Another popular manga-anime franchise is rocketing to the top of Japan’s box-office charts in the new year, as supernatural high school fantasy Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 posts 6.7 billion yen (~US$58 million) in its first 15 days, with 4.9 million tickets sold. The prequel pic for the hit Jujutsu Kaisen TV series, which wrapped in March, is outpacing last year’s top grosser Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time, which hit 6B yen ($52M) in 21 days and closed 2021 with 10.22B yen ($88M).
Distributed by TOHO and animated by MAPPA, the film premiered at No. 1 on December 24. Demand for the first waves of tickets was so high that theaters added additional screens, with one Shinjuku cinema running eight midnight showings. The first three days brought in a chart topping 2.7B yen and 1.9M tickets sold as fans bundled into theaters and IMAX locations to catch the new adventure and score a limited edition booklet.
The result was the second-best opening in Japanese box-office history, displacing Disney’s Frozen II and coming in behind 2020’s smash hit Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train at No. 1. Now, TOHO is predicting a smooth run to 10B yen (US$87M) for its new hex-busting prequel.
To celebrate the film’s success, TOHO launched a new promo video, and the official website announced that pop-up Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 theme cafes will open from Jan. 14 to March 27 in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya.
Directed by Sunghoo Park (The God of High School), Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is based on the prequel manga story Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School by Gege Akutami, about a nervous high school student named Yuta whose childhood friend, Rika, is transformed into a Curse that won’t leave him alone. His plight is noticed by magical teacher Satoru Gojo, who invites Yuta to enroll in the classes for young exorcists at Jujutsu High.
The Jujutsu Kaisen manga launched in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2018, and has sold 50 million copies. The 24-episode TV anime premiered in 2020, and was named Anime of the Year by the 2021 Crunchyroll Anime Awards.
According to Japanese film news outlet Eiga.com, the top three highest grossing domestic films in Japan last year were animated — Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet (¥7.65B/$66.6M) and Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle (¥6.53B/$56.9M), followed by the live-action manga adaptations Tokyo Revengers at No. 4 and Rurouni Kenshin: The Final at No. 5. My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission rounded out the top 10 with 3.37B yen ($29.3M).
Hasbro, Inc.‘s Board of Directors has appointed Chris Cocks as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February 25. Cocks currently serves as President & Chief Operation Officer of Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming division, a global leader in tabletop and digital gaming. He will succeed Interim CEO, Rich Stoddart, who was appointed following the October passing of Hasbro’s longtime CEO Brian Goldner. Stoddart, who has served as a Hasbro independent director since 2014, will become Chair of the Board, effective Feb. 25.
Rich Stoddart, Head of Hasbro Board of Directors
“Hasbro has amazing brands, gifted storytellers and unique entertainment assets, and I am humbled to step into the position of CEO at this important time and to build on the strong foundation Brian created. Our consumer products, gaming and entertainment teams are the best and most creative in the business and have shown such incredible resilience. I look forward to working with our highly-experienced senior management team as we continue to reimagine play and entertainment and deliver experiences to families and fans, of all ages, around the world,” said Cocks.
Cocks has served as President & COO of Wizards of the Coast since 2016, when he joined Hasbro from Microsoft. The Hasbro subsidiary offers games and entertainment under top brands such as Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and Duel Masters. Under his leadership, Wizards of the Coast has focused on cooperative game play, expanding new digital initiatives and creating a robust workforce of back-end developers, digital designers, 3D artists and producers. Revenue at Wizards of the Coast has more than doubled, surpassing $1 billion in 2021. Hasbro expects to name a new president for Wizards of the Coast in the coming weeks.
During his 14 years at Microsoft, Cocks led a global sales and technical engagement team as Vice President, OEM Technical Sales and served in product management and marketing leadership positions at MSN and Xbox Games, where he worked on hit franchises like Halo and Fable.
Eric Nyman, Hasbro President & COO
Hasbro also announced the appointment of longtime leader Eric Nyman as President and Chief Operating Officer, effective Feb. 25. In this new role, Nyman will oversee global business, operational and foundational platform investments; continue to lead Hasbro’s overall consumer licensing strategy and strategic partnerships; and oversee Hasbro’s global supply chain, directing the strategy for a next-generation consumer direct distribution platform.
Nyman, who joined Hasbro in 2003, currently serves as Chief Consumer Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Hasbro Consumer Products. In this role, he leads the Hasbro Consumer Products business unit, including oversight for operations and partner relationships, Hasbro’s licensed consumer products business and Hasbro Pulse, the Company’s direct-to-consumer platform. He previously served in a number of senior roles, including President of Hasbro North America and General Manager and Senior Vice President of Marketing.
Lorelei Bunjes, Image Comics Director of Digital Services
Lorelei Bunjes has joined Portland, Oregon’s Image Comics as Director of Digital Services, overseeing the imprint’s digital channels, working with the Sales and Marketing departments to increase sales for digital editions and with distributing partners such as Apple, Google, Humble Bundle, Kindle, IPG and Hoopla. She will report to Eric Stephenson, Publisher & CCO. Emilio Bautista, Digital Sales Coordinator, will now report to Bunjes.
Bunjes has previously held positions at the San Diego Comic Art Gallery, WildStorm Productions/DC Comics and, most recently, served as Vice President of Technology & Information Services at IDW for 12 years. For the past year, she has worked as a freelance consultant for a variety of publishers, including Image.
“Comics have long been a passion of mine. It’s a truly unique medium with how empowering it is for storytellers and how engaged its audience is. I could not be more excited about joining Image and supporting comics, creators and readers,” said Bunjes.
Greg Childs, OBE; CMC Editorial Director
The Children’s Media Conference (CMC) announced that its Editorial Director Greg Childs has been awarded an OBE for Services to International Trade and the Children’s Media Sector in the Queen’s New Year’s Honors List. The award has been presented to Childs in recognition of his considerable contribution to children’s media throughout his career, which started at the BBC where he worked for 27 years primarily as a director, producer and executive producer of children’s programs. His credits include preschool series Play School and 10 years (1988-98) as the producer of Record Breakers.
“This is a fantastic new year present. Not just for me but for the whole kids’ media industry. It’s for the hard work of so many U.K. creatives and companies that make internationally successful projects, as well as the CMC team in Sheffield. It also recognizes all the people who volunteer to make The Children’s Media Conference a success – advisors, speakers, session producers, student helpers – they all do their bit to make the kids’ media sector the best it can be. And inspiring volunteer effort keeps the Children’s Media Foundation going too. I’ve just done the gathering together, cajoling and persuading, steering the ship full of all these people who care about kids,” said Childs.
In 1998, Childs created the first Children’s BBC websites, and ran one of the BBC’s first cross-media units creating interactive content online and linear programming for kids and teens for TV. He then moved into broadcast television as Head of Children’s Digital. In this role, Childs was Deputy Commissioner for Children’s BBC, while running a daytime preschool service on BBC Choice and developing the children’s channels CBBC and CBeebies, which he steered to their successful launch in 2002. He subsequently led an innovative research and development unit within BBC Children’s, investigating and piloting ideas on the future of kids’ media.
In 2004, Childs left the BBC, set up Childseye Consulting, where he developed projects for Playhouse Disney in the U.S., was in the launch team for Teachers TV, managed the development and launch of the CITV Channel, was advisor to Al Jazeera Children’s, and from 2011-13 advised the European Broadcasting Union on their Children’s and Youth strategy. The same year, he was invited to join Kathy Loizou in setting up the groundbreaking Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield, which has grown into a pan-media, industry-wide annual event regularly welcoming 1,200 delegates. As Editorial Director, Childs is responsible for the content CMC offers the industry and provides behind-the-scenes support to companies and freelancers.
Childs is also a founding member of Save Kids’ TV, running the organization for six years and leading to the creation of the Children’s Media Foundation, which campaigns for U.K. kids’ media, publishes the annual Children’s Media Yearbook, runs the All Party Parliamentary group for Children’s Media and the Arts, successfully lobbied for the Young Audiences Content Fund and has recently published a Report on the future of public service media for young people. Childs serves as Director of the Foundation.
Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution announced that Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red will premiere exclusively in homes worldwide on Disney+ on Friday, March 11. The shift to streaming amid the ongoing COVID pandemic follows the platform’s successful premieres of other highly anticipated titles.
“Disney+ subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar’s Academy Award-winning Soul and the critically-acclaimed Luca when they premiered exclusively on the service, and we look forward to bringing them Pixar’s next incredible feature film Turning Red,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. “Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world.”
Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter — an unfortunate reality for the teenager. And as if changes to her interests, relationships and body weren’t enough, whenever she gets too excited (which is practically ALWAYS), she “poofs” into a giant red panda!
The film is the feature directorial debut for Academy Award winner Domee Shi (Pixar short Bao) and is produced by Lindsey Collins.
In international markets where Disney+ is not yet available, the film will be released theatrically, with premiere dates to be announced.
Bagdasarian Productions‘ series ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks, produced in collaboration with Technicolor Animation Productions and distributed by PGS Entertainment (excluding U.S. and France) is on the road to continued success as PGS secures new sales worldwide. A total of seven seasons (364 x 11′ episodes) have been ordered, with production currently in progress on Season 5. “As the years go by, ALVINNN!!! continues to bring success to new and historic licensees across the world. We couldn’t be more excited!” commented Philippe Soutter, President of PGS Entertainment.
Disney Japan has committed to the first two seasons of the show, making it the first step of the brand in this territory. In other parts of the world, HBO Max has signed for two seasons for Latin America and Eastern Europe, while Noga starts a four-season commitment in Israel and True Digital has acquired two seasons.
Existing licensees who have renewed or extended their commitment with S5 in production include: Netflix (worldwide excl. U.S., Brazil, Nordics, DACH, France, Japan, China), Radio Canada & TVA (Canada), BSKYB & Azoomee (U.K.), TV Puls (Poland), MTVA (Hungary), MNCTV (Indonesia), Hot Telecommunication (Israel) and TVNZ (New Zealand).
Originally created in 1958, the Chipmunks are one of the largest family franchises in the world, with a multi-generational, international following. Presented in CGI-animation, ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks reflects the trials and tribulations of a single parent, David Seville, trying to raise six hyperactive Chipmunks. True to the brand’s origins, each episode features a new, original Chipmunks song. The series is set to air new episodes until at least 2026.
Care Bears: Unlock the Magic
Property owner Cloudco Entertainment has launched its new Care Bears: Unlock the Magic animated series on China’s CCTV14 public broadcasting network and French free-to-air television channel, Gulli. These content launches come in tandem with new toy deals in both territories that will support the new TV series as well as the Care Bears’ forthcoming 40th anniversary in 2022. The 2D animated series produced by Cloudco includes 48 x 11′ episodes and 2 x 22′ specials.
In October, Cloudco relaunched Care Bears toys with new master toy partner, Splash Toys, in France. The toy line emulates the new character art style seen in Care Bears: Unlock the Magic and is rolling out successfully at mass and specialty as well as a number of other online and brick and mortar retailers across the country. Early next year, Care Bears will introduce a new line of toys and collectibles with POP MART in China. The deal was brokered by IMG China and will feature a range of figurines, blind boxes, and novelties for teens and young adults. The toy line will debut at POP MART and rollout to online and brick and mortar retailers across the country as the brand celebrates its 40th Anniversary and 40 years of sharing and caring across the globe.
Care Bears: Unlock the Magic follows Cheer Bear, Grumpy Bear, Good Luck Bear, Funshine Bear, and Share Bear as they embark on a new adventure from Care-A-Lot to the Silver Lining, a beautiful, strange world inhabited by the Whiffles, a group of innocently happy creatures that plant seeds to keep the magical land of Care-A-Lot growing. Throughout the series, Care Bears use their belly badge powers to spread messages of sharing, caring, friendship and courage while making sure to have lots of laughs along the way.
Redraw Your World
Cartoon Network is bringing its Redraw Your World campaign to Southeast Asia. Launching January 8, viewers around Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan will be able to enjoy a completely reenergized brand experience with refreshed, vibrant color, music and design — as well as new CN shows designed to appeal to a wider demographic of boys and girls. The Cartoonito preschool block is set to launch in Asia later this year.
Kicking things off Saturday is the premiere of two episodes of the original series We Baby Bears – a spinoff of We Bare Bears, one of Cartoon Network’s biggest ever series in Southeast Asia. Episodes will also run on Boomerang, HBO, HBO Family and Oh!K where available; five episodes streaming on HBO GO with more added each month. Other new shows include Hanna-Barbera reboot Jellystone! (Jan. 22) and Tom and Jerry in New York (Jan. 15).
Off the channel, Cartoon Network is looking to launch pop-up doodle stations and craft videos powered by Crayola, the regional campaign’s official “Creativity Partner” – Craft Your World videos will launch on Cartoon Network Asia and Crayola websites and social channels in the coming weeks until the end of 2022. Redraw Your Worldphysical events are also taking place from February onwards in malls across the region, including in Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines. These will be complemented by a rich content offering including AR filters on Instagram. Exclusively in Singapore, Cartoon Network has teamed up with NTUC FairPrice and Plus! Programme for a number of initiatives. And Cartoon Network characters are also on show in the build up to the Chingay Parade 2022 later this month.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5EhXEWVT970
2022 is off to a merry start for family audiences tuning into Netfllix‘s animated offerings. In addition to the launch of Riverdance: The Animated Adventure next week, the streamer has premiered a new series and is rolling out fresh seasons for preschoolers — including Gabby’s Dollhouse S4 — throughout January and February:
Action Pack (available now; 10 x 11′) is a preschool superhero adventure series featuring a new class of superheroes from OddBot Inc. The Action Pack is a group of heroic kids — Treena, Watts, Wren and Clay — who use their incredible superpowers as they take on the biggest threats in Hope Springs, implement the lessons taught by Mr. Ernesto at the Action Academy, and fulfill their ultimate mission of bringing out the good in everything, even in villains! The series is animated by ICON Creative Studio.
Ada Twist, Scientist Season 2 (Jan. 25; 6 x 26′) – The adventures continue with eight-year-old Ada Twist, a pint-sized scientist with a giant-sized curiosity, who aspires to discover the truth about absolutely everything. With the help of her two best friends, Rosie Revere and Iggy Peck, Ada unravels and solves mysteries for her friends and family. But solving the mystery is only the beginning, because science isn’t just about learning how and why and what… it’s about putting that knowledge into action to make the world a better place. The animated preschool series is from Laughing Wild, Higher Ground and Wonder Worldwide.
Ridley Jones Season 3 (Feb. 5) – Ridley Jones is back for more adventures as she protects the museum that she calls home and its magical secret: everything comes alive at night! The series includes the first nonbinary recurring character on a preschool show, Fred the bison, as well as other LGBTQ+ characters and can be found in the “Representation Matters” collection.
Chip and Potato Season 3 (March 8) – Chip and Potato features a lovable pug Chip who starts kindergarten, makes new friends, and tries new things — with a little help from Potato, her secret mouse pal. The inclusive show features same-sex Zebra parents and gender-neutral bathrooms.
In this week’s all-new episode of Loren Bouchard’s two-time Emmy Award-winning series Bob’s Burgers, the kids have all the power at last!
Louise (Kristen Schaal) realizes that Mr. Frond’s new plan of students evaluating their teachers has shifted the balance of power at school from teacher to kid. Meanwhile, Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts) discover that they don’t agree on where they want their final resting place to be. “Touch of Eval(uations)” premieres Sunday, January 9 on FOX (9 p.m. ET/PT, 8 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. MT).
Our friends at Fox offered the sneak peek clip below, in which Mort the mortician (voiced by Andy Kindler) tells Bob, Linda and Teddy (Larry Murphy) about a fracas at the funeral parlor caused by a man who died without leaving a will and a celebrity autograph — and the Belchers realize they haven’t gotten around to any of that “dying stuff.”
