Author: Ramin Zahed

Annecy Festival Releases Complete Schedule

If you are planning to attend next week’s jam-packed edition of the Annecy Animation Festival in France, you will have a chance to take in some of the most anticipated features and shorts created by artists all over the world. The fest organizers have just confirmed the final feature lineup for this year’s edition, which features six days of celebration with 240 screening sessions, including world premieres of much-anticipated productions. Here are a few highlights:

Monday, June 10

10 a.m. – Festival Bar/Partners’ Club: opening of the week-long exhibition, “The Art of Monsters University,” check out 25 prints from the research stages of Monsters University.

2 p.m. – Press screening of The Blue Umbrella and Monsters University

4 p.m. – Press conference for The Blue Umbrella and Monsters University with the film crews

6 p.m. – Screening of Cochemare, the latest short from Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, produced by PHI Films, presented as the opener for the Animation Off-Limits special program.

8:30 – Opening ceremony and screening Pixar’s The Blue Umbrella and Monsters University.

8:30 p.m. – Vote for the funniest film.

Tuesday, June 11

9:30 a.m. – Pierre Lamy: Work in Progress session, How to Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks Animation Studios

9:30 a.m. – 12:30PM – MIFA: Walt Disney Animation Studios recruitment session. The opportunity for candidates to present their work and for recruiters to complete their teams.

4 p.m. – CAUE: Afca press conference

4 p.m. – Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse in Get A Horse! World Premiere

6 p.m. – Sneak preview of My Mommy Is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill with the film crew and Marc Lavoine, voice actor for one of the characters.

8:30 p.m. – Sneak preview of competition feature Aya de Yopougon with the film crew and voice actor for aya, aïssa Maïga

Wednesday, June 12

9:30 – MIFA opens

9:30 a.m. – “Feature films: 4 Case Studies” conference, presenting Oggy and the Cockroaches, the Movie, Cafard, The Congress and Khumba

1 p.m. – Recruitment session with Illumination Mac Guff (A Monster in Paris, Despicable Me, The Lorax)

4 p.m. – Sneak preview of competition feature Jasmine

6:30 p.m. – France Télévisions press conference

8:30 p.m. – Sneak preview of Despicable Me 2, with the film crew and Chris Meledandri

10:15 p.m. – Sneak preview screening of the first episode of the new Calimero series followed by The Legend of Sarila.

Thursday, June 13

10:30 a.m. – Sneak preview of competition feature Khumba

11:15 a.m. – Lagardère Active press conference

12 p.m. – “Features at Noon,” (press conference about features in competition) presentation of Jasmine and Khumba with the film crews of each film.

2 p.m. – Making of Epic with director Chris Wedge

2:30 p.m. – Campus TFOU press conference

4:00 p.m. – Festival Bar/Partners’ Club — Press conference with the NFB, for the launch of the new “McLaren workshops” app, offering a privileged access to Norman McLaren’s oeuvre and instructing users on how to make their own films inspired by three techniques made famous by the filmmaker.

8:30 p.m. – Screening of Oggy and the Cockroaches, the Movie

10:15 p.m. – Sneak preview screening of Oggy and the Cockroaches, the Movie

Friday, June 14

12 p.m. – World sneak preview screening of the first footage and trailer of Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart with the film crew and director Mathias Malzieu, who will be offering a mini concert for the occasion.

For a complete list of panels and screenings, visit www.annecy.org.

Annecy 2013

June 5, 2013
SIGGRAPH Animation Fest Announces 2013 Winners

The top prize for this year’s Computer Animation Festival at SIGGRAPH has been awarded to the short A La Francaise, directed by Morrigane Boyer, Julien Hazebroucq, Ren Hsien Hsu, Emmanuelle Leleu and William Lorton. The beautifully mounted short centers on an amusing afternoon at the court of Louis XIV in Versailles.

The SIGGRAPH confab, which will be held this year at the Anaheim Convention Center in California July 21-25, will showcase a total of 104 pieces will be shown during its popular Computer Animation Festival.

Nominees were chosen by an expert panel of jury members from more than 500 submissions.

