Author: Mercedes Milligan

Foundry Sharpens Katana 3.0 with 3Delight Rendering
London-based creative software shop Foundry in partnership with Illumination Research will be offering the newly redesigned and Nodal Scene Interface-powered rendering tool 3Delight as a free plug-in for Katana 3.0 interactive renders when it ships this year. The collaboration will further boost efficiency and help artists deliver better, faster and more cost-effective animation and VFX through improved workflows and technology. The package will be showcased during SIGGRAPH 2017.

“We are very excited to offer Katana 3.0 with 3Delight as an out-of-the-box rendering solution. This provides new users with a ‘download and explore’ experience and our existing users with a very powerful option for their pipelines. Multiverse, 3Delight and Katana combine to offer a complete Maya and Katana pipeline solution. Working with the 3Delight team has been great and we are really impressed how far they have stretched the interactive look development, lighting and rendering experience in Katana,” commented Jordan Thistlewood, Senior Product Manager for Look Development & Lighting at Foundry.

By utilizing NSI, which is both nodal and hierarchical, 3Delight allows for fully interactive live rendering, enhancing the experience of performing look development and lighting tasks. Unique workflows like the plug-in’s light mixer technology allows artists to render final quality images and adjust lighting interactively, while the edits are fed back directly to lights or groups of lights in Katana’s GafferThree lighting tools. The fully OSL-based shading engine is compatible with both Katana and Maya, allowing for the direct transfer of look development files between the DCC apps. The geometry based lighting frees an artist to execute compelling lighting with straightforward real world techniques.

Aghiles Kheffache, CTO for Illumination Research, added: “After two years of development of the NSI architecture, we are excited to bring 3Delight to Katana built entirely on that new state of the art interface/technology. It makes the entire process of scene editing and manipulation fun and efficient, thanks to across the board live rendering.”

The tech was recently used for the CG animated feature The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, produced by ToonBox Entertainment, Gulfstream Pictures and Red Rover International. The family comedy comes out August 11 through Open Road.

“All of Toonbox Entertainment’s projects have been rendered with 3Delight and we have used both proprietary and third-party tools for look development and lighting, but developments at the Foundry, including the high level of integration between Katana and 3Delight have enabled us to bring to bear a whole new level of flexibility and power which we hope to leverage on all of our future projects,” said John Carey, VP of Production & Technology at Toonbox. “This will enable us to do better work faster while consuming fewer resources. Yes, it is faster, better AND cheaper and that is a pretty compelling combination.”

Key benefits of Katana 3.0 with 3Delight include:
- Fast, physically based rendering technology with open shading language (OSL) at its core
- Fully interactive live rendering and a real-time light mixer especially well-suited for Katana’s workflow
- Material nodes that are 100% compatible with the Maya version
- Ability to use fur/hair and displacements extensively with negligible impact on performance
- Better quality rendering with perfectly smooth subdivision surfaces
- Network caching for efficient network utilization by automatic scene dependency localization
The Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature. Image credit: Toonbox Entertainment

The Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature. Image credit: Toonbox Entertainment

The Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature. Image credit: Toonbox Entertainment

The Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature. Image credit: Toonbox Entertainment

The Nutjob 2: Nutty by Nature. Image credit: Toonbox Entertainment
July 27, 2017
Clip: Andrew Rannells Checks in to ‘Welcome to the Wayne’

Andrew Rannells (Elijah on HBO’s Girls) has joined the voice cast of Nickelodeon’s newest animated series Welcome to the Wayne, created by Emmy-winning writer and composer Billy Lopez (Wonder Pets!). The digital-first concept which follows three plucky kids uncovering mysteries as they explore their strange apartment building made its TV premiere on Monday.

Rannells plays a mysterious new neighbor named Andrei, who has no memory of who he is or where he came from. He’ll make his debut in Friday’s episode, “Some Kind of Tap-Dancing, Beekeeping Whaler.” New episodes are premiering every day this week at 5:30 p.m., with encores on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. More new mysteries will roll out in September.

The newcomer has plenty of experience in the recording booth, having voiced numerous roles for animated series including the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! franchises, Sofia the First and ‘90s toon Street Sharks.

