Author: Mercedes Milligan

Daily News Bytes

Scum & Villainy Cantina Extended Thru June
The sold-out pop-up Star Wars dining experience is extending its LA run through June — ticketing and reservations are now open! Guests receive two drinks of their choice, a souvenir pint glass, exclusive challenge coin, and ever changing surprises.

NW Animation Festival – Next Week!
Portland, OR’s historic Hollywood Theater hosts expertly curated selections of local and international films. Highlights include the ambitious sci-fi feature Nova Seed, Northwest Animators Showcase, Globetrotting by Film, and the always popular Strange & Sexy program.

VIDEO: ‘Séance: The Unquiet’ Preview Trailer
An eerie introduction to indie game studio Holospark’s VR film project due out later this year. “We wanted to create a VR film that was immediately accessible and entertaining for the Netflix generation. But using our experience as video game developers, we are able to dynamically craft emotional, cinematic moments in response to the audience’s attention and movements.” – EP John Scott Tynes.

Toei Expands ‘Sailor Moon,’ ‘Digimon’ Licensing
The classic anime series and new releass will be featured in a slew of new apparel and other merch, including figures from Funko and Zag Toys.

’TODAY’ Hosts Matt and Savannah Reimaginated as My Little Ponies
Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie earn their cutiemarks for a pony-fied clip from the MLP: Friendship Is Magic crew.

Scum and Villainy Cantina

Scum and Villainy Cantina

May 4, 2017
Media IM Scores International Sales for ‘Rosa & Dara’ & ‘Flying Animals’

London-based Media IM has secured a raft of sales for two of its key animated properties, Rosa & Dara and Their Great Adventures from Bionaut Animation and Kredenc in Czech Republic, and Flying Animals from Russia’s DA studio.

Rosa & Dara and Their Great Adventures is 26-minute adventure-fantasy special for kids 6-8 which follows a pair of seven-year-old twins whose mission is to save the world from the exploits of their naught dog, Laiko. The special has been picked up by pubcasters RTP (Portugal) and YLE (Finland), and by Folimage for theatrical and DVD distribuion in France and French-speaking Europe.

Flying Animals (40 x 6’30”; kids 6-9) is a fantasy-comedy set in a country of musical animals who are rewarded with wings when they try to change their lives for the better. The series has also been picked up by RTP, and currently airs on seven channels and online services across Russia including Carousel and Moolt.

The concept for Flying Animals was born out of DA’s community activities working with young cancer patients and teaching them how to make cartoons. Last year, Media IM teamed with UK-based charity Hope for Children, pledging to donate th show’s distribution profits to the “Your Business, Their Lives” initiative.

AdVita, the charitable foundation behind the Helping Is Easy fund, holds the rights to Flying Animals.

On top of the European deals Sino Media in Beijing has acquired exclusive digital media rights (VOD, SVOD, OTT, IPTV) for mainland China for Rosa & Dara, Flying Animals and spin-off series Kids and Flying Animals, as well as The Bubbles and Robodz.

“We’re making a name for ourselves as animation treasure hunters. We hope to replicate with these two shows what we’ve managed to achieve with the enchanting Sunny Bunnies — that is, to take brilliant, undiscovered IP from less known animation studios and share it with the world,” said Media IM co-founder Maria Ufland. “For us, the first sale of Flying Animals is a real milestone. Not only is the show powered by passion, but every penny goes to Hope For Children and Helping is Easy charities. We’re over the moon that RTP and Sino Media share our enthusiasm for the project.”

Flying Animals

May 4, 2017
Encounters Fest 2017 Gets Immersive with VR Track

Bristol, UK’s Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival is calling for submissions from cutting-edge filmmakers for its virtual reality program: VRgins. Entries must be received for consideration by May 23; visit the website for details. The 2017 festival is set for September 19-24.

“VR, AR and 360 are fast becoming hugely popular and increasingly accessible formats, with this new content strand we’re looking for creative filmmakers,” said festival director Rich Warren. “There’s tremendous potential for this to become a very powerful tool in filmmaking and we’re really excited to see what comes of it.”

The aim of VRgins is to showcase the work of cretive filmmakers working in the emerging media of virtual reality, augmented reality and 360-degree storytelling. Throughout the festival, Encounters will host a VR cinema presenting audiences with a curated program of this content. The program is not tech-expertise focused, instead focusing the lens on storytellers. The inaugural “Immersive Encounters” competition will award a cash prize of £1,000.

