The recently launched animation division of Skydance Media, formed in partnership with Madrid’s Ilion Animation, has brought on a couple of DreamWorks Animation alums for its first two feature projects in the works, Hollywood Reporter reveals. Annie Award winner Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale) will helm an untitled coming-of-age fantasy due in 2019, while Alessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda 3) will tackle a comedy flick working-titled Luck.
Jenson’s project is being written by Linda Woolverton, who penned classic Disney animated movies Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King as well as the live-action remix Maleficent. The untitled film will center on on a teenager named Elian who comes of age while using her magic powers to save her family when opposing forces of light and darkness threaten her kingdom. Woolverton is producing with David Ellison and Dana Goldberg for Skydance, and Ilion’s Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Jose San Román.
Jenson won an Annie Award for feature directing for Shrek, which she directed with Andrew Adamson. She also directed Shark Tale with Bibo Bergeron and Rob Letterman. Prior to taking a seat in the director’s chair, Jenson racked up a long list of credits as a background and storyboard artist.
Luck sees Carloni reunite with KFP trilogy writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger for a humor-driven tale which unmasks the secret groups that manufacture good and bad luck in our everyday lives and their epic ages-old battle. Aibel and Berger, who also penned Trolls and Monster vs. Aliens, are producing with Ellison, Goldberg, Dolset and San Román.
Carloni made his feature directing debut on KFP3 alongside Jennifer Yuh Nelson. The helmer has been working as an animator and story artist for two decades, with credits including head of story on How to Train Your Dragon and How to Train Your Dragon 2, head of character animation on Kung Fu Panda Holiday, and animation supervisor on Kung Fu Panda.
DHX Media announced a distribution deal with the UK’s Virgin TV for SVOD rights in the UK and Ireland, plus linear rights for its TV3 Ireland network, adding up to 615 half-hours of content representing 30 titles from the company’s library licensed on a non-exclusive basis.
“We’re thrilled to have signed our third and largest deal to date with Virgin TV, reinforcing our position as a go-to provider of kids’ content to the world’s top SVOD and linear broadcasters,” said Wiebke Hoefer, DHX Media’s Senior Director of Sales (Germany, Switzerland, France, UK Digital and Multi-territory Digital). “Virgin TV offers an excellent platform for kids in this market, and we’re thrilled that their viewers will be able to enjoy a great selection of our library titles, plus the latest original, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”
The package includes seasons 15-19 of Bob the Builder (plus nine specials), seasons 6-9 of Fireman Sam (plus three specials), seasons 1-5 of In the Night Garden, seven Air Bud movies, and DHX Media original Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, inspired by Sony Pictures Animation’s deliciously fun feature film.
“We are very excited to have concluded our biggest kids’ programming deal to date, covering over 600 half-hours of some of the most loved kids’ characters. The addition of multiple seasons of Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and In the Night Garden, as well as full-length movies, really does underline our commitment to a market-leading kids’ offer for Virgin TV,” said David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin TV.
“Our youngest viewers have never had a broader, bigger and more diverse choice of entertainment! Kids’ content is a clear focus for us at Virgin TV and it is great to have DHX Media on board as key a supplier to bring children and their parents more of the programming that they want to watch.”
Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
School and office supplies manufacturer BG has inked a licensing agreement with CLS Media for a new line of stationery and kids’ creativity goods in Russia, based on the animation brand Power Battle Watch Car. The action series is commissioned by Hyundai Motor Corp. and produced by SAMG Animation, INNOCEAN Worldwide and CJ E&M.
BG will produce a collection including albums, diaries, a variety of notebooks, art and craft products, and back-to-school textile products such as pencil cases, backpacks and shoe bags for the Russian market. Paper products will go on sale ahead of the school season this fall, with the bags to follow in 2018.
With characters inspired by Hyundai’s most popular car models, Power Battle Watch Car features colorful heroes with the ability to communicate with their vehicles through A.I. technology, and centers on lead hero Jino and his car “Blue Will” on his quest to become the champion of the Battle League. The show made its Russian premiere on STS this spring, where it continues to air in the morning programming block each weekday. US viewers can catch it on Netflix streaming.