This 20-episode season, Welcome to the Wayne’s guest voice roster also includes Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) as Albert Molina, Ansi’s no-nonsense father; Annie Potts (Ghostbusters) as Olympia Timbers, Olly and Saraline’s mom; Richard Kind (Inside Out) as Harvey Timbers, Olly and Saraline’s dad; Emo Philips (Adventure Time) as Dennis O’Bannon, the Wayne’s resident tough guy; David Hornsby (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Leif Bornewell III, a secret-agent wannabe; Daniel Abeles (Smash) as Randy, the guy with odd jobs all over the Wayne; and Shannon Walsh (Begin Again) as Madison Payne, the 8-year-old co-host of “Secret Mysteries,” the paranormal investigation show she makes with her Dad, Garrison Payne, voiced by Clarke Thorell (The Americans).

Previously announced voice stars are Alanna Ubach (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce) as Ansi, the anxious new kid in town; creator and co-executive producer Billy Lopez as Olly Timbers, the adventurous 10-year-old son of a toy maker and a military scientist, and lifelong resident of the Wayne; and Dana Steingold (Avenue Q musical) as Saraline Timbers, Olly’s responsible and more mature little sister. The show follows the comedic adventures of Ansi, Olly and Saraline as each new investigation around their building brings them face-to-face with new characters, creatures, and oddities, known as “Wayne Phenomena,” leading them closer to uncovering the truth about the weird things happening in their building.

Emmy-winning creative exec Michael Pecoriello serves as executive producer alongside Lopez, who also writes the series. The show debuted in 2014 as Nickelodeon’s first digital short-form series on Nick.com.

Welcome to the Wayne

July 27, 2017
Clip: ‘The Freemaker Adventures’ Returns Monday

The stakes are high for young hero-in-training Rowan in this clip from the season 2 premiere of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, as he faces down a terrifying hunter droid with a very bad attitude while trying not to lett his friends down … literally. New episodes return to Disney XD on Monday, July 31 at 7 a.m. ET, with debuts every Monday through Thursday until August 16.

Season 1 closed with the Freemaker family settling in with the Rebel fleet, and now their new circumstances bring them face to face with new threats: Imperial brutes, desperate Hutts, conniving Sith Lords, and the Emperor’s favorite toy, M-OC, a hunter droid which continually modifies itself to fit any mission. In response to these threats, Rowan’s powers grow and strengthen until he has a vision of a sleek, invulnerable ship that can save the Rebellion and stop the Empire: the Arrowhead. But only Rowan can build this last great hope for the galaxy.

The season two voice cast includes Nicolas Cantu (Rowan), Vanessa Lengies (Kordi), Eugene Byrd (Zander), Matthew Wood (RO-GR), Trevor Devall (Emperor), Dana Snyder (Graballa), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Yvette Nicole Brown (Lt. Valeria), Corey Burton (Quarrie), James Urbaniak (M-OC) and Matt Sloan (Darth Vader).

The Freemaker Adventures is a production of Wil Film, the LEGO Group and Lucasfilm. Developed for television by Bill Motz and Bob Roth (Penguins of Madagascar), who join Torsten Jacobson (LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales) and Jill Wilfert (The LEGO Movie) as executive producers alongside producers Carrie Beck (Star Wars Rebels), Jason Cosler (LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: Avengers Reassembled!), Jake Blais and John McCormack.

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

July 27, 2017
Clip: Cee Lo Green, Fall Out Boy Team Up with ‘Teen Titans’!

Next week, things are getting will get even more confusing (and musical!) for the residents of Titans Tower during a special four-night programming event for Teen Titans Go!: “The Day the Night Stopped Beginning to Shine and Became Dark Even Though it Was the Day.” The chaos unfolds August 1-4 at 6 p.m. (5C) on Cartoon Network.

Synopsis: When Cyborg becomes trapped in an alternate reality of his favorite song, “The Night Begins to Shine,” he’s forced to battle a dragon who wants to steal the song for his own evil purposes. Unable to rescue Cyborg on their own, the Titans must enlist the help of pop music stars Fall Out Boy and Cee Lo Green to help rescue Cyborg and defeat the dragon.

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

Teen Titans Go!