This is the second year that the festival will feature a dedicated VR program — 2016 included the Nexus Show and Tell masterclass, which explored the technology and its application in storytelling.

The UK’s longest-running competitive shorts and animation festival, Encounters is a qualifying event for the Oscars, BAFTAs, European Film Awards and Cartoon d’Or. The festival is funded by the British Film Institute, Bristol City Council and the MEDIA program of the EU; and sponsored by University of the West of England, Aardman Animations and IMDb.

Encounters

May 4, 2017
Disney Mixes Maker Studios into New Digital Network

A new entity will combine all of the Walt Disney Co.’s digital brands under one roof, the company announced at its NewFront presentation this week.

Dubbed the Disney Digital Network, this umbrella will cover editorial brands like parent-targeted Babble, gamer outlet Polaris, and fandom destination Oh My Disney, as well as more than 300 character-focused social media channels, the multi-channel Maker Studios creator network, and banded content division Disney Co/Op.

These brands add up to 1 billion total followers for DDN.

A raft of new digital programming covering all corners of DDN’s target audiences and brands was announced, including one animated series: action-comedy COIN, coming to Polaris. The show features a game-inspired look and follows a team of misfit heroes out to save their world — time-traveling robot Crohnobot, hot-headed plumber Donovan, weapons master Kid Victory, and twin illusionists the Sisters Vicious. Together, the set out to defeat super-villain Gamovah and retrieve the coin of Chorder before it’s too late.

Also on the slate are Science and Star Wars presented by IBM (Facebook exclusive); OhMy Disney Show season 2; Club Mickey Mouse presented by HP (FB exclusive); Disney IRL; Disney Design Challenge; and Disney Magical Starts.

At the presentation, Disney’s Executive Vice President Andrew Sugarman also discussed the decision to pare down the Maker network, which he says will help assure advertisers that their brands are not being tied to objectionable content. Maker became a part of Disney’s Consumer Products & Interactive Media division at the end of last year, and has since been streamlined to fewer than 1,000 contributing influencers.

Disney

May 4, 2017
Sonar Takes Over Tricon Programs Including ‘Counterfeit Cat’

TV production house Sonar Entertainment (The Shannara Chronicles) is making its first venture into the non-scripted and kids & family content spheres with the acquisition of assets from indie producer-distributor Tricon Films & Television. Key members of Tricon’s senior executive team will also be joining Sonar.

The announcement was made by Sonar’s CEO, Thomas Lesinski.

The programs being picked up include animated kids’ series Counterfeit Cat (co-produced with Wildseed Kids in the UK), which airs on Disney XD in the US, on Teletoon in Canada and through Hulu in over 200 countries. Sonar has also acquired some in-development titles, including animated kids’ book adaptation Go Away Unicorn! (co-pro with Mercury Filmworks, for Disney and Corus).

Further, Sonar is taking on distribution rights to over 1,500 hours of programming from Tricon’s library.

Execs joining Sonar from Tricon will include Founder & President Andrew Gorfolova, who launched the company in 2000.

“Over nearly two decades, Tricon has established a well-deserved reputation for innovative programming with unique appeal to audiences both domestically and internationally,” said Lesinski. “This is a unique opportunity for Sonar to significantly broaden our programming mix and we are excited about the assets that we are bringing to the company. The infusion of experience and skill that Andrea and her team bring to Sonar makes the overall opportunity even more far reaching and impactful for our business.”

Counterfeit Cat

May 4, 2017
Clip: ‘RWBY Chibi’ Season 2 Premiering May 15

Rooster Teeth is gearing up for the debut of RWBY Chibi season 2 on May 15 with the release of cute and comical teaser clip, which introduces viewers to Chibi Penny for the first time. The series will premiere exclusively on the FIRST streaming service at RoosterTeeth.com, Xbox One, Apple TV, iOS and Android apps.

The new season of RWBY Chibi offers an adorable new window into the worl dof Remnant through mini episodes featuring the familiar characters caught up in hilarious hijinx, from cooing pancakes to hiding from the vacuum cleaner. Chibi Penny will appear in season 2 alongside chibi-fied Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang and their friends. The “real” Penny was last seen in RWBY Vol. 3, when she was destroyed in a battle with Pyrrha.

RWBY Chibi

May 4, 2017
Visegrad Animation Forum 2017 Winners Revealed

The fifth edition of the Visegrad Animation Forum, the linchpin industry event for Central and Eastern Europe, wrapped up Thursday, May 4 in Trebon, Czech Republic with the announcement of the pitch competition winners.