“Every piece in the festival has something that made it stand out from the 40 hours of content submitted for this year’s show,” says Jason R.M. Smith, SIGGRAPH 2013 Computer Animation Festival director. “There’s no other venue in the world comparable to the Computer Animation Festival; each year we’re honored by the amazing number of high-quality entries and every year the show grows. This year we’re screening 10% more content and the quality continues to improve too. Which made picking the best of the best even more difficult.”

The Computer Animation Festival, celebrating its 40th year, is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a “Best Animated Short” Academy Award. This year’s selections will be featured during the Computer Animation Festival through a series of daily Festival Screenings and the iconic Electronic Theater, allowing attendees to get a glimpse behind the making of computer-generated effects, visualizations, and animations.

This year’s jury prize goes to Lost Senses, directed by Marcin Wasilewski (Poland). The short tells the story of an encounter between a man and a woman in an abstract world, inspired by the paintings of Giorgio De Chrico.

The Best Student Project prize winner was Rollin’ Safari, directed by Kyra Buschor, Anna Habermehl, Constantin Paeplow (Germany). In this popular short, which was introduced at this year’s FMX confab, the balloon animals of the Serengeti are struggling to follow their daily routine. The Best Student Project runner-ups were Sleddin’, directed by John Pettingill, Texas A&M University (U.S.) and Harald, directed by Moritz Schneider (Germany).

For more info about the animation festival, visit s2013.siggraph.org.

A La Francaise

Lost Senses

Rollin’ Safari

Sleddin’

Harald

June 5, 2013
Spellbound Co-Founders Launch Nurture Rights Kids Co.

Peter Curtis and Nick Barrington, co-founders of Spellbound Entertainment (The Koala Brothers), have started a new children’s entertainment company, Nurture Rights and acquired their first property.

Nurture is dedicated exclusively to kids’ properties, particularly ones that integrate newer forms of interactive digital media. Nurture acquired the rights for the literary property Dinosaur Roar! and is actively developing the brand across a range of platforms. Written and illustrated by Paul and Henrietta Stickland, The Dinosaur Roar! book has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 30 languages. Nurture’s plans for the property include a new website, interactive touring museum exhibition, a 3D IMAX experience and live events.

Spellbound will continue to operate as a company as well, marketing the hit series The Koala Brothers, though it will focus on more traditional television-led properties.

Curtis said, “We are very excited about our new venture and the acquisition of Dinosaur Roar!. Today’s media environment provides exciting opportunities to tell stories that unfold across a wide range of media and Dinosaur Roar! is particularly well suited to this approach.”

Dinosaur Roar!

June 5, 2013
Katzenberg, Damaschke to Keynote USC Animation Event

The USC’s School of Cinematic Arts’ John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts (Hench-DADA) will host the 25th Annual Conference for the Society of Animation Studies titled Redefining Animation. The event invites scholars, researchers and artists to present, address and critique the expanding art form across disparate media and to contribute their papers, ideas and observations to engage a variety of topics in the ever-evolving field of animation and digital arts. Redefining Animation will take place at USC from June 23-27.

DreamWorks Animation’s CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and CCO Bill Damaschke will open the conference with keynote speeches on June 23. The event will feature a multitude of screenings, panels and micro-talks, ranging in topics including “Animation on the Move: Animated Journalism and Global Reporting;” “New Frontiers in Visual Music;” “Animating the Future: Collaboration and Storytelling;” “Poetry in Motion” and “DIY Viral Animation.” Keynote speakers include Character Animator and USC Professor Tom Sito, Artist Davide Quayola, USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Electronic Arts Endowed Chair of the Interactive Media & Games Division Tracy Fullerton, Visual Effects Supervisor and USC Professor Michael Fink, Robotics Designer Dr. David Hanson and actress Geena Davis, founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The Conference will conclude June 27, with DreamWorks Animation inviting a limited number of guests for an in-depth tour of the DreamWorks Animation Studio.

“We are proud to host the Society for Animation Studies’ Redefining Animation here at the School of Cinematic Arts,” said Kathy Smith, Chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts. “Los Angeles provides a dynamic location and meeting place for scholars and practitioners at varying intersections of the industry, academia and the arts, and we welcome all to participate in this year’s stellar conference.”

