Chef Show, Chef welcomes a variety of celebrity guests — Kristen Bell, Sky & Ocean Brown, Tabitha Brown, Josh Dela Cruz, Josh Gad, Liza Koshy, RZA, That Girl Lay Lay and Keith L. Williams — to talk food, friendship and more.
Each episode will feature RuPaul as the voice announcer and showcase different ingredients, foods and dishes by Chef with the help from his friends: Olly, a practical and excitable robot who works closely with Chef assisting in the preparation of each episode’s dish; Ruby, Chef’s beloved caterpillar pet, friend and confidant with a boundless appetite; Henry, a loyal and loving snail who moves slowly around the stump and reveals Chef’s Dish of the Day; and Stump Band, the show’s very own house band consisting of a fork, spatula and spoon.
In the season premiere, “Pancakes/S’Mores,”Tiny Chef makes pancakes but loses his confidence when he breaks his special lucky pancake flipping spatula, but with some help from his friends, Chef whips up something new for a campout and overcomes his fear of the dark.
The Tiny Chef Show is executive produced by Imagine Entertainment Executive Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Imagine Kids+Family President Stephanie Sperber, as well as Kristen Bell, Morgan Sackett and Tiny Chef creators Rachel Larsen, Adam Reid and cinematographer Ozlem Akturk for Tiny Chef Productions.
Production of The Tiny Chef Show for Nickelodeon Animation is overseen by Eryk Casemiro, Executive Vice President, Nickelodeon Animation, Global Series Content and by Elly Kramer for Imagine Kids+Family. Jen Pace and Kate Crownover serve as Nickelodeon’s Executives in Charge of Production for the series.
***UPDATED Thursday afternoon with title announcement and title treatment reveal.***
Cinesite has been awarded animation work for the highly anticipated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CG reimagining from Nickelodeon. Production is underway with top talent being recruited by Cinesite Vancouver, which will be attending SIGGRAPH next week — artists and technicians can register here and apply for opportunities at cinesite.com.careers.
The film, which is due to hit theaters in 2023, is produced by Point Grey Pictures’ Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, directed by Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. The Machines) and co-directed by Kyler Spears (Amphibia). Cinesite’s crew is led by Barbara Zelinski (producer) and Chris Kazmier (VFX supervisor).
Following Cinesite’s announcement Thursday morning, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies unveiled the movie’s official title treatment with the official name Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. To mark the occasion, an exclusive mural went up in New York City, letting fans know that they can reconnect with Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michealangelo one year from today when their new CGI-animated adventure hits screens on August 4, 2023.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the latest animation project to start production at Cinesite following Paramount Pictures’ recently released Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hankand MGM’s Addams Family franchise. The studio also remains in production on Aniventure’s upcoming film Hitpig based on characters from Pulitzer Prize-winner Berkeley Breathed’s Pete & Pickles as well as the animated series Iwájú for Disney+.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Cinesite on the next-level reimagining of the franchise” says Mark Bakshi, EVP of Paramount Pictures Animation.
Cinesite’s Chief Animation Operating Officer Brad Wald said, “We couldn’t be more excited about our partnership with Nickelodeon and their trust in us as a leading animation studio to re-boot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We’re looking forward to welcoming A‐class talent from across Canada and beyond to join our growing crew in Vancouver!”
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature franchise has accumulated $1.15 billion across six movies from three studios since 1990. The last two movies, released by Paramount and Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes in 2014 and 2016, were live action and together accounted for $730.6 million.
Leading VFX & animation studio DNEG (dneg.com) announced the promotion of Chas Jarrett to Creative Director, taking the reigns from Paul Franklin, who will continue as a VFX COnsultanto Based out of the company’s London studio and working closely with Josh Jaggars, Group President, VFX & Stereo, Jarrett will partner with directors and filmmakers to leverage DNEG’s creative capabilities and innovative technology in service of their projects, while helping to maintain and build upon the company’s strong working relationships with its studio clients. Jarrett will also nurture and support the progression and development of DNEG’s talented artists and represent DNEG’s creative teams at executive level.