July 27, 2017
Voice Actor & Annie Awards Founder June Foray Dies at 99

June Foray, known to generations of cartoon lovers for her iconic voice roles like Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Looney Tunes’ Granny, has died at age 99. The news was made public late Wednesday evening. Foray would have celebrated her 100th birthday on September 18.

ASIFA-Hollywood president Jerry Beck stated: “On behalf of ASIFA-Hollywood, of which June was a founder, we are mourning the passing of animation’s best friend. She has touched so many lives: with her voice that of so many classic cartoon character, her efforts to create ASIFA, to maintain the Academy’s Oscar for Best Animated Short and her leadership in crafting the category of Best Animated Feature. She was one of a kind. A trailblazer, a great talent and a truly wonderful person. We will never forget her.”

Foray’s hundreds of acting credits include other popular characters like Natasha Fatale (The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show), Magica De Spell and Ma Beagle (DuckTales), Jokey Smurf, Witch Hazel (Looney Tunes) and Cindy Lou Who (How the Grinch Stole Christmas). Continuing to work well into her 90s, the leading lady of animation reprised her classic roles and took on fresh challenges for a range of projects like The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, The Garfield Show and Disney’s Mulan. She donned the Rocky mantle once more for Gary Trousdale’s Rocky and Bullwinkle short in 2014.

Born June Lucille Forer in Springfield, Massachusetts, Foray started working in local radio dramas as a child, and continued in radio after graduating high school when her family relocated to Los Angeles — in addition to frequent appearances on popular shows, she had her own Lady Make Believe show. Foray also worked at Capitol Records making children’s albums and comedy records.

Foray’s long career in animation began when the Walt Disney studio approached her to play Lucifer the cat in Cinderella, which led to a series of gigs with the studio — mostly uncredited. She had a starring role in the 1952 Donald Duck short Trick or Treat as Hazel the Witch, a name and occupation combination that would prove quite popular in her character roster. Through the 1950s, Foray also worked with animation icons Tex Avery, Walter Lantz and Chuck Jones. Her best known work was in Jay Ward’s The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, which ran from 1959 to 1964, playing Rocket J. Squirrel and villainous Russian minx Natasha Fatale. Foray also worked on other Ward toons, playing Nell in Dudley Do-Right, Jane in George of the Jungle and Marigold in Tom Slick.

You can watch an in-depth Archive of American Television interview with Foray about her voice acting career here.

In addition to her career as a performer, Foray played a key role in the animation industry as one of the original members of ASIFA-Hollywood, founder of the Annie Awards, and lobbied for 20 years for the creation of the Best Animated Feature Oscar — a goal which finally was met when the first award was bestowed on DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek in 2001.

Foray had been working in animation for about 20 years when the casual group that would eventually become ASIFA began to set up. ASIFA West Coast was founded in the 1960s, comprised of Foray, Carl Bell, Les Goldman, Herbert Kasower, Ward Kimball and Bill Littlejohn. In the early ‘70s, Foray suggested the group host an awards dinner: “I was thinking that there were the Grammys, the Tonys, the Oscars, but nobody recognizes animation,” she said in an interview with Variety. The first event gathered some 400 attendees to honor Max and Dave Fleischer. At the 1995 Annie Awards, she was presented with the first June Foray Award, which was established to recognize “a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation.”

Foray received a Daytime Emmy in 2012 for playing Mrs. Cauldron on The Garfield Show, and was honored with a Governor’s Award in 2013. Her many achievements have also been marked with a Walk of Fame star and a Hall of Fame Award from the World Animation & VFX Summit. A documentary about her life and career, The One and Only June Foray was released in 2013.

June Foray collage courtesy of Everett Peck via Facebook

July 27, 2017
Faceware Fuels Real-Time Experiences with Faceware LiveSDK
Markerless 3D facial motion-capture company Faceware Technologies has announced an SDK for its real-time mocap and animation technology, Faceware Live. The Windows Native C++ SDK will enable developers and creatives to build their own real-time, interactive applications — such as live player to player chat in games or live interactive displays and activations. SDK users can even integrate it into their own production tools.

Faceware will be showcasing the SDK at SIGGRAPH (booth #741) from August 1-3.