“We’re gonna, we’ve just been too busy. Or tired. All the time tired.”
Premiered in 2011, Bob’s Burgers is now in its 12th season chronicling the adventures, schemes and mishaps of the ever-quirky Belcher family as they work to keep their restaurant afloat. The show has been nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program every year since 2012, winning in 2014 and 2017. Bob’s Burgers is produced by 20th Television Animation and animated by Bento Box.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie is slated for release by 20th Century Studios on May 27.
TwentyOne14 Media announced today a strategic partnership with former Cartoon Network executive and multi-Emmy Award-winning producer Brian Miller and his company, Pat & Mike Productions, along with award-winning author and graphic novelist Dan Abnett, whose credits include the multi-million selling Eisenhorn and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Miami-based animation house Team Legend Studios. The partnership is focused on creating and producing both adult and youth-oriented animation projects that feature BIPOC talent and characters and speaks authentically to BIPOC audiences.
The first offering from this dynamic partnership will be the original project The Adventures of Skelly: a coming of age animated series that revolves around Skelly, the son of the Grim Reaper. With the help of his best friend Bonnie and guidance from his dog, Bones, Skelly travels across dimensions with his father’s scythe to learn what it takes to become a luchador. Now, Skelly has to choose between following in his father’s footsteps and becoming the next reaper, or following his dreams of becoming the greatest luchador — and risk disrupting the balance of life. Miller will serve as the project’s showrunner and executive producer.
People of color represent more than 40% of the U.S. population, and hold a growing share of buying power in the American economy. According to a Pew Research study, the combined buying power of people of color reached more than $3.9 billion dollars in 2019, and continues to rise by half a percent annually. This growing and diverse audience segment is a highly engaged consumer of entertainment, and prefer film and television content populated with characters and storylines that reflect their own lives and experiences. In particular, the team believes that representation in children’s animation is critical for the younger generation to be exposed to and understand diversity, and to grow up with visual representations of what justice and equality can look like.
The partnership will focus on curating, developing and producing programming that is authentic, diverse and inclusive. The partnership adopts the philosophy that African American, Latinx, Indigenous and Asian American markets are valuable and should be represented in all facets of entertainment output, including animation. The team believes there is opportunity in this focus and that there is a deficit in quality, authentic programming targeting this segment.
Prior to launching his animation-focused shingle Pat & Mike Productions, Brian Miller served as SVP & General Manager of Cartoon Network Studios from 2000-2021. Over the span of Miller’s career, some of the projects he has overseen include Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Regular Show, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack and Ben 10.
“TwentyOne14 understands the exigent importance of bringing the voices of diverse storytellers to the forefront,” said Miller. “I’m looking forward to partnering with them to produce content that speaks authentically to an underserved and underrepresented audience; Quincy and Mykel are seasoned diverse content producers who fiercely foster new and established talent; and I can’t wait to get started!”
Dan Abnett is a multiple New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning comic-book writer. He has written over 50 novels, including the acclaimed Gaunt’s Ghosts series, the Inquisitor Eisenhorn Cycle and volumes of the million-selling Horus Heresy series. His many other novels include The Silent Stars Go By (Doctor Who), Rocket Raccoon and Groot: Steal the Galaxy, Triumff and Embedded. In comics, his 2008 run on The Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel formed the inspiration for the blockbuster movies. He is also noted for significant work on DC’s Legion of Superheroes and Aquaman and, for the Vertigo imprint, The New Deadwardians.
“Twentyone14 Media’s Quincy Newell and Mykel Mitchell are sharp, astute and vigorous. They’ve got an ambitious outlook, great projects and a clear ability to make them happen. I am very excited to be working with them,” added Abnett.
“We’re excited to join forces with these extremely talented creators to help close the gap that exists in this category. We aspire to be a team that supports and encourages diverse voices and create an opportunity for creators of color to expand their landscape of storytelling into animation,” said Newell’s business partner and TwentyOne14 Media’s head of business development, Mykel Mitchell. “Our mantra at TwentyOne14 Media is to support and create content that is rooted in authenticity and inclusiveness, and has the power to create cross-cultural connections.”
Directed by Lana Wachowski, the long-awaited next chapter in a groundbreaking franchise, The Matrix Resurrections, reunites some of the original Matrix cast, as well as welcoming some new faces. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity, taking on a new world of challenges in the search for truth and freedom from the reality simulation.
Helping boot up this version of the movie world was Framestore, led by VFX supervisor Graham Page. The studio was tasked with honoring the first three Matrix films, while introducing fantastic new VFX elements to the table in a cohesive blend of live-action stunts and seamless CG artistry. And the demands of Resurrections keep up the pace of the franchise, culminating in a climactic third-act action sequence including a motorbike chase, human torpedoes and a death-defying helicopter standoff.
“The third act of the film typically hosts the biggest action sequences as the plot reaches its finale,” said Page. Framestore’s talented artists pulled out every trick — from digital doubles, stunts and environment work.
Although initially offered 204 shots, Framestore’s London team ultimately delivered 443 shots for the film. “There’s a legacy with The Matrix that got people really excited, they’re iconic sci-fi/action films, and everyone wants to say they’ve worked on one — to the point where a lot of artists volunteered to work on a single shot, just to be able to say they’d worked on a Matrix film,” explained the VFX supe.
The Matrix Resurrections
“There was a heavy weight of expectation to build on and improve the VFX of the previous entries in the franchise, known for their groundbreaking digital effects,” Page noted. In some cases, Framestore used modern techniques to reference and rebuild effects from the original films, such as Neo’s shield power first seen in The Matrix Reloaded.
The transformation of Jonathan Groff’s Agent Smith is reminiscent of the earlier films featuring Hugo Weaving. “2D morphing effects were revisited using modern 3D morphing of digital characters with hair and cloth,” explained Page. “In general, the feel of the film was less stylized and more organic and realistic than the originals, meaning more detail was required in models, and work was all carried out at 4K.”
The Matrix trilogy was known for its dramatic stunt work, and the team knew fan expectations would be high for the latest installment — as Page put it, “The pressure was on … VFX has come a long way since the original Matrix in 1999, and the fans know this, so the bar for the big action sequences was set very high.”
In the third act of the film, a swarm of people chase Neo and Trinity as they speed through the streets of San Francisco on a motorcycle. This climactic sequence required the addition of a crowd of up to 100 digital characters into hundreds of shots. Framestore created fully digital humans with simulated clothing, hair and facial animation, as well as digital doubles for Neo and Trinity for the motorcycle sections that were too dangerous to capture in-camera.
“The talented Matrix team tried to do as many stunts as possible in person,” said Page, “but the swarm sequence in particular was too dangerous, and so we supplemented with VFX to blend with the shot footage and create an action-packed final shot.”
“For safety reasons, they hadn’t been able to film extras near any vehicles or the camera, so we knew our extras would be front and centre, and the movement had to be consistent with the extras they had already filmed,” added animation supervisor Max Solomon.
The Matrix Resurrections
“We started out by analyzing the sequence and creating a detailed list of the actions we were going to need — some were generic, but many were shot-specific. We found four stunt actors of varying sizes and set up the Framestore motion capture rigs in the largest space in our London studio. We spent two days working through the list of actions, capturing every kind of variation we could think of, throwing ourselves around like kids at soft play! It was a lot of fun.”
After the motion capture, the animation team had to examine every frame of the reference footage and make their selects for clean up.
“We spent about two months with a team of six animators creating a library of performances with classic names like ‘AgitatedBystanders001,’ ‘ShotOnRoofOfCar002’ and ‘MenacingWalk003’, tidying up ground contacts, fixing joint chain pops, adding hand and finger animation, fixing scale and intersection issues,” said Solomon. “A lot of the performances were captured with all four stunt actors together, so that we could get interactions and more complex integrated movement. Meanwhile, we painted an animatic of the sequence using stills in Photoshop, showing where and how many digital extras would be added to each shot.”
