Author: Mercedes Milligan

Clip: ‘Justice League vs. Teen Titans’ Out Now

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released April 12 the latest DC Universe Original Movie Justice League vs. Teen Titans — and a final clip and some images to win you over in case you were undecided.

In the clip, the Justice League arrives at Teen Titans HQ to take command of the battle against Trigon — but instead are overwhelmed by the demon’s forces, leaving the Teen Titans to try to subdue both Trigon and the Justice League.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, JL vs. TT is directed by Sam Liu (Justice League: Gods and Monsters) from a script by Alan Burnett and Bryan Q. Miller. The voice cast features Stuart Allan (Robin), Taissa Farmiga (Raven), Brandon Soo Hoo (Beast Boy), Kari Wahlgren (Starfire), Jake T. Austin (Blue Beetle), Jon Bernthal (Trigon), Jason O’Mara (Batman), Sean Maher (Nightwing), Jerry O’Connell (Superman), Rosario Dawson (Wonder Woman), Christopher Gorham (Flash) and Shemar Moore (Cyborg), with Laura Bailey (Angela Chen), Steven Blum (Lex Luthor), Terrence C. Carson (Ra’s al Ghul) and Rick D. Wasserman (Weather Wizard).

Synopsis:

Soon after Damian joins the Teen Titans as Robin, a rift develops between the Justice League and the Titans over Raven, whom the JL sees as being in league with her father, the demon Trigon, while the Titans see her as his victim. Soon the rift turns into an all-out war, as the Titans take it upon themselves to protect Raven from the League, while thwarting Trigon’s plans to create a hell on Earth.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans is available on Blu-ray (SRP $24.98), Blu-ray Combo Pack ($29.96), DVD ($19.98) and Digital HD.

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

Justice League vs. Teen Titans

April 12, 2016
Super RTL Takes on Teutonic L&M for ‘Angelo Rules’

Super RTL’s Consumer Products department has inked a deal with kids entertainment company CAKE and French animation studio TeamTO for the German-speaking territories licensing rights to their hit series Angelo Rules. The agreement marks a high-profile move into consumer products for the comedy cartoon brand.

“Angelo’s appearance and style is unique and complements our portfolio perfectly,” says Super RTL’s Head of Licensing & Merchandising, Hendrik Rinsche. “We are looking forward to starting the marketing program and are very positive about our first product development in the publishing and promotion categories.”

Created by TeamTO and distributed worldwide by CAKE, Angelo Rules centers on sweet-talking 11-year-old genius Angelo, who has a knack for getting into trouble with the help of clever planning, a rebellious nature, and his best friends Sherwood and Lola. The show has aired on Super RTL in Germany since 2010 and has been a consistent ratings winner since, garnering a 30% market share among kids 6-9. Angelo Rules is also very popular on Super RTL’s digital platform, Toggo.de. The development of the show’s licensing program in the region will coincide with the launch of season 3 of the show.

Angelo Rules

April 12, 2016
Kaleidoscope World Tour Winners Announced

Virtual reality creators’ community Kaleidoscope has announced the winning projects of its 2016 Kaleidoscope World Tour Awards. Showcasing the best in VR film, art and immersive experiences, the World Tour traveled to numerous major cities around the globe, including Paris, London, Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, Pangyo, Tokyo and Melbourne. The show was produced in association with WIRED and powered by Wevr Transport.

The Grand Prize for excellence in cinematic VR went to Mike Tucker’s Tana Pura. Additional awards went to James George & Jonathan Minard’s Clouds (Best Documentary), Pierre Friquet’s Jet Lag (Best Live Action Experience), Tyle Hurd’s Old Friend (Best Animated Experience), Balthazar Auxietre’s La Peri: A Prelude (Best Interactive Experience), and Notes on Blindness by Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton & James Spinney (Best Experimental Experience).

The winners were selected by an international committee and will receive over $50,000 worth of donated products, services and software from sponsors Wevr, Nokia, G-Technology, SubPac, Unity, Skullcandy, Samsung, Nvidia and SideFX.