“With the rise in VR/AR/MR, interactive marketing, and the use of CG, we’re seeing a growing number of inquiries from many different markets,” said Peter Busch, VP of Business Development at Faceware Technologies. “Rather than addressing each and every request, we’ve created a SDK to enable developers to develop the tools they need to meet their own needs. We’ve got some amazing use cases I can’t wait to talk about.”

“We’re really excited to put our real time facial tracking technology directly into the hands of developers,” said Jay Grenier, director of software and technology at Faceware. “Faceware Live has or is being used for a number of real-time applications, such as Hasbro’s live-streamed social media announcement for Monopoly and the recent Macinness-Scott installation at Sotheby’s ‘Art of VR’ event in New York. And now, with Faceware LiveSDK, the community is about to get a fantastic new tool to develop their own amazing applications.”

Key features of Faceware LiveSDK include:
- Windows Native C++
- High-frame-rate tracking, with no visible latency
- Over 100 APIs developers can use to track and animate faces in real time
- Create facial animation in real time from a person’s face on video
- Tracks 82 landmarks on the face and streams over 40 animation controls
- One second camera-to-face calibration
- SDK can track facial movement from a live camera feed, a video file (e.g .mov file), or an image sequence (e.g. .jpg)
- Works with almost any camera or webcam, including head-mounted cameras
- Easy to adjust camera settings for optimizing the user experience
- Tools to multiply and adjust animation output values to match your characters
- Simulate animation output for easy debugging and testing your character animation before use
Faceware LiveSDK will be available soon on a limited basis. Interested companies can contact the Faceware Technologies sales department.

Faceware Live SDK
July 27, 2017
Jellyfish Pictures Launches VFX & Animation Tech Biz RenderWise

Multiple award-winning production studio Jellyfish Pictures announced the formation of a new subsidiary business, RenderWise (http://renderwise.com) — offering cloud hybrid rendering and virtual studio solutions for VFX and animation applications. The new outfit officially launches at SIGGRAPH (taking place in Los Angeles, July 30-August 3), and will be offering demonstrations at the Microsoft stand #923.

“RenderWise was born from an acknowledgement that the VFX industry needs to change,” said Jellyfish CTO Jeremy Smith. “It promotes global collaborative working, which in an industry such as ours, is essential. The most important thing, for us all, is to ensure that creativity is never stilted — using the cloud, opens up a whole new realm of possibilities to how we work, breaking down the four walls of our studios, and expanding progress.”

RenderWise’s cloud hybrid rendering solution, which utilizes Microsoft Azure, has already been put to the test on a number of Jellyfish’s projects. Dramatically streamlining VFX and animation workflows, the new solution gives studios greater flexibility in how they work, delivering a true hybrid rendering solution fully integrated into an existing render farm and pipeline management. The company offers both consultancy services and setup, having already implemented the solution at two of its offices in Oval, London.

The new solution harnesses the cloud to create an adaptable environment allowing VFX studios to work remotely and on demand. It drastically increases speed of provisioning, hyper-scaling and seamless burst rendering to the cloud. RenderWise aims to reduce time consuming tech and infrastructure overheads traditionally associated with setting up a new studio by helping set up virtual offices. Studios coming on board can adopt an Opex pricing structure rather than Capex, with all system administration costs being outsourced to Microsoft Azure, saving studios more money on cooling outlay and running on-premises hardware.

“For as long as the VFX community can remember, we have been governed by on-premises hardware and infrastructure when tackling projects. RenderWise eliminates this archaic view and liberates what is possible.” Phil Dobree, CEO, Jellyfish Pictures, added. “In order to compete we need to start deploying solutions that enable us to work as efficiently and economically as possible. The solution we have created is the future of how VFX studios will run and I am very proud of the results.”

Founded in 2001, Jellyfish Pictures currently employs over 200 artists in four London studios. The company has won an Emmy Award, BAFTA award for visual effects, two Royal Television Society awards and two VES Awards, as well as may nominations for its range of work. More information at jellyfishpictures.co.uk.

Jellyfish Studios

Jellyfish Studios

Jellyfish Studios

July 27, 2017
Daily News Bytes: ‘Wonder Women 2’ Dated, Adobe Bashes Flash, ‘Spike & Mike’ Doc in Works, & More!

’Wonder Woman 2’ Set for Release in December 2019
Mark your calendars for Friday the 13th if you want to be first in line to see Gal Gadot reprise her role as Diana — hopefully with Patty Jenkins calling the shots once more.