Emmy-winning Australian creative house Ludo Studio has kicked off production on Bluey, a new animated preschool series created by Joe Brumm (Charlie and Lola). The 52 x 7 min. series is co-commissioned by ABC KIDS and BBC Worldwide, with funding support from Screen Australia, in association with Screen Queensland.
The show follows Bluey, a loveable and inexhaustible six-year-old Blue Heeler puppy who lives with her dad, mum and four-year-old little sister, Bingo. In each episode, Bluey turns her limitless Blue Heeler energy to the task of constructing bizarre and elaborate games that unfold in unpredictable and hilarious ways, bringing her family and the whole neighbourhood into her world of fun.
“Bluey is based on the experience of raising two daughters,” said Brumm. “Playing seems as natural to them as breathing. It’s fascinating seeing how much they learn from devising and playing their own games, especially the more elaborate and social ones. So Bluey is a celebration of the role of imaginative play in shaping healthy kids. We’re excited to express this universal message in a uniquely Australian setting.”
Created and produced entirely in Australia, Bluey boasts a pedigreed creative team including creator and showrunner Brumm; Emmy-winning producer/executive producer Charlie Aspinwall and producer Daley Pearson (Doodles, #7DaysLater); and animation director Richard Jeffrey (Tinga Tinga Tales). The series will be executive produced by Michael Carrington, ABC’s Head of Children’s Television, and Henrietta Hurford- Jones, Director of Children’s Content for BBC Worldwide.
“By creating Bluey solely in Australia, Ludo Studio is giving Aussie animation talent a chance to shine on a delightful and engaging series that will be broadcast here and distributed internationally. Our ABC KIDS audience will instantly fall in love with this imaginative and curious little blue cattle dog, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Ludo Studio once again on another unique and endearing preschool series,” said Carrington.
Hurford-Jones commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with the talented team at Ludo and Michael and team at the ABC on Bluey. This show introduces a wonderful character in Bluey who uses every day gameplay to understand the world around her. The show takes an authentic and very funny view on family life with young children that ensures it will be enjoyed by parents as well as children. Add in the beautiful Australian locations and colors and we feel Bluey will become a new global hit.”
Bluey will air on ABC KIDS and ABC KIDS iview in 2019, followed by broadcast on BBC Australia. BBC Worldwide have the global merchandise and licensing distribution rights.
VIDEO: In Loving Memory of Adam West – ‘Family Guy’ Season 15
Following the screen legend’s passing last month, EP Steve Callaghan stated that the show would be keeping his performances as Mayor West in the upcoming 15th season. Enjoy this supercut of his hilarious moments from Family Guy. Thanks for all the laughs, Mr. West. Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
‘The Flash’ and ‘Supergirl’ VFX Breakdowns from Encore
See how Deluxe’s Encore built Gorilla City and a gorilla gladiator for The Flash ep. 313 (Watch!) and pulled off some fantastic facial replacement, vehicles and explosions for Supergirl ep. 221 (Watch!) — both projects were supervised by Armen Kevorkian.
Summus Unveils “Simple Animation” at SIGGRAPH 2017
The all-inclusive, cloud-based virtual animation studio will be presented at an Exhibitor Session on Wed., August 2 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 409A of the LA Convention Center.
New ‘My Little Pony: The Movie’ Poster Debuting at SDCC 2017
San Diego saddles up with the reveal of the colorful new character-filled poster, featuring the Mane 6 and Spike in their undersea forms (which we can only assume are scientifically dubbed mer-pony, pega-fish and unicorn-acanth). My Little Pony: The Movie gallops into theaters Oct. 6. [Trailer.]
At this week’s Comic-Con in San Diego, eigoMANGA will be showcasing a way to juice up comic-book publishing with its new mobile virtual reality app, ComX VR, at booth #4531 from July 20-23. Demo stations will provide visitors with a fully-immersive reading experience, while the eigoMANGA crew offers exclusive giveaways and signings by its creative team.