With more than 4,000 attendees, the Kaleidoscope World Tour unearthed some surprising insights about the nascent VR entertainment industry. “The movement is global, it’s growing faster than anyone thinks, and the most interesting work is being produced by independent artists,” said Kaleidoscope co-founder René Pinnell. Audiences had the opportunity to enjoy the full lineup of experiences on Gear VR equipment supplied by Samsung, as well as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR headsets. In addition, experiences were exhibited using the newly launched Wevr Transport, ensuring beautiful playback and a seamless user experience.

Tana Pura

April 12, 2016
Mighty Animation Creating Official Pixelatl Fest Art & Teaser

Organizers of the International Animation Film Festival – Pixelatl 2016 announce that the artists at Mighty Animation studio have been commissioned to develop the official branded artwork, poster, teaser trailer and all audiovisual material for the event. The festival each year tasks a local Mexican studio with the job of developing the artistic imprint for the Cuernavaca event.

Mighty Animation is a 2D and 3D animation studio located in Guadalajara, Mexico, which has been in business for four years. The studio’s business is propped up by advertising work as it develops in-house content and IP to pitch to the international market. Mighty also provides animation services including preproduction and visual development for series and other media for both national and international clients. Some of the studio’s projects are the feature film La Cancha, the first season of Juan Futbol and new properties Viking Tales and Party Dilphing, Mike and Unborn Kid.

The 5th annual Pixelatl Festival and IdeaToon Summit will be held from September 6-11, 2016. The main goal of the Festival is to unite the Mexican community with the leaders of the global industry. Acclaimed animators such as Phil Tippett, John K, Bill Plympton and Mark Osborne, have been speakers in past editions. The theme elected to tie the Festival activities, such as keynotes, masterclasses, feature films and the short film competition, will be “Storytelling brings us together”. The deadline for submission for short films is June 26, 2016. More information is available at pixelatl.com.

Mighty Animation Pixelatl concept art

Mighty Animation Pixelatl concept art

April 12, 2016
Daily News Bytes

SVA Premieres: Introducing Hollywood to the Next Wave of Animators and Filmmakers
Coming June 1 & 2 to Linwood Dunn Theatre in L.A., featuring a 90-minute animation and visual effects program.

Discovery Family Preps New Season of Rescue Bots
Season four of the popular Transformers for tots will debut with back-to-back episodes April 23.

Speedy Gonzales Eyed as Animated Feature at Warner Bros.
There’s nothing new under the Hollywood sun, with Mexican actor-filmmaker Eugenio Derbez attached to possible feature project.

Ben Affleck Confirmed for Standalone Batman Movie
WB confirms solo Dark Knight sequel to Dawn of Justice will star Affleck during CinemaCon announcement.

2015 Surge Sets Netflix on Track for 150MN Customers by 2020
Streaming giant is well on its way to its goal of 60-90 million U.S. customers and 150 million worldwide, according to Enders Analysis.

SVA Premieres

April 12, 2016
Joe D’Ambrosia Upped to SVP Original Programming at Disney Junior

Joe D’Ambrosia has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Original Programming at Disney Junior. The announcement was made by Nancy Kanter, EVP of Original Programming and General Manager for Disney Junior Worldwide, to whom D’Ambrosia reports.

“Joe is an incredibly talented executive who brings his A-game to the table each and every day,” said Kanter. “In his new role he will continue to manage our creative output leading us in new, exciting directions and will work with me on ways to deliver the best in kids TV to the broadest audience possible.”

D’Ambrosia will continue to oversee production and creative development for acclaimed Disney Junior series like Peabody Award-winning Doc McStuffins, Emmy winner Sofia the First, Annie winner Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Goldie & Bear, Sheriff Callie’s Wild West and Minnie’s Bow-Toons short-form series. He will also be responsible for upcoming series, like Disney Channel’s Elena of Avalor — Disney’s first princess brand inspired by Latin cultures; Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and Vampirina, based on the popular Disney Publishing book series.