Adobe to Pull Plug on Flash, Ending an Era
The game-changing software will be retired at the end of 2020, having gone from near total ubiquity across the net to waning in popularity, thanks in part to Apple’s decision not to support Flash on iPhone. If you want to revel in the glory while you can, check out Digital Trends’ recent list of the 15 best Flash games.

CROWDFUND: Spike & Mike Animation Festival Documentary
Producer Kat Alioshin is striving toward a $100K flex-goal to retell the incredible four-decade journey of the men who brought “sick and twisted” indie toons into the limelight. The 90-minute documentary will feature interviews with influential directors like Bruno Bozzetto, Nick Park, Tim Burton, Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton.

’Baozha!’ – An Animated Film
Check out this beautifully crafted Singaporean student film, just released in full on line. The short recently won the Best Animated Film category at the National Youth Film Awards.

VIDEO: ‘The Dark Tower’ – Connected KINGdom
A CG fly-through of the many fictions of Stephen King tied together by The Dark Tower. The film arrives August 4 from Sony Pictures.

Wonder Woman

July 26, 2017
GIF Set: The Many Moods of ‘Mune’!

We’re just over the moon with delight because of these beautiful GIFs pulled from Mune: Guardian of the Moon — coming to approximately 350 cinemas across the US on August 12 thanks to GKIDS and Fathom Events. The fantastical tale from the producers of The Little Prince will be presented with a new English-language dub featuring Rob Lowe (Sohone), Christian Slater (Leyoon), Patton Oswalt (Mox), Ed Helms (Spleen) and Jeff DUnham (Phospho).

Tickets are available at participating theaters or through FathomEvents.com. In the meantime, enjoy these sweet moments capture in GIF form.

Mune: Guardian of the Moon

July 26, 2017
New Images and Teaser for Sony’s ‘The Star’

Sony Pictures Animation has released a teaser trailer for its pre-Christmas release The Star, which shows what happens when the ol’ talking animal comedy goes New Testament. The feature is animated by Cinesite Studios.

Due out November 10, The Star follows a small but brave donkey named Bo who yearns for a life beyond his daily grind at the village mill. One day he finds the courage to break free, and finally goes on the adventure of his dreams. On his journey, he teams up with Ruth, a loveable sheep who has lost her flock, and Dave, a dove with lofty aspirations. Along with three wisecracking camels and some eccentric stable animals, Bo and his new friends follow the Star and become unlikely heroes in the greatest story ever told: the first Christmas.

The voice cast features Steven Yeun, Aidy Bryant, Keegan-Michael Key, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and Tracy Morgan, with Kelly Clarkson, Kristin Chenoweth, Anthony Anderson, Gabriel Iglesias, Ving Rhames, Delilah Rene, Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Plummer.

The Star

The Star

The Star

July 26, 2017
SIGGRAPH Spotlights Games and Mobile Innovations

Among its robust range of computer graphics programming, SIGGRAPH 2017 — running July 30 to August 3 in Los Angeles — will include a focus on the art and technology of games. The achievements are presented in sessions and demonstrations throughout the conference week, and showcase of visionaries and pioneers of the industry that will have their chance to shine include advances in real-time rendering, runtime animation synthesis, asset creation, and much more.

Some of the games-related highlights to be found across the conference and exhibition are: DeepLoco: Dynamic Locomotion Skills Using Hierarchical Deep Reinforcement Learning (in Technical Papers program), a look at the production and AI processes of Computer Animation Festival selection Final Fantasy XV – “Omen” Trailer (Talks), Blizzard Entertainment Presents: The Making of the Overwatch Animated Shorts (Production Sessions), a focus on Niantic’s smash hit with Evolution of AR in Pokemon GO (Talks), and a virtual walk-around of Michelangelo’s David (“Il Gigante,” VR Village).

This year’s event is also introducing a VR Graffiti Wall where attendees can make their virtual mark using the spray-paint game Ghost Paint, and the inaugural VR Film Jam wherein two teams will translate their animated student shorts — The Moon Is Essentially Gray (SVA) and Trouble Brewing (Cogswell College) — into VR experiences under expert guidance from Epic Games.

