Netflix has unpacked the official trailer and key art for The Summit of the Gods, the critically acclaimed 2D animated feature from César Award-winning filmmaker Patrick Imbert (The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales). This Cannes Official Selection mountaineering tale arrives in select cinemas nationwide and streaming on Netflix on November 30.
A breathtaking adaptation of the manga series by renowned manga artist Jirô Taniguchi and writer Baku Yumemakura, The Summit of the Gods follows a young Japanese photojournalist, Fukamachi, who finds a camera that could change the history of mountaineering. It leads him to the mysterious Habu, an outcast climber believed missing for years. Fukamachi enters a world of obsessive mountaineers hungry for impossible conquests on a journey that leads him, step by step, towards the summit of the gods.
The Summit of the Gods is directed and co-written by Imbert, co-written and produced by Jean-Charles Ostoréro. César Award-winning composer Amine Bouhafa (Timbuktu) created the score. The 94-minute film is produced by Didier Brunner and Damien Brunner for Folivari (France), Stéphan Roelants for Mélusine Productions (Luxembourg); Julianne Films is also a producer.
The film is slated to screen as the Opening Night film of the Animation Is Film festival in Los Angeles Friday, Oct. 22.
Read more about The Summit of the Gods in the December ’21 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon.
Additional voice cast have signed on to aid and abet Super Crooks, the new Netflix Anime series based on Mark Millar and artist Leinil Yu’s super-powered heist comic. The streamer also unveiled the main trailer today for the 13 x 30′ adaptation, directed by Motonobu Hori (Carole & Tuesday) and animated by studio Bones (Fullmetal Alchemist, Mob Psycho, My Hero Academia).
Super Crooks
Luck’s never been on their side, but this crew of small-time crooks with super powers recruited by none other than Johnny Bolt are rolling the dice on one last heist. Their target: A ruthless super-powered crime boss…. What can go wrong?
Voice cast (Japanese/English):
Johnny Bolt – Kenjiro Tsuda / Jonah Scott
Kasey Ann – Maaya Sakamoto / Abby Trott
Christopher Matts – (J) Hiroshi Yanaka
The Bastard – (E) Jason Marnocha
Carmine / The Heat – Yasushi Kimura / Doug Stone
The Gladiator – Pierre Taki / Beau Billingslea
Josh / The Ghost – Junichi Suwabe / Bill Butts
Salamander – (J) Hisao Egawa
TK McCabe – Eiji Takemoto / Bill Rogers
Roddy Diesel – Tetsu Inada / Bruno Oliver
Sammy Diesel – Subaru Kimura / Ben Pronsky
The Praetorian – Wataru Hatano / DC Douglas
Forecast – KENN / Zeno Robinson
Super Crooks
In addition to Hori, the show’s key creative staff includes writer/story editor Dai Sato, character designer Takashi Mitani (original graphic novel artist Yu serves as supervisor) and concept artist Stanislas Brunet. Super Crooks features music by TOWA TEI.
Independent U.K. animation producer A Productions has taken on an additional studio on the fourth floor of 15 Colston Street in Bristol to provide space for their growing workforce to expand. An internationally recognized, creative-led, multi-discipline studio with a strong track record of producing award-winning children’s content for broadcast and streaming, A Productions currently employs a 150-strong team.
“We are thrilled to have expanded into a second studio in Bristol, a city renowned as a hotbed of production for TV and film, as well as being home to an incredible wider creative community. This expansion will support our hugely talented and growing team, our strong pipeline of productions and allow us to invest further in new projects in development,” said Katherine McQueen, Managing Director.
The studio’s growing roster of productions entrusts the company with some of the world’s most iconic characters. Notable projects include JoJo & Gran Gran for CBeebies, the first U.K. preschool animation to center on a Black British family; Love Monster for CBeebies; The Tweenies for CBeebies; and The Monster at the End of This Story, Sesame Street’s first ever animated special for HBO Max.
The new studio is being used to produce animations for HBO Max, while A Productions’ existing studio in Bristol’s Old Market quarter is home to the CBeebies productions.
A Productions
Last month, A Productions together with Sesame Workshop— the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street — won a Royal Television Society (RTS) West of England award in the children’s and animation category for The Monster at the End of This Story, with JoJo & Gran Gran nominated in the same category. The Monster at the End of This Story is based on Sesame Workshop’s all-time best-selling picture book The Monster at the End of This Book. This is the official special of Sesame Street’s 51st season, which is currently available on HBO Max and coming soon to PBS.
“At A Productions, we pride ourselves in our creativity, the versatility of our design capabilities and content and our expertise in integrating animation with live action. It’s also hugely important to us that diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our ethos and approach,” McQueen added. “We are very proud to have picked up a win and nomination in the RTS West of England Awards recently. Both shows were produced during the upheaval of lockdown, and we owe huge thanks to our staff and creative teams who adapted to working from home and continued to deliver content to such a fantastic standard.”
A Productions
A Productions is also part of the team that picked up two Daytime Emmy Award nominations this year, as well as scooping an accolade at the Broadcast Awards together with BBC Children’s In-House Productions.
Established in 1985, A Productions is headed up by joint managing directors McQueen and BAFTA nominee Mark Taylor, who founded the company. The studio has worked with many leading U.K. and U.S. broadcasters and streamers — one of the few U.K. animation production companies to produce content for the U.S.
The studio, which offers bespoke training supporting people into the industry through non-traditional routes, specialises in traditional and digital 2D stop frame, CGI, AFX, Flash and live action, both in studio and on location. The team works on a full slate that ranges from short films to series production to interstitials and idents, as well as new projects in development.
Women in Animation is continuing to expand its ongoing WIA Scholarship Program with workshops, tutoring sessions, software packages and cash prizes for recipients of the 2022 cycle from industry partners Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, LAIKA, Toon Boom and Wacom. Additionally, WIA’s Bay Area and Montreal Chapters are providing special scholarship prizes for students who have ties to their areas.
The Women in Animation (WIA) Scholarship Program is devoted to furthering the academic efforts of deserving animation students who demonstrate artistic talent, a passion for animation, a financial need, and a promising future in our industry. Applicants who are pursuing various aspects of animation production from schools all over the world who have identified themselves as women, transgender or non-binary are encouraged to apply.
Details for each of the scholarship packages being offered by these partners are outlined below (in alphabetical order):
Animation Focus provides online animation tutoring on a one-to-one basis with a professional feature film character animator — one hour per week for four weeks. Three WIA scholarship recipients will each receive a place in a 2022 Animation Focus class.
Animation Mentor will offer one WIA Animation Scholarship winner a six-week workshop (a $699-$899 value) and will allow that awardee the choice of several courses. With their choice of 10 different classes, which includes: Maya Workshop: Animation Basics, Cartoony Animation for 3D Animators, 2D Animation for beginners, 2D Animation: Walk Cycles & Character Movement, Pre-Visualization basics for animators, Storyboarding Fundamentals, Intermediate Storyboarding, Visual Development: Principles of Design, Game Animation Fundamentals, and Digital Painting. The student winner will have many options to best personalize this educational opportunity.