The Matrix Resurrections
Some of the stunts were too dangerous for even motion capture, as the final shots of the swarm sequence called for people in the high rise buildings of San Francisco to hurl themselves down at Neo and Trinity.
“We started out using cutting-edge physics simulation techniques to match the impacts with the ground,” said Solomon. “By varying trajectory and dive pose, we could get different kinds of impacts. With our extensive library of clips, blocking the shots was very quick, but we found that a lot of actions didn’t work ‘off the peg’, so we started creating bespoke shot-specific animations, often shooting new reference footage ourselves, to ground the actions in reality.”
A key part of the approach to the sequences was the combination of practical filmmaking with digital effects. Real explosions were enhanced with digital debris and the CG crowd was intermingled with real-world extras and stunt performers. “The work had to be integrated into and matched to real-world photography with smoke, atmosphere, lens flares, practical debris, and fire,” continued Page. “Fortunately, it was shot pre-COVID, so director Lana Wachowski had time during the first lockdown to edit the big action sequence before production picked back up again.”
The Matrix Resurrections
“Neo and Trinity’s final leap of faith from 44 Montgomery building in San Francisco, as seen in the trailer, was carried out as an incredible stunt by the actors and digital intervention was used sparingly and with care,” said Page. “Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne Moss did the jump for real several times over the course of a few days. Framestore then matched the footage together, removed the wires, and stabilized any motion from the rig, cutting between a real and CG helicopter. We also replicated the Montgomery building in order to destroy it later in the scene.”
In total, Framestore built 26 unique digital characters, 18 vehicles, helicopters and a cat, along with various environments. Complex effects simulations were completed for crushing cars, destruction, and helicopters exploding and crashing into buildings.
The Matrix Resurrections was distributed in theaters worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures from December 15, and is also available to stream on HBO Max. The pic is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and Venus Castina Productions.
Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre welcomes the return of Disney’s Encanto January 7-16 (daily showtimes 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.; reserved seating tickets $12), with Pajama Party screenings on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m.
During the Pajama Party screenings, Guests can enjoy breakfast in their reserved seat while wearing their favorite family-friendly pajamas. Each Guest attending will receive a muffin, cereal, yogurt and juice or coffee. Tickets are $25 for all ages.
Guests can also take a picture at a photo op in the lobby before every screening of the film, purchase Encanto themed concession items including a LE 2000 Stained Glass Pin, and enjoy the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ before the movie on Saturdays and Sundays.
D23 Gold Members can show their valid D23 Gold Member Card to receive a complimentary 64oz popcorn tub and 20oz bottled beverage and one Encanto Tote (while supplies last).
Disney’s tale of an extraordinary Colombian family and their magical house continues to captivate fans. This week, the film’s soundtrack landed at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, jumping up from No. 110 in a week thanks in part to the popularity of “We Don’t Talk about Bruno,” one of the original songs written for the film by Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. The tune has taken off as a sound trend on TikTok, featuring in over 54,000 videos, and itself hit No. 50 on the Billboard chart. The song “Surface Pressure” landed at No. 54.
Encanto is the first soundtrack to place in the top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 since Disney’s 2019 animated sequel, Frozen II, according to the outlet. The picture has been shortlisted by the Oscars for both the Original Score (composed by Germaine Franco) and Original Song (for “Dos Oruguitas”) categories.
Synopsis: The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal — every child except one, Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family’s last hope.
The film is directed by Jared Bush (co-director Zootopia) and Byron Howard (Zootopia, Tangled), co-directed by Charise Castro Smith (writer The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez), and produced by Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer; the screenplay is by Castro Smith and Bush.
In celebration of the one year anniversary of DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse premiering on Netflix, the popular series returns for a fourth season on Netflix February 1. A new trailer previews the ameowzing magical adventures in store for Gabby and her feline friends in eight all-new episodes.
This season, something special is in the air at Gabby’s Dollhouse as Gabby, Pandy Paws and all the Gabby Cats celebrate the happiest cat day of the year, Purrsday! Complete with Box Cat Family crafts, kitty dress-up with Mercat, a steller safari adventure and a performance from feline pop star sensation Fluffy Flufferton, there are so many things to celebrate! A special visit from a tin full of Cakey Cat’s cousins is the icing on the kitty-cupcake. Get tiny with Gabby for hug attacks, cat-tastic adventures, and some whoopsies along the way!
Created and executive produced by Traci Paige Johnson (Blue’s Clues, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) and Jennifer Twomey (Blue’s Clues, Team Umizoomi), Gabby’s Dollhouse is a mixed-media series that unboxes a surprise before jumping into a fantastical animated world full of adorable cat characters that live inside Gabby’s dollhouse, where any adventure can unfold.
At the heart of Gabby’s Dollhouse lie important messages that instill a growth mindset. Gabby’s adventures celebrate making mistakes and finding creative ways to learn from them. Some of Gabby’s kitty friends may not be as flexible when their adventures become challenging, but Gabby is never afraid to, in her words, “fail fantastically” and make something beautiful out of a tough situation. Her positive attitude and resilience helps everyone see the best in any situation.
The series stars Laila Lockhart as Gabby, Tucker Chandler as Pandy Paws, Tara Strong as Kitty Fairy and Mama Box, Donovan Patton as CatRat, Juliet Donenfeld as Cakey, Maggie Lowe as Baby Box, Secunda Wood as MerCat, Sainty Nelsen as Pillow Cat, Eduardo Franco as DJ Catnip and Carla Tassara as Carlita.
In celebration of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, Amazon Studios & Sony Pictures Animation is embarking on an unforgettable cross-country bus tour to bring fans the ultimate Hotel Transylvania experience! Starting this week, the Johnny Monster Bus and Character Tour will be making its way across the country with planned giveaways, character meet & greets, and more!
In addition, Prime Video is unleashing massive character balloons in various cities ranging from a 12-foot-tall Blobby to an oversized version of Drac’s signature cape and travel case “hanging” in front of heavily trafficked areas.
Johnny Monster Bus Tour:
Jan. 8 – California – Woodland Hills – Amazon Fresh
Jan. 8 – California – Marina Del Rey – Amazon Books
Jan. 8-9 – New York – Manhattan/SoHo – Amazon 4-star
Jan. 9 – California – Long Beach – Amazon Fresh
Jan. 11-12 – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia – Philadelphia Art Museum “Rocky Steps”
Jan. 14-15 – Texas – Austin – The Domain
Jan. 15-16 – Florida – Miami – Brickell City Centre
Discovery Green, Houston – Anheuser-Busch Stage adjacent to Jones Lawn from (Jan. 14-16), Andrea and Bill White Promenade (Jan. 17-18)
The Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles – Main Plaza near the clock tower off of Fairfax Ave. (Jan. 13-16)
Drac
Philadelphia Museum of Art Steps,Philadelphia – Base of Museum steps (Jan. 11-16)
Millennium Park, Chicago – Located on the North or South Promenade adjacent to The Cloud Gate Sculpture (Jan. 13-16)
Johnny Monster
Los Angeles, Optum Garage –Located at 1120 W. Washington Blvd., visible from the I-10 freeway approximately 1.5 miles west of the 10 and 110 freeway interchange (Jan. 13-16)
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
Drac and the Pack are back, like you’ve never seen them before in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. Reunite with your favorite monsters for an all-new adventure that presents Drac (Brian Hull) with his most terrifying task yet. When Van Helsing’s (Jim Gaffigan) mysterious invention, the ‘Monsterification Ray,’ goes haywire, Drac and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny (Andy Samberg) becomes a monster! In their new mismatched bodies, Drac, stripped of his powers, and an exuberant Johnny, loving life as a monster, must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it’s too late, and before they drive each other crazy. With help from Mavis (Selena Gomez) and the hilariously human Drac Pack, the heat is on to find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.
The film also features the voices of Kathryn Hahn (Ericka), Steve Buscemi (Wayne), Molly Shannon (Wanda), David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Keegan-Michael Key (Murray), Fran Drescher (Eunice), Brad Abrell (Frank) and Asher Blinkoff (Dennis).
