Nick has kindly given us a first-look peek at this Saturday’s new Sanjay and Craig episode, which is titled “Stinkboy/Wolfie.” The show, which starts at 10:30 a.m. first finds Sanjay running away to live in the sewer when Craig can’t handle his stench. Then in “Wolfie,” Hector’s sudden fascination with wolves gets on Sanjay and Craig’s nerves.
The kids cabler is also having fun with the new digital game Frycade, which is based on Sanjay and Craig’s favorite arcade and is currently available on Nick.com and on the Nick app. In this game, you’re able to play four games from the show—Thumbs Up Karate, Caveman Track & Field, Glitter Parade, and Punch! Sanjay & Craig appear when you access menu screens or game over screens cheering you on, telling you to play again, etc. You’ll also see Chicken Chuck (a Frycade regular) and Bell Pepper, one of the employees at the Frycade.
Sanjay and Craig, which premiered on Nick in May follows the adventures of 12-year-old Sanjay (Maulik Pancholy, 30 Rock) and his smooth-talking snake (Chris Hardwick, Nerdist) The well-received toon is created and co-executive produced by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell and Andreas Trolf.
Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina and Quvenzhané Wallis have joined the voice cast of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, the animated feature film written and directed by Oscar-winner Roger Allers (The Lion King, Open Season), who also worked on Disney classics such Aladdin, Beauty And The Beast and The Little Mermaid. The film is being produced by Hayek, Clark Peterson, and Ron Senkowski.
First published in 1923, the Lebanese author’s popular collection of prose poems has sold over 100 million copies in over 40 languages. The book centers on the teachings of Almustafa, a prophet who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years and is about to board a ship to carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people with whom he discusses the human condition and other topics such as love, marriage, children, giving, joy and sorrow, good and evil, beauty, and religion
Each one of the ambitious movie’s chapters are directed by animation directors from around the world, including Tomm Moore (The Secret Of Kells), Joan Gratz (Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase), Bill Plympton (Guard Dog, Your Face), Nina Paley (Sita Sings The Blues), Joann Sfar (The Rabbi’s Cat), Paul and Gaetan Brizzi (Fantasia 2000), Michal Socha (Chick) and Mohammed Harib (Freej).
The Prophet is expected to be ready for distribution in the spring of 2014.
Korean studio Daewon Media has announced that it is producing a second season of its popular CG-animated dinosaur GON along with Japanese partner Kodansha. The new season will be 52 X 11-minutes and should be available to air by 2015.
Created by Masashi Tanaka, GON began its life as a popular comic-book series published by Japan’s Kodansha house in 1992. The humorous cartoon centers on the adventures of a mysterious creature with a huge appetite and rambunctious tendencies.
Daewon and Kodansha collaborate on the first season of the show (90 x 11-minute episodes), which aired last year on TV Tokyo and EBS with top ratings. Plans are underway to bring the show to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore later this year as well. Italy’s Rainbow S.r.L will be handling the licensing and distribution of the property in Europe.
Aardman Animations’ former head of broadcast Miles Bullough and former BBC creative executive Jesse Cleverly have founded Wildseed Studios, a next-generation entertainment content incubator designed to attract creators looking for funding and expertise. They are currently seeking emerging and established creators to get in touch here www.wildseedstudios.com/sending-ideas-to-wildseed.html and have their ideas commissioned, developed, financed and distributed.
The company is adopting a portfolio approach to development – investing up to £10,000 (about $15,700) into each of 50 new projects over the next three years, with follow-on investment available for projects that make a connection with an audience.
Wildseed has recently completed its first round of funding and has already invested in two projects. The first is an animated comedy for young adults based on the work of underground U.K. comic artist Ralph Kidson and features ‘God and Jesus’ where God explains his plans to Jesus for his latest miracle, ‘Animal Job Centre’ where an unemployed squirrel tries to navigate the vagaries of the job market and ‘Serengeti’ where punchy and loutish animals launch into foul-mouthed tirades against each other at the slightest provocation. The second project is a live-action sci-fi/horror web series from 19 year old creator Drew Casson—a 90-minute, special effects heavy horror sci-fi coming of age story, shot video blog style, about a small English Town being taken over by aliens with Drew’s usual layer of horror, stunning special effects and action. More projects will be announced soon. Wildseed is planning its public launch for fall of 2013.