Autodesk is supporting this year’s recipients with licenses of their 3D modeling and animation software. Eight winners will have the choice between one-year subscriptions of Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max.
Foundry will offer one WIA Animation winner, $2,000 in scholarship funds together with a permanent Production Collective license to its suite of products, including Nuke Studio, Katana, Mari and Modo. This licence will allow the winner access to Foundry’s industry-leading compositing, editorial, review, modeling, 3D painting, look development and lighting software.
LAIKA is joining the WIA Scholarship Program for the first time this year and they will be giving out two cash awards, up to $2,000 USD, to two deserving students who specialize in stop motion.
Toon Boom will provide both software and scholarship funds for the chosen winners of the WIA Scholarship Program, up to $2,000 USD. One-year bundled licenses of Storyboard Pro 20 and Harmony Premium 21 will be awarded to each finalist as well as funds to support their education.
Wacom is donating Cintiq Pro 16s to 10 WIA scholarship winners. Wacom understands the importance of having professional-level technology as it will set the talent apart for both freelancing work and their creative portfolios making them more hirable in the Animation industry.
The WIA Bay Area Chapter is offering a $1,500 USD scholarship to one scholarship recipient who is living and studying in the Bay Area. This opportunity is also open to students who are currently living in the Bay Area but are attending schools elsewhere remotely this year.
The WIA Montreal Chapter is working alongside Cinesite and ReelFX to offer a $1,000 CAD scholarship to one student who is currently studying in Montreal or living in Montreal but is taking online classes at schools in other countries.
“This is another exciting year for WIA to bring many new opportunities to the emerging talent!” said WIA’s Chair of Education, Hsiang Chin Moe. “As WIA is planning this year’s scholarship program, I am truly amazed by the amount of support we have received from these industry sponsors and because of their generosity, this year’s outreach is much wider with a focus for students who are specializing in technical art, stop motion and students who are currently studying/living in the Bay Area and Montreal. In addition to cash prizes and software packages, we expanded to provide one-on-one online tutoring and technology. On behalf of WIA, I am incredibly grateful for our industry partners who share the same passion as us to commit to furthering educational opportunities and resources to our students who are the future of our industry.”
“The local chapters of WIA felt the need to make a commitment to this year’s scholarship program as a way of supporting deserving students in their area. So many women and non-binary students feel as if they are not accomplished enough to apply and we want to shout out that this scholarship is about talent, passion and need so students should jump in and participate,” added Gail Currey, WIA’s Chair of Chapters.
The deadline to submit applications for the WIA Animation Scholarship is December 1, 2021 at 11:59 PM PDT. Eligibility requirements, application and other details can be found on the WIA website here, along with a 20% discount opportunity on WIA Student Memberships.
Scholarship winners will be announced in February, 2022.
A new half-hour animated musical special reuniting the colorful cast of DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls franchise will be bringing holiday cheer to TV screens next month! Starring Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, Trolls Holiday in Harmony premieres Friday, November 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
As the holidays near, Queen Poppy (Kendrick) plans the first annual Trolls Kingdom Secret Holiday Gift Swap. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when she and Branch (Timberlake) draw each other’s name. Meanwhile, Tiny Diamond (Kenan Thompson) comes down with a bad case of writers’ block trying to think of a special holiday rap for his dad.
The special will include four original songs, and also features the voices of Rachel Bloom as Barb, Ron Funches as Cooper, Kunal Nayyar as Guy Diamond, Anderson Paak as Prince D, Anthony Ramos as King Trollex, Ester Dean as Legsly, Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Bliss Marina, Karan Soni as Riff and Trolls World Tour director Walt Dohrn.
Trolls Holiday in Harmony is written and directed by Sean Charmatz (Tiny Diamond Goes Back to School, Pinky Malinky, SpongeBob SquarePants) and Tim Heitz (head of story, Trolls World Tour, Trolls Holiday) with Gina Shay and Walt Dohrn serving as the executive producers.
Following its premiere on NBC, Trolls Holiday in Harmony will be available to own on digital and DVD on Nov. 30, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. RCA Records will release a digital soundtrack for the special on Nov. 26 to coincide with the TV debut.
Netflix has defrosted a first-look clip for the upcoming seasonal special, Waffles + Mochi’s Holiday Feast. The clip introduces viewers to the food-centric “Freezie Day” and puts our puppet heros in a pickle when they receive some hungry holiday guests. The 25-minute special premieres November 23.
Waffles and Mochi are home for the holidays in the Land of Frozen Food when Steve the Mop calls asking about their holiday traditions. Overeager as always, Waffles makes up a holiday, Freezie Day, and says it is all about the food! Steve invites himself (and all their friends from the grocery store) over to celebrate, but Waffles and Mochi have nothing to feed their guests at this impromptu party. Mochi ventures out on MagiCart to gather food for the party while Waffles distracts the guests at home. Hijinks ensue, along with trips to Norway and Hawaii! In the end, Waffles and Mochi learn that holiday traditions are about much more than food — they’re about being together and making memories with the people you love.
From executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, Waffles + Mochi’s Holiday Feast is puppeted by Michelle Zamora (Waffles), Russ Walko (Mochi), Diona Elise Burnett (Steve the Mop) and Jonathan Kidder (Busy Boy), and features Michelle Obama, Tracee Ellis Ross, Chef Samin Nosrat and Lyric Lewis.
Erika Thormahlen and Jeremy Konner are showrunners and exec producers on the show; Tonia Davis is also an executive producer. Waffles + Mochi is a live-action puppet series augment by animation from Six Point Harness.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has voted 17 students as winners of the 48th Student Academy Awards competition. The Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards in the seven award categories will be presented by Oscar-winning filmmaker and 1992 Student Academy Award winner Pete Docter, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, and filmmakers Marielle Heller and Nanfu Wang in a virtual program highlighting the winners and their films on Thursday, October 21.
This year, the Student Academy Awards competition received a total of 1,404 submissions from 210 domestic and 126 international colleges and universities. The 2021 winners join the ranks of such past Student Academy Award winners as Patricia Cardoso, Cary Fukunaga, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen and Robert Zemeckis.
Animation category winners hailed from established institutes CalArts, Ringling and MoPA, alongside first-time SAA-winning school Cleveland Institute of Art.
Hosted by Amandla Stenberg, the 2021 ceremony is now available to view here.
Animation (Domestic Film Schools) Gold: Unforgotten, Sujin Kim, California Institute of the Arts
This experimental CG animated documentary conveys the lifelong after-effects and painful memories of Korean women who suffered as forced “Comfort Women” (sex slaves) in “Comfort Stations” under the Imperial Japanese military occupation during World War II. Four late Korean victims give oral testimonies in a manner that each victim’s personal experience is connected to the next story, which together form one huge tragic tale about horrible sexual violence imposed over unprotected women during the wartime.