Out of 13 in-development projects contending in the Short Film category, Salvation Has No Name (UK) from director Joseph Wallace and producer Loran Dunn was named the winner. A special mention went to Hurikan (Czech Rep.) by Jan Saska and Vojtěch Kiss and producers Alžběta Janáčková and Kamila Dohnalová.

The TV pitch competition included eight series and two TV specials in development. The winner is Castaways (Hungary) from Péter Szeiler and producers Patricia D’Intino, Gábor Osváth and Peter Csornay. A Christmas-themed special for Mimi & Lisa earned a special mention for creator Ivana Šebestová, scriptwriter Katarína Moláková, and producer Katarína Kerekesová.

The winning project in both categories will receive 2,000 euros for further development, and the TV Series/Specials winner gains direct access to Cartoon Forum 2017.

You can follow VAF’s activities at visegradanimation.com.

Castaways

Salvation Has No Name

Visegard Animation Forum 2017

May 4, 2017
Mr. Wolf Taps John Ciampa to Lead New East Coast Ops

Boutique visual effects house Mr. Wolf (mrwolf.us) has opened a New York City studio, creating an East Coast complement to its Culver City, CA home base. The new operation, located within the Post FactoryNY facility, will offer VFX and finishing services for feature film, TV, broadcast media, advertising and other projects under the leadership of Creative Director John Ciampa.

Mr. Wolf’s notable projects include the movies American Hustle, Hercules, The Brothers Grimsby and Allegiant. The New York studio has already wrapped work for MTV’s Teen Wolf, Spike’s Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff, and VH1’s America’s Next Top Model and Leave It to Stevie. Like the Culver City shop, the new site boasts a flexible IT infrastructure that enables rapid scale-up and adaptive workflow to meet the needs of different jobs.

In addition to its own projects, the NY outpost will support the California team. The offices share a data link to facilitate collaboration, with both coasts already teaming up on projects for TV’s Channel Zero (SyFy), The OA (Netflix), The Goldbergs (ABC), Kevin Can Wait (CBS) and Peter Berg’s Patriot’s Day. They are currently working together on Nicole Holofcener’s Land of Steady Habits.

A 25-year industry veteran, John Ciampa joins Mr. Wolf after working as a New York-based independent for the past nine years, most recently focusing on broadcast media for VH1, MTV and other Viacom channels. He previously spent 11 years on LA, where he held posts at View Studios, Pittard Sullivan and Ring of Fire — where he worked with Mr. Wolf founders Mike Pryor (Executie Producer), Danny Yoon and Duy Nguyen (Creative Directors). Ciampa’s talents as a compositor, VFX artist and creative director have taken him across multiple formats.

“It’s been 25 years of amazing opportunities, including commercials, movies, graphics and TV,” said Ciampa. “Mostly I’m grateful for the people and collaborations. And now I feel inspired and energized to be working with Danny, Duy and Mike again. Feels good.”

Mr. Wolf

May 4, 2017
CalArts Premieres 2017 Character & Experimental Animation Showcases

In the last week, hundreds of students, faculty, alumni and entertainment executives gathered for a duo of screenings and celebrations showcasing the 2017 CalArts Character Animation and Experiemental Animation programs.

Wednesday night’s Character Animation Producer’s Show was held at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, where three of Hollywood’s most notable women in animation were applauded as Guests of Honor by the 700-strong audience: Two-time Emmy-winning director Stevie Wermers-Skelton (Prep & Landing, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure), Oscar nominee Meg LeFauve (writer-director, Gigantic; co-writer, Inside Out), and CalArts alumna Josie Trinidad (co-Head of Story, Zootopia, Ralph Breaks the Internet).

The Guests of Honor were charged with presenting the three Producer’s Show awards. Wermer-Skelton presented The Walter and Gracie Lantz Animation Prize — juried by the Character Animation faculty — to Yonatan Tai for his film Mr. Carefree Butterfly. LeFauve presented the Vimeo Award for Outstanding Student Achievement in Animated Filmmaking to Xiya Lan for I think I love you. The Peers’ Pick Award, voted by students, was bestowed by Trinidad on Jackie Lee for Sewing Circle.

The showcase presented a total of 21 Character Animation films, selected from 167 submissions. The 2017 program represented a range of themes, narratives and aesthetic approaches. These films can be viewed on the dedicated 2017 CalArts Character Animation Vimeo Channel.

