The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites the community to “Be Our Guest” to its 25th anniversary celebration of Disney Animation classic Beauty and the Beast. A special event featuring creatives and stars of the groundbreaking animated film will be held Monday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and three-time Oscar nominee and Honorary Academy Award recipient Angela Lansbury (a.k.a. Mrs. Potts) will join voice actors Paige O’Hara (Belle), Richard White (Gaston) and Robby Benson (Beast); supervising animators Andreas Deja, Mark Henn and Glen Keane; key story artist Brenda Chapman; Oscar-nominated producer Don Hahn and director Gary Trousdale onstage.
Part of the Academy’s Marc Davis Celebration of Animation, the event will include a screening of the 1991 film from a pristine, 70mm original theatrical release print from the Academy Film Archive. Special guests will discuss the film’s lasting impact and its place in motion picture history as the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture. Beauty and the Beast won two Oscars: for Best Original Score (Menken) and Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast” (music by Menken, lyric by Howard Ashman). The original songs “Be Our Guest” and “Belle” were also nominated, and the film was nominated in the Sound category.
Tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for Academy members and students with valid ID, available at oscars.org.
Russia’s Wizart Animation has kindly shared with us the first teaser-trailer for their latest CG animated feature film, The Snow Queen 3. Subtitled Fire and Ice, the third outing in Wizart’s internationally successful franchise has already sold to 31 countries, including Middle East territories, Baltic States, South Korea and Turkey. The two prior Snow Queen films each sold to over 130 countries worldwide. The latest film is directed by Aleksey Tsitsilin and scheduled for a December release this year.
The teaser offers a rapid-fire look at some of the fantastical new locations, charming characters and of course magic-fueled action that audiences can expect from the third Snow Queen. The film will introduce fans to new characters, including a boy named Rollan who joins Gerda in her adventures, but carries a weighty secret about his true identity.
Synopsis:
After heroically defeating both the Snow Queen and the Snow King , Gerda still dreams of finding her parents, who were taken away by the North Wind. Thus, Gerda and her friends embark on an exciting journey to find her parents and encounter new challenges along the way. They discover an ancient magical artifact of the trolls, the Stone of Fire and Ice. Instead of making our heroes’ dreams come true, the Stone threatens the very life of Wonderland World. Will Gerda be able to tame the mighty forces of the magical elements and get her family back?
The internationally acclaimed Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. As part of its celebrations, Stuttgart’s FMX event invited Professor Andreas Hykade, managing director of Filmakademie’s Animationinstitut, to give a keynote speech reflecting on the academy’s influential past — and looking toward its bright future.
As Hykade recounted, the school traces its roots to 1980, when animator and educator Albrecht Ade created a dedicated “Trickfilmklasse” (animation course) at Stuttgart’s Academy of Art. On top of creating space for aspiring animators (and a lone 16 mm camera), Ade made a place for them to share their work, creating the International Trickfilm Festival Stuttgart.
“By the beginning of the ‘90s the Kunstakademie had gotten too small for Ade, so he persuaded some good-hearted politicians to establish a Filmakademie in Ludwigsburg and he somehow arranged to become the head of this new institution and took his whole class from Stuttgart with him,” said Hykade. “They were a diverse crowd with different approaches, most of them remain very successful in the field of animation and VFX to this very day.”
This first generation of the Filmakademie included Volker Engel, Marc Weigert and Philip Hunt.
“The central figure in propelling Animation and VFX at the Filmakademie into the next century is Thomas Haegele. He anticipated the digital revolution in the ‘70s, was an active part of this revolution in the ‘80s and implemented this revolution at the Filmakademie in the ‘90s,” Hykade continued.
Haegele founded the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction in 2002, established the Research and Development department (run by Prof. Volker Helzle) and in 2008 incorporated the Interactive Media course (under Prof. Inga von Staden). He also took over a little event known as “Film- & Medienbörse” from Albrecht Ade, and renamed it “FMX.”
“Most importantly, Thomas Haegele built a highly qualified team to run these complex operations. With specialists in all fields and departments and projects, the Institute of Animation became an internationally renowned institution and its name stands for the highest quality.”