ComX VR is an upcoming mobile app for Android and iPhone using Google VR development framework. It really brings comics readers into their favorite stories, completely immersing them in a 360-degree environment rather than restricting them to the resolution of a mobile device. Currently in development, the app will be available soon.
eigoMANGA will also be hosting a “Manga Tutorial for Kids” workshop on Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m. in room 11. Moderated by eigoMANGA’s team of manga artists and animators, the tutorial introduces kids of all ages to manga illustration and storytelling.
Munich-based m4e AG is expanding its years-long cooperation with YouTube, which has brought more than 5,000 videos from m4e’s library to the platform which have generated over 500 million views, enabling the partners to exploit huge revenue potential. The core of the collaboration is ongoing digitization of m4e content in order to preserve older kids’ programs, such as The Beginners Bible, as well as increase revenues.
With renewed commitment to the partnership, m4e has created a new platform, Made 4 Kids TV (www.made4kids.tv), where the YouTube channels of its various programs are bundled and a broad range of additional content is provided.
The digital market continues on a growth trajectory worldwide, and m4e expects further revenue potential for its content — particularly in AVOD services like YouTube. This way, new properties from m4e can also be leveraged as a marketing tool in order to promote its extensive kids’ and family entertainment library of more than 2,300 episodes.
m4e’s offerings include many internationally recognizable bands, such as Tip the Mouse, Wissper, Miffy and Mia and Me.
Award-winning French animation company Xilam has licensed the third, fourth and fifth seasons of its hit comedy series Oggy & the Cockroaches to Disney Channel for Germany, Austria and Switzerland — airing Monday to Friday 4:10 p.m. CEST beginning this week.
“We are thrilled the Disney Channels in Germany, Switzerland and Austria are featuring Xilam’s flagship brand Oggy & the Cockroaches in their brilliant line ups, especially since Disney’s far- reaching network will enable kids across the countries to access the show during the summer holidays and thereafter. We believe that this spectacular new season, with such remarkable exposure, will bring fondness of the brand to a new and long lasting height,” commented Xilam’s Founder & President, Marc du Pontavice.
First aired in 1998, Oggy & the Cockroaches follows the prankish misadventures and confrontations between a chubby cat named Oggy and three pesky roaches. The series is distributed in more than 160 countries around the world and is watched in 600 million homes.
Insectibles is shaping up to be the next big thing from CG studio One Animation (Oddbods), with the 3D HD animated series scoring top kids’ TV ratings in Germany. The show is a co-production with KiKA, Discovery and ZDF Enterprises. Despite stiff competition from shows on Nickelodeon, Super RTL and Disney, Insectibles came out on top of the charts in recent monthly figures for Q2 2017.
“We showed our faith in Insectibles when we took the decision to put the show in our highly popular 7pm daily slot. And our faith paid off, because now it’s one of the biggest shows in Germany, and the biggest kids’ show for the latest data available from April 2017.” said Sebastian Debertin, Head of Fiction, Acquisition & Co-Production for KiKA. “Undoubtedly two of the big pulls for the show are the cinema-quality 3D animation bringing the characters and storylines to life in a way we are used to in cinemas but which is not often seen on TV. Plus the ideas and adventures which the characters become embroiled in really engage the audience, boys and girls alike.”
Aimed at children aged 6- to 9-years old, Insectibles follows the adventures of a young boy named Zak, his whacky grandfather Gramps, and three bio-mechanically enhanced insects as they search to find pieces of the “Shrinkinator”: the crazy invention that shrunk our heroes before exploding during a failed testing phase. All the while they must evade the clutches of a maniacal Mosquito, her daughter, and a whole host of evil underlings.
The series also airs in other countries, including in France on Teletoon and Canal+, and on Discovery Kids Latin America.
“This year has been spectacular for us, with regular reports coming in about our shows topping the ratings charts in different countries around the world. To get this news from KiKA for one of our shows which really exemplifies the excellent 3D and HD image quality that the guys in the studio are able to produce, is also very exciting,” commented Sashim Parmanand, CEO of One Animation. “Insectibles really demonstrates the technical animation expertise we have in-house. It’s something we like to do, so it’s gratifying to know it’s also commercially worthwhile because kids are really engaging with it.”