Wildseed describes itself as being platform neutral—putting great characters at the heart of everything it does and then looking to distribute projects to the platforms that best suit the idea.
“A YouTube Channel will be a big part of what we do,” says co-founder and managing director Miles Bullough, “but we are also working with creators who, for example, want to produce a mobile game first and that is really exciting for us where there is a great character at the heart of the game.”
Before setting up Wildseed Studios, Bullough spent 9 years at Aardman as Head of Broadcast working on international and multi-platform brands such as Shaun The Sheep, Wallace and Gromit and Creature Comforts as well as setting up Aardman’s Rights and Digital divisions.
Cleverly has been running his own IP development company Connective Media for the past five years working with a range of blue chip clients. Prior to this he spent 10 years at the BBC in a range of editorial positions. He was trained as a script editor at BBC Films where he put the film Eastern Promises into development. He was also Head of co-productions and acquisitions at CBBC.
Former The Simpsons writer/executive producer Mike Reiss is working on a new animated holiday special for NBC. The Hollywood Reporter says the network is producing a new special based on Reiss’ best-selling children’s book How Murray Saved Christmas.
The hour-long musical special centers on a cranky deli owner named Murray Kleiner who is forced to fill in for Santa one Christmas and does a weirdly wonderful job.
“Murray is the perfect project to get audiences into the holiday spirit, and Mike’s impressive comedic background makes him a great choice to put all the pieces together,” NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salkesaid in a release announcing the news.
Music for the special, which will air in December 2014, will be composed by Oscar nominee Walter Murphy (Ted), who also earned an Emmy for his work on Fox’s Family Guy.
Reiss is a former writer and EP on The Simpsons and created the short-lived animated comedy The Critic. His credits include Not Necessarily the News, The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Simpsons Movie.
Italy’s popular computer graphics conference View has announced its 2013 categories and cash prizes. The conference is currently accepting applications for entries in four major contest categories: The View Award, View Social Contest, view Award Game and Italian Mix.
Here are the details on each category:
The View Award. Open to student and non-student filmmakers, the VIEW award categories include Best Short, Best Design, Best Character, and Best Digital Visual Effects. All the entries in all the categories automatically compete for the VIEW Award. The winners will be included in the BEST of VIEW DVD which will be showcased by some of our exclusive partner festivals. The grand prize winner will receive 2,000 Euros in prize money.
The View Social Contest
Celebrating the power of technology at the service of society, the contest invites entries in four categories: Best Gameplay, Best Art Design, Best Architecture, Best Music. The grand prize winner will receive 1,500 Euros.
Topics for this contest include Best Gameplay, Best Art Design, Best Architecture, Best Music. Individual and group projects on any platform or format qualify for submission. The grand prize winner will receive an Intuos 5 Touch M Tablet, courtesy of Wacom.
This contest rewards innovative, creative, and inspiring works by Italian filmmakers or by non-Italians who choose to focus on Italy or Italian subjects in all genres and visual forms. The grand prize winner will receive an Intuos 5 Touch M Tablet, courtesy of Wacom.
Winning entries will also be included in the VIEWFest program and on the BEST OF VIEW DVD.
All contest winners will be announced during View Conference October 15-18, 2013. Winning submissions will be screened during the Digital Movie Festival, VIEWFest, which will precede VIEW Conference from 11-13 October in Turin, Italy.
Entry deadline for all contests is September 15, 2013. For more info, visit the View Conference website www.viewconference.it.
LoveFilm and Disney have signed a new pact which allows the Amazon subscriber service to stream some of the studio’s best-loved family films on a branded on-demand service to audiences in the U.K. and German.
LoveFilm members will be able to enjoy titles such as WALL.E, Ratatouille, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Dumbo, Sword in the Stone and Bedknobs and Broomsticks for free as part of their existing subscription under a new Disney Movies on Demand banner.
LoveFilm has over 2 million subscribers in the U.K. and Germany and has content deals with Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Universal, Disney, Sony Pictures, Studiocanal and eOne, among others. The service is available on PC and Mac or via Nintendo Wii and Wii U, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony Playstation 3, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire and Apple iPad.
Mickey Mouse is ready for his major comeback. On Friday, June 28 at 8:30 p.m., Disney Channel will debut a new 2D-animated short featuring the studio’s classic icon. Two other shorts will also debut on Saturday, June 29 and Sunday, June 30th.