“If we believe our own pitch line, we are one of the world’s most exciting places to study the whole range of Animation, VFX, Games and Transmedia. We form an international community, where different cultures can encounter and learn from one another. And the credo ‘Learning by doing’ drives and inspires the Designers, Writers, Directors, Animators, Game Designers, Producers and Technical Directors to become leading forces of the industry,” Hykade summarized.
“…So, you see, the Institute of Animation is vibrant and alive. We will try to continue to be a vital inspiration and an engine for the Animation, VFX and Games scene. And, of course, we will continue to organize and advance FMX, Europe’s most important Conference on Digital Entertainment for the sake of the international, the national and the regional community.”
With thanks to German animation group INDAC (International Nights and Days of Animation Cologne). You can read the full transcript of Hykade’s speech, including videos, on the INDAC blog.
Reports have surfaced that international mass media giant Comcast Corporation is in talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation in a deal that The Wall Street Journal says is worth over $3 billion. TheWrap was able to confirm reports of the talks through knowledgeable sources.
Led by CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWA has often been on the wrong side of Wall Street due to unsteady growth and mixed box office results, despite the worldwide success of franchises like How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek. In January 2015, the studio announced it was cutting its feature release rate to two films per year, as well as cutting 500 jobs and restructuring in order to “improve film quality and profitability.” The studio’s current market value is $2.3 billion, with a stock price of $27 per share — its all-time high was $35 in December 2013, with an all-time low of $17 last September.
Comcast’s plan would be to combine DWA with Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment, which it owns through its NBCUniversal division. It’s likely that Katzenberg would be “phased out,” according to TheWrap. Katzenberg has in recent years attempted to sell DWA to a major studio. Hasbro showed intense interest in 2014, and recently it was hinted that Viacom/Paramount was a potential buyer. Overseas companies including Softbank (Japan) and several Chinese outfits have also engaged in purchase talks.
Comcast in Acquisition Talks with DreamWorks Animation
Taking place June 13-18, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (accompanied by the MIFA market, June 15-17) will once again offer the very best in animation from around the world, showcased through features, shorts, TV projects and student works in and out of competition, masterclasses, speaking sessions and many more specialized events. The festival organizers have released the full program for 2016, which you can explore at www.annecy.org. Here are some of the highlights:
Feature Films in Competition
Take in the finest gems of feature animation vying for the coveted Cristal — and try to guess which will be the next global indie darling. This year’s Official Selection wil be judged by composer Bruno Coulais, France 4’s Children & Youth Executive Director Tiphaine de Raguenel, and producer-writer-director Sarah Smith.
+ 25 April directed by Leanne Pooley (produced by Matthew Metcalfe, New Zealand). Documentary about the tragic WWI battle of Gallipoli.
+ Snowtime! By Jean-Francois Pouliot & Francois Brisson (CarpeDiem, Canada). Remake of classic French-Canadian kids film showcasing Quebec’s 3D production progress.
+ La Jeune Fille Sans Mains by Sebastien Laudenbach (Les Films Sauvages, France). An adaptation of a lesser-known Brothers Grimm tale, crafted single-handedly.
+ My Life as a Courgette by Claude Barras (Blue Spirit, Rita Prod., Gebeka, Switzerland/France). A funny and touching tale about a group of orphans.
+ Nuts! By Penny Lane (USA). A standout from this year’s Sundance festival,the documentary is unique in subject, aesthetics and structure.
+ Psyconautas, the Forgotten Children by Pedro Rivero & Alberto Vazquez (Zircozine, Basque Films, Spain). Grown out of the world created for the short Birdboy and originally slated for 2015’s tribute to Spain — and worth the wait.
+ Seoul Station by Sang-ho Yeon (Studio Dadashow, Finecut Co., South Korea). Yeon’s third film in Annecy competition brilliant blends horror and social realism and represents the singular modernity of Korean animation.
+ Sheep and Wolves by Maxim Volkov (Wizart Animation, Russia). Wizart’s third feature is a bold, crowd-pleasing comedy about a magical identity mix-up.
+ Window Horses by Ann Marie Fleming (Sandra h, Ann Marie Fleming, Shirley Vercruyssse, Canada). Fleming has spent more than 25 years developing and creating an unclassifiable film that is a fictional film, transdisciplinary exploration and animation shorts all in one.