Silver:Barking Orders, Alexander Tullo, Ringling College of Art & Design
In this texture-rich CG comedy, the Queen’s corgi ascends the throne, and goes barking mad with power.
Bronze: Slumber with Snakes, Teagan Barrone, Cleveland Institute of Art
In 1921, an 11-year-old African-American boy is separated from his friend while being chased by a fuming racist mob. Finding a cave, he is no longer in danger from the mob, but from the rattlesnakes looming in the dark. Based on a true story.
Animation (International Film Schools)
Gold:Les Chaussures de Louis (Louis’s Shoes), Théo Jamin, Kayu Leung and Marion Philippe, MoPA (France)
Louis, an eight and a half years old autistic kid, arrives in his new school and he is about to introduce himself.
Alternative/Experimental (Domestic and International Film Schools)
Gold:Frozen Out, Hao Zhou, University of Iowa
Documentary (Domestic Film Schools)
Gold:When They’re Gone, Kristen Hwang, University of California, Berkeley
Silver:Eagles Rest in Liangshan, Bohao Liu, New York University
Bronze: Not Just a Name, De’Onna Young-Stephens, University of Southern California
Documentary (International Film Schools)
Gold:Why Didn’t You Stay for Me?, Milou Gevers, Nederlandse Filmacademie (The Netherlands)
Narrative (Domestic Film Schools)
Gold:When the Sun Sets, Phumi Morare, Chapman University
Silver: Close Ties to Home Country, Akanksha Cruczynski, Columbia College Chicago
Bronze: No Law, No Heaven, Kristi Hoi, University of California, Los Angeles
Narrative (International Film Schools)
Gold:Tala’vision, Murad Abu Eisheh, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg (Germany)
Silver: Adisa, Simon Denda, Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (Germany)
Bronze:Bad Omen, Salar Pashtoonyar, York University (Canada)
2021 Student Academy Award winners.
All Student Academy Award-winning films are eligible to compete for 2021 Oscars in the Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film or Documentary Short Subject category. Past winners have gone on to receive 65 Oscar nominations and have won or shared 14 awards.
The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work.
Walt Disney Animation Studios welcomes global Latin superstar Maluma to the Encanto voice cast. Maluma lends his voice to town heartthrob, Mariano, the soon-to-be fiancé of Mirabel’s perfect and poised sister Isabela.
“Encanto is such a magical movie,” said Maluma. “I’m from Colombia and the story is about a Colombian family. I’m proud to be part of this beautiful story. It means so much to me as I’m very passionate about sharing my country’s cultural values and story globally.”
Bringing an undeniable presence and memorable sound to the stage, Juan Luis Londoño Arias, known to his fans as Maluma, has skyrocketed onto the music scene in the last 10 years. Born and raised in Medellín, Colombia, the singing/songwriting/acting powerhouse has crossed over into the American, Asian, Latin American, European and Middle Eastern markets. He has released six studio albums including his most recent, #7DJ – Seven Days in Jamaica, and has been recognized by the Latin Grammys, Billboard and Latin Billboard Awards, the VMAs and MTV, among others. Next year, Maluma continues his acting career in Marry Me, alongside Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson.
“I’m proud to be part of this beautiful story!” @maluma joins the cast of Disney’s #Encanto as Mariano, the town heartthrob! See it in theaters this Thanksgiving! pic.twitter.com/RA65TP0f7y
Encanto tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Each child has been blessed with a magic gift unique to them — each child except Mirabel. But when the family’s home is threatened, Mirabel may be their only hope.
The voice cast includes Stephanie Beatriz as Mirabel; María Cecilia Botero as Mirabel’s grandmother Alma (a.k.a. Abuela); John Leguizamo as Mirabel’s estranged Uncle Bruno; Angie Cepeda and Wilmer Valderrama as Mirabel’s parents, Julieta and Agustín; and Diane Guererro and Jessica Darrow as Mirabel’s sisters, Isabela and Luisa. Also lending their voices are Carolina Gaitán and Mauro Castillo as Mirabel’s aunt and uncle, Pepa and Félix; and Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz and Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Mirabel’s cousins Dolores, Camilo and Antonio, respectively.
The movie features all-new songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Moana) and 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, p.g.a. and Clark Spencer, p.g.a. Castro Smith and Bush are screenwriters on the film. Germaine Franco composed the original score.
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Encanto opens in theaters November 24. Read more about the film in the December ’21 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon.
Multiple Daytime Emmy Award-winning Hulu Original Series Animaniacs escapes the Warner Watertower for an all-new, 13-episode second season on November 5. The streamer today released the official season trailer and key art, offering a rapid-fire preview of the comedy chaos that awaits.
Yakko, Wakko and Dot return for an all-new season of this iconic, family-friendly series with something for everyone: pop culture parodies, musical showstoppers, takedowns of historical baddies … and even some important safety tips. Join the Warners and Pinky and the Brain as they wreak havoc everywhere they go, from the Warner Bros. lot to an international beauty pageant and all the way into outer space. And keep an eye out for season one favorites Starbox & Cindy, as well as some rejected Animaniacs characters that were left on the cutting room floor.
The rebooted Animaniacs features the voices of Rob Paulsen (Yakko, Pinky), Tress MacNeille (Dot), Jess Harnell (Wakko) and Maurice LaMarche (Brain), reprising their roles from the original 1990s toon.
Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer of the series, with Sam Register, President, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, Amblin Television Co-Presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey also serving as executive producers. Wellesley Wild (The Orville, Family Guy) serves as showrunner and executive producer. Gabe Swarr (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness) serves as co-executive producer.
Animaniacs is produced by Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation.
As he prepares to hit U.K. cinemas exclusively from October 29, the punch-happy puppet Chuck Steel has a surprise in store … an even more outrageous trailer for his feature film debut in Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires. Dropping on the eve of the UK Premiere in London’s Leicester Square (Thursday, Oct. 21), the new spot teases more explosions, punches, blood, laughs and shocks than you can shake your Holy Coffee at.
It’s not 1985 anymore…it’s 1986, and Chuck Steel is ‘the best God damn cop on the force.’ But even this maverick, renegade, loose-cannon, lone wolf, cop on the edge, who doesn’t play by the rules, has his work cut out when he discovers an evil is about to descend on the city of Los Angeles: the scourge of the TRAMPIRES – mutant hybrids of vampire and tramp!
From Animortal Studio and Blue Dolphin Films, Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires will screen exclusively in theaters across the U.K. (including Showcase, Vue, Cineworld and Odeon cinemas), with a special “Insider Members” preview on Oct. 24 at select Showcase locations. The 90-minute flicks is rated for ages 15 and up.
From the fevered imagination of two-time BAFTA-winning writer/director, Mike Mort (Gogs), and featuring the voices of U.K. comedy legends Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and Paul Whitehouse (The Fast Show) alongside Mort’s, this homage to ’80s B-movie excess is the first feature from Animortal Studio since it was founded in 2016 by Immortal Pictures and Animatrix.