New shorts will continue to roll out with Friday premieres beginning Friday, July 5. Episodes will also be available on WATCH Disney Channel, www.Disney.com, the Mickey Video Player App and iTunes following their linear premiere.
With the slapstick feel of classic Mickey Mouse and contemporary direction and pacing, the series of cartoon shorts presents Mickey in a broad range of humorous situations that showcase his pluck and rascality, along with his long-beloved charm and good heartedness. Each cartoon short finds Mickey in a different modern setting including Santa Monica, New York, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, Venice and the Alps, facing a silly situation, a quick complication and an escalation of physical and visual gags. The stories also feature genuine heartfelt and heroic moments as Mickey explores and experiences life with his comical partners: Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto.
Among the cartoon premieres are “No Service,” in which Mickey and Donald try to buy lunch from a beachside snack shack but are unceremoniously turned down because of the classic “No shirt, no shoes, no service” admonition, Friday, June 28; “Yodelberg” where Mickey longs to visit Minnie atop her mountaintop chalet but quickly realizes that the threat of avalanche has made the trek up the mountain more challenging than usual, Saturday June 29; “New York Weenie,” where the hot dog Mickey buys for his beloved and very hungry Minnie ends up taking him on a energetic chase through New York’s Central Park, Friday July 5; “Tokyo Go,” which finds Mickey fighting Tokyo’s crazy commuting crowds aboard the bullet train, Friday July 12; and “Stayin’ Cool,” in which Mickey, Donald and Goofy must find creative ways to keep cool on the hottest day of the year, Friday July 19.
An early sneak preview of the first cartoon short, “Croissant de Triomphe,” in which Mickey must deliver croissants to Minnie’s cafe, battling street traffic and other Parisian obstacles along the way, debuted in March 2013 on Disney.com.
Geared towards kids age 6-14 and families, and produced in 2D animation, the design esthetic for the cartoon shorts reaches back to Mickey’s roots and borrows reverentially from the bold style of his 1930s design, but not before adding a few contemporary touches. Designs for other characters have a similar approach, favoring a “rubber-hose” cartoon style for more exaggerated animation. Background designs closely reflect the graphic design sense of 1950s and 1960s Disney cartoons. For those true eagle-eyed Disney fans, the production team has also included the occasional homage to other icons from the storied Disney heritage.
Emmy Award-winning artist and director Paul Rudish (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Dexter’s Laboratory) is the executive producer and director. Aaron Springer (SpongeBob SquarePants, Gravity Falls) and Clay Morrow (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls) are directors, and Joseph Holt (Sym-Bionic Titan) is the art director. The series is produced under the supervision of senior vice presidents Eric Coleman and Lisa Salamone at Disney Television Animation.
Adobe announced that a major update to Adobe Creative, the company’s flagship offering for creatives, is now available. Unveiled at Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference, in early May and packed with new features, this Creative Cloud release re-imagines the creative process through a stunning set of “CC” desktop applications and sophisticated cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities. Creative files can be stored and shared, via Creative Cloud, on Mac OS, Windows, iOS and Android; and Behance, the world’s leading online creative community, is now integrated with Creative Cloud, so customers can showcase work, get feedback on projects and gain global exposure.
“We’ve added a ton of new innovation to all our CC desktop apps like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign,” says David Wadhwani, senior VP and general manager, of Digital Media at Adobe. “These apps include new features that increase productivity, streamline the effort to build mobile content and showcase some stunning new imaging and video science. And in addition to the traditional areas of innovation these apps are now connected to the powerful publishing and community features integral to the Creative Cloud experience. And with even more great updates coming to Creative Cloud throughout the year, we can’t wait to see the incredible work our customers are going to deliver.”
With Creative Cloud, publishing finished work has never been easier, with enhanced services that build and power websites, mobile apps, tablet publications, online portfolios, and content for virtually any medium and device.
This update to Creative Cloud includes the next generation of 15 Adobe desktop applications (including Adobe Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC, Premiere Pro CC and more). Adobe Creative Cloud includes more than 30 tools and services that enable professional-grade content creation and delivery across print, web, mobile apps, video and photography. For pricing details, visit: creative.adobe.com/plans?plan=individual&sdid=KGXGU.