Spotlight on France
This year’s focus country is France — a nation that has been central to the European animation scene throughout its history. Annecy has chosen to take a different perspective on French animation this year, exploring how it is perceived by the rest of the world through 13 dedicated programs and five documentary screenings.
+ The Classic’s Classics (curated by Giannalberto Bendazzi) includes Fantasmagorie by Emile Cohl (1908), The Idea by Berthold Bartosch (1931) and The Little Soldier by Paul Grimault (1947)…
+ View from Hollywood (Ron Diamond), The Crab Revolutionby Arthur de Pins (2004), Madagascar, a Journey Diary by Bastien Dubois (2009), The Monk and the Fish by Michael Dudok de Wit (1994)…
+ Shelley Page’s Selection, The Mouse’s Tale by La Poudriere (2007), Windmills by l’Ecole George Melies (2011), Three Small Stitches by Gobelins (2010)…
+ Eastern Wind (Igor Prassel), co-productions with Eastern Europe like A Blue Room by Tomasz Siwinski and Tram by Michaela Pavlatova (2012)…
+ Animated Scores (Andrea Martignoni), musical fare The Young Lady and the Cellist by Jean-Francois Laguionie (1964), Berni’s Doll by Yann J. (2007)…
+ Small Screen Giants (Annecy Artistic Director Marcel Jean), TV hits The Magic Roundabout by Serge Danot (1964), Les Shadoks by Jacques Rouxel (1968), Gideon by Michel Ocelot (1976), The Long Long Holiday by Paul Leluc and Delphine Maury (2015)…
Annecy will also award an Honorary Cristal to legendary producer and current head of Folivari studios Didier Brunner (Kirikou, Ernest & Celestine, The Triplets of Belleville); and present a special panel discussion on the evolution and growth of the French and European animation industries (speakers include author-historian Dominique Puthod, former Minister of Culture Jack Lang, Xilam founder Marc du Pontavice, Mac Guff founder Jacques Bled and DreamWorks supervising animator Kristof Serrand).
Special Programs: Advertising
A series of programs devoted to animation in advertising will include a 75th Anniversary of Animated Commercials retrospective screening, and talks by filmmakers Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Pierre Coffin (Minions), Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit), Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels), John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) and Steven Lisberger (Tron).
Behind-the-Scenes Sessions
Don’t miss instructive masterclasses with composer Bruno Coulais, director/producer Guillermo del Toro and director John Kricfalusi; keynote speeches by Aardman’s Peter Lord& David Sproxton, Cinesite’s Eamonn Butler and Ankama’s Anthony Roux; or the making-of explorations of hit series The Dorks and Robot Chicken.
Annecy 2016 also hosts work-in-progress sessions for TV series (Cartoon Network’s rebooted Samurai Jack and Benjamin Renner’s The Big Bad Fox) and feature films (White Fang, In This Corner of the World, Trolls, Sahara, The Shaman Sorceress, Zombillenium and Funny Little Bugs).
Kino Lorber Studio Classics has released three complete collections of cartoons from the iconic DePatie-Freleng studio: The Ant and the Aardvark, Crazylegs Crane and The Inspector, available on Blu-ray and DVD as of April 26. Originally produced for theatrical release (and later broadcast as part of the Pink Panther TV show), the cartoons are presented in full, in HD transfers, and accompanied by informative special features including documentaries and commentaries.
The Ant and the Aardvark
The Ant and the Aardvark (BD $29.95, DVD $19.95) includes all 17 cartoons spanning 1969-1971. Special features include two documentaries by Greg Ford: Goodbye, Warner Bros., Hello DePatie-Freleng and Of Aardvarks, Ants, Inspectors and Cranes featuring animation historian Jerry Beck, Barbara Donatelli, Will Friedwald, Doug Goodwin, Art Leonardi, Joe Siracusa and archival audio of Friz Freleng. Plus, audio commentaries for selected cartoons by authors Mark Arnold, Jerry Beck, Greg Ford and Friz Freleng (archival).
Crazylegs Crane
Crazylegs Crane (BD $29.95, DVD $19.95) includes all 16 of the dim-witted bird’s made-for-TV foibles, which aired in 1978. Special features include Greg Ford’s Goodbye Warner Bros., Hello DePatie-Freleng and Of Aardvarks, Ants, Inspectors and Cranes documentaries, plus audio commentaries on select cartoons by Mark Arnold and Jerry Beck.
