Attention, animation and videogame writers: WGAW and WGAE have set the timeline for the 70th Annual Writers Guild Awards, honoring outstanding writing in film, TV, new media and more. The Awards will be presented Sunday, February 11, 2018 at concurrent ceremonies at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and New York City’s Edison Ballroom. Scroll on for eligibility periods, submission deadlines, etc.
The 2017 WGA animation and game winners were reported here.
2017-2018 WGA MEDIA TIMELINE Television-Radio-New Media Eligibility Period: Long Form, Episodic, Animation, Children’s Script and Short Form Categories: First broadcast or exhibited between Dec. 1, 2016 and Nov. 30, 2017 All Other Script Categories: First broadcast or exhibited between Oct. 1, 2016 and Sept. 30, 2017 Theatrical Screenplay Eligibility Period: Exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles for one week during 2017 Documentary Screenplay Eligibility Period: Exhibited theatrically in Los Angeles or New York for one week during 2017 Videogame Eligibility Period: Originally released between Dec. 1, 2016 and Nov. 30, 2017
2017
Fri. Oct. 13 Deadline for submissions: TV-Radio-New Media and Paul Selvin
Fri. Oct. 13 Deadline for submissions: Drama/Comedy/New Series
Tue. Oct. 24 Preliminary Series online voting begins
Fri. Nov. 17 Deadline for submissions: Theatrical and Documentary Screenplays
Mon. Nov. 20 Deadline for submissions: Videogame Writing
Tue. Nov. 21 Deadline for Preliminary Series online voting
Tue. Dec. 5 Preliminary Screenplay online voting begins
Thu. Dec. 7 Television, New Media, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominations Announced
2018
Wed. Jan. 3 Deadline for Preliminary Screenplay online voting
Thu. Jan. 4 Theatrical and Documentary Screenplay Nominations Announced
Mon. Jan. 8 Final Screenplay and Series online voting begins
Tue. Jan. 9 – Fri. Jan. 19 The Contenders: Writers Guild Award-nominated films screening series – Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills
Jan. TBA “And the Nominees Are…”: Writers Guild Award TV and New Media nominee panels – Venue: NYC (TBA)
Thu. Jan. 11 Videogame Writing Nominations Announced
Mon. Jan. 29 Deadline for Final Screenplay and Series online voting
Wed. Jan. 31 Deadline for 2018 WGA show reservations, sponsorships, & ticket sales
Thu. Feb. 1 Beyond Words – Writers Guild Award-nominated screenwriters panel Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills
Sun. Feb. 11 2018 WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (70th Annual)
Nominations for the 69th Annual Emmy Awards were announced Thursday morning at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre in North Hollywood, with actors Anna Chlumsky (Veep) and Shemar Moore (S.W.A.T.) listing off this year’s contenders.
While HBO’s VFX-fueled drama Westworld tied with NBC comedy mainstay Saturday Night Live for the most nominations overall — each receiving 22 — the animation categories show three broadcasters neck-and-neck with three nods each: the FOX, Disney and Cartoon Network channel families. Comedy Central is a standout with a nomination for South Park. And another Disney toon, Star Wars Rebels, is the lone animated nominee in the Children’s Program category.
The Emmy Awards ceremony will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on September 17 at 5 p.m., hosted by Stephen Colbert. The show will broadcast live on CBS.
Read on for the nominees and their prior Emmy win tallies in the top toon categories.
ANIMATED PROGRAM Archer “Archer Dreamland: No Good Deed” (FX Networks) — 2 Emmy wins, 3 nominations Bob’s Burgers “Bob, Actually” (FOX) — 1 win, 4 nominations Elena and the Secret of Avalor (Sofia the First crossover) (Disney Channel) The Simpsons “The Town” (FOX) — 32 wins, 78 nominations South Park “Member Berries” (Comedy Central) — 5 wins, 12 nominations
SHORT FORM ANIMATED PROGRAM Adventure Time “Islands Pt. 4: Imaginary Resources” (Cartoon Network) — 6 wins, 6 nominations Disney Mickey Mouse “Split Decisions” (Disney Channel) — 6 wins, 2 nominations Marvel’s Rocket & Groot “Space Walk”(Disney XD App) Steven Universe “Mr. Greg” (Cartoon Network) — 2 nominations Teen Titans Go! “Orangins” (Cartoon Network)
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM Girl Meets World (Disney Channel) Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 90th Celebration (NBC) Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas (HBO) School of Rock (Nickelodeon) Star Wars Rebels (Disney XD)
CHARACTER VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE
Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad!)