Production on DreamWorks Animation’s late-2015 release Kung Fu Panda 3 will being in August. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Li, managing director of China Media Capital (CMC) and a board member of one of the film’s co-producers, Oriental DreamWorks made the announcement at a Shanghai Intl. Film Festival Forum panel on Monday. He said that Shanghai-based company owned by DreamWorks Animations, CMC, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance – will handle one-third of the production work on the project, while the other two-third will be produced in the U.S.
Kung Fu Panda 3 will get an official co-production status in China, which will help the movie avoid the country’s strict import quota and its production companies securing a higher percentage of box-office revenue.
The third installment of the hugely popular franchise will also be directed by Oscar-nominated Jennifer Yu, who also helmed Kung Fu Panda 2. Based on a script by Jonathan Abel and Glenn Berger, the new adventure will feature the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Bryan Cransston, Rebel Wilson, David Cross and Mads Mikkelsen. Producer Melissa Cobb and exec producer Guillermo del Toro are also back for the third outing. The first two Panda movies have have grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide.
Wang Ran, CEO of the China eCapital investment bank, said during the same panel that a Chinese takeover of a second-tier Hollywood film production company within the next two or three years is “possible” due to the fast expansion of revenue generated in China’s film market.
Sid Ganis, the former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences noted, “Of course there will be Chinese investment in American studios, but a much more important issue to address is the cultural issue. … It should be about integration and not conquering Hollywood,” he said.
China Media Capital’s Li added that the collaboration with DreamWorks in establishing Oriental DreamWorks was a result of the need to introduce creative process and production conventions into China.
“There’s still a big gap between China and Hollywood,” he noted.
* In related news, DreamWorks told analysts on Tuesday that it will produce 1,200 TV episodes over the next five years. The announcement was made following yesterday’s agreement to create 300 hours of programming for Netflix and today’s deal to make up to 1,100 half-hours for Germany’s Super RTL. Studio topper Jeffrey Katzenberg added that the company should see $100 million in revenues from TV this year, about half of which will come from titles in the Classic Media library bought last year.
FremantleMedia Kids and Family and Nerd Corps released new information about their upcoming new CG-animated preschool series today. The show, which is titled Kate & Mim-Mim, follows the special friendship between a five-year-old girl named Kate, and her favorite plush bunny Mim-Mim—who becomes 10 times larger than life whenever Kate’s curiosity stirs her imagination, and unlocks the door to her fantastical imaginary world.
Created by the award-winning husband and wife team Scott and Julie Stewart, and produced and developed by Nerd Corps Entertainment. FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment holds the exclusive worldwide distribution and licensing rights to the property outside of Canada. The (26 x 22 minutes/52 x 11 minutes) series is currently in production and slated to launch in 2014 on CBeebies in the UK.
You can check out more of FremantleMedia’s properties at this week’s Licensing Expo in Vegas (Stand No. P161).
It’s official: Netflix loves the green ogre and everyone else in the DreamWorks Animation family. It was announced today that the Netflix and DreamWorks have signed a multi-year deal to make the Internet TV network the premiere home of new animated content from the Glendale-based studio.
This agreement marks the largest deal for original first-run content in Netflix history, and is also the first time DreamWorks Animation’s popular characters will be introduced into the television market as a branded collection of shows. The deal, encompasses over 300 hours of new programming, and is a cornerstone of a major initiative by DreamWorks Animation to greatly expand its television production and distribution worldwide. The new shows will be inspired by characters from DreamWorks Animation’s hit franchises and upcoming feature films as well as the vast Classic Media library, which DreamWorks acquired in 2012 and includes some of the most popular animated characters in history.
“This is an unprecedented commitment to original content in the internet television space,” said DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg. “Netflix is a visionary company that continues to redefine the way audiences watch television and it is a thrill to add to their growing momentum.”
In February, Netflix and DreamWorks announced their first ever Netflix original series for kids based on the upcoming feature Turbo, premiering on July 17. Turbo F.A.S.T., an episodic animated series which picks up with the speedy snail where the feature film left off, will be available in all Netflix territories beginning in December.
Also coming exclusively to Netflix in the U.S. and Latin America next year will be new DreamWorks Animation feature films, beginning with the global hit The Croods, which grossed more than $575 million at the worldwide box office, followed by Turbo and the big screen adaption of Mr. Peabody and Sherman, which opens in theaters in March of 2014.