The Inspector
The Inspector (BD $39.95, DVD $29.95) is a two-disc set of the complete 34-cartoon series (1965-1969), starring the most comically inept detective to ever grace the screen as he wreaks havoc on the boulevards of Paris with his long-suffering sidekick, Deux Deux. Special features include Greg Ford’s Goodbye Warner Bros., Hello DePatie-Freleng and Of Aardvarks, Ants, Inspectors and Cranes documentaries, plus audio commentaries on select cartoons by Mark Arnold, Jerry Beck, Greg Ford and Friz Freleng (archival audio).
Genius Brands International has expanded its reach in Asia with a new multi-property broadcast licensing agreements secured in the region for animated series Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and original 90-minute animated movie Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 (SLAM7).
Singapore’s Mediacorp TV network has acquired broadcast rights to Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 and a 26 x 30 package of comedy-adventure Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab. Indonesia’s animation and kids’ entertainment channel Spacetoon has picked up rights to 26 x 30 episodes of Secret Millionaires Club, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab and Stan Lee’s Mighty 7. And in Hong Kong, TVB has licensed Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab.
Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab
Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, which recently launched in the U.S. on 160 public television stations and the all-new Kid Genius channel on Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand, follows Angie, a 12-year-old prodigy, and her young science club after they accidentally discover Thomas Edison’s secret science HQ. The “tricked out” dream lab is equipped with gizmos and gadgets, including two of Edison’s very last inventions: a hologram that brings Mr. Edison himself “to life,” and a virtual reality machine that lets them go anywhere.
Stan Lee’s Mighty 7
Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, the first of three 90-minute movies, stars Lee as an animated version of himself — a legendary superhero creator, who teaches a crew of alien prisoners and their jailers, who have crash-landed on Earth, how to work together and use their powers to be superheroes. Each alien superhero has his or her unique powers and strengths, which aid in the group’s ability to combat enemies. (Produced by Stan Lee Comics, a joint venture of Genius Brands International and POW! Entertainment.)
Secret Millionaires Club
Secret Millionaires Club, created in partnership with and starring an animated Warren Buffett, features a group of kids who have adventures in business. Secret Millionaires Club empowers kids by helping them understand the world they live in, teaching them about the impact their decisions have on their own lives…and teaching them to have the confidence to be the best they can be. The series makes it fun for kids to learn to think like entrepreneurs and features a robust list of guest talent, including Bill Gates, Jay-Z, Shaquille O’Neal, Nick Cannon, Gisele Bündchen and Kelly Rowland.
New episodes from the second season of Amazon’s multi-Emmy Award-winning original preschool series Tumble Leaf will debut on Prime Video on Friday, May 6. Prime members can stream the series at no additional cost through the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected and mobile devices, or online. Members can also download the series to their iOS, Android and Fire devices for offline viewing.
The May 6 arrivals will continue the adventures of curious blue fox Fig and his wiggly caterpillar friend, Stick, as they set out into nature and discover science through play. Tumble Leaf is created by Drew Hodges (Community) and executive produced by Kelli Bixler (The Roadents), of Bix Pix Entertainment. The voice cast is lead by Christopher Downs as Fig, Brooke Wolloff as Maple, Zac McDowell as Hedge, Addie Zintel as Pine and Alex Trugman as Ginkgo.
Created in playful, vibrant stop-motion animation, Tumble Leaf last year garnered four Daytime Emmys for individual achievement in animation and the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Animated Program. Other accolades include the Annecy Jury Award for a TV Series (2014), Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated TV Production for Preschool Children (2015, 2016) and Parents’ Choice Gold Award (2015, 2016). Most recently, the series won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation and nominations for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Animated Program, Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program and Outstanding Costume Design.
Turner’s Cartoon Network EMEA has dished the dirt on the dedicated Cartoon Network Zone within IMG Worlds of Adventure; Dubai’s first major themed entertainment destination. IMG recently announced that the world’s largest indoor theme park will open on August 15 this year.
The deal between Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group (IMG) and Cartoon Network is bringing the fan favorite characters of award-winning hit animated series Ben 10, Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls and The Amazing World of Gumball to life in an interactive world of rides and entertainment.