Read more about Hotel Transylvania: Transformania in the February ’22 issue of Animation Magazine, available now!
The latest (and final) chapter of the Hotel Transylvania film series, will be available to stream on Prime Video starting January 14.
Drac and the Pack are back, like you’ve never seen them before in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. Reunite with your favorite monsters for an all-new adventure that presents Drac (Brian Hull) with his most terrifying task yet. When Van Helsing’s (Jim Gaffigan) mysterious invention, the ‘Monsterification Ray,’ goes haywire, Drac and his monster pals are all transformed into humans, and Johnny (Andy Samberg) becomes a monster! In their new mismatched bodies, Drac, stripped of his powers, and an exuberant Johnny, loving life as a monster, must team up and race across the globe to find a cure before it’s too late, and before they drive each other crazy. With help from Mavis (Selena Gomez) and the hilariously human Drac Pack, the heat is on to find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.
The film also features the voices of Kathryn Hahn (Ericka), Steve Buscemi (Wayne), Molly Shannon (Wanda), David Spade (Griffin the Invisible Man), Keegan-Michael Key (Murray), Fran Drescher (Eunice), Brad Abrell (Frank) and Asher Blinkoff (Dennis).
Read more about Hotel Transylvania: Transformania in the February ’22 issue of Animation Magazine, available now!
The latest (and final) chapter of the Hotel Transylvania film series, will be available to stream on Prime Video starting January 14.
Cinedigm, the leading provider of enthusiast streaming services, announced today that the Company has reached an agreement to acquire Digital Media Rights (DMR), a diversified specialty streaming, advertising and content distribution company with significant expertise in building audiences for global content in North America.
Founded more than a decade ago by media industry veterans Michael Hong and David Chu, DMR focuses on four key streaming businesses. First, the company is a leading global distributor of feature films and television series for the streaming ecosystem, with more than 7,500 titles under distribution.
Secondly, DMR has developed and operates 10 channels focused on enthusiast audiences. Six of these proprietary streaming services are available as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and/or video-on-demand apps (all apps have ad-supported VOD and premium, subscription VOD options):
RetroCrush (retrocrush.tv): Dedicated to the Golden Age of anime.
AsianCrush (asiancrush.com): The one-stop portal to the latest Asian entertainment featuring premium movies and shows.
Midnight Pulp (midnightpulp.com): The perfect late-night channel to end all boredom, offering an expertly curated selection of cult programming with a twist of millennial irreverence.
Cinehouse (www.cinehousetv.com): both a standalone channel with apps available across all major devices, as well as a Linear TV streaming bundle, curating niche, enthusiast channels focused on the best movies and TV shows from around the world. Among the linear FAST channels available in Cinehouse’s lineup are 24/7 streams of AsianCrush, RetroCrush, Midnight Pulp and KMTV, with more being announced in 2022.
Cocoro (cocoro.tv): The ultimate destination for kid-friendly shows designed to educate and entertain.
KMTV (kmtvnow.com): Features all things K-Pop, from music videos of the newest releases to variety show highlights, to all things in between.
Third, through its DMR Social unit, DMR curates social video channels for most of the above brands, as well as four others, with more in development:
C-Crush: A community for fans of the best Chinese TV and movies.
Cinehouse Romance: A curated selection of romance-focused movie clips from DMR’s library of arthouse and indie films.
K-Crush: A community for Korean cinema, TV and pop culture addicts.
QTTV: A community for fans of queer cinema.
Lastly, DMR operates an Ad Network & Marketplace garnering more than 100 million connected TV impressions a month against long-form, premium movies and television shows across their owned-and-operated and selected partner channels with an average ad completion rate of over 95%.
Upon completion of the deal, Cinedigm will increase its library to more than 46,000 hours of premium film and television content, with an estimated 40+ million monthly viewers, 18.5 million social subscribers, 4 billion views and 13 billion minutes viewed annually. With the addition of the seven new owned, proprietary channels, the Company will have 15 wholly-owned streaming services, which now comprises more than 50% of its 28 channels in operation.
With a significant portion of DMR’s portfolio focused on premium Asian film and TV content, the addition of its wildly popular titles to Cinedigm’s content portfolio will help fill the growing consumer demand for Asian-influenced media, such as Japanese anime and Korean dramas, across the entertainment landscape. According to Ampere Analysis, more than 25% of all North American consumers now watch foreign content, with Squid Game and Narcos being examples of two breakout hits reflecting the trend. Given DMR’s tight programming and demographic alignment with Cinedigm’s existing subscription services, the Company plans on leveraging each Company’s respective content portfolio to enhance and broaden the Company’s existing streaming services.
Cinedigm also plans to further expand DMR’s Advertising Network, which has long-standing customers and direct partnerships with key advertising partners, with the Company’s robust programmatic ad sales infrastructure. In conjunction with Cinedigm’s continued investment in technology and supply-chain automation via the Company’s proprietary Matchpoint platform, the Company believes it will reduce DMR’s operating costs and strengthen its revenue growth by leveraging its unique competitive advantage in the streaming business and through its underlying technology. Migrating DMR’s entire content library into the Matchpoint™platform will allow the Company to efficiently expand the distribution of DMR’s film & television content catalog and easily deliver it at significant scale to Cinedigm’s extensive network of OTT platforms and third-party distribution partners at the click of a button.
Finally, Cinedigm plans to leverage DMR’s first-class social media division to grow engagement and followers of Cinedigm’s streaming channels on the leading social media platforms. DMR’s social media unit brings extensive expertise in curating content to help drive new distribution, revenue and marketing opportunities. DMR Social has a footprint of more than 17 million subscribers and followers on YouTube and Facebook alone, across eight brands that are collectively averaging 284 million video views per month — and more than 8 million hours watched — over the past year. DMR’s community-building and content curation techniques and expertise will be applied to Cinedigm’s portfolio of channels including Fandor, CONtv and Screambox. The goal is to establish a new ad revenue stream for the Company and help grow Cinedigm’s SVOD, AVOD and FAST streaming channels.
“DMR’s top-notch management team, high-quality channels and film & TV library perfectly complement our own strengths and our mission of serving enthusiast audiences,” said Chris McGurk, Chairman and CEO at Cinedigm. “When you consider the other key additive components from this deal, including the global reach of DMR’s expansive social media efforts, we are well-positioned to not only reach a rapidly growing new audience in the short-term but also to expand the scale of a larger Cinedigm umbrella channel strategy in the long run. We expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive, and the leverage of Cinedigm’s technological efficiencies and expansive portfolio of assets will spur significant additional growth.”
“Rarely do you find an acquisition that is as complementary as DMR,” said Erick Opeka, President of Cinedigm Networks and Chief Strategy Officer of Cinedigm. “This portfolio of channels and content immediately provides increased scale, strengthens the content offering on our flagship services, provides critical growth and marketing capabilities via social, and gives us a new foothold into the direct ad sales and streaming live television businesses. We look forward to starting out the new fiscal year with the people and assets we need to meet the growing needs of our viewers, platforms and advertisers.”
“The strong synergy between Cinedigm and DMR is readily apparent, and by working together, we can continue to deliver and further scale our top-notch, curated streaming channels to our audiences in a way that builds a true sense of community. The team at DMR is proud to have built an impressive lineup of channels and offer content that can meet the rising demands of audiences around the world, including fans of incredibly popular Korean dramas, Japanese anime and Chinese TV, as well as arthouse, romance and horror movies,” said David Chu, Co-Founder and CEO of DMR. “It’s why we’re thrilled to align with this key industry player and are looking forward to a future with even more expansion opportunities.”
Added DMR Co-Founder and Chairman Mike Hong, “Today’s deal with Cinedigm marks a watershed moment for David and I. As entrepreneurs we’re incredibly excited to see more than a decade of hard work fueling the ongoing growth of DMR, now culminating in this acquisition which will provide the foundation to take the company to even more heights.”
