Author: Mercedes Milligan

‘Shaun the Sheep,’ ‘Stick Man’ & ‘Gumball’ Score at BAAs

The 2016 British Animation Awards have wrapped up, having successfully celebrated 20 years. Top honors were bestowed on internationally acclaimed actor Martin Freeman, Aardman Animation’s madcap feature adventure Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, holiday special Stick Man and kids’ series The Amazing World of Gumball. The awards ceremony was held at BFI Southbank in London, hosted by actors and impressionists Duncan Wisbey and Jess Robinson.

Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Sherlock) picked up the Best Voice Performance award, sponsored by Fitzrovia Post, for his work in Magic Light Pictures’ Stick Man. The feature-length Christmas special was one of only two double winners this year, also picking up Best Use of Sound. Also taking two awards was Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball, which snapped up Best Children’s Series (sponsored by CBBC/CBeebies) and Children’s Choice Award (sponsored by HIT Ent.)

Shaun the Sheep: The Movie took the prestigious Best Long Form award (sponsored by Bubble), winning out over Stick Man and Fettle Animation’s Children of the Holocaust. The award marks the 20th BAA for Aardman Animations over the last two decades. Other key awards went to Daniel Gray & Tom Brown’s Teeth (Short Film), Sixteen South’s Lily’s Driftwood Bay (Best Pre-School Series), Katie Lenton’s Man Up You (Best Under-Graduate Student Film) and Sarina Nihel’s Small People with Hats (Post-Graduate Film).

Full List of BAA Winners

Best Long Form Animation: Shaun the Sheep: The Movie

Directors/Script Mark Burton & Richard Starzak

Producers Julie Lockhart & Paul Kewley

Produced by Aardman Animations for Studio Canal

Best Voice: Martin Freeman as Stick Man – Stick Man

Director: Jeroen Jaspaert and Daniel Snaddon

Producers Michael Rose & Martin Pope

Produced by Magic Light Pictures

Best Children’s Series and Children’s Choice Award: The Amazing World of Gumball “The Shell”

Directors Mic Graves & Ben Bocquelet

Producer Sarah Fell Animation

Produced by Turner Broadcasting for Cartoon Network

Best Pre-School Series: Lily’s Driftwood Bay “Goodbye Seabird”

Directors Colin Williams & Darren Vandenburg

Producer: Colin Williams

Produced by Sixteen South for Nick Jr.

Best Music Video: James “Moving On”

Directed and produced by Ainslie Henderson

Produced by An Independent Production for BMG

Best Commissioned Animation: Promotional: HIAS “For The Refugees”

Directors Moth Collective

Producer Sovev Media

Produced by Moth Collective for HIAS

Best Commissioned Animation: Documentary: Animated Minds: Stories of Postnatal Depression

Series Directed and produced by George Sander-Jackson

Produced by Mosaic Films for Wellcome Trust & Maudsley Charity

Best Short Film: Teeth

Directors Daniel Gray & Tom Brown

Produced by Holbrooks Films

Best Animation in a Commercial: Anchor “Little Elephant”

Directors Kyra & Constantin

Producer Matt Saxton

Produced by Passion Picture for Creature London

Best Film/TV Graphics: The Power of Privacy

Directors: Callum Cooper & Matthias Hoegg

Producer Carrie Budge

Produced by Carrie Budge for The Guardian

Best Use of Sound: Stick Man

Sound Designer & Mixer Adrian Rhodes Music René Aubry

Directors Jeroen Jaspaert & Daniel Snaddon

Producers Michael Rose & Martin Pope

Produced by Magic Light Pictures

Best Student Film: Undergraduate: Man Up You

Director Katie Lenton

Produced at University of the Creative Arts, Farnham

Best Student Film: Postgraduate: Small People with Hats

Director Sarina Nihei

Produced at the Royal College of Art

Public Choice – Favourite Music Video: Benjamin Scheuer “Cookie-tin Banjo”

Directed and produced by Peter Baynton

Produced by Radish Pictures for Escapist Records

Public Choice – Favourite Film (tie):