“DNEG has an incredible brand and reputation in our industry. Part of my new responsibilities as Creative Director will be to ensure that DNEG maintains its position as the go-to house for incredibly realistic, huge scale visual effects, while also expanding our capabilities to bring new and enhanced specialisms and technologies to our filmmaking partners,” said Jarrett. “Equally important to me is the nurturing of our teams of highly skilled creatives across the globe. I will be focused on ensuring that our creative teams have the structure and support necessary to continue delivering the amazing, industry-leading work that DNEG is known for.”
The promotion provides further executive level support for DNEG’s strategic direction and worldwide growth initiative as the company targets an expanded international headcount benchmark of 10,000 employees within the next 12 months. DNEG’s growth plan also explores further opportunities in content development and production, and in adjacent markets, including gaming and metaverse applications.
Jarrett, who joined DNEG as Senior VFX Supervisor in 2019, has a wealth of creative and technical experience earned over 20 years in the entertainment industry. This includes 13 years as a client-side production VFX supervisor with credits such as Disney’s live-action Aladdin, Logan, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films and Sweeney Todd for Tim Burton. Most recently, he was Production VFX Supervisor on the movie adaptation of the highly successful video game franchise Uncharted
for Sony Pictures.
Jarrett was a co-founder of boutique VFX house BlueBolt VFX, and previously served on the executive committee of MPC. He is also an active software developer, currently working with an in-house team at DNEG on the development of xSTUDIO, a new playback and review tool which DNEG intends to release as an open source project later this year.
Janet Yang [ph: Troy Harvey / AMPAS]
Producer Janet Yang was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (oscars.org) by the organization’s Board of Governors. Yang is beginning her first term as President and her second term as a Governor-at-Large, a position for which she was nominated by the sitting Academy President and elected by the Board of Governors.
“Janet is a tremendously dedicated and strategic leader who has an incredible record of service at the Academy. She has been instrumental in launching and elevating several Academy initiatives on membership recruitment, governance and equity, diversity, and inclusion,” noted Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “I am thrilled that she is taking on the esteemed role of Academy President and look forward to working closely with her on our shared vision to serve our membership, celebrate the collaborative arts and sciences of motion pictures, and inspire the next generation of filmmakers.”
Yang’s extensive film producing credits include The Joy Luck Club, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Zero Effect, High Crimes, Dark Matter, Shanghai Calling and the Oscar-nominated animated feature Over the Moon. She won an Emmy for the HBO film Indictment: The McMartin Trial. A member of the Academy’s Producers Branch since 2002, Yang most recently served on the Board as Vice President and chair of the Membership Committee and prior to that, the Membership and Governance Committee. She is also co-chair of the Academy’s Asian Affinity Group.
Further, Donna Gigliotti (VP/Secretary; chari, Governance Committee), Larry Karaszewski (VP; chair, History & Preservaction), David Linde (VP/Treasurer; chair, Finance), Isis Mussenden (VP; chair, Museum) and Wynn P. Thomas (VP; chair, Education & Outreach) were re-elected as officers. It will be the first officer stint for Teri E. Dorman (VP; chair, Membership), Lynette Howell Taylor (VP; chair, Awards) and Kim Taylor-Coleman (VP; chair, Equity & Inclusion).
Frederik L. Schodt
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC; cartooncrossroadscolumbus.org), the international showcase for cartoon art, announced that the second annual Tom Spurgeon Award will go to writer, translator and manga scholar Frederik L. Schodt. The Spurgeon Award honors those who have made substantial contributions to the field of comics, but are not primarily cartoonists. The award is named after Tom Spurgeon, a writer, historian and champion of comic arts who served as CXC’s founding executive director. The award is open to retailers, distributors, journalists, editors, publishers and others.