The Fantasia Gold Audience Award-winning Night of the Trampires was filmed in a 23K sq. ft. repurposed warehouse in Bridgend, Wales, with the ambitious project requiring over 400 puppets to be created. The production team assembled included animators who have worked on international stop-motion hits such as Chicken Run, ParaNorman and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Check out a behind-the-scenes sneak peek here.
Magic Machine, a Los Angeles- and Austin-based creative studio dedicated to imagining and developing digitally native content on the Ethereum blockchain, is partnering with Titmouse, the award-winning animation production company known for acclaimed adult animation including Big Mouth, The Venture Bros. and Midnight Gospel. The companies will develop and produce for television Forgotten Runes Wizard’s Cult, an NFT universe composed of over 10,000 unique Wizards, each with its own story influenced by the exclusive NFT owners themselves. It is one of the first Endemic NFT IPs to be developed for the small screen to embody the doctrine of the blockchain — providing holders decentralized ownership of their characters.
“There are few things I dig in this world more than Wizards and Cults. When the guys at Magic Machine called me about developing an animated show based on Wizard’s Cult, I was all in,” said Chris Prynoski, Titmouse President & Founder. “I love that they used their big old, wrinkled brains to conjure up the stories first and then attach badass, pixelated art to their immense universe of characters. We are going to make some batshit bananas cartoons together. Those Wizard holders are not going to know what hit them.”
“When building out this NFT project, we realized early on that a collection of 10K characters can be a storytelling vehicle unto itself. Our intention was to layer as much lore into these characters as possible with the collection strongly hinting at a world underneath. When the collection sold out, our holders immediately began creating their own stories and artwork with the characters, and the Forgotten Runes World exploded with life. We are building a collaborative legendarium, and because of blockchain technology, our Wizard holders can truly own these characters, and thus become them. It’s role-playing at a whole new level of authenticity and intimacy. Our goals now are to heighten and reinforce these emotional bonds by putting these characters into as many media expressions as possible, the animated series being one we are very excited about. Chris and his studio were at the top of our list of partners, and we can’t wait to get started,” said @ElfJTrul and @Dotta, the co-creators behind Forgotten Runes.
Forgotten Runes Wizard avatar.
Magic Machine is creating a brand-new model that turns legacy media/IP ownerships on its head by granting commercial rights to its Wizard holders and tying appearances of Wizards in a show to the actual holders. In the short time since its inception, the Forgotten Runes community has become one of the most committed and creative in the NFT space with art, poems and animations being created by fans and holders daily. Where other brands allow consumers to be fans of the work, the Forgotten Runes NFT holders personally identify as their Wizards.
The founders are a mix of storytellers committed to the fantasy genre who are also highly sophisticated artists and coders.
Prynoski, @ElfJTrul and @Dotta will executive produce the series, with Wizard holders taking on a role in the evolution of the stories chosen and set to be produced.
Duolingo today announced that veteran children’s television executive Linda Simensky has joined the company as Head of Animation and Scripted Content. In the newly created position, Simensky will lead the company’s efforts to create scripted and character-driven stories featuring Duolingo’s original cast of characters, from original animation to the writing efforts for Duolingo’s hit Stories product and its childhood literacy app, Duolingo ABC. Simensky will report to VP of Studios + Content, former YouTube executive Timothy Shey.
“Over the past few years, Duolingo has been busy adding a whole cast of characters and hundreds of stories to their app, and it’s astonishing how many millions of people in countries all over the world are engaging with them every day,” said Simensky. “I’m excited by the storytelling opportunities that are possible as Duolingo creates stories for learners of all ages around the world.”
Simensky joins Duolingo from PBS Kids, where she oversaw the development of a diverse lineup of shows like Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Molly of Denali and Alma’s Way. Before joining PBS, Simensky was Senior Vice President of Original Animation for Cartoon Network, where she oversaw development and series production of The Powerpuff Girls, among others. She began her career working for nine years at Nickelodeon, where she helped build the animation department and launch the popular series Rugrats, Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Linda Simensky
Burbank, Calif.-based Ghost VFX, part of the Streamland Media community of post production businesses, announced Patrick Davenport has been appointed President. Davenport most recently served as COO at Method Studios, a division of Company 3. He previously held the same role at MPC Advertising. With 30 years of industry knowledge that includes producing visual effects for commercials and features, Davenport’s leadership is grounded in support for the talent and a passion for storytelling. He led teams behind the scenes of such notable recent titles as Top Gun: Maverick, The Witches, Loki and For All Mankind. Ghost VFX announced further exec moves:
Previous prez Tom Kendall has chosen to lead the company’s business development and outreach as Head of Business Development, Sales and Marketing. This new role harnesses his expertise and passion for building alliances with the talented people and companies creating compelling episodic stories for audiences everywhere.
Paul Richards has joined Ghost VFX as EVP of Technology. He brings 20 years of technical and business experience in visual effects, having successfully led teams in structuring enterprise-level architectural design, development, and operations onto a secure unified pipeline. Richards most recently held the position of CTO of VFX at Method Studios, where he was responsible for the company’s brands serving major motion pictures, streaming platforms, broadcast TV, advertising and video games.
Crys Forsyth-Smith has been named EVP of Global Production. She joins Ghost VFX from Method Studios, where she served as VP of Digital Production Operations. Her extensive background in studio and production management in visual effects includes over 20 years of collaborating with filmmakers and clients to achieve their vision.
Patrick Davenport
Herschend Entertainment Studios (Chuggington, Splash & Bubbles) has hired industry veteran and former Jim Henson Company executive Sarah Maizes as Senior Director of Development and Executive Producer. In her new role, Maizes will work alongside and report to Julie Phillips, Vice President of Development and Production, in the creation and cultivation of the Company’s development and production slate. Maizes will work synergistically within the larger Herschend ecosystem of businesses to identify, develop and produce franchise projects that fit the HES mission of creating wholesome entertainment for television, film, publishing and other media.
Prior to joining HES, Maizes founded Cheeky Squirrel Productions, where she created and developed projects with award-winning author/illustrators Dan Yaccarino and Nick Bruel. While at Henson, she was responsible for the development and production of Harriet the Spy (Apple TV+), Duff’s Happy Fun Bake Time (Discovery/Food Network); Dinosaur Train: The Movie (Universal/PBS), Dinosaur Train (PBS), Dot (Sprout/Hulu) and Doozers (Sprout/Hulu). At Amazon Studios, she oversaw development and production for the first season of Dino Dana and season 3 of Tumble Leaf.
The former WME literary agent has written four award-winning children’s books, most recently Atticus Caticus (Candlewick Press), as well as three humor books for Berkley Books. Maizes was a sketch comedy writer at the Acme Comedy Theatre and a former stand-up comedian. She will be based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and three children.
Sarah Maizes
Nexus Studios strengthens its real-time animation operations with the addition of Kim Adams as Director of Real-Time Production. In this role, Adams will lead real-time animation production across original TV and film, branded content and immersive content for the award-winning studio as it continues to grow on a global scale. These projects include a time travel mini-series led by Oscar winner Patrick Osborne made in Unreal Engine and supported by Epic, announced at Real-time Conference 2021.