Mend and Make Do by Bexie Bush

BlueBarry by TwinTrash

Shaun the Sheep: The Movie

March 11, 2016
Clips: ‘Dinotrux’ Season 2 Roars onto Netflix

Season 2 of DreamWorks Animation’s Dinotrux has arrived exclusively on Netflix, bringing along tons of cool new species and characters for Ty and his best friend Revvit to rumble with. These include roaming herds of Rollodon (montanoceratops + steamroller); fierce and fast Gluphosaur (dilophosaur + glue gun); slithering Towaconstrictor (snake + tow chain); and the desert Scraptor’s leader, who boasts the biggest metal horns in the clan.

Synopsis: Ty and his best friend Revvit are back, building and battling in an all-new Dinotrux Season 2! The turf war escalates when D-Structs unveils a buzz-saw tail, battles with battering-ram Skya and kidnaps Revvit. Together the team saves the Ottos from a meteor crash, goes underground to escape the Desert Scraptors and builds a racetrack with Ton-Ton’s friends the Dumps. The fun never ends with the crew that’s half dinosaur, half truck and all awesome!

Dinotrux

March 11, 2016
Daily News Bytes

Captain America: Civil War New Trailer Reveals Spider-Man
Good news for fans as Spidey returns to the Marvel movie universe thanks to a special deal with Sony, bad news for Captain America.

Nick-Branded Entertainment Centers to Launch in Europe
Viacom teams up with Parques Reunidos to open kid-friendly entertainment spots, starting in Murcia.

Jean Paul Gaultier and King Features Partner for Betty Boop and Popeye Fragrances
Launching in France March 15 will be special character-themed iterations of iconic scents Classique and Le Male.

Sesame Workshop Renews Contract with Oznoz Video
Bilingual kids’ platform extends agreement covering Elmo’s Potty Time, Playtime with Ernie and more.

S4C Content Boss Steps Down
Dafydd Rhys is leaving the Welsh-language pubcaster after five years at the helm.

Captain America: Civil War

March 10, 2016
WB’s ‘Teen Titans Go!’ Heading to WonderCon

Warner Bros. Television is bringing a slew of superheroes to Downtown Los Angeles with special events planned for five of its series planned for WonderCon 2016, taking place March 25-27. Warner Bros. Animation hit animated comedy Teen Titans Go! — which airs Thursdays at 6/5c on Cartoon Network — is among the offerings, which also include panels and Q&A sessions for live-action series Containment (premiering April 19 on The CW), iZOMBIE, The 100 and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Taking place Friday, March 25 from 6 to 7 p.m., the Teen Titans Go! Screening and Q&A is likely to be one of the con’s livelier events. On stage will be series producers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath, joined by voice actors Greg Cipes, Khary Payton, Scott Menville, Tara Strong and Hynden Walch, who will screen an all-new episode and answer burning questions about what’s in store for Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven and Starfire. Fans can also keep up with the show at facebook.com/TeenTitansGo. (Room 408AB)

The live-action events are:

March 25

3:15-4:15 p.m. (Theater) Containment pilot screening and Q&A, with stars Chris Wood, Christina Moses, Claudia Black, Kristen Gutoskie, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, George Young, Trevor St. John and EPs Julie Plec, Matt Corman and Chris Ord.

4:30-5:30 p.m. (Theater) iZOMBIE special video presentation and Q&A, with stars Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders and EPs Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright.

March 27

12:15-1:15 p.m. (Theater) The 100 special video presentation and Q&A, with stars Eliza Taylor, Bob Morley, Devon Bostick, Christopher Larkin, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Isaiah Washington and EP Jason Rothenberg.

1:30-2:20 p.m. (Theater) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow special video presentation and Q&A, with stars Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz, Ciara Renee, Franz Drameh and EPs Marc Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer.

Teen Titans Go!

March 10, 2016
Ann Arbor Fest Announces Family Friendly Program

The 54th Ann Arbor Film Festival will be offering a Saturday morning Family Friendly Program, featuring an assortment of films, documentaries, experimental pieces and animations fit for youngsters ages six and up as well as cinema-savvy adults. Taking place March 19 in the Michigan Theater Lobby and at North Quad Space 2435, the program also features pre-screening and afternoon activities.