Before joining Disney Channel in 2011, D’Ambrosia produced and developed kids TV programming and family films at Murray Hill 5 Productions, which he co-founded. His projects included Astro Boy and Golden Bridges, based on Golden Books. Prior to this he helped launch Sony Pictures Family Entertainment, overseeing numerous films and series. D’Ambrosia began his career at Nickelodeon, where he launched their family film division, overseeing live-action hit Harriet the Spy and first animated feature, Rugrats The Movie.

D’Ambrosia is a graduate of Catholic University of America, from which he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.

Disney Junior

April 12, 2016
New ‘TMNT: Out of the Shadows’ Trailer Drops

Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures have let a new trailer for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows out of its shell, giving more of a glimpse of the terrible baddies and inner turmoil that the half-shell heroes must face in the live-action/CG sequel, out June 3. Notably, the spot gives audiences a look at the invading Krang ships as well as Shredder’s custom-made mutant muscle heads Bebop and Rocksteady.

Dave Green (Earth to Echo) directs Out of the Shadows from a script by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec. The flick stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil, Stephen Amell as Casey Jones, Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick, William Fichtner as Eric Sacks, Brian Tee as The Shredder, Tyler Perry as Dr. Baxter Stockman, Brittany Ishibashi as Karai and Laura Linney as Rebecca Vincent. The CG turtles are voiced by Alan Ritchson (Raphael), Noel Fisher (Michelangelo), Johnny Knoxville (Leonardo) and Jeremy Howard (Donatello), with Tony Shalhoub as Splinter, Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop, WWE’s Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly as Rocksteady and Fred Armisen as Krang.

Synopsis:

Michelangelo, Donatello, LEonardo and Raphael return to theaters this summer to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil, Vern Fenwick, and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones. After supervillain Shredder escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

April 11, 2016
Patrick Osborne’s ‘Pearl’ for Spotlight Premieres Sunday

Director Patrick Osborne’s dreamy road-trip project for Google Spotlight Stories, Pearl, will have its world premiere screening at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival during its “Rock and a Hard Place” shorts program. Osborne was the Oscar-nominated director of Disney’s acclaimed theatrical short Feast.

Pearl is set inside a well loved family hatchback, following a girl and her dad as they crisscross the country chasing their dreams. It is a story about the gifts we hand down and their power to carry love — and finding grace in the unlikeliest of places.

The film will have its world premiere screening on Sunday, April 17 at 6 p.m. at the Regal Cinemas Battery Park. Tickets and additional screening times can be found online here.

Osborne and members of the Google ATAP/Spotlight Stories team will be in NYC, and the director will demonstrate the 360-degree interactive version of Pearl, coming soon to Android and iOS, at TFF’s Interactive Playground on Saturday, April 16.

Pearl

Pearl

April 11, 2016
9 Story Appoints Blake Tohana as CFO

9 Story Media Group has hired on accomplished finance executive Blake Tohana as its new Chief Financial Officer. Charged with leading overall financial reporting, corporate development and risk management, Tohana will report directly to President & CEO Vince Commisso.

Tohana most recently held the post of CFO at Tricon Film & Television, Prior to this, he served as EVP and CFO of Magna Entertainment Corp., North America’s largest horse racing company with media operations which included a U.S. TV network and Internet wagering business.

9 Story also announces some changes to its management structure following last summer’s acquisition of Brown Bag Films. Steve Jarosz will now be EVP in charge of production financing and compliance. Cathal Gaffney remains at the helm of Brown Bag and becomes Chief Operating Officer for 9 Story Media Group, overseeing production, technology and HR. Natalie Osborne becomes Chief Strategy Officer, leading distribution, consumer products, acquisitions, marketing and business development. VP of Creative Affairs Natalie Dumoulin will oversee a unified development team.

9 Story Media Group

April 11, 2016
Digital Hollywood Tackles Immersive Entertainment, VR

The 2016 Digital Hollywood Spring event, taking place May 3-6 seeks to peer into “The Future of the Entertainment Industry” with special focuses on Immersive Entertainment, Virtual Reality and Internet TV’s disruptive influence on viewing trends, plus the California Education Summit and the 57th Annual Genii Awards, presented by the Alliance for Women in Media — which has just added Senator Barbara Boxer and Netflix board member Anne Sweeney to the presenters list.