LA-based Good Deed Entertainment has set the opening dates for award-winning animated feature Loving Vincent — produced by Poland’s BreakThru Films (Peter and the Wolf) and Trademark Films in the UK (Shakespeare in Love). The groundbreaking hand-painted film will open in New York City on Friday, September 22 and in Los Angeles on Friday, September 29. An expanded rollout to top regional markets will follow through October and November.
“I was absolutely enthralled with Loving Vincent. It was like watching van Gogh’s extraordinary paintings come to life! GDE can’t wait to share this amazing cinematic experience with audiences as they discover some of the mysteries surrounding Vincent’s life and death,” says GDE CEO, Scott Donley.
The world’s first fully oil-painted feature film, Loving Vincent was crafted with 65,000 hand-painted frames made by 125 professional painters from around the world in the production’s studios in Poland and Greece. The film recently won the Audience Award at the 2017 Annecy animation festival, and was named Best Animated Film at the Shanghai International Film Festival.
The Van Gogh Museum, whose mission is to continually broaden awareness for the life and work of Vincent van Gogh, will work with GDE to promote the release, having provided assistance and support for the project’s development and given a full endorsement of the completed film. Further support is provided by official brand sponsor Royal Talens, whose “Van Gogh” oil paint was used exclusively for the production’s artworks.
“During the long years through which we painted the 65,000 paintings that went into making this film, a lot of support came to us from members of the public in America. We received financial support, moral support and enthusiastic encouragement that got us through some dark times, so for us it is absolutely fitting that the first place in the world that this film will go before the public is in America. And as our film opens with a gigantic tracking shot down from the stars, which took 3 of our best painters a combined 18 months to animate, all inspired by Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night,’ part of The Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, there could be no more fitting place to open the film than in New York,” said co-directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman.
Kobiela and Welchman also wrote the film, which stars Douglas Booth, Chris O’Dowd, Jerome Flynn, Eleanor Tomlinson, Helen McCrory, Saoirse Ronan and Aidan Turner, with Robert Gulaczyk as Vincent Van Gogh. Learn more at lovingvincent.com.
Synopsis: On 27th July 1890 a gaunt figure stumbled down a drowsy high street at twilight in the small French country town of Auvers. The man was carrying nothing; his hands clasped to a fresh bullet wound leaking blood from his belly. This was Vincent van Gogh, then a little known artist; now the most famous artist in the world. His tragic death has long been known, what has remained a mystery is how and why he came to be shot. Loving Vincent tells that story.
Director Bibo Bergeron (A Monster in Paris, Shark Tale) and producer Julia Rosenberg (Sundowners, Being Julia) are laying the groundwork for an ambitious animated biopic on German-Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943). First announced in the summer of 2016, the feature-length 2D animated film is set to enter production at the end of the year.
Titled Charlotte, the film’s screenplay is written by Erik Rutherford and Miriam Toews. The’s visuals are inspired by Salomon’s artworks, with A Monster in Paris alum François Moret is the production designer — he was also set designer on The Little Prince and art director on Sing. Uwe Heidschötter (character designer, Revolting Rhymes; director, The Gruffalo’s Child) is the film’s character designer.
Born in Berlin, Salomon and her family relocated to France when she was a young woman to get away from the Third Reich’s anti-semitic policies. While in hiding from the Nazis between 1941 and 1943, she created a series of 769 autobiographical paintings which were entrusted to a family friend just before her capture in October of 1943. Salomon was deported to Auschwitz, where she was killed in the gas chambers at just 26 years old.
Charlotte is budgeted at $10 million, supported in development by Telefilm Canada, and is a Canada-France-Belgium co-production of Rosenberg’s January Films, Walking the Dog, and Blue Spirit Animation (My Life as a Zucchini).