The screenings will open at 11 a.m. with a live performance by local artist Tom Carey, Thoth in the Kaleidoscope UFO. The piece follows Thoth, the dog-faced baboon god of ancient Egypt, as he’s taken on a trip through outer space by a group of extraterrestrials, The artist uses a combination of shadow puppets and hand-drawn transparencies manipulated directly on an overhead projector.

Animated highlights of the lineup include Konstantin Bronzit’s Oscar nominated short We Can’t Live without Cosmos, Theodore Ushev’s The Sleepwalker (Sonambulo), Caleb Wood’s Goodbye Rabbit, Hop Hop and Marcin Gizycki’s STO[NE]S (complete lineup available here).

Families are also encouraged to check out GameStart’s Animation Community Creation Project in the Michigan Theater lobby at 10 a.m., where kids and adults can create pixel art characte animations and put them on display in a digital world with the help of GameStart School team members. And from 2-5 p.m. in the North Quad Space 2435, a free Expanding Frames workshop “Shoot, Scratch and Stomp: Let’s Play with Film” covers both traditional image-making and hands-on image-making, where kids can shoot on Super 8 cameras and hand-process the film in eco-friendly solution.

Ann Arbor Film Festival

March 10, 2016
Xilam’s ‘Zig & Sharko’ Sinks Teeth into International Channels

Paris-based Xilam Studio is swimming in sales for its non-dialog, slapstick comedy cartoon Zig & Sharko, with several international broadcasters coming on board. Gulli and France and Super RTL in Germany have both picked up the in-production season 2 (156 x 7) after airing the first season.

Other recent sales for Zig & Sharko have been signed with Carousel TV in Russia, NRK in Norway, VRT in Belgium, Nickelodeon in India and Disney for Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and Latin America. Additionally, Netflix has picked up the new season for streaming worldwide.

Season two of Zig & Sharko continues the comedic chronicles of a hungry hyena’s futile schemes to take a bite out of a beautiful, naive and theoretically delicious mermaid named Marina, who is under the protection of a tough-as-nails shark. The 2D series is created and directed by Olivier Jean-Marie and produced by Marc du Pontavice.

Zig and Sharko

March 10, 2016
VIMN Secures Batch of Nick Show Sales

Viacom International Media Networks announces a number of international broadcast deals for Nickelodeon series, including freshman cartoon Pig Goat Banana Cricket.

In Spain, Antena 3 opted for Pig Goat Banana Cricket — an original 2D series created by comics team Dave Cooper and Johnny Ryan — as well as Harvey Beaks from C.H. Greenblatt (Chowder) and live-action series Bella & the Bulldogs.

Preschool animated series PAW Patrol was snapped up by TV Cultura in Brazil (season 2), RTS in Switzerland (season 2), Channel Balapan in Kazakhstan (seasons 2 & 3), Able Systems in Adria region countries (season 1) and Canal Panda/Dreamia in Portugal (season 2).

Canal Panda also took on seasons 1 & 2 of preschool toon Blaze and the Monster Machines to broadcast this spring. The show’s first season is also heading to Gulli in France, Clan/TVE in Spain and TV Cultura in Brazil. Finally, girl-targeted CG series Shimmer and Shine is also joining the TV Cultura and Canal Panda line-ups.

Pig Goat Banana Cricket

March 10, 2016
DHX, Ragdoll Set for ‘Twirlywoos’ Season 2

DHX Media and Ragdoll Productions announce that UK broadcaster CBeebies has commissioned a 25 x 11 second season of its stop-frame / live-action hybrid preschool series Twirlywoos. “The response of preschool children and their parents to this series has been fantastic,” comments DHX president & COO Steven DeNure. “Anne Wood and her team at Ragdoll have created another standout show that puts children’s development front and center and is hugely funny and charming to boot. We are very happy to be part of this superb, returning brand.”