Ben 10 5D – “Hero Time” will immerse audiences in the midst of a real-life battle with Ben and Rook in an epic 5D multi-sensory theatre experience. Fans can ride with Blossom, Bubbles & Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls – Mojo Jojo’s Robot Rampage to help fight Mojo Jojo’s evil robot creation. The Ride of Ooo with Finn and Jake is an Adventure Time themed scenic ride high above the park, and The Amazing Ride of Gumball is an interactive remote game in which fans can enjoy zapping objects that are threatening to take over the town of Elmore.
In addition to rides and attractions, the Cartoon Network Zone will have an exciting line up of branded restaurants and retail locations, including the world’s largest Ben 10 retail store.
IMG Worlds of Adventure’s 1.5 million square foot project will be the world’s largest temperature controlled indoor themed entertainment destination with a capacity to admit more than 30,000 guests every day.
A second edition of Animated Spirits: European Animated Short Film Festival will take place in New York City, May 4 and 5, bringing some of the most exciting new works from the continent to the East Coast. This year’s program includes works from 12 different E.U. countries, chosen to illustrate the spirit of experimentation in the regional animation scene. Animation historian, lecturer and Primanima co-founder Anna Ida Orosz curated the program, presented by the European National Institutes of Culture – New York City Cluster.
Two distinct programs will screen each night: EXPERANIMA, featuring highlights of the most inventive animated films pushing the boundaries of animation and live action, narrative strategies and the visual language of animation; and ANIMASTORY, which offers mesmerizing fictional stories with distinctive visuals. Among the many intriguing and talked-about films are Theodore Ushev’s Sonambulo, Zsuzsanna Kreif & Borbala Zetenyi’s Limbo Limbo Travel, Paul Wenninger’s Uncanny Valley and Tomasz Siwinki’s Blue Room.
EXPERANIMA 1 and ANIMASTORY 1 will screen May 4 at the Austrian Cultural Forum NY, followed by panel & Q&A with NY-based animator and filmmaker Jeffrey Scher (lecturer at SVA, adjunct instructor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and New York Times contributor) and educator Holger Lang (assistant professor and research faculty at Webster Vienna Private University and adjunct professor at Webster University St. Louis). The evening will close with an opening night reception and networking event. Click here to make reservations.
EXPERANIMA 2 and ANIMASTORY 2 screen May 5 at the Hungarian Consulate General, Bartok Hall, followed by panel and Q&A with Holger Lang and filmmaker Alexander Stewart, who is co-director of the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation in Chicago. Reserve a space for the May 5 screening here.
Animated Spirits: European Animated Short Film Festival
Not-for-profit creative platform ADCAN has launched its third annual ADCAN Awards — a competition that seeks to champion unsigned creative talent, give emerging filmmakers access to industry leaders, and provide four charities and social enterprises with original films to help promote their cause, all at the same time. ADCAN is especially interested in seeing more participation from up-and-coming animators in the 2016 edition.
The free-to-enter competition invites unsigned creatives from across the U.K. to select a brief from one of four charities and create a 30 second film, which helps to spread the charities’ messages in a unique and vibrant way. The shortlisted filmmakers and winners will then be given the opportunity to attend two days of exclusive industry access workshops with ADCAN partners Partizan, Rattling Stick and Nexus, and other industry leaders such as Work, Wave, ARRI Media and The Mill. The competition culminates in an awards ceremony hosted at renowned London post-production house The Mill, which will include talks from industry leaders. Previous speakers include Mark Denton, Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes and Crispin Porter’s CCO Dave Buonaguidi.
The causes selected to benefit from the 2016 competition are The GirlHood, a social enterprise that supports young women in the creative industries; Streetbank, a charity that fosters sharing to create better communities; Nordoff Robbins, a specialist music therapy charity dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and adults across the U.K.; and CALM, “a campaign against living miserably” supported by Topman and rapper Professor Green which works to prevent male suicide.
Partners Rattling Stick and Nexus have gotten the ball rolling by creating their own ads promoting ADCAN’s “#makegood” ethos. You can watch the film by Rattling Stick director Austen Humphries here.