Microsoft Xbox Live will be able to catch the new animated comedy The Awesomes on July 23, one week before the show premieres on Hulu. Variety reports that Seth Meyers (SNL) and Mike Shoemaker (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)’s toon will get this window before Hulu’s debut on August 1st. The half-hour toon is produced by Broadway Video Entertainment, in partnership with Burbank-based studio Bento Box Entertainment.
Hulu plans to host a launch party for The Awesomes at Comic-Con International in San Diego in July.
In the U.S., Microsoft is estimated to have more than 20 million Xbox Live users. It has 48 million Xbox Live users worldwide.
The Awesomes centers on a group of misfit superheroes, which has lost all of its most powerful members. Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, Taran Killam, Ike Barinholtz, Steve Higgins and Paula Pell.
French animation producer Marc du Pontavice, who presented his latest project Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie at Annecy last week, has started development on a new original fantasy project titled J’ai perdu mon coeur (I Lost My Body). Adapted from Guillaume Laurant’s novel Happy Hand, the movie centers on the wild journey of an amputated hand in search of its body, which belongs to a lovesick Moroccan immigrant in France.
The feature, which will be directed by award-winning French animator Jeremy Clapin (Skhizein) and will have an estimated budget of $10 million. Du Pontavice’s company Xilam will use rotoscopy and CGI 3D with a 2D-style rendering to deliver the film’s animation.
“‘J’ai perdu mon Coeur marks a departure from my previous animated features, Lucky Luke and Oggy,’ which were both family features based on franchises,” Du Pontavice told Variety. “It will be a poetic, fantastic and romantic tale set in a very realistic universe.”
Previously, Laurant worked with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on several films, including Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, The City of Lost Children and the recent The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet, which was picked up by The Weinstein Co. at Cannes.
Le Yark Makes its Mark: In related movie news from Annecy, Bertrand Santini is writing and directing a new big-screen adaptation of the Le Yark, a novel about a monster who devours well-behaved children. The pic will be distributed in France by Diaphana and Kinology is handling the international sales of the title. Autour de Minuit’s Nicolas Schmerkin is producing the movie with Stephan Roelants at Melusine Productions and Vincent Tavier at Belgium’s Panique.
According to Roelants, the film has a $10.7 million budget. “Like Ernest and Celestine, Le Yark will boast a multi-layered narrative to appeal to children and their parents,” Roelants told Variety last week. The movie is expected to be released in late 2015.
U.S.-based free children’s on-demand outlet Kabillion will premiere Simon Fuller’s new CG-animated music project The Meeps on Wednesday, June 19. Viewers worldwide will also have access to screen a ‘teaser’ clip of The Meeps, Mon., June 17 on the Kabillion YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJgOKnZFn7E).
The Meeps features an ensemble cast of CGI characters in 3D, each with a unique, off-beat and kooky personality performing the classic tune ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy.’ The project was directed by Moonscoop’s Trevor Wall who also designed the characters, at the company’s Los Angeles animation studios.
Fuller, Founder/CEO of XIX Entertainment is the creator/executive producer of American Idol. The Meeps is produced by U.S. based Moonscoop.
“We’re honored, proud and very excited to have been chosen by Simon Fuller to debut The Meeps for our young Kabillion audiences,” says Moonscoop president Nicolas Atlan. “The show is fun with great music and very distinct entertaining characters that we believe kids will adore.”
“I have been thinking about creating a fun animated music group for many years and now I have finally got round to it. This is early days and just a glimpse at the kind of thing I want to do,” adds Fuller.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity to work with Simon Fuller since his initial pitch of the project’s original concept over a year ago. As in all of his work, he set a creative high bar and pushed the production values until they reached his precise vision of achieving a theatrical quality of animation— and he got it!,” says Moonscoop CEO Mike Young.
Moonscoop’s key brands include Chloe’s Closet, Dive Olly Dive!, Hero:108, Growing Up Creepie, Pet Alien and Todd World. Moonscoop’s current new series production slate includes: Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch and the second season of Chloe’s Closet.
The 2013 edition of the prestigious and very well-attended Annecy Festival and market drew to a close on Saturday with the annual Cristal Award ceremony. The jurors selected director Luiz Bolognesi’s inventive Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury as Best Feature and Canadian helmer Chris Landreth’s (Ryan) Subconscious Password as Best Short. Also receiving top Cristals were Australia’s Julian Frost’s Metro Train spot Dumb Ways to Die (Best Commissioned Film) and U.K.’s Jean Lachaeur and Max Lang for Room on the Broom (Best TV Project). A special distinction was given to the My Mother is in America, and She Met Buffalo Bill, directed by France’s Marc Boreal and Thibaut Chatel. The audience prize was handed to the Spanish feature O Apostolo, a stop-motion thriller from director Fernando Cortizo Rodriguez.