The school’s Experimental Animation Showcase was presented on April 27 at REDCAT in downtown, also screening 21 films. The lineup was selected by a faculty committee comprising Maureen Fruniss, Stephen Chiodo, Hillary Kapan, Michael Scroggins, Maureen Selwood, Alexander Stewart and ZAcharia El-Magharbel. The works ranged from hand-drawn, to stop-motion and CGI explorations of ideas, styles and techniques which delighted the audience.

2017 CalArts Character Animation

May 4, 2017
Clip: Disney XD Bricks Up for Star Wars Day

It’s the biggest holiday on the galactic calendar, Star Wars Day! To celebrate, Disney XD has built up an all-day marathon of fun and adventure in a galaxy far, far away. The entire first season of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures will airalongside LEGO Star Wars specials for 24 straight hours on Thursday, May 4.

Additionally, five brand-new shorts starring the Freemaker family will debut throughout the day. This all-new content gives a sneak peek at the adventures that await in the recently greenlit second season of The Freemaker Adventures (debuting this summer).

The shorts will also be available on the Disney XD app and Disney XD YouTube channel.

A merry Star Wars Day to all. May the 4th Be with You!

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures

May 3, 2017
Daily News Bytes

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Last Chance to Submit to KLIK
Submissions for the KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival’s international competition close June 1, so hurry up and enter your shorts, student films, commissioned work, animated documentaries, music videos and VR projects! KLIK 2017 runs Oct. 17-22.

VIDEO: ‘The Stanley Saber Show – Deadpool’ Teaser
NM8 studios has been hard at work fine-tuning its millennial-targeted animated talk show concept since launching the pilot last year. The first official episode, coming soon, will welcome Marvel’s “merc with a mouth” as its headline guest.

Character Counts for Variety’s Animation Educator of the Year, Maija Burnett of CalArts
The director of the acclaimed school’s character animation program discusses maintining a focus on fine arts skills while embracing current tech trends.

Story of 92-Year-Old Serbian Refugee to Be Told in Animation
A touching short created by graphic novelist Karrie Fransman in collaboration with the Christian Aid charity allows WWII refugee Theodor Davidovic to tell his incredible story.

Doha Film Institute Invites Entries for Youth Animation Workshop
Artist Mohammed Al-Suwaidi will lead a stop-motion workshop for 15 aspiring filmmaker ages 8-14, taking place May 7-18 in the Qatar capital.

KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival

May 3, 2017
New Trailer, Clips Unleashed for ‘Resident Evil: Vendetta’

If you’re susceptible to bad dreams, click away now. Fathom Events has released a new trailer as well as sneak-peek clips for Resident Evil: Vendetta — the latest installment in the CG animated film series based on the creepy CAPCOM games. This third feature will run in cinemas across the US and Canada for one night only on June 19 in a special screening event featuring an exclusive cast intro and behind-the-scenes content.

You can read more about Vendetta here, but if the suspense is killing you, just scroll down to check out the videos.

Resident Evil: Vendetta – “Zombie Corridor”

Resident Evil: Vendetta sneak peek

Resident Evil: Vendetta official trailer

Resident Evil: Vendetta

Resident Evil: Vendetta

May 3, 2017
Quidd Launches ‘Steven Universe’ Tradeable Digital Card & Stickers

Fans now have a new way to interact with the colorful characters of Steven Universe, thanks to a new line official digital trading cards and iMessage stickers from collecting platform Quidd (www.quidd.co).

Available for iOS and Android, Quidd allows users to purchase, collect, trade and show off digital merch featuring their favorite animated, science-fiction and fantasy characters, bringing a comic convention experience to the mobile space. Since launch, over 100 million items have been traded on the platform.

The Steven Universe goodies arrive as part of a partnership with Cartoon Network and Adult Swim announced in March, which has also seen the roll-out of digital collectibles (“Digibles”? “Collegitals”?) featuring fan-favorite series Rick and Morty, Adventure Time and Powerpuff Girls.

“Collecting is too often misunderstood as something for older, mostly male, fan bases,” said Quidd co-founder Michael Bramlage. “With an eclectic assortment of content, an immersive digital-only experience, and fun, expressive products like stickers, Quidd is proving that the desire to collect and geek out with fellow fans is universal, Millennial, female, and cutting edge. It’s no wonder that 70% of our fans have never collected physical stickers, cards, or toys before they purchased their first digital collectible on Quidd.”