ADCAN is a collective of film and advertising executives and companies which volunteer their time and expertise to #makegood. It was founded by Dan Heighes, Brydon Gerus and Deborah Casswell in order to help emerging talent get a foot in the door and mobilize their industries to make a positive difference in the world. ADCAN was honored last year with a Points of Light Award from Prime Minister David Cameron.
Blaize Heats Up Animation Scene
21-year-old Danielle Blaize from Trinidad and Tobago takes home the Best Caribbean Animation Award from the International Animation Conference in Kingston. (Be sure to check out her web comic, Spiritbound.)
Augenblick Studios — the Brooklyn animation outfit behind Ugly Americans and Superjail — is turning to fans to help raise funds for the production of its recently announced R-rated animated feature project, The Adventures of Drunky. To celebrate, the Augenblick folks have hooked us up with some exclusive concept art from the project to share with our readers (and fellow indie animation fans).
The adult comedy stars Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Coogan, Nina Arianda, Dave Attell and Tyler the Creator, with a supporting cast including Noel Wells, Abby Elliot, John Leguizamo, Jon Glaser, Jay Pharoah, James Adomian, Larry Murphy, Rachel Butera and Randy Pearlstein.
Studio founder Aaron Augenblick directs, and came up with the original concept. Lisa Thomas and Kris Wollinger of Augenblick Studios will produce along with James Belfer and Daniel Shepard of Cartuna. Peter Lengyel and Adam Belfer will executive produce.
The Adventures of Drunky follows Drunky (Rockwell), a barfly who finds himself in the middle of a cosmic bet between God (Tambor) and the Devil (Coogan) over the fate of the Earth. With his life destroyed, Drunky must travel through Heaven and Hell to rescue the girl he loves (Arianda) and save the world. Assisting Drunky on his quest are an alley cat (Tyler The Creator) and a demon (Attell).
“The Adventures of Drunky is everything I love about cartoons,” says Augenblick. “It’s hand drawn, surreal, and funny as hell. As a full-length, animated, adult feature, The Adventures of Drunky marks a new trend in independently produced animated features for adult audiences and will be the first animated feature film ever produced in Brooklyn, NY.”
The Indiegogo campaign launches today (April 26) and will run for 30 days, through to May 26. Pledge rewards include the chance to be drawn into the movie, going on a barcrawl with the director, tickets to the premiere and much more. Funds raised through the campaign will go towards storyboards and animation for the film — and prove that there are a lot of “grown ups” out there hungry for innovative animated features.
Click here to view the Indiegogo campaign and learn more about the project.
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DHX Media has revealed its latest venture, Wild Brain Family International Limited (or WildBrain), a wholly owned subsidiary of DHX which has been an incubator project since 2012. WildBrain operates a multi-platform kids network, dedicated to connecting content owners with advertisers on platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion, etc.
WildBrain offers videos for kids from 2-10 years old and generates approximately four-billion minutes of watch time monthly. In the last 12 months, WildBrain has grown significantly across key metrics: On a year-over-year basis for the month of March 2016, revenue grew by 57%, views increased 114% and minutes of watch time rose by 84%, compared to the month of March 2015. In that same period, the number of channels on the network has grown by 147%. Revenues are up 42% for the trailing 12 months ended December 2015, compared to the trailing 12 months ended December 2014.
“The WildBrain team, led by Managing Director John Robson, has done a tremendous job building the business into an additional revenue stream to complement our core distribution business,” said DHX Media CEO Dana Landry. “As more and more kids move to consuming content on mobile devices, we believe WildBrain represents a significant growth opportunity for DHX.”
A number of DHX’s popular shows and brands can be found on WildBrain, including Mattel’s Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Little People and Polly Pocket; Iconix’s Strawberry Shortcake; Turner’s Lazy Town; 9 Story’s Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts and Arthur; DHX’s Caillou, Rosie and Jim and Brum; plus videos featuring top brands like Play-Doh, Minecraft and Hachette.
International preschool-targeted TV production and licensing company Silvergate Media announces a partnership with Shamrock Capital Advisors in order to accelerate global growth, both organically and by acquisition. Shamrock has acquired a majority stake in Silvergate to support business growth, particularly by expanding Silvergate’s intellectual property, library rights and digital capabilities as well as its presence in China.