“Charlotte Solomon was a free-spirited artist whose work was ahead of her time. Her story spoke to me immediately. Who wouldn’t want to tell this tale of courage? It went straight to my heart,” Bergeron told Screen Daily at the Jerusalem Film Festival, where the filmmakers are exploring potential partnerships with Israeli animation shops. Bergeron also gave a masterclass during JFF’s animation development track.
Kids’ multimedia entertainment company Genius Brands International has upped two of its leading executives: Kid Genius Cartoon Channel President Deb Pierson has been named Senior Vice President, Global Content Distribution & Marketing, and Lloyd Mintz has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Worldwide Consumer Products. The announcement was made by Genius Brands’ Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward, to whom both will directly report.
“Many of Genius Brands achievements of the past several years can be directly credited to the efforts of Deb Pierson and Lloyd Mintz,” said Heyward. “Both are stellar executives who are committed to our goal of providing intelligent entertainment experiences for today’s children, including the migration of brand across multiple platforms so that fans can engage with the bands they love in every aspect of their life. These promotions are well earned, and I am very excited to see how Deb and Lloyd will flourish in their expanded roles with the company.”
As SVP, Global Content Distribution & Marketing, Deb Pierson will oversee the international reach of Genius Brands’ catalog of animation properties, including music-driven tween brand SpacePOP, upcoming Netflix series Llama Llama from Anna Dewdney, Rainbow Rangers — an all-new preschool brand in development for Nick Jr. and master toy partner Mattel; award-winning toddler brand Baby Genius; Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club; and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab; as well as new properties currently in development. Spearheading worldwide sales efforts, Pierson will also identify potential co-production partners and advise on the development of new and acquired properties for international and domestic distribution. Pierson will continue to drive the expansion of the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel both domestically and internationally, working in collaboration with its Executive Chairman Margaret Loesch.
Pierson has over 25 years of experience in kids’ entertainment across distribution, licensing and product development, including six years as VP of Sales & Marketing for multiplatform channel Kabillion and bringing the popular Neopets brand to retail as its VP of Specialty Merchandise.
“I am proud to say that I have been passionate about Genius Brands’ content from the moment I first saw what Andy Heyward was producing and developing, and it has been an honor and privilege working alongside Margaret Loesch to build the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel,” said Pierson. “I’m very excited to expand my role at Genius Brands to share my passion for the incredible content in the company’s library with broadcasters and other distribution platforms around the world.”
As SVP, Head of Worldwide Consumer Products, Lloyd Mintz will expand his current areas of oversight in the division, taking on direct responsibility for increasing global awareness for Genius Brands’ roster of brands. This includes spearheading the development and implementation of worldwide licensing and merchandising programs for Genius Brands’ signature brands. Mintz was appointed as Genius Brands’ VP of Consumer Products in August 2014. In that role, he has collaborated with retailers and licensees to build comprehensive global programs for each brand.
Mintz has more than 25 years’ experience in licensing, merchandising and new business, with an expertise in leveraging brand equity through licensing. Since 2000, he has managed his own consultancy, negotiating more than 150 licensing agreements and generated over $700 million in cumulative retail sales on behalf of clients. Prior, Mintz was VP of Domestic Corporate Licensing at Hasbro, where he pioneered the effort to license classic game brands to slot machine manufacturers. He began his career at Disney Consumer Products, overseeing Mattel’s development of toy programs for Lion King, Winnie the Pooh and Aladdin.
“In the three years since joining Genius Brands, I’ve been fortunate in developing a community of like-minded retailers and licensees who want to entertain youngsters as well as stimulate their minds and encourage their imaginations,” said Mintz. “I am grateful for the opportunity to expand upon the work and responsibilities I so thoroughly enjoy and have great expectations for the future of our global consumer products developments.”
Blue Dream Studios has released a new official trailer for its upcoming CG animated feature Animal Crackers via The Hollywood Reporter, giving potential moviegoers a taste of what propelled a successful round of international sales at AFM and a warmly received premiere at Annecy. The pic is set to arrive in theaters September 1.