Adams has previously held leadership posts at Facebook’s Oculus Story Studio, where she worked on the Emmy-winning narrative VR project Wolves in the Walls, and as producer at Google’s Spotlight Stories, where she produced the pioneering VR projects Rain or Shine with Nexus Studios and Special Delivery with Aardman Animations. Adams was also a producer at Pixar on a multitude of short films including content for the beloved Toy Story and Cars franchises. More recently she co-founded the social VR startup, Adventure Lab. Adams is a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, The Television Academy, The Producers Guild of America and Women in Animation.
Kim Adams
Emmy-nominated studio Hero4Hire Creative has tapped Abby Duel as Associate Creative Director. Having worked in-house as an animator prior, Duel kept in touch with the Boston-based studio for contract and freelance work throughout her career. Hero4Hire Creative Partner/ Executive Producer Allison Kramer reached out to Duel directly to fill the ACD role. As part of her new role, Duelwill oversee animation projects from the studio for clients including PBS, WGBH, Sesame Workshop, Hasbro and many more.
A Minnesota native driven by a passion for the arts for an early age, Duel discovered animation in a preparatory school and went on to attain a BFA in animation at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Shortly after graduating she cut her teeth in the industry as an animator for Copernicus. Duel has worked on a variety of projects including CBS’ Star Trek: Lower Decks, Disney’s Pickle and Peanut, Amazon’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and several commercial spots for Hasbro’s Angry Birds toy line. In 2015 she won Best Student Film at the Minnesota Electronic Theater Showcase. The multitalented artist specializes in 2D animation; she is proficient in Adobe Animate and Toon Boom and has worked on projects with studios all across North America including Titmouse, MAKE Visual, Copernicus and Rooster Teeth.
Abby Duel
The recently launched Technicolor Creative Studios has announced the appointment of Jeaneane Falkler as Global President of Technicolor Games, a key division within its portfolio. The appointment comes as TCS looks to further establish its leading position as the top providers of VFX, animation and creative technology solutions to the gaming and entertainment industries, by investing in talent, technology and growth opportunities globally. Technicolor Games has produced over 75 titles in the last few years, including Fifa 22, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption.
Previously of Lionbridge Games, Microsoft and VMC, Falkler is a prolific leader within the gaming space, having held numerous executive roles leading global business strategy, service innovation, sales and account management, and operations supervision. She is known for building and retaining high performing global teams focused on increasing revenue and market share in the games industry. Falkler joins Technicolor Games to focus on the offering’s global footprint, growing market share and the delivery of award-winning creative output.
Jeaneane Falkler
Mr. Wolf, a visual effects and finishing studio with facilities in Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver and Atlanta, is launching a division focused on commercials and other advertising media. The new venture will feature a brand new office in Los Angeles and be led by veteran Creative Director & VFX Lead Matt Motal and Executive Producer Pravina Sippy. The company is assembling an elite artist and support team who will provide high-end, boutique-style services to agencies and brands. Mr. Wolf’s VFX work has primarily centered on episodic content and independent features. Recent credits include dozens of projects across all major streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Hulu as well as network shows for CBS, FX and CW.
Motal and Sippy were formerly with Harbor Picture Company in Santa Monica and each brings more than a decade of experience in visual effects for advertising. Motal previously served as Senior Flame Artist at ArsenalFX, Santa Monica. His background also includes posts as Flame Artist at Mirada Studios and Motion Theory. His credits include work for Toyota, Dr Pepper, Target, Samsung and the NFL. Sippy previously spent 11 years at ArsenalFX where she was Senior Producer for visual effects and color.
Matt Motal & Pravina Sippy
Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA-winning creative studio Framestore announced the appointment of Michael Stein as Chief Technology Officer. Stein’s career spans VFX, games, animation and theme park rides, and has seen him delivering transformational tech solutions for some of the world’s biggest creative projects. His new role with Framestore will see him driving the company’s global strategy and guiding the company’s R&D advances across areas such as real-time, machine learning and cloud-based technology.
Stein most recently served as Director, Technology Studio for Walt Disney Imagineering, where he enabled the design and build of a multi-billion dollar portfolio of attractions that incorporated up-to-the-minute tech such as AR, VR and real time. Prior to this, he worked for the likes of Pixar and MPC, bringing his technical expertise and strategic approach to software engineering to projects such as Guardians of the Galaxy, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and The Jungle Book.
Michael Stein
OTT Industry veteran Vinayan Verenkar joins the Playground TV leadership team in Gothenburg, Sweden as Chief Technology Officer. Verenkar brings 14 years of experience in the OTT industry to his new post at the multilingual streaming platform, which powers 18 kids’ channels with 140 animated shows in eight languages across multiple European territories.
In 2009, Verenkar moved to Los Angeles and joined Fox Networks Group to manage MySpace followed by FOXNOW (OTT). In 2012 Vinayan joined Comcast-NBCUniversal to lead Xfinity on-demand and advanced advertising for live and VOD content across connected devices. In 2015 he successfully launched Network18’s OTT platforms across PAN India and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Playground he worked in the leadership team of Astro as the Chief OTT Officer for Astro Go (AVOD) and TribeTV (SVOD). Verenkar has earned bachelors and masters in Computer Science from California State University and MBA from Wharton Business School in the United States.
Vinayan Verenkar
Design-led content creation studio Ataboy, with offices in NYC and New Zealand, is pleased to announce its partnership with creative talent agency Devine, led by Sara Barnthouse, Carleigh Finch, Taryn Leonard and Robin Reed, for representation on the West Coast. The announcement comes on the heels of their recent partnership with Sharon & Perry for Midwest representation, as Ataboy continues to expand its national and international reach as well as its production, animation and VFX capabilities. In addition to their campaigns for innovative brands like Adidas, White Castle, Progressive, IKEA and GE and their community involvement with projects like LA Galaxy’s “Amor Eterno” and the Art Cake dance series, Ataboy has a slew of exciting things in the works over the next few months and into 2022.
On October 20, 1999, Toei Animation launched Captain Monkey D. Luffy and his colorful crew of Straw Hat pirates on a voyage that, as of today, has spanned 22 years and created one of the most beloved global anime franchises in history. And in just one month, anime’s favorite pirates will set sail together on the Thousand Sunny for the history-making 1,000th episode of One Piece, which will stream on November 20 in the U.S. and Canada on Funimation; in Germany and Russia on Wakanim; and on their respective broadcast schedules in Australia and New Zealand.
Based on the top-selling manga title of all time by creator Eiichiro Oda, Toei Animation’s One Piece anime series spans more than 990 episodes to date since it first debuted on Japanese TV in October 1999. This iconic series features pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat crew on their epic quest to find “One Piece,” the legendary treasure of the former King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger.