SIGGRAPH ‘17 will also shine a light on developments in the mobile app realm, including powerful new graphic techniques, game production for handheld devices, and methods of content creation. Interested parties shouldn’t miss The Future of Mobile VR Graphics & Gaming Panel with experts from ARM, Google, Qualcomm, Unity Technologies, and Virtual Arts Limited, moderated by Ryan Shrout of Shrout Research.

Another key staple of the event’s Mobile focus is the 2017 Appy Hour “techno-social” celebration of the latest amazing apps. This year’s 10 piece sampler includes Expresii Watercolor, FlexR: Control Technology With Your Muscle, infltr: Infinite Filters, Mobile Image Stylization Combining Neural Style Transfer and Filtering, Oblique: A New Way to Photograph, Pete and The Orange Fox and Snaptric: Perfect Group Selfie and Group Shot.

Final Fantasy XV – Omen

July 26, 2017
Beth Parker of Disney TV EMEA Named Chair of Animated Women UK

Beth Parker, Senior Manager of Production for Disney Channels EMEA, has been named the next animation chair of Animated Women UK, a regional support and advocacy network for women working in the visual effects and animation industries.

Parker will be stepping into the role in September, replacing Animated Women UK founder Lindsay Watson, who will remain on the board but is looking to pursue new projects after building up the organization over the last five years. The incoming animation chair will work alongside VFX chair Louise Hussey, Executive VFX Producer at Double Negative, to further the organization’s mission to “build a vibrant network that facilitates mentoring, knowledge exchange and education resulting in women in animation and VFX fulfilling their potential.”

“Having spent over 20 years as a woman working in the creative industries, I’m very aware of the inequalities that exist,” said Parker. “We have made positive inroads and I have seen the benefit of shared experience both as a mentor and a participant. I’m thrilled to be joining Animated Women UK, because of the opportunity to expand on the positive foundations established by Lindsay and the team. We still have a long way to go.”

According to AWUK, 38% of freelance and full-time animation studio employees are women, and at the senior management level there are six men for every four women. The average salary for men is £45,803, compared to £34,382 for women — 25% less.

“Beth has the skills to continue the great work that we’ve started. She has already proved a great supporter of our agenda and will no doubt prove invaluable as we continue to grow AWUK and have a positive impact on our industry,” commented Watson.

Beth Parker

July 26, 2017
Nora Twomey’s ‘Breadwinner’ Premiering at TIFF

A first round of film programming picks for the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival was announced during a live-streamed press conference Tuesday, with Cartoon Saloon’s upcoming third feature The Breadwinner set to be the animated standout amidst the 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations. The film will make its World Premiere at TIFF, which runs this year from September 7-17.

Directed by Nora Twomey (co-director, The Secret of Kells), The Breadwinner centers on a young girl named Parvana, living under the Taliban regime, who cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family after her father is imprisoned. The empowering tale is adapted from the young adult novel by Canadian author Deborah Ellis, and adapted by Anita Doron.

An Ireland-Canada-Luxembourg co-production, The Breadwinneris being produced with the participation of Telefilm Canada & The Film Fund, the Irish Film Board, Film Fund Luxembourg, The Harold Greenberg Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund, the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland along with Gaia Entertainment and the Artemis Rising Foundation.

See the initial batch of films announced for TIFF here.

The Breadwinner

July 26, 2017
Daily News Bytes: Inside ‘Rick and Morty’ Premiere, Jinkx Monsoon Is a Gem, Sony Goes ‘Princeless,’ & More!

VIDEO: Inside “The Rickshank Redemption” – ‘Rick and Morty’
Series creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, writers Ryan Ridley and Mike McMahan talk us through the season 3 opener which explains what makes Rick tick — or doesn’t. Or whatever. Where’s my beer? (Rick and Morty season 3 premieres this Sunday at 11:30 p.m. ET on Adult Swim!)

Jinkx Monsoon Is Voicing a New ‘Steven Universe’ Gem, Ignites Heated Debate
The RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and big fan of Rebecca Sugar’s LGBTQ+-friendly hit series is the first non-binary person to voice a member of the non-binary alien race of Gems that populate the Steven Universe universe — Jinkx’s performance as Emerald featured in the SDCC sneak peek is on fire!