Kevin Kline (Bob’s Burgers) — 1 nomination
Kristen Schaal (BoJack Horseman)
Mo Collins (F Is for Family)
Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) — 3 wins, 16 nominations
Nancy Cartwright(The Simpsons) — 1 win
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS American Gods “The Bone Orchard” (Starz)
Kevin Tod Haug, Visual Effects Designer; David Stump, Visual Effects Supervisor; Jeremy Ball, Visual Effects Supervisor; Bernice Charlotte Howes, Visual Effects Producer; Jessica Smith, Visual Effects Production Manager; Josh Carlton, Visual Effects Coordinator; Pierre Buffin, VFX Supervisor; James Cooper, VFX Supervisor; Aymeric Perceval, VFX Supervisor
Black Sails “XXIX” (Starz)
Erik Henry, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor; Terron Pratt, Visual Effects Producer; Ashley J. Ward, Visual Effects Production Manager; Kevin Rafferty, On-Set Visual Effects Supervisor; Paul Dimmer, Special Effects Supervisor; Yafei Wu, VFX Supervisor; Martin Lipmann, VFX Supervisor; Nicklas Andersson, Animation Supervisor; David Wahlberg, Compositing Lead
The Man in the High Castle “Fallout” (Amazon)
Lawson Deming, VFX Supervisor; Cory Jamieson, VFX Producer; Casi Blume, CG Supervisor; Nick Chamberlain, Comp Supervisor; David Andrade, Modeling Supervisor; Bill Parker, Comp Lead; Justin Fox, Layout; Danielle Malambri, VFX Coordinator
Vikings “On the Eve” (History)
Dominic Remane, Visual Effects Supervisor; Michael Borrett, Visual Effects Producer; Bill Halliday, Visual Effects Producer; Paul Wishart, CG Supervisor; Ovidiu Cinazan, Lead Compositor; Jim Maxwell, Lead Matte Painter; Kiernan McKay, Lead Animator; Isabelle Alles, Lead Massive Crowd Artist; Tom Morrison, Lead Lighter
Westworld “The Bicameral Mind” (HBO)
Jay Worth, VFX Supervisor; Elizabeth Castro, VFX Coordinator; Joe Wehmeyer, On Set VFX Supervisor; Eric Levin-Hatz, VFX Compositor; Bobo Skipper, ILP VFX Supervisor; Gustav Ahren, Modeling Lead; Paul Ghezzo, CG Supervisor – COSA VFX; Mitchell S. Drain, VFX Supervisor – Shade VFX; Michael Lantieri, Special Effects Coordinator
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Genius “Einstein: Chapter One” (National Geographic)
Eric Durst, Visual Effects Supervisor; Lenka Líkařová, Visual Effects Producer; Viktor Muller, Senior Visual Effects Producer; Marek Ruth, Visual Effects Supervisor; Tomáš Kalhous, Head of 2D Department; Lukáš Herrmann, Head of DMP Department; Pavel Kolář, CG Supervisor; Petr Hastík, Lead Compositor; Vit Komrzý, 2D Compositor
Gotham “Heavydirtysoul” (FOX)
Thomas Mahoney, Visual Effects Supervisor; Matthew Wheelon Hunt, Visual Effects Producer; Alex Gitler, Compositing Supervisor; Sina San, Senior Matte Painter / Art Director; Michael Capton, CG Supervisor / Lead CG Artist; Jon Anastasiades, Senior Lead Compositor; Ryan Bauer, Sequence Lead Compositor; Mark Anthony Nazal, Sequence Lead Compositor; Randy Little, On-Set Supervisor
Taboo “Episode 1” (FX Networks)
Henry Badgett, VFX Supervisor; Tracy McCreary, VFX Producer; Angela Barson, Senior VFX Supervisor; Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor, VFX Line Producer; Nic Birmingham, Head of 3D; Simon Rowe, Senior 2D Artist; Alexander Kirichenko, Senior 2D Artist; Finlay Duncan, 2D Artist; Colin Gorry, SFX Supervisor
The Crown “Windsor” (Netflix)
Ben Turner, Visual Effects Supervisor; Tom Debenham, Consulting Visual Effects Supervisor; Standish Millennas, Visual Effects Producer; Kim Phelan, Visual Effects Producer; Oliver Cubbage, Lead CG Artist; Lionel Heath, Lead Compositor; Charlie Bennet, Lead DMP Artist; Stephen Smith, Lead Roto-Prep Artist; Carmine Agnone, Lead Matchmove Artist
The Handmaid’s Tale “Birth Day” (Hulu)
Brendan Taylor, VFX Supervisor; Stephen Lebed, VFX Supervisor; Leo Bovell, CG Supervisor; Martin O’Brien, VFX Producer; Winston Lee, Senior VFX Compositor; Kelly Knauff, VFX Coordinator; Zach Dembinski, CG Artist; Mike Suta, Compositor; Cameron Kerr, Compositor
VIDEO: ‘The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature’ – Animals vs. Humans
Featuring the voices of Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Jackie Chan, Maya Rudolph, Katherine Heigl, Gabriel Iglesias, and Jeff Dunham, the Surly sequel pits the park critters against the Mayor of Oakton’s plan to bulldoze the greenery to build a safety code-violatin’ theme park! Released via Open Road August 11.
New ‘Black Panther’ Photos Explore the Heroes & Villains of Wakanda
If the amazing shots of Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o & co. in their Ruth E. Carter costumes are anything to go by, the movie is going to be the most sumptuous visual feast from the Marvel Universe yet. In theaters February 18, 2018.
Netflix to Premiere Japanese Animated Series Featuring Toy Bear Rilakkuma
San-X’s popular “Relax Bear” will celebrate his 15th anniversary with a 13 x 11-min. series from studio Dwarf (Domo-kun), which will have a wide streaming launch across 190 territories. Sounds ilke a perfect palate cleanser after binge-watching Attack on Titan, TBH.
Nick Goes Retro at BoxLunch
A whole slew of sick ‘90s style apparel, accessory and pet product items inspired by Rugrats, Rocko, Ren & Stimpy and other faves launches this month at the retailer, which gives back by providing meals through Feeding America. The only important question right now is, when can I get a human-sized Stimpy bed?
AUDIO: BBC’s ‘The Conversation’ – Women in Animation
Burn your ballgowns and nevermind the wicked witch trope — Kim Chakanetsa has a half-hour chat with animators Niki Yang (Family Guy, Adventure Time) and Aliki Theofilopoulos (DreamWorks) about drawing female cartoon characters from real life, rather than stereotypes.