One Piece‘s global pop culture status is the crowning achievement for this anime franchise, which encompasses theatrical films, home videos, video games, and an ever-expanding catalog of licensed merchandise that includes accessories, toys, novelties, furniture, housewares and apparel.
Since 2014, Oda and One Piece have been encapsulated in The Guinness Book of World Records for “most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author.” To date, the manga has sold over 490 million copies across 58 countries and regions worldwide and is the only manga to run an initial print of volumes of 3+ million copies continuously for more than 10 years since 2010. Monkey D. Luffy was also an official ambassador for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.
“The 1,000th episode of One Piece is truly a history-making moment not only for the franchise, but also for the millions of fans around the world that have supported the series over the last 22 years,” said Masayuki Endo, President & CEO of Toei Animation Inc. “We’re excited to mark this major milestone for One Piece and look forward to celebrating it together with fans at our special global livestream event on November 20.”
“It isn’t every day you get to celebrate such a respected series hit such a grand milestone like this,” shared Asa Suehira, Chief Content Officer of Funimation Global Group. “One Piece has been a huge part of the Funimation family over time and we’re so proud to be a part of the ongoing journey Toei Animation continues to produce.”
To mark this momentous occasion of 1,000 episodes, a celebratory virtual live streamed event will be broadcast across the Funimation and Toei Animation YouTube channels simultaneously, as well as the official One Piece Facebook page. This virtual event will be hosted by YouTuber RogersBase on November 20 at 3 p.m. PST and will feature free streaming of episodes 998 and 999, prize giveaways, fan videos and more.
In addition to the live stream, earlier this month as part of the One Piece 1,000th episode celebration, Toei Animation and Fathom Events announced a special two-night One Piece Film: Strong World theatrical event on November 7 (English Dub) and November 9 (English Sub) in select theaters across the United States. This will be the first-ever U.S. theatrical release of the 2009 movie written by creator Eiichiro Oda and 10th film in the One Piece franchise. For more information, visit fathomevents.com/onepiece.
One Piece features the voices of Mayumi Tanaka (Japanese) / Colleen Clinkenbeard (English) as Monkey D. Luffy, Kazuya Nakai / Christopher R. Sabat as Roronoa Zoro, Akemi Okamura / Luci Christian as Nami, Kappei Yamaguchi / Sonny Strait as Usopp, Hiroaki Hirata / Eric Vale as Vinsmoke Sanji, Ikue Ōtani / Brina Palencia as Tony Tony Chopper, Yuriko Yamaguchi / Stephanie Young as Nico Robin, Kazuki Yao / Patrick Seitz as Franky, Chō / Ian Sinclair as Brook, and Katsuhisa Hōki / Daniel Baugh as Jimbei.
Today, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced that the World Premiere of Illumination’s Sing 2, the new animated feature film written and directed by Garth Jennings and produced by Chris Meledandri (Illumination founder & CEO) and Janet Healy, will join AFI FEST 2021 as a Red Carpet Premiere. The film, in theaters December 22, will screen in-person at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre on Sunday, November 14.
In the new chapter from Illumination’s film franchise, ever-optimistic Buster Moon and his all-star cast of performers prepare to launch their most dazzling stage show yet … all in the glamorous entertainment capital of the world, Redshore City. There’s just one hitch: They first have to persuade the world’s most reclusive rock star — played by global music icon and Academy Award nominee Bono — to join them.
With more than 40 contemporary and classic hit songs, electrifying performances and breathtaking artistry, Sing 2 serves as an emotional reminder about the importance of dreaming big and the power of music to heal.
Sing 2 features all of the characters audiences fell in love with in the first film (voiced by Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, Academy Award nominee Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll and Garth Jennings), plus new characters played by music superstars Academy Award nominee Pharrell Williams and Halsey, actors Bobby Cannavale and Letitia Wright, and comedians Eric André and Chelsea Peretti.
AFI FEST 2021 takes place from November 10-14 in Los Angeles. The World Premiere of tick, tick…BOOM! directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda will open the festival and King Richard directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green will close the festival. Additional Red Carpet Premieres include the World Premieres of Academy Award winner Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised and Academy Award winner Benjamin Cleary’s feature directorial debut Swan Song, Parallel Mothers directed by Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar and The Power of the Dog, directed by Academy Award winner Jane Campion.
Additional animation highlights include documentary The Train Station, based on director Lyana Patrick’s powerful family story of love and survival at Lejac Indian Residential School; and a number of moving shorts including Yoriko Mizushiri’s Anxious Body, Sasha Lee’s Misery Loves Company, Gobelins graduate film My Friend Who Shines in the Night; and mixed media works like Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen and Soft Animals by Renee Zhan.
This year’s hybrid festival will feature both in-person screenings and events, as well as virtual screenings, showcasing transformative stories from groundbreaking artists. With health and safety being top priority, AFI FEST 2021 will require all festival-goers who attend in-person events and/or screenings to be fully vaccinated. Top Sponsors for AFI FEST 2021 include AT&T, Apple Original Films, National Geographic Documentary Films and Dell.
Passes to AFI FEST 2021 and individual tickets are currently available on fest.afi.com. AFI Members receive exclusive discounts and benefits to the festival. To become an AFI member, visit AFI.com/join.
Europe’s premiere animation project pitch event Cartoon Forum returned to Toulouse last month for three in-person days, with extra time added through the event’s digital platform. Building on previous announcements, CARTOON has issued a full report on this year’s gathering.
In 2021,1,018 professionals (867 in Toulouse, 151 online) from all over the world – including 267 buyers – were able to get to know the next generation of European animation series. Following the onsite event, Cartoon Forum activities continued online until October 15 with Catch-up sessions, a follow-up activity open to all participants, including those that were unable to travel to France.
Complying with the current health measures, the opening of the 32nd Cartoon Forum was celebrated on September 20 with a welcome dinner held at the Pierre Baudis Convention Centre, a long-awaited reunion after last year’s break due to the health crisis. Welcoming words were made by Annick Maes (General Director of Cartoon), Jean-Luc Moudenc (Mayor of Toulouse and President of Toulouse Métropole), Claire Fita (Vice President in charge of Culture at the Occitanie Region), Olivier Henrard (General Director of the Centre National Du Cinéma et de l’image Animée (CNC), and Luis Chaby Vaz, President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual of Portugal (ICA), this edition’s Spotlight country.
Noticeable trends among this year’s selection, comprising 84 projects from 21 countries representing a total budget of 326.1M€, include increasing titles aimed at preschoolers (49%, 41 projects) and young adults/adults (17%, 14 projects); the dominance of 2D animation in Europe (56%) and steady growth of 3D (28%, vs. 20% last year). A number of projects featured female leads, with prominent themes including ecological concerns, diversity and inclusion. Projects based on publishing titles and animated documentaries were also noted.
As previously reported, the most-attended pitches (onsite online) were all French projects: Mister Crocodile (Joann Sfar’s Magical Society), Me and My Compost (Vivement Lundi! & Superprod), Under the School (Ellipsanime Productions & Timpel Pictures), Living with Dad (Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel in coproduction with Belgium’s Belvision) and Freaked Out (Autour de Minuit & FKLG).