The series is devised and produced by Anne Wood with Steve Roberts as lead creative and writer, and Chris Wood as producer. Michael Towner is the executive producer for CBeebies. Twirlywoos s produced in association with DHX Media, which handles global distribution, merchandising, brand management and marketing.

Twirlywoos follows four small, bird-like characters whose inquisitive, enthusiastic natures lead to hilarious situations as well as preschool-appropriate learning moments. Ever curious, they seek adventure and fun wherever they go — whether in the real world or on their big red boat, they love to hide, imitate and be surprised as they discover new things. Through the Twirlywoos’ adventures, young viewers are encouraged to think for themselves and gain confidence in their perceptions of the world.

Twirlywoos

March 10, 2016
New ‘Powerpuff Girls’ to Premiere at SXSW

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are swooping back to the small screen with an all-new series set to debut on Cartoon Network on Monday, April 4 at 6 p.m. ET/PT. To kick off the superheroic tykes’ return, a fan-centric, world premiere event will take place March 14 at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas — complete with screening, pre-party and a parade with giant Powerpuff Girl balloons. Premiere events will also follow in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

On air, the April 4 TV launch of back-to-back episodes will be followed by two weeks of new action-packed episodes airing Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. before the girls settle into their regular time slot of Thursdays at 6 p.m. on April 21, which will allow them just enough leeway to save the world before bedtime.

The Powerpuff Girls follows superhero sisters Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup who keep busy juggling school, homework, and a regular parade of sinister villains bent on destroying their beloved city of Townsville. With their super powers and top-notch teamwork, the girls always come out on top — with the occasional help from Professor Utonium and the Mayor.

Based on the original, two-time Emmy winning series created by Craig McCracken, the new series is produced by Cartoon Network Studios with Nick Jennings (Adventure Time, SpongeBob SquarePants) as executive producer and Bob Boyle (Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!) as co-executive producer.

Powerpuff Girls

March 10, 2016
New ‘Kubo’ Trailer Arrives from LAIKA

A new trailer for LAIKA’s upcoming original adventure flick Kubo and the Two Strings has arrived, showing off some exceptionally seamless stop-motion animation. The spot reveals even more magic integral to the story — both whimsical and sinister — and a deeper look at Kubo, his mother and the odd couple Monkey and Beetle who help him on his quest.

Kubo is the directorial debut of LAIKA studio head Travis Knight, with a script penned by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (ParaNorman). The voice cast features Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Brenda Vaccaro.

Synopsis:

Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA. Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Akihiro (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.

Kubo and the Two Strings

Kubo and the Two Strings

March 10, 2016
Daily News Bytes

Toon Boom Animation Acquires TACTIC Studio from Southpaw Technology
TBA buys up the related IP for the asset management, production tracking and review tool, now to be renamed Toon Boom Manager.

South African Animation Series Makes Mark in Africa
Jabu’s Jungle, produced by Pixcomm in a unique township partnership, will broadcast in 22 countries through a deal with Gulli Africa.

Little People Comes to Canada’s Family Jr.
Toon based on Mattel toy franchise will debut as part of DHX Television’s month-long free preview event.

CXC to Launch Latest New Generation CAPE Subject – Animation and Game Design
A special one-hour event at KingstOOn will launch the new education program from the Caribbean Examination Council.

Box Office: Zootopia to Trample 10 Cloverfield Lane, Brothers Grimsby
Disney hit expected to add $40 million to takings this weekend.

Zootopia

March 9, 2016
Bejuba Inks Deals for ‘Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave’

Toronto-based Bejuba! Entertainment has sold original kids’ animated series Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave to a number of international broadcasters. Now in production on its second season, the show is commissioned by Sprout and is created by Collingwood and Co. in co-production with Sprout and Sparky Animation.

New buyers for Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave include Canal+ Piwi in France; TVO, TFO and Knowledge Network/BBCKids in CAnada; YLE Finland; BBCWW in Latin America and Asia; and Chellozone/Jim Jam in Netherlands, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal and Scandinavia. The show has previously been picked up by CBeebies.