The complete agenda is now online. Some of the highlights include:

The Making of a Hollywood VR Narrative Experience “Defrost” – a roundtable with the creators, Randal Kleiser (director; Grease, Blue Lagoon, Honey I Blew Up the Kids), Tanna Frederick (actor), Carl Weathers (actor), Bruce Davison (actor), Mario Kenyon (producer) and moderator David Bloom (digital content production & partnerships, Deadline.com).

Virtual and Augmented Reality: The Technology That Will Change Everything: Narrative Entertainment, Games, Advertising, TV and Social Media – speakers include Dr. David Levitt (co-founder & CEO, Pantomime Corp.), Ted Schilowitz (futurist & VR explorer, 20th Century Fox), Roy Taylor (corporate VP & head of alliances, AMD), David Shing (“digital prophet,” AOL), Steve Schklair (founding principal & CEO, 3ality & 3mersiv) and moderator Shawn Gold (corporate marketing officer, JustFab).

CG Humans: Integration of the Virtual Character in Film, TV, VR, Games – with Brett Leonard (producer, director, writer, futurist, Tough Trick Transmedia), Richard Taylor (cinematics director, Electronic Arts), Sean Stanek (CGI motion capture, Lord of the Rings), Joseph A. Zaki (founder & CEO, VRtuality), Marshall Millett (CEO, AeMass), Gregory Peter Panos (founder, Persona Foundation) and moderator David Traub (co-founder, Epiphany Film Fund).

Women in the Industry: Developing Film, Television & OTT About Women – A Golden Age in Hollywood and Indie Production – with Mimi Steinbauer (president & CEO, Radiant Films Int’l), Kara Holden (actress & screenwriter), Shannon Keenan Demers (SVP production & creative, Tremendous! Ent.), Marlene Sharp (Sonic the Hedgehog TV series producer, Sega of America), Marsha Oglesby (TV producer, Indigenous Media), Melissa Schneider (SVP development & production, New Form Digital) and moderator Sun Jen Yung (MD, Headwaters MB).

Digital Hollywood

April 11, 2016
USC Presents Annual First Frame Showcase Friday

USC’s School of Cinematic Arts will on Friday, April 15 present First Frame 2016, its annual showcase of animation achievements from students and alumni of the John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts (Hench-DADA). The showcase will feature work spanning all forms of animation, including character and experimental, hand-drawn, stop-motion, digital 2D, 3D and virtual reality selected by a jury of full-time animation faculty.

The April 15 screening begins at 7:30 p.m. at the DGA Theater and will comprise 23 selected shorts. Several of the films have already made a splash at festivals nationwide, including Cry of the Fox (grand prize winner, 2016 Adobe Design Achievement Awards), Pokey Pokey (Cine Golden Eagle Award nominee), and Nice to Meeteor You and El Coyote — 2016 and 2015 Annie Award nominees. The DGA lobby will host two VR stations running award-winning, immersive animation installation Ricerca — which recently premiered at SXSW — and seven short experimental projects from the Expanded Animation class.

“We are incredibly proud of the work selected this year,” says Hench-DADA Chair Tom Sito. “Our students and alumni continue to push boundaries and present work of the highest caliber. This show serves as a way for us to honor our students and to provide them with the opportunity to meet and network with representatives from across the entertainment industry.”

You can view clips from the selected projects on the First Frame 2016 website.

USC Presents Annual First Frame Showcase Friday

April 11, 2016
AmebaTV Takes on ‘Angels from the Attic’

Canada’s leading free kids streaming and on-demand TV platform AmebaTV has signed a deal with educational children’s media company Big City Publishing/BPCImagines to add their original The Angels from the Attic series to Ameba’s growing library of kids content. Three channels will offer featurettes, ComicFlix and Create-Alongs with the Angels.