Top projects from new producers.
Having crunched the numbers, Cartoon Forum further reveals the projects presented by new producers that made the biggest splash:
Space Ham (MiniCosmos & Dandelooo, Denmark and France).
Both What It Takes and Space Ham have previously participated in Cartoon Springboard, the pitching event for new talents annually held in Valencia, Spain since 2019.
As the Spotlight country, Portugal took center stage at the 32nd Cartoon Forum. With a delegation led by the Institute for Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA) and the Portugal Film Commission (PFC), the country featured five projects at the Forum:
Biriki (Sparkle Animation/Abano Producións)
Pete & Berne’s (Sardinha em Lata)
The Adventures of Princess P (Ukbar Filmes)
The Saskatoons (Spain’s Pikkukala in co-production with Sardinha em Lata)
What’s It All About? (Take It Easy)
Throughout the event, participants had the opportunity to learn about Portugal’s main animation production companies and the economic incentives they offer to produce and co-produce in their territory. The country also hosted some social activities, including a farewell dinner at Le Manoir du Prince.
Projects from Portugal.
Beyond the pitches and parties, upcoming animation professionals enjoyed their own space in Cartoon Forum’s Coaching Program, which gives students from animation schools, based both in the region and in the Spotlight country, the possibility of discovering the animation industry from the inside. Cartoon Forum also helped with the organisation of Les Toons Débarquent!, a festival organized by the association ACREAMP to celebrate the richness of animation in Toulouse and Occitanie.
As announced during the show, the 2021 Cartoon Tributes winners — as voted by professionals registered for the Cartoon Forum — were Belgium’s Ketnet-VRT (Broadcaster of the Year), France’s MIAM! Animation (Distributor/Investor of the Year) and TAT Productions (Producer of the Year).
The main partners of Cartoon Forum Toulouse are Creative Europe MEDIA, CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée), Occitanie Region, Mairie de Toulouse, Toulouse Métropole, Casino Barrière and France Télévisions.
The oldest Squid in the Game returns for one last blast starting Sunday, November 7 on Adult Swim. Yup, Squidbillies is squishin’ out its 13th and final season, debuting two new episodes each week starting at midnight (ET/PT).
Season 13 brings back Early, Rusty and Granny Cuyler for 10 brand new episodes of jackwoods backassery. Sorry – backwoods jackassery. The new season features all-new covers of the show’s opening theme song performed by Willie Nelson, Amanda Shires, Sturgill Simpson and more.
In addition to new cover artists, the search for a new Early Cuyler has been underway, with numerous voice auditions held. Stay tuned to find out who it shall be!
Squidbillies is a quarter-hour animated comedy series that follows the Cuyler Family, America’s favorite rural hell-raising cephalopods who call the mountains of fictional Dougal County, Georgia their home. The show is written and produced by Dave Willis, Jim Fortier and Alan Steadman. All 123 previous episodes are available to stream on HBO Max, so you can catch up!
During this year’s global virtual Adult Swim Festival (November 12-13), head back to the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Squidbillies panel, featuring series creators and cast as they reflect on memorable squids moments and celebrate the final season. Fans can stream the event exclusively on the Adult Swim YouTube Channel. (www.adultswim.com/presents/festival)
Squidbillies first premiered on Adult Swim in 2005 and is one of the longest-running animated shows on the network today.
A second season of Disney Junior’s whimsical animated preschool series Mickey Mouse Funhouse, has been greenlit following its successful debut in August. Featuring Mickey Mouse and his pals Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto, and new character Funny the talking house, the series has garnered nearly 12 million video views on Disney Junior YouTube, with new episodes ranking #1 on the Disney Junior channel.
The first six episodes of season one will begin streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday, November 10, with new episodes continuing to debut Fridays on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
The first season’s guest cast includes John Stamos (Big Shot) as Captain Salty Bones, a pirate captain; Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Cheezel, another member of the weasel trio; Jaime Camil (Jane the Virgin) as Rocket Mouse, a heroic mouse-stronaut; and Amanda Seales (Insecure) as Annie, a friendly giant. They join the previously announced Jenifer Lewis (black-ish) as Wheezelene, the leader of the troublemaking weasel trio, and Grammy Award nominee Mickey Guyton as country singer Wanda the Wandrin’ Warbler.
“The enduring love for Mickey Mouse and friends continues to be shared from generation to generation, and we are eager to provide more opportunities for preschool audiences and their families to connect with these beloved characters,” said Joe D’Ambrosia, SVP Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior. “We look forward to showcasing new fun-filled destinations in Season 2 for young viewers to explore and expand their imaginations.”
Geared to kids ages 2-7 and their families, Mickey Mouse Funhouse features Funny, an enchanted talking playhouse voiced by Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), who leads the Sensational Six on magical adventures. The series demonstrates imaginative play and imparts age-appropriate social and emotional lessons about friendship, creativity and ingenuity. Series brand extensions include children’s books, playsets, figures, apparel, plush and home decor, which are currently available at shopDisney.com, Disney store and retailers nationwide.
Phil Weinstein is executive producer and supervising director, Thomas Hart is co-executive producer and supervising story editor, and Mark Drop is story editor, all from the Emmy Award-nominated Mickey and the Roadster Racers. Emmy Award winner Alan Bodner (Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure) serves as art director, and Steve Walby (Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures) is producer. Beau Black (The Lion Guard) is the series composer and co-writes the original songs with Loren Hoskins (Jake and the Never Land Pirates). The series is a production of Disney Television Animation.
Yogi, Cindy, Boo-Boo and all your favorite Hanna-Barbera characters are celebrating the spookiest time of year with an-all new Halloween-themed episode of Jellystone! “Spell Book” promises tricks, treats and plenty of outrageous Halloween misadventures that only the citizens of Jellystone can conjure up. The 11-minute musical episode of the hit Warner Bros. Animation series premieres Thursday, October 21 on HBO Max.
While helping the overworked Winsome Witch (voiced by Lesley Nicol) prepare for Halloween, Augie (Georgie Kidder), Yakky (Katie Grober) and Shag (Ron Funches) perform a spell that threatens to ruin Halloween, unless they can reverse it. In the newly debuted sneak-peek clip for “Spell Book,” the local characters are getting into the spirit (while Winsome Witch feels the pressure) as they sing the praises of a “perfect, perfect Jellystone Halloween!”
Jellystone! is set in a quaint little community chock-full of colorful characters. It would be a peaceful place, if it weren’t for the hilarious personalities constantly getting themselves, and the town, into trouble! Yogi Bear, Cindy Bear and Boo Boo are the medical staff at Jellystone Hospital, Jabberjaw is hungry for a promotion at Magilla Gorilla’s swanky clothing shop, El Kabong fights crime, and Doggie Daddy takes helicopter parenting of Augie Doggie to new heights. With Huckleberry Hound as mayor and Top Cat running the streets, there’s never a dull moment in the madcap little town of Jellystone!