The CG-animated preschool series follows an enthusiastic puppy named Ruff-Ruff, a curious chick named Tweet and a lovable panda named Dave. Together they go on adventures with Hatty the hamster, who always has a question for her friends who eventually work out the answer with the help of their young viewers at home.

Tweet and Dave

March 9, 2016
Cinema 4D Announces VR Plug-in Ahead of GDC

Software developer Maxon will be showcasing game and virtual reality solutions with Cinema 4D at the 2016 Game Developers Conference, taking place March 16-18 in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

At South Hall booth #533, the company will demonstrate how to easily incorporate 3D models, animation, custom textures and environments into game development pipelines, as well as the seamless connectivity between Cinema 4D and BodyPaint 3D with leading game development platforms like Unity 3D, Unreal Engine and third party apps like Substance Designer and Photoshop.

Maxon will also dive into recently launched CV-VR Cam, a new Cinema 4D plug-in for rendering VR Content which allows CG artists to generate pre-rendered or interactive VR video content for YouTube or Facebook. VP of operations Rick Barrett will be on hand to provide practical tips to attendees.

CV-VR Cam is complemented by a series of comprehensive tutorials from Maxon’s Cineversity. CV-VR Cam Plugin v1.5, which renders spherical or cubic monoscopic or stereoscopic VR output and includes Pole Merging and supports camera orientation. The accompanying training series shows how to create VR content with Cinema 4D using CV-VR Cam with the Advanced or Physical Render, or with Octane for Cinema 4D. Also available are the quickstart Interactive VR with C4D/Unity/Oculus tutorial series and the Kitchen VR series that explores using Mettle’s Skybox Studio software and Cineware in AFter Effects to render a 360-degree VR video of a kitchen, which includes line drawing as well as final GI renders with CV-VR Cam.

Indie game studio M dot Strange will be at the Maxon booth providing content creator-friendly demos and breaking down basic techniques for incorporating Cinema 4D with Unity to tackle storyboarding, character animation, set building, lighting, rendering and more — like in their game Smashy Town. The company has recently created a series of online game development courses known as The Strange School.

Smashy Town

Smashy Town

March 9, 2016
Betty White Guests on ‘SpongeBob’ Ahead of Kids Choice Awards

Nickelodeon is gearing up for an exciting Saturday night on March 12, with the programming anchored by the 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). The pop culture celebration is being hosted by The Voice coach and country music star Blake Shelton and will feature a slew of musical performances and celebrity appearances.

Before the festivities, Nick will premiere a brand-new episode of SpongeBob SquarePants featuring comedy legend Betty White at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT. In “Mall Girl Pearl,” Pearl wants to get a job and be cool like her friends, but the only place hiring is Grandma’s Apron, the lamest store in the mall, owned and operated by the elderly Beatrice (voiced by Betty White). When Pearl’s friends — including brooding teen Goth girl Nocturna (Aubrey Plaza), who works at Scorched Coral — make fun of Pearl’s new job, Beatrice proves that age is just a number.

Following the Kids’ Choice Awards will be the series premiere of live-action comedy School of Rock at 9:30 p.m.

Competing in this year’s KCA cartoon categories are:

Favorite Cartoon Nominees

ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks

Gravity Falls

Ninjago

Phineas & Ferb

SpongeBob SquarePants

Steven Universe

Teen Titans Go!

The Amazing World of Gumball

Favorite Animated Movie Nominees

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip

Home

Hotel Transylvania 2

Inside Out

Minions

The Peanuts Movie

SpongeBob SquarePants

March 9, 2016
NY Int’l Short Film Fest Calls for Entries

The New York International Short Film Festival — running May 31 through June 2, 2016 at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in NYC — is still accepting submissions in multiple categories including animation and experimental films for its competition screenings. The deadline for submissions has been extended to March 26. Entry forms and requirements can be found at NYshortsFest.com.

The festival is seeking films of no longer than 45 minutes in duration in genres including drama, comedy, animation, documentary, experimental and music videos. Past film highlights have included Oscar-nominated animated shorts The Dam Keeper (by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi) and A Morning Stroll (Grant Orchard). Last year’s Best Animation winner was Daniel Gray and Tom Brown’s Teeth.