Earlier this year, Ameba announced its expansion throughout North America with an updated streaming app released on Xbox 360, making all of its kids content available through both subscription and advertising supported services. AmebaTV is currently available on Xbox 360, Roku, LG Smart TV, Sony, Amazon Fire, web, mobile and tablet (iOS and Android).

Angels from the Attic

April 11, 2016
Daily News Bytes

Dominate, It Did: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Nabs Top Prize at the MTV Movie Awards
Director J.J. Abrams and Daisy Ridley (also Best Breakthrough Performance winner) accepted the Movie of the Year Award. Amy Poehler won the Virtual Performance award for playing Joy in Inside Out.

Fox Animation Buying Remake Rights to Daisy Ridley’s Documentary Eagle Huntress
Speaking of Ms. Ridley, the Sundance doc about a teenage Mongolian girl learning an ancient sport she exec produced may get an animation treatment if negotiations with Fox pull through.

Saudi Animated Movie Bilal to be Screened at Cannes
Ayman Tariq Jamal’s CG tale of humanity, faith, hope and self-discovery is pulled from the real life of an inspirational hero.

BLE Looks to New Growth
Under the UBM umbrella, Brand Licensing Europe is poised for expansion and fresh innovation.

Animation as Old as Civilization
Times of India gives an abridged history of our favorite artform.

MTV Movie Awards

April 11, 2016
Daily News Bytes

ECCC Exclusive: IDW’s New Powerpuff Girls Team Talks Comics/Animation Revival
IDW announces at Emerald City Comic Con that the Cartoon Network reboot will be bolstered by an ongoing comic-book series.

The Goon Update: Deadpool Might Help This Animated Comic Book Movie Finally Get Made
Deadpool helmer and Goon project co-director finally has an update on the adult-targeted animation adaptation.

Ace Attorney Anime: Does the Japanese Animation Adaption Live Up to the Popular Video Game by Capcom?
Streaming service Crunchyroll will release Phoenix Wright series — but will it win over the cult following outside Japan?

Richard Dickson Talks Mattel’s Transformation
In his MIPTV keynote speech, Mattel’s president and COO talks the company’s content strategy.

“India’s Animation Industry Has Unprecedented Growth”: Avneet
Disney effects and simulations artist Avneet Kaur tells Indian Express the local industry is on track to develop huge potential.

The Powerpuff Girls

April 10, 2016
TIFF Kids to Celebrate 40 Years of Aardman Animations

The TIFF Kids International Film Festival, taking place in Toronto April 8-24, is planning a special 40th-anniversary program to celebrate the achievements of Aardman Animations. The U.K. studio is responsible for beloved shorts and features starring beloved characters like Morph, Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.

The Aardman’s 40th Anniversary Retrospective will look at how the studio’s creations have evolved from purely traditional stop-motion fare through CG-augmented masterpieces, highlighting Peter Lord’s Grand Morph’s Home Movies (1981), Nick Park’s Oscar-winning, 30-minute short The Wrong Trousers (1993) and Jay Grace’s Shaun the Sheep “3DTV” (2014). The lineup also includes samplings of Purple & Brown, Creature Comforts and commercial work, and even the original cel-animated Aardman cartoon.

TIFF Kids’ Aardman retrospective will screen Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m. and Sunday, April 24 at 10:15 a.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Click here for the complete film lineup and to purchase tickets.

The Wrong Trousers

April 8, 2016
Daily News Bytes

Disney’s Paul DeBenedittis Talks Programming Remit
SVP of programming strategy for Disney Channels Worldwide talks kids entertainment trends.

Japan MIPCOM 2016 Country of Honor
Reed MIDEM announces that the Land of the Rising Sun will be honored at the fall trade show.

Faster Than Light Augmented Reality Comic Series Being Developed for TV by Skydance
Brian Haberlin’s space exploration comic-app getting TV treatment, with volumes 6 and 7 coming soon from Shadowline.