The voice cast also includes C.H. Greenblatt (Doggie Daddy, Boo Boo, Peter Potamus, Benny), Jeff Bergman (Yogi, Mr. Jinks, Wally Gator, Lippy the Lion), Jim Conroy (Huckleberry Hound, Captain Caveman, Pa Rugg), Grace Helbig (Cindy Bear, Yappy, Taffy, Granny Sweet), Niccole Thurman (Jabberjaw, Squiddly Diddly, Dee Dee Sykes), Thomas Lennon (Top Cat), Bernardo de Paula (El Kabong, Mildew Wolf), Dana Snyder (Snagglepuss, Touché Turtle, Lambsy), Paul F. Tompkins (Magilla Gorilla) Jenny Lorenzo (Bobbie Looey, Hardy Har Har, Choo Choo), Fajer Al-Kaisi (Shazzan, Hadji), Lesley Nicol (Winsome Witch), Ulka Simone Mohanty (Loopy De Loop) and Andrew Frankel (Fancy Fancy, Jonny Quest).
Jellystone! is executive produced by Emmy nominee C. H. Greenblatt (Chowder, Harvey Beaks) alongside Sam Register (Looney Tunes Cartoons, Teen Titans Go!). Adam Middleton (Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz) produces.
Apple TV+ today released the out-of-this-world trailer for Season 2 of Snoopy in Space, premiering all 12 episodes on Friday, November 12. After exploring the Moon and visiting the Space Station in Season 1, Snoopy and the gang are ready for their next big adventure, an epic journey across the universe to discover if there really is life outside of Earth.
Join Snoopy on an epic interstellar road trip as our intrepid beagle tackles one of the most compelling mysteries of humankind: Is there life out there in the universe? Snoopy and his friends bring NASA’s most exciting current research to life, from searching for traces of ice and ancient fossils on Mars, to drilling into oceans hidden inside of distant moons and even seeking out exoplanets far beyond our own solar system. Of course, like any good road trip, Snoopy and Woodstock’s journey includes lots of extra adventures along the way, plus plenty of support from Charlie Brown, Franklin, Marcie, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts gang back at Johnson Space Center. Let the adventure begin!
Snoopy in Space is a Daytime Emmy Award-nominated and Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning Apple original for kids. In partnership with WildBrain, along with Peanuts Worldwide, the series is designed to inspire a passion for space exploration and STEM among the next generation of students. This season’s focus on space is through the lens of ‘The Search for Life,’ highlighting the scientific processes and technology behind Space exploration, the need for resilience when facing setbacks and the importance of imagination when trying to find creative solutions.
The series is executive produced by Mark Evestaff, who also serves as showrunner, as well as Craig Schulz, WildBrain’s Josh Scherba, Anne Loi and Stephanie Betts and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates’ Paige Braddock.
Snoopy in Space
The award-winning lineup of animated originals for kids and families on Apple TV+ includes the upcoming Harriet the Spy, featuring the voice talents of Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch; the recently released Wolfboy and the Everything Factory; Rolling Along with Otis; Academy Award-nominated film Wolfwalkers; Peabody Award-winning series Stillwater; new series from Peanuts and WildBrain including The Snoopy Show; and Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times Bestselling Book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers.
Global content development, financing and rights management studio 108 Media has picked up the option and begun pre-production on award-winning author Ying Chang Compestine’s hit English-language YA book A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts for a unique new animated anthology horror series (8 x 30′), to be produced out of North America and Asia for the global market.
The book will be adapted and all episodes will be written by L.A.-based showrunner and Tricia Lee (director, Blood Hunters, Silent Retreat) with the series being helmed by Taiwan’s renowned filmmaker Lester Hsi, who masterminded the top horror hit of the Taiwanese box office in 2020 and subsequent Netflix hit, The Bridge Curse.
“I am thrilled to be working with the team at 108 Media and collaborating with Lester to bring these deliciously macabre ghost stories to life on the screen,” said Lee, who has been named to Hollywood’s 2020 Black List, CAPE List and Young & Hungry List for her writing. “Each animated story will leave you exhilarated, chilled to the bone and hungry for more!”
Set across different epochs surrounding Chinese culture across the world, the series is made up of eight self-contained ‘hungry ghost’ stories, laid out as eight courses of a banquet in live-action appetizer/dessert bookends (filmed unique to each language and market) wrapped around its animated main course, with each different dish representing a ghastly tale of horror speaking to our deepest regrets and desires.
Hsi will lead the project as creative director of the series, applying his skill at blending stunning visuals and special effects into interesting stories of mixed genres to the show’s artistic vision. He will be responsible for the visual presentation, animation and effects in addition to directing creative talent from various Taiwan-based animation studios. The director, who studied multimedia art animation in graduate school, said that A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts will fulfill his dream to create a brilliant animated project.
Billed as the first animated horror series of its kind, combining elements of real recipes, animation, live action and historical touchpoints, A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts will be produced and financed by 108 Media with the development and production being jointly conducted out of Los Angeles and Taipei towards an early Q4 2022 delivery in both English and Mandarin languages at the same time.
108 Media, together with a collective global talent of Asian-American writer-producers, Asian directors and Taiwanese animation companies, aims to keep the series diverse, authentic and creatively balanced for the global markets. 108 Media will also be co-producing this project with Taipei-based Studio76 and its distribution arm Studio886, which is dedicated to developing original IPs from Taiwan and the greater region, focusing on producing and distributing content that travels in global markets.
Author Compestine, is an award-winning writer, sought-after speaker and cooking show host. She has authored over 20 books and is a leading national authority on Asian culture and cuisine, who is frequently invited to lectures at schools and various organizations around the world.
“Nearly everything I write has something to do with food, I believe it’s a combination of history, literature and cuisine that lets us truly understand a culture and its people,” said Compestine. “By using food and ghosts as metaphors, I hope to entice my audiences to learn more about Chinese culture and gain a better understanding of life there, both in the past and present.”
Justin Deimen, President (Production) of 108 Media who identified the material through his long-time friendship with Compestine, said, “This is such a wonderful and vibrant book with a collection of stories so wisely devised and so creepily presented with a haunting sense of human foibles. Working with the creative team of Ying, Tricia, Studio76 and Lester has been a joy and I hope that through this unique hybrid adaptation of elevated genre animation, more viewers can get a glimpse of the chilling and rich stories from around the world.”
Studio76 and Studio886 will be leading the Greater China distribution of the series together with 108 Media selling to the rest of the world. CEO Dennis Yang commented, “A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts combines elements of traditional Eastern culture with Western audiences, and we are extremely happy to work together with the collaboration of a multinational team that demonstrates the strength of Taiwanese talent.”
The production will be executive produced by Justin Deimen, Tricia Lee, Ying Compestine, Micah Tadena and Matthew Wilson for 108 Media, and Dennis Yang and Lester Hsi for Studio76.
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