The Dam Keeper

March 9, 2016
Portfolio Names Jonathan Abraham Director of Int’l Sales & Acquisitions

Entertainment distributor Portfolio Entertainment has hired on Jonathan Abraham as Director of International Sales and Acquisitions, effective immediately.

Abraham is now responsible for selling Portfolio’s original programs internationally and guiding the strategic growth of the company’s distribution division. Abraham is also tasked with acquiring third-party content for Portfolio’s distribution catalog of kids, factual and lifestyle programming. He will be working out of the company’s offices in Toronto and reporting directly to CEO and Co-founder Joy Rosen.

Abraham joins Portfolio from international toy company Zuru Ltd., where he served as International Sales and Marketing Manager in Hong Kong. Prior to this, he was an account manager at Brunico Communications and has previously held positions at 9 Story Entertainment, Spin Master and Shaw Media.

Jonathon Abraham

March 9, 2016
First Fan-Owned Studio Legion M Launches

A world’s first has arrived with the opening of Legion M, a new entertainment company that is owned and creatively guided by fan investors. The company’s to-be-announced project slate will be chosen with the help of top Hollywood creatives from the realms of TV, comics, film, animation and immersive entertainment.

Legion M offers fans the chance to invest and get involved in the creation of new film, TV and other entertainment projects. Using fundraising opportunities introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a result of the JOBS Act, the studio can provide a genuine investment opportunity for those interested.

“Legion M is opening the gates to Hollywood and giving Fans the opportunity to be a part of the creation of new content. We’re building a legion of one million Fans to empower creators and make great content.” said Paul Scanlan, CEO and co-founder of Legion M. “After all, Fans are the reason that content exists, and for the first time in history, we are inviting Fans into Hollywood’s inner circle.”

At launch, Legion M’s creative allies include Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (Robot Chicken, SuperMansion), Gaston Dominguez-Letelier and comics/nerd culture center Meltdown Entertainment, and gaming studio Animal Repair Shop. Fans will be able to invest in Legion M later this summer. Due to limited space, investors are invited to reserve a spot at the round through joinlegionm.com. There will also be an official launch at Silicon Valley Comic-Con (March 18-20, booth #713) with a panel set for March 19 at noon.

Legion M

March 9, 2016
Nick’s ‘TMNT’ Bringing Back ’80s Turtles in March Episode

Radical worlds are set to collide in a new time-traveling episode of Nickelodeon’s CG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set to air Sunday, March 27 at 11 a.m. ET/PT. The half-hour episode, “Trans-Dimensional Turtles,” guest stars the voice cast of the 1980s Turtles cartoon Cam Clarke, Rob Paulsen, Barry Gordon and Townsend Coleman as the modern day Turtles are transported to another dimension and meet their ’80s alternate-reality counterparts. Actor Pat Fraley is also reuniting with the classic toon cast to reprise his role as Krang.

In “Trans-Dimensional Turtles,” all eight Turtles must join forces to battle the ’80s Krang and Kraang Sub-Prime. After meeting their retro counterparts in a 2D animation world, the entire crew returns to the CG animation dimension, giving their “new” friends a taste of their 3D realm. In another dimensional twist, the episode will offer a glimpse of the Turtles in a comic-book world resembling the Mirage Studios comic series by Kevin Eastman that started it all.

Starting March 21, fans can click over to Nick.com to play a new game set in the ’80s Turtles’ world: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Kickin’ It Old School. Players will travel through the city streets and across the rooftops charging through Foot Ninjas to diffuse all the “dimensionizers” planted by Krang and save the city.