Sony Options Female-Empowerment Comic ‘Princeless’ for Movie
Big screen comic-book adaptations are increasingly going beyond the spandex-clad superhero schtick, and the Action Lab Comics series from Jeremy Whitley and Emily Martin would certainly open up a fresh can of femme-flavored whoopass. Two-time Emmy winner Stefani Robinson (Atlanta) is writing the script.

Dimitar Petrov Unvravels the Magical Spell of Balkan Legend Animated Series ‘The Golden Apple’
Art director/showrunner Petrov talks to Animation Xpress about his passion project series, currently in pilot production at Studio Zmei in Bulgaria. The central tale follows a group of humans and spirits searching for a magical fruit tree that appears once every 100 years with the power to undo all a person’s problems, set against a conflict between the mortal and spiritual worlds.

GALLERY: 6th Animation and Comics Beijing Festival Kicks Off Nearly 100 exhibitors displayed the latest fandom developments for an estimated 150K attendees at the event in Northern China last week.

Princeless

July 25, 2017
Kay Benbow Says Goodbye Amid BBC Children’s Overhaul

A major restructuring of the BBC’s Salford, UK-based children’s division will see CBeebies Controller Kay Benbow departing, along with several other senior staff. The revamp was announced to employees on Tuesday by Alice Webb, Director of BBC Children’s and BBC North, and comes just weeks after the pubcaster announced it was making its biggest investment in kids’ content in a generation, adding up to an additional £34 million ($44.3M USD) through to the 2019-20 season.

As reported by regional business journal Prolific North, Benbow will be departing at the end of the year. The highly respected figure in children’s television has been with BBC Children’s for 25 years, and served as Controller for BBC’s preschool network since 2010. Head of CBeebies Production Alison Stewart — who has been at the BBC for 11 years and will exit next year — and Controller of Business Jackie Myburgh are also leaving.

The department’s makeover will create some new roles, including Head of Content, which will be filled by CBBC Controller Cheryl Taylor, who will now be in charge of content strategy and commissioning for young audience demographics up to 16 years old. CBBC’s Head of Production, Helen Bullough, will become Head of Production for both CBBC and CBeebies.

BBC will be seeking someone to fill the new post of Head of Curation and Discovery, who will have oversight of presentation, scheduling, iPlayer, core interactive business and events. The title Head of Interactive, currently held by Claire Stock, will be retired.

Kay Benbow

July 25, 2017
Academy Puts Women of Animation in the Spotlight

On August 7 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present an evening’s discussion about the role of women artists in animation through its history and development. “An Invisible History: Trailblazing Women of Animation” is schedule for 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available now for $5 each.

An Invisible History: Trailblazing Women of Animation – From the earliest pioneers of hand-rendered animated films, to the advent of digital technology, women have been at the forefront of the animation medium, yet their extraordinary contributions have largely gone unrecognized. Join Mindy Johnson, author of the landmark volume Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation, along with a stellar panel of trailblazing artists, as they raise the celluloid curtain on the remarkable history of women in animation.

Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation will be published on September 5 by Disney Editions. Johnson is an award-winning author and historian who penned Tinker Bell: An Evolution and was a contributing writer for The Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921-1968 (Taschen) and Marc Davis: Walt Disney’s Renaissance Man (Disney Editions).

An Invisible History: Trailblazing Women of Animation

July 25, 2017
‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower’ Is First Feature Made in OpenToonz

Tokyo-based Dwango Co. has revealed that open source 2D animation production software OpenToonz is being used in a feature film project for the first time in Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower — released in Japan on July 8.

Based on the Toonz program first developed by Italy’s Digital Video S.p.A. and then transformed by the new owners into an open source project, with several features fine-tuned by longtime client Studio Ghibli, where Yonebayashi worked before starting Studio Ponoc. Since then, Dwango has developed visual effects solutions that utilize their AI technology and plugins that allow any user to add effects, on top of modifications made based on user feedback. Dwango began distributing OpenToonz last March.