This year’s festival offered a rich program that according to first-time artistic director Marcel Jean attempted to “redefine animation.” Boasting record-breaking attendance, the festival screened 236 films (selected from a total of 2, 460 entries). Among the many highlights were premieres of several of this year’s big summer animated features, including Monsters University, Despicable Me 2 (which received a thundering, standing ovation from attendees), Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie, Disney’s Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse!, Aya de Yopougon and an opening night bash in honor of popular European animated character Calimero’s 50th birthday, hosted by Gaumont Animation.
Other Annecy attractions included panels on the making of Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon 2 and a sneak peek at the art and pre-production design of Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea. Screenings of Khumba, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, Pinocchio, Consuming Spirits and Persistence of Vision also added to the event’s global buzz factor.
MIFA, the animation market arm of the festival reported record-breaking numbers as well. Despite the tough global economic climate, 2,400 delegates, 454 exhibitors, 340 buyers, distributors and investors from 80 countries showed up to take in to rub elbows with fellow industry professionals, students and die-hard animation fans. The date has already been set for the 2014 edition of the festival: June 9th to 14th. The organizers also revealed that next year’s festival will have a special spotlight on stop motion! For more info, visit www.annecy.org.
Here is the complete list of the 2013 Annecy Prize winners:
Best Feature Uma historia de amor e furio (Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury)
By Luiz Bolognesi (Brasil, Buriti Filmes, Gullane)
Best Short Subconscious Password
By Chris Ladnreth (Canada ONF, Copper Heart Ent. Productions)
Best TV Production Room on the Broom
By Jean Lachaeur, Max Lang (U.K. Magic Light Pictures)
Best Commissioned Production Dumb Ways to Die
By Julian Frost, (Australia, McCanne Melbourne)
Special Distinction My Mommy Is in America and She Has Met Buffalo Bill
By Marc Boreal, Thibaut Chatel (France, Luxemberoug; Label Anim, Melusine, Studio Canal)
Audience Award O Apóstolo
By Fernando Cortizo Rodriguez (Spain, Artefacto Producciones)
Short Films
Special Jury Award The Wound
By Anna Budanova (Russia, studio Ural-Cinema)
Distinction for a First Film Trespass
By Paul Wenninger (Austria)
“Jean-Luc Xiberras” Award for a First Film Norman
By Robbe Vervaeke (Belgium, Cinnamon Entertainment)
Special Distinction The Triangle Affair
By Andres Tenusaar (Estonia) estonia
Sacem Award for original music Lonely Bones
By Rosto (Netherlands)
Junior Jury Award for a Short Film Feral
By Daniel Sousa (USA)
Audience Award Lettres de femmes
By Augusto Zanovello (France, Pictor Media, XBO Films)
Special Award for a TV Series Tom & The Queen Bee
By Andreas Hykade (Germany Studio Film Bilder)
Award for Best TV special Poppety in the Fall
By Pierre-Luc Granjon, Antoine LanCiaux (France, Foliascope, Carpediem Film & TV, ONF)
Commissioned Films
Special Jury Award The Lion
By Benjamin Scheuer (U.K., Peter Baynton)
Graduation Films
Award for Best Graduation Film Ab ovo
Anita Kwiatkowska-Naqvi (Poland, The Polish National Film, TV and Theatre School)
Special Jury Award I Am Tom Moody
By Ainslie Henderson (U.K., Edinburgh College of Art)
Special Distinction Pandas
By Matus Vizar (Slovakia, BFILM, FAMU)
Junior Jury Award for a Graduation Film Rabbit and Deer
By Peter Vacz (Hungary, Mome)
Unicef Award Because I’m a Girl
By Raj Yagnik, Mary Matheson, Hamilton Shona (U.K.)
Fipresci Award Gloria Victoria
By Theodore Ushev (Canada, ONF)
Fipresci Special Distinction Feral
By Daniel Sousa
CANAL+ Creative Aid Award for a Short Film Autour du lac
By Carl Roosens, Noémie Marsily (Belgium,Zorobabel)
Festivals Connexion Award Feral
By Daniel Sousa (U.S.A.)