Steven Universe digital trading cards

Steven Universe digital trading cards

Steven Universe iMessage sticker

Steven Universe iMessage sticker

May 3, 2017
Adam Crozier Steps Down from ITV Leadership

After serving 7 years as CEO of UK-based network ITV, Adam Crozier has announced his intention to step down on June 30. Ian Giffiths will assume the newly combined roles of Chief Operating Officer and Group Finance Director, and will lead the executive team for an interim period, while chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette takes over as Executive Chairman.

During Crozier’s time in the top role, the network has gone from a heavily indebted entity to a robust performer. ITV’s external revenues grew by over £1 billion, with non-national advertising revenue more than doubling to almost £1.9 billion; EBITA went up by 338%, and adjusted earnings per share increased a whopping 844%. Part of the strategy under his leadership was a push to make popular programming with international appeal, with a bent to buying production companies with unique creative voices.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in turning ITV into one of the most successful and dynamic media and content businesses in the world. All the credit for that achievement goes to the fantastic teams of people working right across ITV. I hugely appreciate all the help and support they have given me and I am very happy to have played my part,” Crozier commented in the announcement.

“Going forward, our strategy remains the right one for ITV and I leave behind a strong and talented management team who I know will continue to execute it with energy and confidence. Today ITV is more robust, well balanced and stronger both creatively and financially than ever before, and is well placed for the digital future. I wish the company every continued success.”

ITV’s kidsnet, CITV, is home to a variety of live-action and animated programming including originals like Mr Bean, Horrid Henry, and the annual Share a Story competition that turns children’s imaginative tales into animated shorts.

ITV

May 3, 2017
‘Hum Chitra Banate Hai’ Wins Indian National Film Awards Animation Prize

The 64th National Film Awards of India has bestowed the Rajat Kamal Award for Best Animation Film on the enchanting mythic piece Hum chitra banate hai (“We Make Images”), directed by Professor Nina Sabnani. President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the award to Prof. Sabnani at the ceremony in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The film was produced by IDC, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and animated by Piyush Verma and Shyam Sunder Chaterjee. Hum chitra banate hai combines Sabnani’s passions for filmmaking, storytelling and ethnography by using visuals inspired by art traditons of the Bhil people to retell one of their classic myths.

You can watch a trailer for Hum chitra banate hai here, and visit ninasabnani.com to learn more about the filmmaker.

Source: NDTV.com

Hum Chitra Banate Hai

May 3, 2017
‘Zombillénium’ Screenings Shuffle to Cannes, Annecy

With the revelation of the 2017 official selection, it came to light that this year’s Annecy Festival has double booked the highly anticipated family horror-comedy Zombillénium, making it both the opening night screening and one of the feature film competitors. The film has also made the Official Selection cut for the 70th Festival de Cannes, where it will play May 24 in the Children’s program.

Adapted from the graphic novels by Arthur de Pins — who directed the film with Alexis Ducord — Zombillénium is set in a Halloween theme park, which happens to be the one place on Earth where real zombies, werewolves and witches can hide in plain sight. When Hector, a human, threatens to disclose the employees’ true identities, the vampire park manager has no choice but to hire him. Bu in order to see his daughter, Hector will have to escape from his monstrous coworkers. (And you thought your job was stressful…)

The film is produced by Henri Magalon (Ernest & Celestine, Long Way North) for Maybe Movies.

Pipangaï, based on the French island of La Réunion, has provided most of the animation for Zombillénium under the supervision of animation director David Nasser and animation production manager Arnauld Boulard. The studio’s first feature film, Adama, was nominated for top prizes at the Césars, European Film Awards and Annecy. Pipangaï is currently working on Denis Do’s Funan with Les films d’ici, and Alexandre Espigares’ White Fang with Superprod.

Zombillénium is a production of Maybe Movies and Belvision, in co-production with Dupuis Audiovisuel, Gebeka Films, France 3 Cinema, 2 minutes, Pipangaï Production and Gao Shan Pictures; with the support of Reunion Region Fund in partnership with Centre National du Cinema.

Zombillénium

May 3, 2017
GO-N’s ‘Simon’ Goes Abroad

Following its launch at the MIP Junior market last fall, animated preschool series Simon (52 x 5 min. HD) from Paris-based producer-distributor GO-N Productions has secured an initial raft of international sales. Boosted by its participation at MIPTV, the show has been snapped up by Disney Junior Latin America, Disney South East Asia, Telequebec (Canada), Cartoonito (Italy), VRT (Belgium), NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), YLE (Finland), RUV (Iceland), RTS (Switzerland), HOP (Israel), ERR (Estonia), Jetsen Huashi Wangju Kids (China) and TV5 Worldwide.