UK-based CHF Entertainment is bringing new characters into its fold with Daisy & Ollie — a new 2D animated preschool series about two curious kiddos eager to find out the answers to all sorts of questions, with their extraordinary toys by their sides. The 53 x 7 min. Show is based on an original idea by Helen Brown, and developed by CHF with executive producer Jason Manford. Daisy & Ollie is set to premiere on Turner’s Cartoonito in October.
“Creating and developing Daisy & Ollie with the immensely talented team at CHF has been such a pleasure, and I’m thrilled to be managing the project through the studio pipeline; it’s a dream come true! The show was inspired by my daughter Daisy, who asks me hundreds of varied and entertaining questions every day, which I think all parents will relate to,” said Brown. “Whilst having educational value, it’s also fun and engaging with great scripting, beautiful designs and wonderful animation, all of which are key to making it an entertaining show. It’s been a fantastic privilege to see Daisy & Ollie coming to life and the end result has exceeded all of my expectations!”
Aimed at encouraging kids’ curiosity about world around them, Daisy & Ollie poses questions from practical (“Why do we have to go to bed?”) to the silly (“Why don’t ducks wear rain coats?”) The young heroes are joined by their toys Boo the Monkey and Whizzy the Robot on their mission to uncover the answers. They’re also helped by Daisy’s Daddy, a musician with a dry sense of humor who fills each episode with song and often gets caught up in the children’s adventures.
In addition to serving as EP, Manford voices both “Daddy” and “Whizzy the Robot” for the series: “It’s an absolute joy to work on Daisy & Ollie, and I was so eager to get involved knowing that I could finally make a show that my own kids could watch and enjoy. I spend so much time watching kid’s TV that I know what it’s like for adults to have to sit through shows that aren’t aimed at us. This show has something for everyone and you can all enjoy it together, like I will with my children.”
Heritage Auctions’ Animation Art Auction in Dallas on July 1-2 scored a record-breaking $1.4 million in sales, thanks to rare offerings like a fabulous selection of original pieces from the production of Disney’s Fantasia (1940). The leader of these offerings was a Kay Nielsen concept painting of the demon Chernabog from the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence, which sold for $59,750.
“This was our sixth consecutive animation auction to top the $1 million mark,” said Jim Lentz, Director of Animation Art for Heritage. “Our formula has been to auction primarily fresh material that never had been offered for sale before, with almost no reserves, and to cross-promote it to a new generation of bidders as well as seasoned animation collectors. We plan to continue in this vein and also to continue emphasizing the whole range of animation from 1928-2000.”
A lovely Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs production cel featuring the princess and the “Old Hag” exceeded expectations with $33,460. There was also a rich collection of Lady and the Tramp artwork, highlighted by a cel setup and master background that went for $14,340; a “Belle Notte” cel setup, $11,950; and a concept art/background color key by Eyvind Earle, $6,572. Items from the controversial Song of the South also pulled big payouts, including a storyboard sequence (plus 23 pages of concept art) by Ken Anderson, $15,535; and Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox concept art by Mary Blair, $10,157.
Mary Blair’s works proved popular as ever, scoring $14,937 with an Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad concept painting and $14,340 for an “It’s a Small World” ride concept painting. Disneyland attraction fans also ponied up for entrance posters: “Haunted Mansion” signed by Marc Davis (1969) sold for $4,899; “Matterhorn Bobsled” (1959) sold for $3,585 as did the “Autopia” poster (1955).
Outside the Disney offerings, the top performers included a Robin Hood Daffy original painting by Chuck Jones, $14,340; a publicity cel and painted coconut for The Adventures of Batman from Filmation Studios, $6,572; rare Rocky and His Friends cel & key master background ($16,730); extraordinarily rare Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas cel setup & master BG (MGM, 1966), $6,572; an early depiction of Mighty Mouse as Super Mouse and a Tom and Jerry cel & painted BG from “A Mouse in the House,” which both sold for $5,019.
Trade association Animation Ireland (animationireland.com) announces that two of its member companies — Pink Kong Studios and Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon — will present world premieres of their latest short films at the 29th Galway Film Fleadh this weekend. Both Departure and Late Afternoon were funded by the Irish Film Board and RTÉ as part of the multi-award-winning Frameworks Film Scheme.
Departure, by Pink Kong Studios, is written and directed by Aoífe Doyle and produced by Niamh Herrity. The 9-minute animated short centers on an Irish grandmother’s unexpected departure from her lonely life. Faced with the prospect of yet another Christmas without her emigrated family, Alma is at an all time low, until one day forces greater than herself conspire to change her fate.
“I’m really proud of the talented crew who gave their all to this project. It’s such a thrill to see the hard work translate to screen and watch it for the first time with a live audience. We are honoured to be included in such an amazing line up of animated short films at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh,” said Doyle, whose previous work includes Urban Tails and Top Cat the Movie.
From Kilkenny studio Cartoon Saloon, Late Afternoon tells the story of Emily as she drifts through her memories, reliving moments in her life. She exists between two states, the past and the present, but struggles to connect them. The film is written and directed by Louise Bagnall, whose credits include Song of the Sea and Puffin Rock, and produced by Nuria González Blanco.
“I’m very excited to see Late Afternoon and the other shorts on the big screen at Galway Film Fleadh. It’s really the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication from the whole team,” said Bagnall. “I am so proud of the film and I can’t wait to share it with an audience!”
The annual Galway Film Fleadh runs July 11 through July 16 this year, with other animation track highlights including the feature films Birdboy: The Lost Children and My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea. Both the short animation James Horgan Award and short drama prize are recognized by the Academy as Oscar-qualifying honors.