The trailer introduces the hapless Huntington family, headed by parents Owen (voiced by John Krasinski) and Zoe (Emily Blunt), whose boring ol’ lives get a bigtop upset when they inherit an old traveling circus, and uncover a forgotten family legacy. While contending with colorful characters and sinister schemes, the Huntingtons figure out how a box of magical animal crackers which turn the eater into whatever creature-shape is being chomped can help reinvigorate the circus.
The voice cast also features Danny DeVito, Ian McKellen, Gilbert Gottfried, Sylvester Stallone, Raven-Symoné and Patrick Warburton, whose character has a comically cringe-inducing spotlight in the trailer.
Animal Crackers is written, directed and produced by Scott Christian Sava and produced through his Blue Dream Studios and its sister company Blue Dream Studios Spain, headed by Jaime Meastro and Nathalie Martinez, with funding from South Korea, China and North America. Arclight Films handles international sales.
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts has announced the first round of nominees for the AACTA Awards — those in the Best Short Fiction Film and Best Short Animation categories. This year’s ceremony will mark the 7th annual edition since the AACTAs evolved from the Australian Film Institute Awards.
Nominated in the live-action shorts category are The Eleven O’Clock (Derin Seale, Josh Lawson, Karen Bryson), Miro (Victoria Wharfe McIntyre, Fran Dobbie, Amadeo Marquez-Perez), Mrs McCutcheon (John Sheedy) and Slapper (Luci Schroder).
The animation nominees are:
After All directed by Michael Cusack, produced by Richard Chataway
Official selection at Sydney Film Festival, Stuttgart Int’l Animation Festival & Annecy. Cusack won the award for Gargoyle in 2006 and was nominated for Slight of Hand with Chataway in 2013.
Barbara directed by Marieka Walsh; produced by Larissa Behrendt, Michaela Perske & Kiki Dillon
Walsh won the AACTA award in 2013 for The Hunter, and was nominated last year for The Crossing and in 2014 for The Turning.
Lost Property Office directed by Daniel Agdag
Winner of the Robert Mamoulian Award for Best Director and Yoram Gross Animation Award at the Sydney Film Festival.
The Wall directed by Nick Baker & Tristan Klein
Winner of Best Visual Effects and finalist for the Yoram Gross Award at SFF.
The mid-season premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic will feature some very special celebrity guest voices to usher in the next 15 all-new half-hour episodes, starting on Discovery Family on Saturday, August 5 at 11:30 a.m. (10:30 C). Fans who tune in for the premiere will get to meet new characters voiced by screen icon William Shatner and Felicia Day, star of Supernatural. Beyond broadcast, new episodes of the Hasbro Studios show will stream live and on demand on Discovery Family GO.
In the back-to-back mid-season premiere episodes “Discordant Harmony” and “The Perfect Pear,” Discord invites Fluttershy to his realm for tea but worries she won’t be comfortable and begins to change it (and himself) with disastrous results. Immediately following at noon (11 a.m. C), William Shatner guest stars as “Grand Pear” and Felicia Day as “Pear Butter” in a “Romeo and Juliet” inspired love story that spans multiple pony generations when the Apple siblings learn about their parents, and discover that they’re half Pear!
Throughout the second half of season 7, Pharynx learns that love is a strength and not a weakness, Twilight Sparkle battles the Pony of Shadows, famous author A.K. Yearling teases a new novel, the Cutie Mark Crusaders learn that nothing is impossible with courage and strength, and more.
Plus, leading up to International Friendship Day (July 30), Discovery Family is inviting young viewers and their guardians to vote for their favorite MLP friendships each week, Friday through Wednesday, at discoveryfamilychannel.com and on Facebook @DiscFamily. The most voted-for BFFs will be spotlighted every Friday afternoon with back-to-back episodes at 4 p.m. (3 p.m. C).