Silvergate’s portfolio in production includes Octonauts (currently in its fourth season), which has enjoyed excellent global progress this year; and its newest preschool series for Nickelodeon, Sunny Day (coming in 2017). The company is currently in pre-production on several new programs for partners including Disney, YouTube and Netflix. The studio’s development slate continues to grow, while Silvergate’s delivered programs air in over 100 countries worldwide.
Silvergate is also working with China Central TV to co-produce season five of Octonauts, marking CCTV’s first co-production with a Western media company for a preschool animated series.
Academy Award-winning independent VFX studio Milk has added another accolade to its shelves after winning its third consecutive British Academy Television Craft Award at Sunday night’s ceremony at The Brewery in London. The studio has taken home a BAFTA TV Craft Award every year since its launch in 2013 — winning for its work on Doctor Who in 2014 and 2015.
This year’s prize in Special, Visual & Graphic Effects was earned for Milk’s work on the critically acclaimed BBC drama series Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The London-based shop created over 1,000 VFX shots for the show — a fantastical epic about the return of magic to Georgian England, adapted from the book by Susanna Clarke.
Working closely with director Toby Haynes, Milk designed standalone VFX sequences for each of the seven, hour-long episodes, creating a “magical realism” to fit the tone of a world of enchantment set against a real historical period. Milk’s work on Jonathan Strange also received nominations at the 2016 VES Awards and 2015 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards.
Milk co-founder Sara Bennett earlier this year took home the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and a British Academy Film Award nomination for Ex Machina.
In its three years of operation, Milk has created VFX for TV series and films including Sherlock, Doctor Who, Thunderbirds Are Go, The Martian and 47 Ronin. Current productions include Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Sherlock season four and Thunderbirds season two.
An innovative new interactive children’s entertainment brand from sister and brother creators Rania and Rami Ajami will arrive in New York this fall, as Pip’s Island has its global launch. Three years in the making, Pip’s Island follows the history, mythology and adventures of a cast of charismatic characters who have one foot in our world and the other planted on a mysterious, faraway island.
Aimed at guided groups of children aged 4-12, Pip’s Island interactive, immersive events (or “expeditions”) blend live actors, multi-sensorial environments, animation and a compelling narrative which the audience helps shape through quests and explorer challenges.
Along with the live experiences, the Ajamis are planning to build out a full transmedia brand included animated web and broadcast series, mobile apps, games and books in order to develop and explore the story world of Pip’s Island, created by their in-house animation team.
U.K. kids entertainment company Cake and Australian producers Cheeky Little Media and Mighty Nice have signed a U.K. publishing deal with Hodder Children’s Books for their new CG-animated children’s comedy series, Bottersnikes & Gumbles. Hodder Children’s, a division of Hachette Children’s Group, will publish a series of young fiction and sticker and activity books for kids 6-9 based on the TV series, premiering on CBBC in July.
Bottersnikes & Gumbles (52 x 11) is co-produced by CBBC (U.K.) and Seven Network (Australia), and is also a Netflix global original series. The show won this year’s Pulcinella Award for Best Kids TV Series at Cartoons on the Bay in Venice, and has been nominated for a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Children’s Program in Australia.
Coming full circle, the animated series is adapted from the four-book series of kids’ titles by Australian writer S.A. Wakefield and illustrator Desmond Digby (published 1967-89). The tales orbit the timeless battle between good and evil — in this case, between the mean, lazy Bottersnikes and the fun-loving Gumbles.
It’s been 20 years since the irreverent, celebrity-skewering puppet series Spitting Image left U.K. airwaves, but some of the show’s team have reunited — infused with some new talent — to created WONKchannel. The channel is available on YouTube (as /WonkChannelStudios) and will feature CG caricatures stepping in where the puppets left off, poking fun at the foibles of entertainers and politicians.
WONKchannel launches with Britain Seeks Attention, a send-up of televised talent contests in which caricatured celeb judges Simon Cowell, Kanye West and Kate Middleton rate guests including Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Wonk uses state-of-the-art digital animation using 3D caricature models, making the shows and sketches a lot less labor-intensive and expensive than Spitting Image, which cost up to 250,000 BPS per episode thanks to the painstaking puppet making process. You can check out the first episode of Britain Seeks Attention here: https://youtu.be/6WuYq0qxTh0.