For Mary and the Witch’s Flower, OpenToonz was integrated into the production and contributed in three key ways. The “Pallete” function and the preview function, which enables the user to instantly preview the canvas with character and background layers stacked on top of each other, was utilized in the color designing process. The GTS scanning tool was used to bring drawings on paper into the program. And the special soap bubble color/pattern effects tool created by OpenToonz team member Shun Iwasawa were used beautifully for the film’s “Magical Bubbles” sequence. You can read more about this FX plugin here.

Learn more at opentoonz.github.io

(C) 2017 M.F.P.

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

July 25, 2017
Matt Groening Fantasy ‘Disenchantment’ Coming to Netflix

Netflix has ordered 20 episodes of a new adult animated comedy-fantasy series from The Simpsons creator Matt Groening: Disenchantment. Produced by The ULULU Company with animation by Rough Draft Studios, the series will debut with 10 episodes in 2018.

“Matt Groening’s brilliant work has resonated with generations around the world and we couldn’t be happier to work with him on Disenchantment,” said Cindy Holland, VP Original Content for Netflix. “The series will bear his trademark animation style and biting wit, and we think it’s a perfect fit for our many Netflix animation fans.”

Disenchantment takes place in the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland, and follows the misadventures of a hard-drinking young princess named Bean (voice of Abbi Jacobson), her feisty elf companion Elfo (Nat Faxon) and her personal demon Luci (Eric Andre), as the oddball trio encounters ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses, and lots of human fools. The voice cast also features John DiMaggio, Billy West, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, David Herman, Matt Berry, Jeny Batten, Rich Fulcher, Noel Fielding, and Lucy Montgomery.

“Ultimately, Disenchantment will be about life and death, love and sex, and how to keep laughing in a world full of suffering and idiots, despite what the elders and wizards and other jerks tell you,” says Groening, is executive producing the series with his Simpsons and Futurama colleague Josh Weinstein.

Matt Groening

July 25, 2017
Top 5 Finalists for AniComp Announced

The first round of AniComp has wrapped, with five talented East African artists making the cut for the final competition. The pitch contest’s ultimate winner will be decided during NAICCON (Nairobi Comic Con) in Kenya, on July 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Sarit Centre Expo Hall.

The finalists are Mabiala Cliford Akoyo, John Kamau, Shawn Kioko, Harto Muhato and Ian Muriithi.

The winner of the final NAICCON contest will receive script development mentoring and access to sound recording facilities from Laugh Industry. Comedian and Laugh Industry CEO Churchill will provide voice over for characters in the winning pilot. My Child TV will mentor the winner in character design, storyboards and animation, and will produce a 2 minute short which will be featured in the upcoming Azanian All Stars web series.

AniComp partners Laugh Industry, My Child TV, NAICCON, the Association of Animation Artistes Kenya and the African Animation Network will provide promotional support for the winning project.

My Child: Teenage Mutant Azanians

July 25, 2017
VFX Supes Christian Cardona & Buddy Gheen Join Picture Shop

Burbank, CA visual post house Picture Shop is propping up its rapidly growing VFX department with the addition of award-winning team Christian Cardona and Buddy Gheen. Cardona joins the ranks as Senior VFX Supervisor, alongside recently promoted VP/Senior VFX Supervisor Adam Avitabile. Gheen comes aboard as Creative Director of VFX. They will be reporting to Executive Vice President of VFX, Tom Kendall.

“I’ve been thrilled with the reception our department has received thus far, and I believe that the addition of Cardona and Gheen will bolster our current success. Their vast wealth of VFX knowledge and experience in both TV and Features will be a great asset to our company,” said Kendall.

Cardona and Gheen join Picture Shop from Massive State Digital, the visual effects company they cofounded in 2014. The duo have worked on projects for studios and content providers including Fox, Showtime, TNT, NBC and Netflix.

Cardona commented:

“We knew some of the people at Picture Shop, and saw some of the amazing work they were producing. We felt this was a chance we could get in on the ground floor and really be a part of establishing this company in episodic and feature VFX.”

“We’re both very excited about this opportunity, and look forward to creating and servicing VFX of the highest caliber from one of the most premiere post houses in LA,” said Gheen.

Picture Shop offers complete and integrated services to the TV and feature film industries. The studio’s facility houses seven color suites, four edit suites, three Flame suites, and can accommodate up to 100 VFX artists. More information at www.pictureshop.com.

Christian Cardona / Buddy Gheen

July 25, 2017