ABAI Fest 2016 Speaker Details
Bengaluru, India event (April 16 & 17) will welcome Little Prince director Mark Osborne, Zootopia character TD Avneet Kaur and more.

Perak Corp Ups Stake in Unit to Ensure Completion of Animation Theme Park
Perak takes 51% majority in Kuala Lumpur’s Movie Animation Park Studio, a co-venture with RSG Maps.

Faster Than Light

April 8, 2016
Tarek Mounir Promoted to VP & GM for Mediterranean Turner

Turner EMEA has announced that Tarek Mounir has been promoted to the post of Vice President and General Manager for Turkey, Middle East, North Africa, Greece & Cyprus. Mounir will report directly to Turner EMEA president Giorgio Stock.

“This promotion recognises Tarek’s role in aggressively developing Turner’s presence in the region and driving significant growth, across both free to air and pay TV platforms and in the non-linear space,” Stock said in the announcement.

Under Mounir’s leadership, Turner has grown its channel footprint across kids, news and general entertainment, enjoyed a sustained period of robust ad sales growth, engaged audiences with its growing brands and developed a successful local content strategy through hits like Emirati’s animated series Mansour in the UAE and Kral Sakir in Turkey. Mounir was instrumental in forging new avenues such as the soon-to-open Cartoon Network theme park zone and the creation of Cartoon Network Studios Arabia.

Turner

April 8, 2016
Animortal Kicks Off ‘Chuck Steel’ Production

Welsh toon house Animortal Studio announces that production has begun on its feature length, stop-motion animated comedy-action-horror flick Chuck Steel in Night of the Trampires. Spurred by the success of the short film Raging Balls of Steel Justice, Night of the Trampires is “a lovingly anarchic homage” to classic Hollywood action flicks.

Set in the perilous world of 1986, the film follows Chuck Steel — “the best God damn cop on the force,” according to long-suffering Captain Jack Schitt. The loose cannon copper has his work cut out for him when the Governor of LA decides to cut operation hours for clubs and bars, triggering a sudden, inexplicable spate of crimes that leave a bloody scene but no body. Things take an even stranger turn when Chuck is confronted by an eccentric old man named Abraham Van Rental, who warns of an evil scourge of Trampires — a mutated hybrid of vampire and tramp.

Night of the Trampires is slated for completion in 2017.

The original short Raging Balls of Steel Justice premiered at Frightfest UK in August of 2013, and has since traveled the globe winning awards and applause at festivals, and had its broadcast premiere on Film4 in the U.K. You can watch the short on YouTube.

Chuck Steel

April 8, 2016
Daily News Bytes

MIPTV 2016 Wrap: Big Euro Pay TVs, High End Drama and Millenials Dominate Trade Fair
Pay TV operators and streaming services are ramping up original IP production.

Detroit Gets Its Own Animation Fest
Tangent Gallery will host inaugural Detroit Int’l Festival of Animation this weekend with 22 shorts on screen.

Telangana Plans Animation and Gaming City
Local government to set up “IMAGE City” for production and training in Ranga Reddy district.

Joe Tedesco on DHX Television’s Content Strategy
How the Canadian network group’s flagship Family Channel and others are reshaping their programming.

DreamWorks Brings Trolls Back to Their Roots
The feature animated film arrives this fall, but NY Toy Fair attendees are getting a first look at the revamped tie-in toys.

Trolls

April 7, 2016
Digitoonz, Teidees Team for ‘Misha the Purple Cat’

Digitoonz Media & Entertainment has signed a co-production deal with Teidees Audiovisual S.I. and Spain’s TV3 (Televisio De Catalunya) to produce a second season of 2D animated series Misha the Purple Cat (52 x 7).

Misha the Purple Cat is created by American author and illustrator Philip Stanton. Based in Barcelona for over 20 years, Stanton has illustrated a wide range of books for children and young adults — including titles from Ray Bradbury, Emili Teixidor and Naguib Mahfuz — as well as writing and illustrating his own stories.

Production on Misha season two will begin in mid-April, with a broadcast delivery date of September 2017.

Misha the Purple Cat

April 7, 2016