For more information on the Frameworks funding scheme from the Irish Film Board, click here.
Having just pulled off a $117 million domestic opening weekend (the third largest this year), Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming is proving a strong addition to the Marvel movie stable, thanks in part to the stellar VFX work driving the story of plucky young Peter Parker (played by Tom Holland). In celebration of the July 7 release, New York Film Academy caught up with 3D animation program alumnus Francesco Panzieri, in-house digital compositor for Marvel Studios and former VFX artist.
“I realized the true strength and secret of Marvel Studios that deservedly brought them to be number one in the entertainment industry: the love and energy that they put into each and every production they make,” says Panzieri. “Everyone who works at Marvel is an extremely genuine, passionate and dedicated fellow; it’s a huge, big family where there is a unique synergy between all the roles.”
Panzieri gives particular kudos to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ new colorspace technology: Academy Color Encoding System, or ACES. “It was a cool experience for me to test it for the first time in my career and I look forward to ACES being the soon-to-be-standard on features, episodic and commercials,” he says.
The young creative also credits his training at NYFA with playing a valuable role in preparing him for the transition from film school to major blockbuster production. Visual effects, as Panzieri explains, is a combination of art, technology and science which requires focus, dedication and well-honed craftsmanship to meet the industry’s high (and ever evolving) demands.
“The instantaneous hands-on environment I found myself in during my time at NYFA was a true testament to the preparation it takes to work in Hollywood.”
You can also read about Panzieri’s experience working on The Force Awakens on the NYFA blog here.
The New York Film Academy offers a range of accredited degrees, two-year conservatories and workshops covering audiovisual entertainment and the arts — including 3D animation and game design — with locations in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami’s South Beach, Sydney and Gold Coast in Australia, Florence, Mumbai and elsewhere. Learn more at nyfa.edu.
ACES is a free, open, device-independent color management and image interchange system that can be applied to almost any workflow. Developed by hundreds of the industry’s top scientists, engineers and end users, under the auspices of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, ACES 1.0 is the first production-ready release of the system. It includes support for a wide variety of digital and film-based production workflows, VFX, animation and archiving. More info available at oscars.org.
NYFA 3D Animation alum Francesco Panzieri (right) featured with actor Michael Mando (left) who plays Mac Gargan in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Hulu has struck a deal with 20th Century Fox that expands their relationship, adding complete libraries of Fox animation hits to the streaming service. Hulu is now the exclusive VOD home for full runs of Emmy winner Bob’s Burgers and The Cleveland Show. The full Futurama library and all past seasons of American Dad! will arrive in the coming weeks.
“We are thrilled to license these iconic adult animated series to Hulu, and to further support their position as the leader in offering this type of award winning animation,” said Evan Scheffel, Executive Vice President, The Americas, 20th Century Fox Television Distribution. This new agreement follows a raft of recent exclusive live-action TV deals.
The Fox toons joins a vast library of animated comedies available only on Hulu, including fan-faves like South Park, Rick and Morty, The Boondocks, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Adventure Time, Squidbillies and The Venture Bros., as well as episodes of Family Guy, Archer and The Simpsons.
The estate of Michael Jackson, has announced a partnership with CBS to produce an hour-long animated Halloween special, featuring the late King of Pop’s music, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Title Michael Jackson’s Halloween, the special will air sometime this fall.
The TV movie centers on Vincent (voiced by Lucas Till) and Victoria (Kiersey Clemons) who “accidentally” meet on Halloween night and end up — along with Ichabod the dog — at the mysterious This Place Hotel, at 777 Jackson Street. Inside, the youths embark on an unexpected, magical adventure of self discovery. An animated MJ will appear for a dance-fueled finale.
Michael Jackson’s Halloween voice cast is rounded out by screen stars Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming, Jim Parsons, Lucy Liu, George Eads and Brad Garrett. Daniel Chuba will serve as producer, with Mark A.Z. Dippé is attached to direct — the duo are also working on the animated adaptation of The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island.
The special is created and produced by Optimum Productions, with animation provided by Hammerhead (The Reef 2, Space Chimps 2, The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island). John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the estate, serve as executive producers.
Earlier this year, the Michael Jackson estate confirmed production of a stop-motion biopic about the pop star’s beloved chimpanzee, Bubbles. The script by Isaac Adamson was ranked in first place on the 2015 Black List, and the project is being co-directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and Mark Gustafson (animation director, Fantastic Mr. Fox). The animation will be created with a blend of 3D printing, stop-mo and puppetry by Starburns Industries, with co-founder and EP Dan Harmon as producer.
Nickelodeon has released a new video (narrated by creator Craig Bartlett) that serves as a sneak-peek at the return of everyone’s favorite football-head, Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
As Bartlett details in the clip, the special picks up only one or two years after the end of the original series (which happened almost 15 years ago in the real world). The characters are a little bit older, entering the 6th grade with some fresh back-to-school looks (complete with “cool new sneaks”).
Other cool tidbits: The fictional South American locale of San Lorenzo the kids visit in the special is actually the island Arnold dreams about in “Parents Day.” The series is also referenced with an opening on the mysterious map Arnold finds in the back of his dad’s journal towards the end of the series.
The two-part Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie is set to debut this fall on Nickelodeon. Click the link for more details!
A new 10-episode live-action series inspired by the Eisner Award-winning The Umbrella Academy comics and graphic novels is coming to Netflix worldwide in 2018. Created and written by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, the story follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes. The widely praised series is published by Dark Horse Comics.