Further deals will be announced before the start of summer, and many discussions with potential broadcast partners are underway.

“The first preschool place of Simon at the MIP Junior screenings was a sign of the profession’s enthusiasm for the show. And we are thrilled that this support is confirmed with so many and great partners that have joined the adventure so quickly,” commented Marie Congé, Head of Sales and Business development at GO-N International.

Based on the best-selling book series by Stephanie Blake — publishing in more than 20 countries — the show follows an adorable, rambunctious little rabbit named Simon who is at that particular age when bunnies (and children) are starting to come into their own. Whether challenging his parents, learning about the world, or picking up language skills, young viewers can look to Simon as a guide of when to stand their ground, and learn from his mistakes.

Simon

May 3, 2017
Disney Junior Worldwide Digs Cyber Group’s ‘Gigantosaurus’

Paris-based producer-distributor Cyber Group Studios announces that its new CG-animated preschool series Gigantosaurus has been picked up by Disney Junior Worldwide (excluding India and Taiwan), airing from 2019. The show has already been acquired by France Television and Germany’s Super RTL.

“This is a very exciting project for us and we are thrilled to partner with Disney Junior Worldwide on this very ambitious new series,” said Pierre Sissmann, Chairman & CEO of Cyber Group Studios. “Gigantosaurus will recreate in a funny and entertaining way for preschoolers, the world where dinosaurs lived, in a lush and realistic environment.”

Based on the bestselling book by Jonny Duddle (published by Templar), Gigantosaurus brings viewers ages 4-6 along on the prehistoric adventures of four young dinosaur friends as they explore their world and the mystery of “Gigantosaurus” — the biggest, fiercest dinosaur of all. Inquisitive Mazu, playful Tiny, timid Bill and courageous Rocky all want to discover the secrets of the elusive Gigantosaurus, and will find out they all have something to learn from him, too.

The series is being directed by Olivier Lelardoux, a senior studio VP at Cyber Group who helmed all three seasons of Emmy-nominated preschool hit Zou.

Gigantosaurus

May 3, 2017
Hornet Animates Kids’ Imaginations for Arla’s “Live Unprocessed”

What happens when you present some creative kids with unfamiliar words pulled off the ingredients list of processed foods? Well, they come up with some spectacular interpretations, if studio Hornet’s new “Live Unprocessed” campaign for Arla Foods’ cheeses is anything to go by.

To create the company’s first-ever fully integrated US campaign, directors Dan & Jason and Yves Geleyn collaborated with Carmichael Lynch. For this project, the studio team was asked not only to direct the spots, but also be key players in front of the camera as they sat down with kids to ask them what they thought oddly named things like rBST or Xanthan (ingredients often found in dairy products) were. The young collaborators described the chemicals as crazy monsters, sketching them out for the directors to bring to life in fantastical animations.

In addition to 30-second adverts, behind-the-scenes mini documentaries take viewers through this unique creative process and giving us all a peek inside the studio. In describing creating the “rBST” film, director Dan says of their pint sized inspiration, “Leah is both like our audience, but she is also a little bit like our boss.”

You can meet Leah and her rBST monster here, and see how Johnny’s space alien Xanthan (and his space dog) came to stop-mo life here.

rBST

Xanthan

May 2, 2017
Animated ‘Mr Bean’ Goes Live on Facebook with Adobe Software

On Wednesday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m., fans of cartooned physical comedy can tune in to a special live stream with his 70 million followers on the official Mr Bean Facebook page. The half-hour event from Endemol Shine is made possible by Adobe’s Character Animator software.

Character Animator allows users to animated 2D characters created in Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator, and the latest feature additions make it easier than ever to create walk cycles and edit mouth shapes for lip syncing. The toolkit also includes support of live streaming animation to Facebook Live or YouTube, which was seen in action last November when Bart Simpson gave an interview at the Adobe Max conference.

Wednesday’s playdate with Mr Bean will see the character (based on the live-action creation of Rowan Atkinson) playing a game of charades, using sounds from the recently released Mr Bean Soundboard app, and interacting in real time with fans. Other characters from the animated series such as Scrapper the cat will also make appearances.

“This is a tremendously exciting project and we can’t wait for the Mr Bean fans on Facebook to join in the fun for this innovative new experience,” said Frances Adams, global director of brands and licensing at Endemol Shine Group. “The Mr Bean brand is seeing phenomenal online growth, which is testament to the bold and ambitious work of the wonderfully talented teams here at Endemol Shine Group.”

Mr Bean live

May 2, 2017