“I have spent most of my life doing work related to currents of thought flowing between Japan and North America,” said Schodt, “With a particular interest in manga, writing about them, doing translations of what I consider worthy works, giving talks on manga, and interpreting for Japanese and North American artists.”
Schodt is a pivotal figure who helped bring manga to the West by way of his translations, research and writing. Schodt had a close relationship with Osamu Tezuka, a cultural giant known as the “God of Manga.” Schodt translated Tezuka’s Astro Boy for U.S. publication in 2002 and translated the 900+ page manga biography, The Osamu Tezuka Story, in 2016. Schodt’s translations of manga also include works such as Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama’s 1931 The Four Immigrants manga, Tezuka’s Phoenix (with Dadakai and Jared Cook) and Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy of novels. In recent years, along with Beth Cary, he has worked on translating collections of animator Hayao Miyazaki’s writings. His other best known works on manga include Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (1996), and The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution (2007).
Agnès Lecuyer
The PGS Company (pgsentertainment.com) announced the appointment of Agnès Lecuyer as Head– Legal & Business Affairs and Charisma Kerr as Finance Coordinator. Both will work with Philippe & Guillaume Soutter, Co-Founders of PGS. The recent hires come on the back of PGS providing remote-only work opportunities in the company. Lecuyer is based in Toulon, France, while Kerr is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Charisma Kerr
Lecuyer is a veteran with more than 12 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She has previously worked with SND, a subsidiary of the M6 Group, and will oversee legal and business affairs for PGS companies in her new role. She aims to administer, implement and optimize legal processes to ensure effective collaboration.
Kerr, who has over 14 years of experience in the industry, has previously worked with key industry firms such as PWC, RSM and The Standard Bank Group. She will oversee administrative and operational tasks for the company.
Jeff Wolfe
Creative studio Nice Shoes (niceshoes.com) announced the hire of Jeff Wolfe as Managing Director of Immersive. Wolfe will be dedicated to solidifying and expanding its immersive offering, educating clients on its varied applications and establishing the company as the go-to studio in this realm. “There’s no limit to what immersive can entail, and I’m really excited to explore that with my colleagues and clients, finding the right tools that suit them to create some truly mind-blowing content,” Wolfe commented.
With over two decades of experience, Wolfe started off in film production before moving into post production and high-end VFX. He has worked with some of the best in the business, ranging from agencies such as R/GA, FCB and 72andSunny, to production companies and creative studios including Method Studios, RadicalMedia and Nathan Love. Wolfe’s collaborations with high-profile clients include short form content for Apple, Facebook and Google, as well as longform Hollywood blockbusters and features from the Marvel Universe. Most recently, Wolfe worked with RadicalMedia and Illuminarium Experiences to bring to market their first three major immersive shows: Wild, Georgia O’Keeffe and Space.
Isao Moriyasu [ph: DeNA]
Thirdverse Inc. (thirdverse.io), a leading virtual reality and Web3 game development and distribution company, announced that Isao Moriyasu has joined the company as the Executive Producer of Web3 Games. Moriyasu was the former CEO of DeNA Co., Ltd., where he grew the company into one of Japan’s leading IT providers in mobile games. He will leverage his more than 20 years of experience in the technology and gaming industries to help further drive Thirdverse’s growth in the metaverse and Web3.
During Moriyasu’s tenure for 10 years as CEO of DeNA, he raised the company’s market cap to $6 billion, built the wildly successful social mobile gaming platform Mobage that engaged 30 million players worldwide, and acquired globally renowned IP.
Thirdverse is dedicated to realizing a “VR x Metaverse” and has been developing VR games in Japan and the U.S. since 2020. In addition to its world-class VR game development capabilities, the company is partnering up with global leaders such as Animoca Brands to bring cutting-edge know-how in Web3. “Thirdverse is building a world-class company in the VR, Metaverse and Web3 markets. As more players discover the thrill of immersive gaming experiences, Thirdverse is uniquely positioned to serve these audiences with superior quality content,” said Moriyasu. “I look forward to applying my experience in the gaming industry to help Thirdverse continue its push for innovation.”