“I am thrilled that The Umbrella Academy has found a home at Netflix. I couldn’t think of a better place for the vision Gabriel Bá and myself had when creating the comic, and cannot wait for people to experience that world as a live action show,” said Gerard Way.
From Universal Cable Productions and Dark Horse Entertainment, the series will revolve around seven superhero siblings — Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumor, The Séance, Number Five, The Horror, and The White Violin — as they work together to unravel the mysterious death of their adoptive father, The Monocle, while their divergent personalities and abilities threaten to pull them apart. The distinct appearances and widely varying powers of the Umbrella Academy team alone guarantee that this series will be a VFX-packed visual playground.
“What drew us to The Umbrella Academy is that it’s wholly unique, visual and stylized,” said Cindy Holland, VP, Original Content for Netflix. “These aren’t the usual superheroes, and this series will embrace the singular tone of the graphic novels — dark yet humorous, supernatural yet grounded in reality. We’re excited to see this world and introduce these unforgettable heroes to Netflix members around the globe.”
The Umbrella Academy is being produced by Universal Cable Productions. Steve Blackman (Fargo, Altered Carbon) will serve as executive producer and showrunner, with additional executive producers Bluegrass Television and Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg from Dark Horse Entertainment. Gerard Way will serve as co-executive producer. The pilot script was adapted from the comics by Jeremy Slater (The Exorcist).
The SIGGRAPH 2017 conference & exhibition will take over the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 30 to August 3, offering papers and presentations, engaging speakers (like keynoter Floyd Norman), the Oscar-qualifying Computer Animation Festival — offering a VR program for the first time — and 11 in-depth Production Sessions covering the latest triumphs of animation, VFX, games, VR and beyond. All of the 2017 sessions reflect the conference theme, “At the Heart of Production.”
This year will also introduce a Production Gallery, featuring behind-the-scenes treasures from major studios across the computer graphics entertainment industry. Among the memorabilia will be pitch boards from Disney’s Moana; concept artwork and maquettes from Cars 3, Overwatch, and Final Fantasy XV; and costumes from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Plus, a showcase exhibition from Sony Pictures Imageworks’ archives to celebrate its 25th anniversary, with relics from Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Men in Black, Ghostbusters, Stuart Little, and more.
“Since the Production Sessions program began, it has grown and evolved to become an attendee favorite with universal appeal. I am proud to be part of that tradition and to continue expanding the scope of Production Sessions content as well as initiating the all-new Production Gallery,” said Emily Hsu, Production Sessions Chair. “While we have an amazing lineup that retains strong animation and VFX, we are also featuring a VR panel with Google Spotlight Stories and Oculus Story Studio and presenting a look at Blizzard’s trans-media approach in creating Overwatch. Plus, for the first time, we are bringing a live-action TV series to the SIGGRAPH stage.”
Stories the Ocean Tells Us: The Making of Moana
Tuesday, 1 August, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm, South Hall K
With Osnat Shurer, Producer; Kyle Odermatt, VFX Supervisor; Hank Driskill, SDL-Technical Supervisor; Dale Mayeda, Effects Animator; Adolph Lusinsky, SDL-Lighter.
Crazy Eight: The Making of a Race Sequence in Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3
Tuesday, 1 August, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, South Hall K
With Sudeep Rangaswamy, Global Technology Supervisor; Bert Berry, Shading Art Director; George Nguyen, Character Shading Lead; David Bianchi, Layout Lead; Stephen Marshall, Effects Lead; Paul Oakley, Master Lighting Artist; Frank Tai, Set Dressing Artist.
Blizzard Entertainment Presents: The Making of the Overwatch Animated Shorts
Thursday, 3 August, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm, South Hall K
With Jeff Chamberlain, Vice President of Story and Franchise Development; Ben Dai, Cinematic Director; Kevin VanderJagt, Cinematic Producer; Ben Deda, Cinematic Pipeline TD; Hunter Grant, Cinematic Animation Supervisor; Bill La Barge, Cinematic Senior Effects Artist; Mike Hardison, Cinematic Lighting Lead.
The Making of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Monday, 31 July, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, South Hall K
With Kelly Port, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain; Darren Hendler, Digital Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain; Adrien Saint Girons, CG Supervisor, Framestore.
ILM Presents: Behind the Magic, the Visual Effects of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Tuesday, 1 August, 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm, South Hall K
With John Knoll, Chief Creative Officer/Senior Visual Effects Supervisor; Vick Schutz, Lighting Technical Director Supervisor; Stephen Ellis, CG Supervisor; Russell Paul, Digital Supervisor; John Levin, Layout Supervisor.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Wednesday, 2 August, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, South Hall K
With Sophie Leclerc, VFX Producer; Martin Hill, VFX Supervisor, Weta Digital; Jose Burgos, CG Supervisor, ILM; Christian Alzmann, Visual Effects Art Director, ILM; Peter Nofz, Associate VFX Supervisor, RodeoFX; and Olivier Martin, Concept Artist, RodeoFX.
The Making of Marvel Studio’s Spider-Man Homecoming
Thursday, 3 August, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, South Hall K
With Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President – Physical Production, Marvel Studios; Edwin Rivera, Additional VFX Supervisor, Marvel Studios; Matt Dessero, 2nd Unit Supervisor, VFX Supervisor, Method Studios; Lou Pecora, VFX Supervisor, Digital Domain; Theo Bialek, VFX Supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks.
The Making of Marvel Studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Thursday, 3 August, 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm, South Hall K
With Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President – Physical Production, Marvel Studios; Damien Carr, VFX Producer, Marvel Studios; Christopher Townsend, VFX Supervisor, Marvel Studios; Guy Williams, VFX Supervisor, Weta Digital; Jonathan Fawkner, VFX Supervisor, Framestore; Nordin Rahhali, VFX Supervisor, Method Studios.