Funniest Film According to the Annecy Public∙ KJFG No 5
Alexey Alekseev (Hungary, Studio Baestarts)
Veteran Disney animator introduces the world premiere of the Mickey Mouse short Get a Horse.The Despicable Me 2 Minions were a huge hit at the Festival this year.The Brazilian feature Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury won the Top Cristal Prize for Best Feature this year.Max Lang and Jan Lachauer’s Room on the Broom took home the Best TV Program Prize at Annecy.Chris Landreth was the winner of the Best Short prize for his inventive Subconscious Password.
The 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, June 15, 2013. Here is the complete list of the animation-related winners.
OUTSTANDING CHILDREN’S ANIMATED PROGRAM Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness – Nickelodeon
OUTSTANDING CHILDREN’S SERIES R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour The Series – HUB Network
OUTSTANDING PRE-SCHOOL ANIMATED PROGRAM Bubble Guppies – Nickelodeon
OUTSTANDING PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN’S SERIES Sesame Street – PBS
Persistence of Vision, Kevin Schreck’s acclaimed documentary about Richard Williams’ unfinished animated feature The Thief and the Cobbler will screen at L.A.’s Cinefamily Silent Movie on June 27, June 29, July 1 and 2. The documentary, which was one of the top draws at this week’s Annecy Film Festival centers on the Williams’ (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) 25-year quest to bring this legendary feature to life—only to have it torn from his hands. The 89-minute feature weaves together stunning animation, rare archival footage and exclusive interviews with key animators and artists who worked with Williams on his ill-fated magnum opus to bring this legendary story of a lost masterpiece to the screen.
Sean Gorman has been promoted to president of American Greetings Properties. He will remain based in Los Angeles. Previously, Gorman was VP of entertain production and development for the Cleveland, OH-based company. As president, Gorman will be responsible for the strategy, creative and overall operation of American Greetings Properties, including developing, producing and distributing new content across film, television, home video and other media, as well as all marketing and licensing activities around those brands. American Greeting properties include The Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Holly Hobbie, Twisted Whiskers, Sushi Pack, Maryoku Yummy and the upcoming Disney XD show Packages from Planet X.
“We are excited about the experience and expertise Sean brings to his new position and look forward to developing additional opportunities in the entertainment industry,” said Jeff Weiss, American Greetings’ president and COO. “Our entire team congratulates Sean on his promotion and looks forward to his success in this new role. I know that not only will our beloved roster of characters like The Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake continue to flourish under his management, but he will be instrumental in identifying growth areas, including new properties and platforms, for AG Properties moving forward.”
Gorman joined the company in 2007 as VP of entertainment production and development from The Hatchery, where he served as VP of development. Former AGP president Jeffrey Conrad is no longer with the company.
Finland’s Anima Boutique/Gigglebug Entertainment is reporting great success with its new iPad app, Gigglebug. The app, which invites kids to make grumpy animals by tickling them with a touch interaction, has proven to be quite contagious, landing on top of the free-to-play kids apps in Finland and China in its first two weeks of release.
“This is something that no game has yet done and when placed in young kids’ hands, it’s becomes a no brainer,” says Joonas Utti, the designer behind the Gigglebug app. “Our wives were not too convinced by existing apps targeted at young children, but it was clear that our kids still loved to play games on their iPad. So we decided to create an experience around iPad’s magical Retina display and combine it with the kind of laughter that spreads around a room. The goal was to create something positive, heartfelt and social for our kids to play with on iPad.”
The game introduces characters from within a 2D animated story universe.
“We aim to raise the bar in the children’s app space with an ambitious combination of storytelling, lovable characters, positive values and intuitive game play,” says Anttu Harlin, CEO of Gigglebug Entertainment.
A TV series based on the app will also begin airing in Finland on June 15th. The 10 x 5-minute format centers on the lead Gigglebug character who tries to cheer up his grumpy friends. Harlin and his team are raising awareness of the brand at the Annecy market this week and will continue to seek financing for a bigger project at Cartoon Forum and MIPCOM later this year.
“We are in advanced negotiations with broadcasters from Germany, Denmark and Finland with additional interest from broadcasters in UK, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, Sweden and Norway,” notes Harlin. “We will shortly partner with a top international sales agent to handle distribution the show.”