Big Nateis back and better than ever! Nine all-new episodes of the Paramount+ original animated series will drop on Friday, August 19 exclusively on the service. From Nickelodeon Animation, the upcoming batch of new episodes continues Nate’s adventures as he follows his dream to become a singer, saves a pregnant lizard and takes spring break to the next level!
Big Nate follows the riotous exploits of Nate Wright, a sixth-grade kid who has a never-ending need to prove his awesomeness to the world. Whether he’s dealing with disasters at home or detention at school, Nate is no stranger to a challenge. Luckily, he’s able to express himself through the world of cartoons that he creates. Charming, mischievous and a magnet for misadventure, Nate always finds a way to turn trouble into fun.
https://youtu.be/Er1z_XN-k_4
In addition to the new batch of episodes dropping later this month, 10 more episodes have been ordered to the previously announced second season, which is set to premiere in 2023. In the show’s 20-episode second season, the hilarious and heart-filled hijinks that define the series will dive deeper into the backstories of Nate’s friends, introducing Nate’s grandparents and more.
Big Nate
The voice talent for Big Nate includes Ben Giroux as Nate Wright, Dove Cameron as Ellen Wright, Rob Delaney as Martin Wright, Bryce Charles as Dee Dee Holloway, Daniel MK Cohen as Francis Pope, Arnie Pantoja as Teddy Ortiz, Charlie Schlatter as Chad Applewhite, Kevin Michael Richardson as Principal Nichols, Carolyn Hennesy as Mrs. Godfrey, Nik Dodani as Randy, Betsy Sodaro as Kim, Lisa Kay Jennings as Gina, Chandni Parekh as Jenny, Todd Haberkorn as Artur, Ryan Garcia as Mr. Rosa, Mike Rivkin as Mr. Galvin and Chester Rushing as Zeff.
Big Nate is executive produced by Mitch Watson (All Hail King Julien) and John Cohen (The Angry Birds Movie) and produced by Amy McKenna (Beware the Batman), with author-creator Lincoln Peirce serving as consultant throughout development and production. Bridget McMeel is co-producer and Jim Mortensen is supervising producer.
Minions: The Rise of Gru and Lightyear have arrived on Vudu, and as a special treat, fans can get free access to exclusive clips for both films. Check out a behind-the-scenes clip of Steve Carell (Gur), as well as an extended nine-minute preview of Buzz’s origin story starring the voices of Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi and Peter Sohn as robot cat Sox.
Animationinstitut founder Albrecht Ade was oen of the distinguished guests of the 20th anniversary celebration. [ph: Dominique Brewing]
For a truly epic family movie night, Vudu is providing a guide to fun activities, games and crafts for a night the whole household will never forget! Families can join the Minions on a trip back in time with Vudu’s activity sheets that include instructions for making a Minions pet rock and how to create an origami ninja star, minions badges, minion popsicle stick puppets, as well as access to special coloring sheets, a special banana split recipe, “admit one” tickets to your own living room with reserved seating on the couch and more!
(Note: Parents should read through activity instructions fully before starting, additional supplies may be needed.)
For fans interested in spreading a little Minions madness, Vudu is offering seven unique gift card designs available for purchase (check them out). Plus, for a limited time, fans purchasing Minions: The Rise of Gru on Vudu will get a discount code good for 50% off the new Exploding Minions family game, the Minions-themed version of the popular Exploding Kittens, featuring new cards, illustrations and banana-fueled hilarity. Here’s how to play the game and here are details on the limited time offer.