An innovator in the digital transformation of the entertainment industry for more than two decades, Cinedigm’s core mission is to entertain the world by building the world’s best portfolio of enthusiast channels and services for the streaming generation. Through a diverse mix of premium SVOD services and dedicated AVOD and FAST channels, Cinedigm’s streaming portfolio reaches indie film (Fandor), horror (Screambox & Bloody Disgusting) and family entertainment (Dove Channel), as well as dedicated channels for iconic entertainers, led by Bob Ross (The Bob Ross Channel). Cinedigm’s ultimate goal is to build destinations that immerse viewers in content they love while staying at the forefront of technology as the streaming industry continues to evolve.
SmartStudy, the creator behind the cultural phenomenon Baby Shark, announced it is changing its name to The Pinkfong Company.
The rebranding ushers in a new chapter for the global entertainment company where it will continue to connect the world through quality content while developing new initiatives to expand the age range for its content to cater to audiences of all ages. The Pinkfong Company moves forward with the expansion of content genres, original content & IP, and global business.
Founded as a startup offering children’s educational services, The Pinkfong Company has evolved into the home of iconic IPs including its flagship franchise Baby Shark. With the most viewed video in the history of YouTube, Baby Shark became one of the most notable cultural phenomena generating unprecedented amounts of engagement across the globe.
“Over the past decade, our business has expanded from providing educational services into creating content and products that connect people around the world regardless of ages and backgrounds,” said CEO Min-seok Kim. “We are excited to introduce our new name, The Pinkfong Company, at this defining moment as we move forward to the next chapter of our journey. With enhanced content initiatives, we are dedicated to continuing to create fun, enjoyable, and meaningful content to provide exceptional experiences for audiences everywhere.”
As part of its plans to bring its content to a wider audience, The Pinkfong Company announced the greenlight of its first-ever digital comics and novels series entitled Moon Shark. Co-produced with M Story Hub, the premium digital content company, Moon Shark depicts teenage romance, with a hint of fantasy accompanied by K-Pop and EDM inspired songs. In addition to digital comics and novels, digital singles for the series will be available on music streaming platforms as well as on its own YouTube channel.
Following the launch of the Moon Shark series, The Pinkfong Company is focusing on the development of content and brand new original IPs, including a 2D animated series featuring a dinosaur family as well as a 3D animated show depicting the dynamic daily life of human characters.
Meanwhile, the worlds of Pinkfong and Baby Shark continue to grow as Baby Shark’s Big Show!, the preschool series co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio, has been greenlit for the second season while its movie is in development. A sequel to Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure, the sing-along special that marked the fifth most-watched movie in Netflix’s Today’s Top 10 list in the U.S., is in the works.
Lastly, The Pinkfong Company gears up to expand its presence globally. In addition to offices in Seoul, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Hong Kong, The Pinkfong Company opened its fifth office in Singapore to fuel growth across the Southeast Asia market. The Singapore office will serve as the business hub for Asia Pacific countries, where the Baby Shark phenomenon has been a massive hit as well as Pinkfong has made a splash with its live tour, animations and more.
The ultimate Gen X slackers are ready to return to their well-worn couch: Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge confirmed via Twitter that his iconic, idiotic teenage antiheroes will be returning to the screen with new content on Paramount+ this year, and shared a sneak peek at what Beavis and Butt-head will look like 30 years after the events of their debut in his short, Frog Baseball.
Beavis and Butt-Head will be returning this year with a brand new movie and more on Paramount+. No exact date yet, but soon. They need some time to get back in shape. pic.twitter.com/tN5rePP9Kn
Comedy Central inked a deal with Judge to reimagine and expand the property back in 2020, in line with the ViacomCBS strategy of exploiting established brands in its entertainment catalog across Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, et al. Daria, a 1997 spin-off of Beavis and Butt-head, is getting its own spin-off, Jodie, developed by Tracee Ellis Ross.
The original announcement had the channel committed to two seasons of a rebooted series, which follows Beavis and Butt-head as they navigate a whole new Gen Z world. Two-time Emmy winner Judge (King of the Hill, Silicon Valley) is set to write, produce and provide voices for both leads. The original movie was announced in February of last year in a pandemic-appropriate Zoom style video:
Paramount+ recently played with aging up the elementary school set of long-running Comedy Central animated series South Park in the first of 14 planned “special event” titles due out in the next seven years, South Park: Post COVID. The series, which has been airing on Comedy Central since 1997, is renewed through 2027.
Launched in 1993, Beavis and Butt-Head centered on two teenage couch potatoes, riffing on TV music videos and struggling to skate through school and work with a minimum of effort, ever striving for the “cool” and hoping to “score.” The show struck a chord with its unfiltered satire, as well as by tackling issues like teen obesity, workers’ rights and media trends in its own unique way. The original series ran for seven seasons through 1997, with a revival in 2011. A theatrical feature film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America, was released by Paramount Pictures in 1996.
AMC Networks announced today it has completed the acquisition of Houston-based Sentai Holdings, LLC, a leading global supplier of anime content and official anime merchandise, with brands including the anime-focused HIDIVE direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service. The acquisition includes all of the member interests from Cool Japan Fund, Inc., a public-private Japanese investment fund.
With strong industry relationships and access to key content creators in Japan, Sentai distributes and curates one of the anime industry’s most diverse libraries of top trending and classic titles, with its content available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Amazon Prime, among others. Sentai’s HIDIVE streaming service represents a strong new addition to AMC Networks’ portfolio of fast-growing targeted offerings, which includes AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK.
AMC Networks has forecast its targeted streaming portfolio will have exceeded nine million paid subscribers by year-end 2021, with 20-25 million paid subscribers by 2025. The acquisition of Sentai opens the doors to new target audiences, as anime is a rapidly growing entertainment category with a highly-engaged global fanbase, propelled by its unique aesthetics and evangelical fans, convention culture and increased online accessibility.
“We are thrilled by AMC Networks’ acquisition and are excited to be a part of their growth strategy,” said John Ledford, Sentai’s Founder. “This acquisition will not change Sentai’s mission to deliver the most exciting anime content to audiences around the world — it will expand it greatly and will give our content businesses more distribution, more partnerships, more scale and more reach. I could not be more pleased.”
Sentai’s executive management team of Ledford, Griffin Vance and Paul Clinkscales, will continue on in senior roles.
PwC Advisory LLC acted as financial advisor, Arnold & Porter and Shiomizaka acted as legal counsel, KPMG FAS Co., Ltd. acted as financial advisor, KPMG Tax Corporation acted as tax advisor, and A.T. Kearney K.K. acted as Strategic advisory to Cool Japan Fund, Inc. in connection with the transaction. Paul Clinkscales led the transaction for Sentai. Hughes Hubbard & Reed acted as legal counsel to AMC Networks.
In addition to the above-mentioned platforms, AMC Networks’ portfolio of brands includes channels AMC, BBC America (operated jointly with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV, WE tv and IFC Films. The company’s in-house production and distribution outfit AMC Studios is behind major brands and titles, including The Walking Dead, the Anne Rice catalog and the Agatha Christie library. It launched the animated crime-comedy Ultra City Smiths (produced with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios) in July 2021 on AMC+ and is currently preparing AMC’s first-ever primetime toon drama, Pantheon, from creator/showrunner Craig Silverstein (TURИ) and animated by Titmouse, based on the short stories of Ken Liu.
Dedicated to bringing captivating stories and iconic characters directly from Japan, Sentai’s brands include HIDIVE (direct-to-consumer streaming), SentaiFilmworks.com (direct to consumer e-commerce), Anime Network (cable SVOD) and Sentai Studios (localization and studio services). Sentai’s diverse library includes thousands of hours of hit titles and classic series including MADE IN ABYSS, Akame ga Kill, Food Wars!, Clannad, Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, High School of the Dead, Girls & Panzer, No Game No Life, K-On!, Assassin’s Pride and Parasyte -the maxim-.
Starting this Friday, January 7, Sing 2, the new chapter in Illumination’s smash animated franchise starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and Bono, arrives as a premium video-on-demand title on Vudu, Fandango’s premium video streaming service.