Game of Thrones: Building and Destroying Meereen
Wednesday, 2 August, 3:45 pm – 5:15 pm, South Hall K
With Patrick David, VFX Supervisor and Compositor, Rodeo FX; and Thomas Hullin, Lead FX Artist, Rodeo FX.
Behind the Headset: The Making of Google Spotlight Stories’ Son of Jaguar and Sonaria, and Oculus Story Studios’ Dear Angelica
Wednesday, 2 August, 10:45 am – 12:15 pm, South Hall K
With Son of Jaguar‘s Jorge Gutierrez (Director, ReelFX) and Cassidy Curtis (Technical Art Lead, GSS); Sonaria‘s Scot Stafford (Director, Composer and Sound Supervisor, Pollen Music Group / GSS), Kevin Dart (Director and Production Designer, Chromosphere) and Theresa Latzko (Technical Art Lead, Chromosphere); and Dear Angelica‘s Maxwell Planck (Producer and Technical Founder), Chris Horne (CG Supervisor), Inigo Quilez (VFX Supervisor) and Robert Chen (FX Lead) of Oculus Story Studio.
(The Productions Sessions program will host a meet-and-greet with Jorge Gutierrez on Wednesday, 2 August, from 4:30–5:30 p.m.)
Sony Pictures Imageworks: Celebrating 25 Years of Innovation, Imagination and Creativity
Wednesday, 2 August, 5:45 pm – 7:15 pm, South Hall K
With Jerome Chen, Senior VFX Supervisor; Ken Ralston, Senior VFX Supervisor; Mark Breakspear, VFX Supervisor; Michael Ford, VFX Supervisor; and Sue Rowe, VFX Supervisor.
Marvel Television and Freeform Set Cast for ‘Marvel’s New Warriors’
The comedic live-action comic-inspired series will star Milana Vayntrub (Silicon Valley) as Squirrel Girl, Derek Theler (Baby Daddy) as Mister Immortal, Jeremy Tardy (Dear White People) as Night Thrasher, Calum Worthy (Austin & Ally) as Speedball, Matthew Moy (Steven Universe) as Microbe and Kate Comer (Hello My Name Is Doris) as Debril. New Warriors is slated for 2018.
John Oliver Joins Disney’s Live-Action ‘The Lion King’
The beloved British comedian and host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight will voice the dignified but high-strung red-billed hornbill, Zazu, joining Donald Glover (Simba), James Earl Jones (Mufasa), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa) and Billy Eichner (Timon). Rowan “Mr. Bean” Atkinson voiced the character in the 1994 animated original.
Animation Artland President Denies Reports of Studio Shutdown
Following reports of bankruptcy, the Tokyo studio’s prez Kuniharu Okano has given a new interview denying the shop is shuttering, and clarifying that Artland actually notified creditors that it was seeking restructuring help. Hooray!
Roughly eight months after stepping away from DreamWorks Animation, industry vet Mireille Soria is taking on a new role in the feature toon business as President of Paramount Animation. The appointment comes as Paramount Pictures is rebuilding under new chairman Jim Gianopulos, with a focus on returning to the studio’s franchise library — especially its well-performing animation brands. Soria will report to Marc Evans, Motion Picture Group President.
Soria was co-President of feature animation at DreamWorks since 2015, appointed alongside Bonnie Arnold, overseeing The Boss Baby, Captain Underpants and Trolls. As a producer, she delivered DWA’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legends of the Seven Seas, 2005’s Madagascar and its follow-ups. She also served as a creative consultant on the Madagascar spin-off series, The Penguins of Madagascar. Prior, she had a production deal with Fox Family Pictures, with credits including live-action fairytale Ever After. Soria has also served as VP of Production for Walt Disney Pictures.
Paramount Animation was launched in 2011 following the success Oscar-winning co-pro Rango, and delivered its first film in 2015: the hybrid flick The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which grossed $325.2 million. The studio had not had a dedicated animation division since 1967, when it shuttered Paramount Cartoon Studios (Famous Studios). The new branch’s second release arrived in January — another hybrid, Monster Trucks, produced with Nickelodeon Movies and Disruption Ent.
Upcoming Paramount Animation releases include Gnomeo & Juliet: Sherlock Gnomes (MGM, Rocket Pictures, Mikros Image) and Amusement Park (Ilion Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Movies) in 2018; an untitled Nicktoons feature and third SpongeBob movie in 2019; and The Loud House in 2020.
Something strange is going on in the Land of Ooo this month. (Stranger than usual.) (No, no, even stranger than that!) (Just, like, super weird, you guys.) The curious chaos begins to unfold Monday, July 17 when a special five-night Adventure Time programming event kicks off on Cartoon Network, starting at 7:45 p.m. ET/PT when Jake is haunted by a mysterious dream in “Abstract” — scroll down for a clip!
Know what else you can scroll down for? Another clip! From the subsequent episode, “Ketchup,” which debuts Tuesday, July 18 and features a guest appearance by Regular Show creator JG Quintel, and guest animation by Lindsay & Alex Small-Butera (Baman Piderman). Plus, Fionna and Cake return on July 19! Can’t wait until next week? All five episodes will arrive on the Cartoon Network App’s “See It First” feature on Friday, July 14.
The five-night Adventure Time event will be:
Monday, July 17: “Abstract” – As Jake goes through some personal changes, he’s haunted by a mysterious dream encounter with his brother, Jermaine.