From Universal’s Illumiantion Entertainment, Minions: The Rise of Gru tags along as teenage Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell) joins forces with Kevin, Stuart and Bob (Pierre Coffin) to defeat the Vicious 6 in an adventure featuring spectacular action and the franchise’s signature subversive humor. The star-powered voice cast features Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews and Alan Arkin.
Disney-Pixar’s Lightyear is the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans), the hero who inspired the toy. The sci-fi action-adventure follows the legendary space ranger on an intergalactic adventure alongside ambitious recruits Izzy (Keke Palmer), Mo (Taika Waititi) and Darby (Dale Soules), and his robot companion Sox (Peter Sohn). As this motley crew embark on their toughest mission yet, they must learn to work as a team to escape the evil Zurg (James Brolin) and his dutiful robot army who are never far behind.
Starting September 1, Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) will present LAIKA: Life in Stop Motion, a new exhibit and partnership with the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning animation studio LAIKA. This new installation will “take over” the animation section of the Museum’s dynamic core exhibition Behind the Screen. It will include puppets, sets and video clips from LAIKA’s first five films.
The installation also features 2D LAIKA character figures and environments that visitors can use to create their own stop-motion animations at MoMI’s interactive stations, which the creator can share and post online.
“LAIKA has created unforgettable characters and stories using stop-motion animation, with hand-crafted techniques that date from the emergence of cinema,” said Barbara Miller, the Museum’s Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs. “At the same time, they have done more than any other studio to bring this art form into the digital age. They are perfect partners for this exhibit, which invites visitors of all ages to appreciate the painstaking work of stop-motion animation and experiment with making their own short films.”
“LAIKA has established a unique identity in the world of cinema with its original and timeless stories amid advancing stop-motion animation with technological innovations,” said David Burke, Chief Marketing Officer & SVP Operations: LAIKA, LLC. “We share with MoMI a love of cinema and are delighted that the ‘hands on’ element of our exhibit allows fans to enjoy and embrace LAIKA’s singular way of filmmaking.”
LAIKA: Life in Stop Motion will be on view through August 27, 2023. It will be accompanied by screenings of LAIKA films in the Museum’s Redstone Theater.
LAIKA is the award-winning studio behind (L-R) ‘Coraline,’ ‘ParaNorman,’ ‘The Boxtrolls,’ ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ and ‘Missing Link’
Creators of the Oscar-nominated animated films Missing Link (2019), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012) and Coraline (2009), LAIKA is credited with reviving the venerable cinematic technique of stop-motion animation by marrying it to the most cutting-edge technological advances in the filmmaking sector. All of LAIKA’s films have been nominated for Best Animated Film Oscars.
Kubo and the Two Strings was also nominated for the Visual Effects Academy Award, only the second time in history that an animated film was recognized in this way. Kubo won the BAFTA Award, Missing Link received the Golden Globe in 2019 and LAIKA was awarded a Scientific and Technology Oscar in 2016 for its innovation in the use of 3D printers in animated filmmaking.
LAIKA’s sixth film, Wildwood, directed by President & CEO Travis Knight (Kubo, Bumblee), is currently in production at the studio outside Portland, Oregon. The Night Gardener, based on an original idea by Ozark creator Bill Dubuque, is also in development.
MoMI has presented numerous exhibitions devoted to animation. These have included Tim Burton: Drawings (2003), Gumby and the Art of Stop-Motion Animation (2005), The Art of Rise of the Guardians (2012), What’s Up, Doc? The Animation Art of Chuck Jones (2014), Plymptoons: Short Films and Drawings by Bill Plympton (2014), The World of Anomalisa (2015), Reimagining the Cel: Experiments in Animation from the 1980s (2019), D’Oh! Animating America’s Favorite Family (2020) and “A Wonderful, Awful Idea”: Animating the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2021).
In addition, the Museum’s core exhibition Behind the Screen, which explores the many crafts and creative processes behind moving images, has a section devoted to animation and its link to the birth of cinema. The museum is located in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, New York.