In addition to the blockbuster sequel, Vudu’s family audience can catch new animated movies like Disney’s Encanto, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Ron’s Gone Wrong, The Addams Family 2 and The Mitchells vs. the Machines, as well as the new fantasy-comedy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Will Smith’s heartwarming live-action drama King Richard.
Fans can also pre-order the box office smash Spider-Man: No Way Home as an individual title or part of the Tom Holland Spider-Man three-film collection or the Spider-Man eight-film bundle.
Written and directed by Garth Jennings, Sing 2 picks up when theater manager Buster Moon (McConaughey) sets his sights on a new show in glamorous Redshore City. He and his cast — including harried mother Rosita (Witherspoon), rocker Ash (Johansson), earnest Johnny (Egerton), shy Meena (Tori Kelly) and, of course, provocateur Gunter (Nick Kroll) — have to sneak their way into the world-famous Crystal Entertainment offices, run by ruthless mogul/gangster Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale). In a desperate attempt to get his attention, Gunter and Buster promise their new show will star rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono), and must set out to retrieve the reclusive star who has been out of the spotlight for 10 years.
Apple TV+ today revealed the trailer for the highly anticipated reboot of the classic Fraggle Rock series, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. All 13 episodes of the new Apple Original series from The Jim Henson Company will debut Friday, January 21 on Apple TV+, joining the celebrated collection of Apple Original shorts, Fraggle Rock: Rock On!
Jim Henson’s fun-loving and musical Fraggles — Gobo, Red, Boober, Mokey, Wembley and Uncle Travelling Matt — alongside new Fraggles and Doozers voiced by special guests stars Patti LaBelle, Cynthia Erivo, Daveed Diggs, Ed Helms, Kenan Thompson, as well as an appearance by Foo Fighters, kick off the new year by embarking on epic, hilarious adventures about the magic that happens when we celebrate and care for our interconnected world.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is executive produced by The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford, and longtime Henson collaborator John Tartaglia. Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson, who serve as showrunners, also executive produce, alongside New Regency’s Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer. Co-executive producers are Dave Goelz and Karen Prell, and executive music producer is Harvey Mason Jr. The series is produced by Ritamarie Peruggi.
In addition to Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Apple’s partnership with The Jim Henson Company includes Harriet The Spy, the first animated adaptation of the iconic children’s novel, and the popular Fraggle Rock: Rock On! shorts. Apple TV+ is also the streaming destination for the original Fraggle Rock series, as well as recently added bonus specials, Down at Fraggle Rock, Doozer Music and Fraggle Songs, all of which are now streaming.
The expanding and award-winning lineup of original animation for kids and families on Apple TV+ also includes Wolfboy and the Everything Factory from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment; the recently released Get Rolling With Otis; Academy Award-nominated animated film Wolfwalkers; Peabody Award-winning series Stillwater; new series and specials from Peanuts and WildBrain including Snoopy in Space season two and Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne; and Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times best-selling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers.
Tippett Studio, founded by two-time Academy Award-winning artist, animator and filmmaker Phil Tippett (whose VFX work can be seen in legendary films such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, RoboCop, Starship Troopers and many more) has announced that current Head of Production Gary Mundell has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Berkeley, Calif. stop-motion and CG visual effects studio.
Recent Tippett projects include The Mandalorian Season 2 on Disney+, Locke and Key Season 2 on Netflix and Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Disney+. The studio has recently moved into content production for themed entertainment and partnering with international brands in addition to their leading role as one of the industry’s post production houses.
Mundell, who has deep roots in the industry, will assume all COO duties of the company. Before his elevation to COO, he was Executive Producer and Head of Production at the studio, responsible for studio operations and producing on several large-scale projects.
Mundell is an expert in pipeline and software for production, and prior to Tippett Studio he was a Co-founder and CEO of Loft Software in Berkeley, a software company building asset control tools for global real-time film, games and commercial production. He was also a Founder of Southpawtech/TACTIC, specializing in pipeline and production tools. Mundell was also active in software development at Alias/Wavefront in the creations and development in Maya, and has extensive worldwide experience in India and China as well as the general business of VFX and software tools from a production standpoint.
“Gary Mundell has filled a position sorely needed at my company. In the short time he’s been here, he’s implemented practices that have improved the studio immensely. He has my complete trust,” said Phil Tippett.
“When I got to Tippett, I knew I was gonna have to make some big changes. Phil tried to fire me three times before he caught on that I was actually making things better,” said Mundell. “I have big plans for Tippett Studio — modernizing systems and processes that are already making us stronger, faster and better equipped to deliver the top-quality film, TV, commercial and themed entertainment work we’re known for. Tippett’s animation is the best in the business and I feel right at home at the studio.”
CEO Sanjay Das noted, “This is one guy I can trust as this business needs a serious transformation. Gary’s unique orchestration of technology and creativity is the blend we need as we explore undiscovered dimensions in entertainment.”
Tippett Studio co-founder Jules Roman added, “Gary has become an integral part of Tippett Studio with his enthusiasm and vast knowledge of the business of VFX. We know he will embrace his new role as COO with his usual energy and help the Studio move forward into its next phase!”
Phil Tippett is the visionary behind some of cinema’s most iconic characters such as Jabba the Hutt and the Rancor monster in Return of the Jedi, the Tauntauns and Wampa in The Empire Strikes Back, the Raptor and T-Rex stop motion puppets in Jurassic Park and the ED-209 from RoboCop.
Tippett’s film Mad God recently world premiered to rave reviews at the prestigious Locarno Film Festival and was showcased at other festivals including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Fantasia Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, among many others. The movie is an experimental animated project that is 30 years in the making and showcases the visionary’s brilliant mind as it has evolved over the decades.
The company has also recently rolled out a series of NFTs based on Tippett’s portfolio of artwork on his SuperRare profile page.
Disney Junior’s Alice’s Wonderland Bakery, a fantastical CG animated series for preschoolers and their families inspired by the world of Alice in Wonderland, premieres February 9 with a simulcast on Disney Channel and Disney Junior (10:30 a.m. EST/PST). An initial batch of episodes will also premiere the same day on on-demand platforms and streaming on Disney+.
A vibrant new take on the classic 1951 animated film, the series centers on Alice, the great-granddaughter of the original heroine and a budding young baker at the enchanted Wonderland Bakery, where her magical treats help bring a new generation of friends and families together.
Featuring reimagined versions of familiar iconic characters and introducing memorable new ones, the series stars newcomer Libby Rue as the voice of Alice and a slew of celebrity guest stars. A video featurette highlighting the cast was released today:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Yp_ZfWevIP0
Each episode, comprising two 11-minute stories, centers on Alice’s magical recipe adventures with her best pals, who join her in the bakery to whip up whimsical cakes and treats for friends and neighbors with enchanted kitchen tools and ingredients to help them. The series celebrates the culture and creativity of food, highlights self-expression and imparts age-appropriate social and emotional lessons about friendship, collaboration and the importance of community.
In addition to Rue, the lead voice cast includes Abigail Estrella (How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) as Princess Rosa, the Princess of Hearts and Alice’s most artistic friend; CJ Uy (The Ball Method) as Hattie, a “mad-hatter” boy and Alice’s silliest friend; Jack Stanton (Outmatched) as Fergie the White Rabbit, Alice’s best friend and biggest fan; Secunda Wood (Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous) as Cookie, the magical cookbook that once belonged to Alice’s great grandmother; and Audrey Wasilewski (Mad Men) as Dinah, Alice’s pet cat who is always at her side. Max Mittelman (Spider-Man) recurs as Cheshire Cat, Alice’s mysterious and playful friend and one of the most iconic Wonderland characters.