Launched in 2010, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is produced by Hasbro Studios for Discovery Family. Stephen Davis is the executive producer for Hasbro.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is MagicGrand Pear – My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
VIDEO: ‘The Emoji Movie’ “Emoticons” Clip
Meet some of the colorful characters of Sony Pictures Animation’s technophile adventure in this newly release clip, and see what happened to the plain-speaking, hardworking emoticons from back in the day. @}–}– Hang in there, old timers!
New ‘The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature’ Poster Jackie Chan’s Mr. Feng is the ultimate weapon in the new poster for the Cal Brunker-directed sequel, posted below. (Whatever you do, don’t call him cute!) Also starring Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Katherine Heigl, Gabriel Iglesias, and Jeff Dunham Nutty By Nature hits theaters August 11. (Trailer here.)
‘Professor Marston & the Wonder Women’ Official Trailer Revealed
Meet the women behind the man behind Wonder Woman in the newly released spot for Annapurna Pictures’ upcoming biopic drama about Harvard psychologist Dr. William Martson’s inspiration to create the world’s most recognizable superheroine (and invent the polygraph machine). Directed by Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S., The L Word), starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall and Bella Heathcote. Out October 27.
Netflix Smashes 100MN Member Milestone as It Adds 5MN Subs in Strong Q2
The SVOD giant scored a 5% sequential increase in subscribers, with the first six months of 2017 up 21% year-on-year. And non-US members are now the majority, with US customer numbers up 1.07MN (to 51.92MN) and international markets up 4.14MN (to 52.03MN).
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 7 Premiere Shatters HBO Ratings Records
The Sunday night premiere drew 16.1MN viewers (10.1MN via linear TV) — a whopping 50% increase from last year’s season 6 premiere. Season 6, which saw the series outpace George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, pulled an average audience of 25.7MN per episode. The latest premiere was accompanied by a strange noise phenomenon that almost sounded like 10 million people screaming “WINTER HAS COME, M*****F*****” at the same time.
If you’ve ever wondered how Swiss company Freitag came to put a fashionable spin on recycling back in 1993, you can now take in their story through a series of animated shorts commissioned with no creative limits. With boutiques all over the world, Freitag creates unique bags, accessories and workwear out of old cargo truck tarps.
Dubbed TARP BLANCHE, the campaign will include films from five different artists which relate the tale in different ways, with different plots, styles and drives. Two shorts have been released so far: Gabriel Agustin Freire’s Flythrough takes an insect’s-eye view tour through a Freitag factory, and Neil Stubbings Truckin’ is a black and white nod to midcentury animation which gives a tall tale interpretation on the brand story — and answers the question, where do baby trucks come from?
Coming soon will be works by Beni Morard & Frederic Siegel, Vik & Nes, and Burcu & Geoffrey. You can check back at the TARP BLANCHE page for the latest films, and link through to interviews and making-ofs for the completed shorts.
Sony’s upcoming feature adaptation of popular 1980s cartoon Robotech has a new squad leader: Andy Muschietti, director of Stephen King’s It (Sept. 8), has been brought on to develop and direct, according to The Hollywood Reporter. His creative partner and sister, Barbara Muschietti, will produce alongside Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton. No writer has been assigned so far.
Muschietti, who hails from Argentina, made a big splash with his feature film debut Mama in 2013 (based on his original short of the same name). The horror flick, executive produced by Guillermo del Toro was an international commercial success. In 2014, Muschietti was announced as the director for Sony’s videogame adaptation project Shadow of the Colossus, replacing Josh Trank.
Produced by Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko and released in 1985, the American Robotech animated series was a re-jiggering of three Japanese anime into one universe-spanning, 85-episode, syndicatable mecha package. Follow-up series and movie plans have had a rocky road, but Sony has reportedly tagged this live-action attempt as high priority. The studio acquired rights to Robotech in 2015 after they’d been dropped by Warner Bros.
Crafted by the late Carl Macek, the Robotech saga follows three generations of humans as mankind fights a series of interplanetary wars, using alien “robotechnology” to build transforming fighter vehicles/giant robots.
The Robotech movie is being overseen by Sanford Panitch and Matthew Milam for Columbia, David Hopwood for Canton, and Shannon Gaulding for Hollywood Gang. Original series producers Frank Agrama and Jehan Agrama are also involved.