The Center for Learning Unlimited, a non-public, WASC- accredited day school in Torrance, California, proudly celebrates the second graduating class of its animation career training program for neurodiverse adults. Alongside commencement, CLU announces the appointment of an entertainment industry advisory board, plus film festival honors and a robust project slate for sister animation studio Brainstorm Productions, which commemorates one year in full-time operation.
In addition to kindergarten – 12th grade special education, CLU maintains a highly regarded, three-year animation curriculum for adults (ages 18+) on the autism spectrum. Summer 2022 marks the completion of intensive 2D and 3D studies for six neurodiverse CLU students.
The CLU class of 2022 includes Kobe Aceves, Noemi Hernandez, Ramon Gonzalez, Brian Menjivar, Eric Thompson and Joshua Jo. All are recently certified Autodesk Maya CGI software artists.
Each aforementioned apprentice auteur has a CV with crew positions on the short film The Cursed Sketchbook, a five-minute horror-comedy which enjoyed a March 2022 premiere at an invitation-only, big screen event in Rancho Palos Verdes.
What to Do with Your Tabloid News
Graduates also have credits on the 2021 CLU short film What to Do with Your Tabloid News, a lighthearted explainer video that employs origami, stop motion animation, and CGI to educate and entertain. News — an official selection of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge (in association with the Bentonville Film Festival) — won Best SUPER Short Film at the 2021 LOGIHQ International HAPPINESS Film Fest and was a finalist in the 2021 Los Angeles Animation Film Festival (LAAF).
“CLU and Brainstorm Productions are comprised of the most devoted, original, imaginative, and inventive artists in show business!” says advisory committee member and animation multi-hyphenate Walter Santucci. “I am proud to have served as consultant on The Cursed Sketchbook. The crew did a magnificent job!”
United in enthusiasm on the pro-bono advisory board are accomplished veteran producers/directors/writers Kathleen Davison, Matty Rich and Marlene Sharp. CLU and Brainstorm founder/executive director Ginny Erxleben and animation program coordinator Sylvia Owens complete the cabinet.
Brainstorm Productions has a distinct mission: To be that bridge between school enrollment and paid roles within third party players, such as Disney, Netflix, Electronic Arts and other entities large and small. Brainstorm Productions presents compensated job opportunities for those with CLU animation diplomas.
In the last year, and in addition to The Cursed Sketchbook, Brainstorm has completed the official poster for New York-based Rock Autism’s Setlist premiere at The Hotel Café in Hollywood, plus illustrations and animation for children’s book The Secret Life of Sheba by Jane Kusch. Next up: Willow’s Tale multi-media package — including two animated shorts — for author Linda Malik. (Look for the Brainstorm thumbprint at Malik’s fall 2022 CatCon booth in Pasadena.)
Brainstorm will shortly be launching a monthly email newsletter featuring creative, business and educational updates.
“Brainstorm is a catapult for these unconventional content creators. We hope to engage with the entertainment industry on many fronts to provide meaningful employment inside an underserved community. Our students are too talented not to contribute to their chosen field!” enthused CLU founder and executive director Virginia Erxleben, EdD, BCET. “Let’s change the narrative from 85% unemployment to 85% employment within the neurodiverse population. Brainstorm Productions is a big step in that direction.”
The Cursed Sketchbook premiere
Established in 2002, The Center for Learning Unlimited has a calling to reconnect complex young learners with their academic, social and emotional potential, thereby empowering them to engage as citizens of the 21st century. CLU serves both publicly and privately sponsored students with learning challenges in grades kindergarten through 12. This therapeutic educational environment is characterized by individualized teaching plans, an exceptional faculty and year-round initiatives structured to meet the needs of students and their families. CLU also is home to a swiftly growing animation career training program for adults on the autism spectrum. As the CLU sister studio, Brainstorm Productions offers paid workplace experience for CLU animation alumni.