Notable recurring and series guest stars include Craig Ferguson (The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson) as Doorknob; Eden Espinosa (Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure) as Rosa’s mother, The Queen of Hearts; Grammy winner Jon Secada (Just Another Day) as Rosa’s grandfather, The King of Hearts; Vanessa Bayer and Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) as twins Tweedle Do and Tweedle Don’t; Donald Faison (Scrubs) as Harry the March Hare; Rich Sommer (Mad Men) as Captain Dodo; Yvette Nicole Brown (The Chicken Squad) as Mama Rabbit; Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live) as Kiki; Lamorne Morris (New Girl) as Dandy; Matthew Moy (2 Broke Girls) as David of Spades; and Lesley Nicol (Downton Abbey) as Iris. The series also features Broadway stars Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!) as Daisy, Melissa van der Schyff (Bonnie and Clyde) as Jojo, James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) as Oliver, Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton) as Mother Rose, Christopher Fitzgerald (Waitress) as Thistle, and George Salazar (Be More Chill) as Dad Hatter.
Alice’s Wonderland Bakery is produced by Disney Television Animation. Emmy nominee Chelsea Beyl (Peabody Award-winning Doc McStuffins) is executive producer, and Frank Montagna (Elena of Avalor) is co-executive producer and art director. Ciara Anderson (Harley Quinn) is producer, Lisa Kettle (Mira, Royal Detective) is story editor, and Emmy nominee Nathan Chew (Elena of Avalor) is supervising director. The writing team consists of Melinda LaRose (Vampirina), Michael Rodriguez (Sharkdog), Marisa Evans-Sanden (Fancy Nancy), Stuart Friedel (Clifford the Big Red Dog) and Sara Karimipour (Ryan’s Mystery Playdate), and episodic directors are Steven Umbleby (Monsters at Work) and Arielle Yett (The Chicken Squad). Emmy winner John Kavanaugh (Sofia the First, Elena of Avalor) serves as the series’ songwriter/music director and Matthew Margeson (Rocketman) is composer.
Disney Consumer Products, Games and Publishing will debut a product line by Just Play inspired by the series featuring dolls, role-play products, figures, and more in Fall 2022. A digital soundtrack featuring songs from the series will be released by Walt Disney Records in February.
Following its U.K. premiere as a Sky Original last May, Riverdance: The Animated Adventure is ready to bow on Netflix, joining a slew of tooned up titles hitting the streamer next month when it launches on January 14. Co-produced by U.K. animation studio Aniventure and River Productions and brought to life by the artists at Cinesite, the film translates the global stage phenomenon into a magical family adventure.
Riverdance: The Animated Adventure follows an Irish boy named Keegan (voiced by Sam Hardy) and a Spanish girl named Moya (Hannah Herman Cortes) as they journey into the mythical world of the legendary Megaloceros Giganteus, who teach them to appreciate Riverdance as a celebration of life. The film also stars Lilly Singh, Jermaine Fowler and Pauline McLynn and features a brand-new single by Irish musical performer Lyra. The movie is directed by Eamonn Butler and Dave Rosenbaum.
Available now: DreamWorks Rise of the Guardians (2012), Gigantosaurus S2, Happy Feet (2006) & Happy Feet 2 (2011), Kung Fu Panda (2008), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
The BRIC Foundation, dedicated to increasing representation in the entertainment and gaming industries, today announced the official lineup for its 4th annual BRIC Summit, to be held February 11-12, 2022. Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, musician and co-founder of KidNation, an interactive platform for children to enjoy kid-centric, educational entertainment, will deliver the opening keynote address.
The BRIC Summit will be packed with engaging speakers and solutions-driven workshops for industry professionals and up-and-coming talent, providing access and education from experts in the field representing the world’s most iconic entertainment brands.
For the first time, the Summit will feature an executive workshop specifically focused on the topic of “The Future of Inclusive Hiring.” This invite-only, C-Suite workshop session led by Netflix’s Darnell Moore, Julie Ann Crommett (Collective Moxie) and other diversity & inclusion experts will cover the many challenges facing entertainment leaders today. A combination of panels and small breakout room brainstorming sessions will offer an environment where leaders can look at the research and speak with experts in an effort to create more tailored solutions. The group will discuss how to be proactive as leaders and create inclusive company cultures through hiring, content and workplace practices.
“The past several years have been traumatic and divisive” said Alison Mann, Co-Founder and CEO of BRIC Foundation and Talent Manager and Co-President of Fourth Wall Animation “In order to find unity amongst one another, we will need to take a moment to do some ‘deep listening,’ to find empathy and understanding, and allow for dialogue and self-realization instead of being reactionary. I am excited for this year’s summit, where we’ll discuss cultural shifts and talk about cancel culture. While these conversations can be tough, they are necessary, and my hope is we have some key takeaways to finding our way back to connecting and understanding each other, allowing for healing and growth.”
Industry Day: Friday, February 11 (INVITE ONLY)
Bridges, who is also creator and exec producer of Netflix animated series Karma’s World, will deliver the opening keynote address. Attendees will hear research from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative on the state of our industry. Additional speakers include ESPN’s Marsha Cooke, Aldis Hodge (Black Adam), and New York Times best selling author Lindsey Pollack. There will also be a special invite-only C-suite session for senior leaders from studios to gain additional insights while attending a workshop with their peers.
Additional speakers include:
Karen Horne (Warner Media)
Karen Toliver (Sony Pictures Animation)
Hoai Scott (NBC Universal)
Suzanne Marques (CBS)
Shruti Ganguly (filmmaker)
Dipanjan Chatterjee (Forrester)
Rabia Abedin (DreamWorks Animation)
Kim Williams (Disney)
Dan Kovalik (activist)
Sara Martin (change management expert)
Emi Kamemoto (DEIA expert)
Noah Prince (White Men as Full Diversity Partners)
Jinko Gotoh (WIA)
Arnon Manor (VES)
Steven Issacs (Epic Games)
Allison Frenzel (Calif. Dept. of Education)
The day will focus on answering four key questions:
BREAK: The Rules: The status quo no longer works. What can you and your company do to stay continuously activated for social justice and civic engagement?
REINVENT: The Workforce: Redefining the workforce and best practices for hiring and retaining the 22nd Century Employee in a Post-COVID world.
IMPACT: Through Authenticity: Authentic storytelling is here to stay. What does successful authenticity look like in every creative department?
CHANGE: Cancel Culture to Reform Culture?: Can we and should we shift cancel culture to reform culture? How can we determine what gets canceled and what happens after the moment of reckoning — can we educate and repair?
Education Day: Saturday, February 12 (FREE TO THE PUBLIC)
Educators, parents and professionals in early stages of their career will find a variety of helpful workshops including a BRIC Creative Academy session, an Art Jam, a Careers in Animation panel and Portfolio Reviews from some of the leading animation, visual effects and gaming studios. Additional programming includes Grant Writing 101 for Teachers, Careers in VFX, Careers in Games and a Film Festival Submission Panel led by Larry Laboe from New Filmmakers LA.
“Research shows that the more representation there is behind the screen, the more authentic representation you see on screen. In order to improve the talent pipeline to allow for more underserved creators to enter creative industries, we need to double down on education and create new access points. We hope our programming for educators and students will become an invaluable asset that will inspire them to pursue careers in entertainment, gaming and more,” added Nicole Hendrix, Co-Founder & Executive Director of the BRIC Foundation.
For more information and to register for BRIC Summit 2022, visit www.2022bricsummit.com.
Alison Mann | Nicole Hendrix (courtesy of Cam Thrower)
2022 BRIC Summit Sponsors include ArtCenter College of Design, Artstation, ASIFA-Hollywood, Bento Box Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation, Easterseals, Fourth Wall Management, FOX, Gnomon School of Visual Effects, Hello Sunshine, Illumination, LatinX in Animation, Nickelodeon, Six Point Harness, Skydance Animation, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 32, Visual Effects Society, Wacom, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WarnerMedia, West Studio, Weta Digital and Women in Animation.
The BRIC Foundation was founded in 2018 and is overseen by entertainment industry heavyweights Alison Mann, Talent Manager and Co-President of Fourth Wall Animation, and Producer Nicole Hendrix. In addition to hosting its annual Summit, the Foundation also runs the Creative Academy and Career Readiness Programs, partnering with Studios and Companies to give High School students real world experience and educating them on various career tracks in the entertainment and tech space. For more information visit bricfoundation.org and follow @bricfound on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