Season four of the contemporary Turtles follows the half-shell heroes on an epic journey through outer space. Allied with a cyborg known as the Fugitoid (voiced by David Tennant), the Turtles hurtle through space, meet bizarre alien creatures and combat galactic monsters in a race against time to save planet Earth.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles features the voices of Seth Green as Leonardo, Sean Astin as Raphael, Rob Paulsen as Donatello, Greg Cipes as Michelangelo, Mae Whitman as April O’Neil, Hoon Lee as Master Splinter and Kevin Michael Richardson as Shredder, with Josh Peck as Casey Jones and Corey Feldman as Slash. The series currently airs in over 170 countries.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

March 8, 2016
FMX to Feature ‘Inside Out,’ ‘Avengers’ VR and More

Organizers of the 2016 FMX conference, taking place April 26-29 in Stuttgart, have revealed new details of this year’s programming. Attendees can look forward to presentations on Pixar’s Oscar-winning animated feature Inside Out, the visual effects techniques of six-time-Oscar-winning actioner Mad Max: Fury Road, virtual reality storytelling and more.

Inside Out is the subject of two presentations this year. Tanja Krampfert, an alumna from the Institute of Animation at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg and a Character TD at Disney-Pixar, will discuss the creation of the bubbly character Joy, while Director of Photography Patrick Lin sheds light on the special camera structure set-up that was designed to parallel the main character’s emotional journey.

For another animated highlight, Sabine Heller (Blue Sky Studios) will demonstrate the character development from comic strip to 3D of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts as part of “The Art of Animation” track, and Dave-Alex Riddett (Aardman Animation) will explore cinematography for stop motion from a narrative perspective.

On the visual effects side, Christophe Hery’s “Lighting & Rendering” track focuses on blending realities of lighters and renderers (i.e. in a 100% digital environment) with the realities of DoPs and cinematographers (i.e. real light environments). Presentations will cover lighting for The Martian (with Sebastien Gourdal, MPC) and Mad Max: Fury Road (Dan Bethell, Iloura). VFX Producer Camille Cellucci will talk about virtual production for Robert Zemeckis’ biopic The Walk. And Michael Pangrazio (Weta Digital), who has just wrapped up work on Steven Spielberg’s upcoming The BFG, will discuss his approach to creating concept art. His long resume goes back to creating matte paintings for The Empire Strikes Back and includes many interesting milestones like the creation of the Disney film logo.

And tackling the brave new world of virtual reality will be Kim Adams (Source Consulting, for Google Spotlight Stories), hosting the “Storytelling in Virtual Reality” panel discussion. Panelists include Jan Pinkava, who directed the Pixar Oscar-winning Ratatouille and is now working as Creative Director of Google Spotlight Stories, as well as Jason Fletcher-Bartholomew and Tim Ruffle (both of Aardman Animations), Chris O’Reilly (Nexus Productions) and Jacquie Barnbrook (The VR Company). Andy Cochrane (Mirada Studios) will present “Creating Narratives For Virtual Reality,” showcasing Mirada’s work, while Chris O’Reilly will explore VR storytelling, using the example of Nexus’ 360° VR film project Rain or Shine for Google Spotlight Stories. And Andrew Daffy, former CEO of House of Curves, will share how he directed the popular Avengers VR Experience for Framestore, which is used by Samsung to demo the Gear VR. He will also reveal how the 360-degree previz was realized.

FMX 2016 is also planning interesting looks at the cutting-edge of gaming and the latest production technology. More information is available at fmx.de.

FMX

March 8, 2016
Google Spotlight Stories ‘On Ice’ Released

A new immersive VR story experience for Google Spotlight Stories, director Shannon Tindle’s On Ice, is now available on YouTube, viewable on many Android devices and Google Cardboard, with a release on the Google Spotlight Stories app for iOS and Android coming soon.

On Ice is centered on an over-the-top, sci-fi themed ice show starring a Flash Gordon-esque figure who suddenly finds he has competition for the spotlight from an unlikely rival … a bear. The short is full of audio and visual surprises that occur on and off the rink stage — including a musical homage to Queen. And viewers can catch the highlights they missed on the Main Stage by looking up to check the Jumbotron.

Shannon Tindle, who won an Emmy Award in 2006 for his animation work on Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (“Go Goo Go”), directed the project, which was created in collaboration with Evil Eye Pictures.

On Ice

March 8, 2016