Elena Wurlitzer has been appointed Development Producer – Animated Series and Features for Jellyfish Originals, the kids & family original content division of Jellyfish Pictures (jellyfishpictures.co.uk), the award-winning animation & VFX studio, headquartered in London, U.K. The appointment is part of Jellyfish’s plans to robustly build its original’s department and grow and diversify its development slate with an emphasis on high-quality animated episodic and feature content.
In her new role, Wurlitzer will focus on creating and developing IP alongside Jellyfish’s in-house directors, art department and creative team, as well as acquiring external IP and aligning strategically with co-production and commercial partners. She will report to Natalie Llewellyn, Managing Director – Animation & Originals. “Having been a fan of the incredible work Jellyfish has produced, I’m absolutely delighted to be a part of such an exceptionally creative team, and I’m excited to expand our slate of fantastic animated series,” said Wurlitzer.
Prior to joining Jellyfish, Wurlitzer was Senior Development Executive at Wildseed Studios, where she led a slate of original series, sourced and nurtured emerging talent for live-action and animated series. Previous roles include Senior Creative for BAFTA nominated children’s app, Azoomee, developing and producing on-demand series content. She was also part of the MarcoPolo Learning team that won awards for Kidscreen’s Best Learning App and the App Store’s App of the Day in two consecutive years, as well as an International Emmy Award nomination. Earlier in her career, Wurlitzer spent several years at Disney in Original Series and Co-production, before moving on to become an animation script writer for series airing on Disney, CBeebies and the Family Channel.
Jellyfish Originals is in development on premium projects for global platforms and commercial partners and has also adapted two popular children’s book series. Subject to financing, Jellyfish will commence pre-production on its inaugural original preschool series later this year.
Dotti Sinnott
Award-winning animation studio Golden Wolf (goldenwolf.tv) announced the promotion of long-time Executive Producer Dotti Sinnott to the new title of Managing Director for the studio, and adds Heidi Stephenson as Head of Production and Tan Jones as Executive Producer. Founded in 2013, the studio has expanded to a 27-person staff with team members hailing from all over the world.
“I couldn’t be more excited to have Dotti, Heidi and Tan by my side as we take Golden Wolf to the next stage of our evolution,” said Golden Wolf founder Ingi Erlingsson. “Having been my right hand woman for over half a decade, Dotti is the perfect person to lead this exceptional team into uncharted territory as we broaden our horizons into music, AI and more.”
Tan Jones
Sinnott originally joined the studio’s London-based office in 2015 as a freelance producer where she oversaw projects for Nike, Disney, Ubisoft and more. In 2017, she assumed the title of Executive Producer and spearheaded the studio’s expansion into New York City. Her leadership played an integral role for the studio’s transition into remote production during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now in her seventh year with Golden Wolf, Sinnott will now oversee the business operations for both the New York and London offices as Managing Director.
“I am excited to focus on Golden Wolf’s continued expansion as a powerhouse of entertainment and technology, but most of all I’m proud to support our people as Managing Director,” said Sinnott. “Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure and the challenge of working on so many amazing projects with this top-notch team. It’s an honor to take on this role alongside the incredible talent of Heidi and Tan. Working with such a kind, supportive and talented group of individuals has been a joy, and I can’t wait for all we have in store for the future.”
Heidi Stephenson
Heidi Stephenson, a newcomer to the animation studio, has experience spanning from animation production all the way to broadcasting and will manage internal production across both offices as the Head of Production. Executive Producer Tan Jones assists in managing the production team and has overseen projects for brands such as Nike and Adidas. A fellow Golden Wolf veteran, Jones’ promotion includes the new responsibility of spearheading all new business ventures for the studio globally.