Tuesday, July 18: “Ketchup” – BMO and Marceline swap stories about their recent adventures. Features guest appearance by Regular Show‘s JG Quintel and guest animation by Lindsay and Alex Small-Butera.
Wednesday, July 19: “Fionna and Cake and Fionna” – An unexpected critic shows up at Ice King’s latest Fionna and Cake book reading.
Thursday, July 20: “Whispers” – While safeguarding a frightened Sweet P, Finn is led into a confrontation with an old foe.
Friday, July 21: “Three Buckets” – Finn and Fern’s carefree visit to some old ruins turns disastrous.
Adventure TimeAdventure TimeAdventure TimeAdventure TimeAdventure Time
Zhejiang Huace Film and TV Group, John Hughes VFX (Beijing) and Nantong Tangzha Old Town Culture and Tourism Development have signed a joint venture agreement to establish the Nantong HC-JH Artistic Creation Park, to be located at the Tangzha International Film and Television Base. The project aligns with preservation and development efforts by Tangzha Old Town while creating a local animation and VFX center and talent training base — bringing together Huace Film University’s and John Hughes Academy’s education models and brands.
“This joint venture will allow JHVFX to leverage its global talent to partner with Zhejiang Huace to create a strong presence for entertainment content creation in China,” said John Hughes, Chairman of JHVFX. The partnership also includes a production deal to develop and produce films, television series, immersive media (VR, AR, MR), digital media and game products, and theme park attractions.
“This joint venture plays to the core strengths of both Zhejiang Huace and JHVFX, tapping into a vast library of Huace content while enabling the development of new, high-end entertainment experiences for the global market,” added JHVFX Creative Director Walt Jones.
Before the signing ceremony, Communist Party Municipal Secretary General, Zhipeng Lu, met with the Zhejiang Huace and JHVFX executives and approved the venture, which he said “would focus attention on Tangzha’s development of its cultural tourism as well as a continuous sponsorship of the Old Town’s preservation and utilization.”
The signing ceremony was also attended by the Deputy Secretary and Propaganda Chief Zhang Zhaojiang, Standing Committee member and Secretary General Shen Le and government administrators of Gangzha District and Tangzha.
JHVFX is the Chinese arm of Tau Films (taufilms.com), a high-end visual effects and entertainment production company, headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Canada, India and, Malaysia. The company delivered effects for historic epic Baahubali: The Beginning, which set box office records for an Indian film when it came out in 2015.
Zhejiang Huace Group (huacemedia.com) is a comprehensive media company focused on investment, production and distribution of feature film and TV dramas. Huace was established in Hangzhou in 2005, and has topped the list of Forbes Top 100 Listed Chinese Companies with the Most Potential.
JHVFX Signs Animation & FX Park Joint Venture (Photo credit: Chen-chih Chiang)
Zag America has expanded its broadcast reach with the premiere of its hit superhero animation Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir season 1 on Sinclair Broadcast Group’s new KidsClick. The daily national multiplatform programming block for young viewers launched July 1 for 75 million broadcast TV homes across the US.
Miraculous, a comedy-action CG animated series set in Paris which tells the story of a transforming girl super-heroine known as Ladybug, will air 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, at 7:30 a.m. The national broadcast reach of KidsClick will introduce Miraculous to a whole new audience of kids and families, as the block is aired locally on the affiliated major networks and multiple emerging networks. Zag will also release Zag Heroez show Zak Storm in October 2017, an action comedy animated TV series about the world’s first transforming “super pirate.”
This summer, KidsClick will launch online (desktop and mobile), via tablet and smartphone apps and games, and via OTT platforms like Roku, in addition to broadcast television.
Ink Global announces the appointment of Simone Risgaard to the post of Licensing and Marketing Coordinator, charged with building and guiding Ink Group brands such as Masha and the Bear, The Mojicons and Zafari.
“Ink Group is a company with heart and soul that’s full of incredibly ambitious and visionary people, so this is a great opportunity for me,” said Risgaard. “I’m really looking forward to contributing to the future development of the group.”
Risgaard has been working at Ink for the past two years as a student assistant, and now moves into a full-time, permanent role. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business Communication, European Studies and English, and a Master’s in Intercultural Marketing – both from Copenhagen Business School.
“We are delighted that Simone – with all her education and capability – has joined us on a permanent basis,” added Ink Global Director Claus Tømming. “She knows and understands the licensing industry extremely well and her expertise will be hugely beneficial to us.”
Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic announced the inaugural open source release of MaterialX Library, a CG tool developed by Lucasfilm’s Advanced Development Group and ILM engineers to facilitate the transfer of rich materials and look development content between applications and renderers. Tatooine. The MaterialX team will host a “Birds of a Feather” meeting at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles on Monday, July 31 (9:30-11:00am, room 511BC).
Top shops Autodesk and Foundry are already on board:
Chris Vienneau, Director of Media & Entertainment at Autodesk noted, “Autodesk is very pleased to be a contributor to the MaterialX project and we are looking forward to adding native support for MaterialX workflows to our digital content creation tools. As with other open formats, MaterialX is going to improve collaboration and help make production pipelines more efficient, so we are thankful that Lucasfilm have chosen to share their technology with the community through open source software.”
“Foundry is happy to see the MaterialX project reach this latest milestone,” said Jordan Thistlewood, Senior Product Manager – Look Development & Lighting at Foundry. “The possibilities for smoothing the transfer of look development information between our own applications is exciting. The broader principle of open source projects and multi-vendor data exchange are important for the industry as a whole. Thus we look forward to including MaterialX powered workflows in future releases of our applications.”