FILM.UA Group’s Animagrad studio gave attendees of the Odessa International Film Festival Summer Film Market a glimpse into a magical new animated world with the national premiere of the official teaser for Mavka. The Forest Song. The premiere occurred during the presentation of feature projects from FILM.UA Group and Ukrainian Film Distribution, and was followed by an evening party to celebrate.
“Our teaser is more about ambiance than plot. Its objective is to immerse the audience in the unusual forest world of Mavka, to let the viewers meet the protagonist, to show her magic connection with nature and demonstrate Mavka’s Willow. We’ll also denote several unique features of the project: Mavka’s tattoos in the form of pagan runes, which illuminate when she hears Lukash’s music; a unique outfit created by nature itself (but in reality carefully thought out by Olga Navrotska) and, of course, music from DakhaBrakha based on a Ukrainian folk song, a vesnyanka (a song calling the spring in). This soundtrack is among the main components of our teaser; it helped us a lot with demonstrating the authenticity and spirituality of our future project. And so that the audience knows the film will have a light side to it – we’ve inserted a little gag with Swampy,” said Iryna Kostyuk, project producer.
With the feature film’s completion still two years out, the teaser will begin running in Ukrainian cinemas late this month. Following its home-soil debut, the spot has also been made available online.
At the premiere party, guests got to step into Mavka’s world with temporary tattoos of the film’s runes and handmade fresh flower wreaths. Costume designer Olga Navrotska presented the film’s first official capsule collection, MAVKA, featuring silk dresses and blouses with feminine silhouettes and decorative touches:
“Our Mavka is an ancient and mystical creature; she can be changeable like nature itself. She is day and night, flower fields and green forest, fire, and water. In my dresses, I tried to reflect the feeling of Mavka’s world and image through the combination of fairy tale ornaments and floral elements. This is how six dresses, six moods, and states appeared,” said Navrotska.
The first outfits from the collection have been sported by producers Iryna Kostyuk and Anna Eliseeva at pitch sessions and film markets. Director Sasha Ruban also wore a MAVKA original to the Odessa event.
“Mavka‘s teaser official premiere became not just a long-awaited event for the wide audience but also a very important step in creative self-realization for Animagrad studio team, which now actively works on other projects, including its first animation feature, The Stolen Princess,” commented Egor Olesov, Animagrad CEO. “Animation quality, memorable visuals, strong creative spirit and – the main thing – the best Ukrainian artists and animators believing in what they do – all this allows us to hope that Ukrainian animation will soon be on par with the top global projects!”
IDW Publishing in the US and French publisher Glénat have joined forces for a new joint initiative, “Original Graphic Novel,” dedicated to creating original comic books for publication in both France and the States. The program will seek to create fresh works suitable for both markets in terms of storytelling, formats and themes.
This initiative builds on an existing relationship between IDW (the fourth-largest publisher in the US market) and Glénat (the third-largest in the French market) which has seen the former bring the Glénat-Disney collection titles, such as Café Zombo by Régis Loisel, to the US.
Original Graphic Novel will pursue a variety of genres — sci-fi, fantasy, western, humor, thriller, adventure, etc. — and facilitate collaboration between writers and artists working in the American and Franco-Belgian industries. The first OGN titles being published in 2018 are The Highest House, a fantasy project by Mike Carey & Peter Gross, creators of two-time Hugo Award-nominated The Unwritten; and Lowlifes, a hard-boiled thriller set in modern day Los Angeles, by Brian Buccellato & Alexis Sentenac.
Following will be Sukeban Turbo by Sylvain Runberg & Victor Santos, a wild and violent ride through New York City; Boogeymen, a fantastic tale in which monsters do not live only in children’s minds, by Mathieu Salvia & Djet; A Glimpse of Ashes, a social, urban thriller, by Thomas Day & Aurélien Police; and Gunning Down Ramirez, a bloody road-trip reminiscent of Tarantino’s movies, by Nicolas Petrimaux.