Yana Collins Lehman
Trevanna Post, the industry leader in post-production accounting (trevannapost.com), has promoted Yana Collins Lehman to Chief Executive Officer. Lehman, who previously served as President and COO, succeeds Jennifer Freed, the company’s founder, who will focus on her role as CEO of Trevanna Tracks, a developer of music licensing software. Lehman joined Trevanna Post in 2004 as an accountant when it was a boutique operation based in New York City’s iconic Brill Building. She was appointed President and COO six years later, and since then has led in expanding Trevanna into Los Angeles and London.
In her new position, Lehman will be responsible for the performance and operations of the company’s offices in New York, Los Angeles and London. She will also direct strategy, future growth and innovation. The company has recently provided post-production accounting services for Obi-Wan Kenobi, Licorice Pizza, and The French Dispatch.
Lehman got her start with Independent Pictures under Cary Woods and Andrew Karpen, while a graduate student at Columbia University. She later worked as a paralegal at Sloss Law/Cinetic Media before joining Trevanna Post. She is an active member of Local 161. Since 2009, Lehman has served as chair and board member of the Post New York Alliance. She successfully lobbied New York State to increase film industry jobs by passing a 30% film and television post-production incentive. She is an outspoken advocate for the state’s post-production industry and has worked to build bridges between the entertainment industry and local governments.
Kim Waugh [photo: Ian Corrigan]
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA, hpaonline.com) Awards Committee has announced that revered studio post-production executive Kim Waugh, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Post Production Creative Services, Warner Bros. Studio Operations (WBSO) at Warner Bros. Discovery, will receive the HPA Lifetime Achievement Award on November 17 when the HPA Awards gala celebration returns to the Hollywood Legion Theater. The HPA Awards honor technical and creative brilliance in content creation.
Waugh immigrated to the U.S. from New Zealand in the early 1980s to pursue a post production career in Los Angeles. He got his start as a sound recordist at Soundelux before moving up the ranks to facility management, and evetually taking on a partnership. Working on films like Bravehart, JFK and Home Alone, Waugh and studio founders Lon Bender and Wylie SStatement received a Sci-Tech Oscar in 1994 for developing the ADE System (a.k.a. Kiwi 9000). He joined WBSO in 2004 as VP of Post Production Services, was promoted to SVP in 2007 and currently oversees creative teams, facilities and operations in Burbank, New York and London, and is suprvising the built out of Warner’s new flagship post shop in Soho, London.
L-R (top) Sharre Jacoby, Paul Brodie, Jane Millichip, (bottom) Arthur Oganesyan, Pamela Kaufman, Larry Schwartz
More moves:
Theatrical marketing agency Open Road has launched a branding and design division, dubbed PopClutch (popclutch.openroad.la), to be led by Open Road Senior Creative Director Paul Brodie as Executive Creative Director/Head of Creativefor the new label, in partnership with Executive Producer/Head of Production, Sharre Jacoby.
MTI Film (mtifilm.com) has added dailies colorist Arthur Oganesyan to its team of post-production artists. Oganesyan brings experience in streaming and broadcast series through stints at Encore, Hollywood and Company 3. In his first project for MTI, he is grading dailies for the new season of American Horror Story (FX).
OTT/FAST Channel service OTTera (ottera.tv) has selected C-suite revenue, strategy and marketing professional Larry Schwartz as Chief Revenue Officer to lead its sales, commercial strategy, partnerships and customer-facing operations.
BAFTA (bafta.org) has appointed Sky Studios Chief Content Officer Jane Millichip as Chief Executive Officer, selected by the Board of Trustees following an extensive and highly competitive search to replace Amanda Berry and Kevin Price after their long tenure. She asumes the role in October and will lead the Academy in delivering its charitable remit and ambitious vision.
Pamela Kaufman has been appointed to the newly created role of President & CEO of International Markets, Global Consumer Products and Experiences at Paramount Global, reporting to President & CEO Bob Bakish. Meanwhile, Raffaele Annecchino is departing his role as President & CEO of Paramount International Networks, Studios and Streaming.
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