CG production workflows require multiple software tools for different parts of the production pipeline, and shared and outsourced work requires companies to hand off fully look-developed models to other divisions or studios which may use different software packages and rendering systems. There are currently high-quality solutions for exchanging scene hierarchies and geometric data between tools, but not for exchanging rich material content.
MaterialX addresses the current lack of a common, open standard for representing the data values and relationships required to transfer the complete look of a computer graphics model from one application or rendering platform to another, including shading networks, patterns and texturing, complex nested materials and geometric assignments. MaterialX provides a schema for describing material networks, shader parameters, texture and material assignments, and color-space associations in a precise, application-independent, and customizable way.
Since its conception at Lucasfilm in 2012, MaterialX has been used by ILM on blockbuster features such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and real-time immersive experiences like Trials on Tatooine. Learn more at www.materialx.org.
Rogue One: A Star Wars StoryRogue One: A Star Wars StoryRogue One: A Star Wars StoryRogue One: A Star Wars Story
Leading 3D conversion, VFX and VR studio Legend 3D has brought onboard several new hires to its executive leadership team as the company strengthens its resources and looks to expand its global footprint. Legend 3D has been key to creating visual spectacles for blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Ben-Hur and Ghostbusters.
“These key roles reflect Legend’s ongoing commitment to provide clients with the most experienced and accomplished professionals in our business,” said CEO Aidan Foley. “As an industry leader, Legend takes serious our obligation to engage world class talent in all facets of our operations. We’re very pleased to welcome these respected and skilled new members to the Legend family.”
Building out the team under the leadership of Foley, who joined the company in December, are eight experienced digital entertainment veterans:
Richard Baker, Chief Creative Officer – With some 15 years of VFX experience, the former Creative Director and Senior Stereographer for Prime Focus World’s Stereo Conversion division brings to Legend a wealth of 3D conversion expertise, having supervised such films as Beauty and the Beast, World War Z, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, which earned him the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society Creative Arts Award for Best 2D to 3D Conversion.
Barry Stagg, Chief Marketing Officer – Stagg brings more than two decades of marketing communications experience to the Legend team, having handled marketing communications for such studios as Warner Bros./Lorimar Television, Fox Family Worldwide, Ascent Media, 4Kids Entertainment and Norman Lear’s Tandem/TAT/Embassy Communications. He’s also led these efforts for several web-based businesses including the former Homestore.com (now Move.com).
Scott Willman, Chief Information Officer – Willman has played pivotal roles for both major film studios and tech companies, with experience ranging from oversight of a department of 50+ artists, production staff, and software engineers and completely redesigning and building a 3D film conversion pipeline at two major VFX studios. He has personally supervised 3D output on 15 major theatrical films and has served as the sole 3D supervisor on films for 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate and New Regency Enterprises. In 2013, Scott founded Dimension X with production partner (and wife) Heather Willman, to provide a full range of 3D services directly to studio production teams and VFX companies including full creative supervision, production management and editorial support. Under his direction, the company has developed extensive automation and proprietary techniques for post-processing natively captured stereo images — seen on such films as The Martian, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and the X-Men franchise.
Crys Forsyth-Smith, Vice President, Production – Forsyth-Smith boasts more than 20 years’ experience in all aspects of production, including visual effects, from budgeting, scheduling and on-set work to crewing, pipelines and stereo deliverables, including serving as Vice President, Production for Method Studios, as VFX Producer at Sony Pictures Imageworks, and as Production Manager for several companies including Digital Domain.
Prasanna Kodipadi, Vice President, International Operations – A respected and experienced veteran of motion picture production services, Kodipadi joins Legend from Stereo D, where, over the past five years he served as Creative Outsource Supervisor, as well as a Compositor. In addition to helping Legend expand its presence beyond North America to support an increasing list of projects, he will also be managing all third party vendors the company engages.
Chris McClintock, Senior Producer – With 15 years’ experience in on-set production, post-production, animation, VFX and virtual reality, McClintock has worked on blockbuster hits such as Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Leveraging an understanding of emerging film technologies, he helped build stereoscopic workflows at companies including Stereo D, and as a producer at Prime Focus World, where he led the high- quality stereo conversion of Men in Black 3, Green Lantern and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He also contributed to the studio’s VFX production work on Avatar.
Lisa Sepp-Wilson, Head of VFX Production – Toronto – Sepp-Wilson’s extensive VFX background includes over 20 years of on-set production, post production and animation in both Vancouver and Toronto, two Gemini and Leo Award wins and several Emmy and Visual Effects Society Award nominations. She served as VFX Producer and CFO at Anthem Visual Effects, the Vancouver-based agency she co-founded, as well as working as VFX Producer and Executive Producer for Encore in both their Vancouver and Toronto studios, on such TV series as Under the Dome, Homeland, Newsroom and Orange Is the New Black, to name a few.
Simon Kern, Stereo Supervisor – Kern brings a decade of VFX professional experience to the Legend team, developing new tools, pipelines, and techniques while working directly with clients to bring their vision to life on such films as Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed, and Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which won the Advanced Imaging Society’s 3D Scene of the Year honor. Kern has trained artists in the skills of stereo compositing and paint, aided in Real-Time Depth Grading development, and introduced filmmakers to the art of stereoscopic 3D while working with Marvel, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Alcon, and 20th Century Fox, among other studios.
All newcomers (except for Sepp-Wilson) will be based at the new Legend Studio Offices on the Columbia Square campus in Hollywood, a 27k sq. ft. LEED building which the company moved into last November.