Redefining Animation will launch at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 23rd, at the George Lucas Lobby, School of Cinematic Arts Complex, USC, Los Angeles. For more details, visit anim.usc.edu/sas2013.html.

(from left) Jeffrey Katzenberg and Bill Damaschke

Redefining Animation

June 4, 2013
Disney Preps Contemporary ‘Fantasia’ Xbox Game

Mickey and his broom buddies may be carrying many more buckets of water in a an upcoming video game, being prepared for Disney for a 2014 release. Titled Fantasia: Music Evolved, the game will be produced for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One and its Xbox 360 platforms. The big wrinkle is that the game will feature music from Queen and Bruno Mars in addition to music by Bach and Tchaikovsky.

Fantasia: Music Evolved will use Microsoft’s motion-sensing Kinect system, which allows players to wave their arms, push the palms of their hands in various directions and generally move to the music in an effort to actually remix songs. Onscreen, they can explore and alter their visual environments.

The game will feature more than 24 song, each including its original version and remixes that players can remix further in multiple ways through their body gestures.The five songs Disney announced Tuesday are Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen; Locked Out of Heaven by Bruno Mars; Settle Down by Kimbra; Levels by Avicii; and Some Nights by Fun.

Harmonix, the company behind games like Dance Central and Rock Band began developing the game about two year ago. The release will include the ability for players to share the remixed versions of songs with others.

“Once you put so much energy into making it yours, we know you’ll want to share it,” John Drake director of brand management for Harmonix told The Hollywood Reporter. “Disney, being the awesome media partner they are, secured a very good rights portfolio.”

The original 1940 Fantasia anthology earned $76.4 million worldwide at the box office. The 2000 sequel Fantasia 2000, was released in 1999 and earned $60.7 million worldwide.

Fantasia: Music Evolved

June 4, 2013
Gruppo Alcuni’s ‘Pet Pals’ Fly to Poland

Italian animation house Gruppo Alcuni has wrapped a new free and payTV sales deal with Poland’s Telewizja Puls for its popular series Leonardo and Pet Pals. The episodes will air on Puls 2 TV. The second season of Leonardo is currently in production and will be ready for broadcast in Spring 2014.

The 26 x 13 animated show Leonardo centers on the life and adventures of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young boy. Each episode charts the creation of one of Leo’s inventions from start to finish and shows how he is inspired by nature and his surroundings. As well as his two loyal friends, Lorenzo and Gioconda, Leonardo also has a group of rivals, headed by Laura and Gottardo who do their best to outdo him every chance they get.

For more info, visit www.alcuni.it.

Pet Pals

June 4, 2013
Canada’s NFB Launches McLaren Animation App

The National Film Board of Canada is launching a new iPad app, based on the films of Oscar-winning animator Norman McLaren. Some of the influential director’s works have been converted into an app which allows users to incorporate the same creative tools and techniques he used to create their own films. The app mimics the methods and constraints that were available to McLaren in his day, while exploiting the potential of digital technology and the iPad in original ways.

Scottish-born, Canadian animator and film director (1914-1987) is widely regarded as a pioneer in the world of animation and filmmaking, especially drawn-on-film animation, visual music, abstract film, pixilation and graphical sound. He won the Oscar for the Best Documentary in 1952 for Neighbours, a Silver Bear for best short documentary at the 1956 Berlin International Film Festival Rythmetic and a 1969 BAFTA for Best Animated Film for Pas de deux.

You can check out the trailer to the app here: www.nfb.ca/film/mclarens_workshop/.

Canada’s NFB Launches McLaren Animation App

June 4, 2013
Thinkbox Software Introduces Deadline 6.0

Thinkbox Software has announced the release of Deadline 6.0, the latest version of the company’s popular render farm management solution for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX-based render farms. Built with Digia’s Qt development framework and a MongoDB database, Deadline 6.0 facilitates identical performance, scalability, and flexibility across all platforms.

Key new features include a new database backend, redesigned user interface, graphic data representation, simplified user group management, Slave log streaming, scripting improvements, flexible environment control, streamlined archiving system and Amazon EC2 Cloud support.

“When we update our tools, we look to incorporate features that take workflows to the next level and really pay attention to feedback from our customers,” says Thinkbox founder Chris Bond. “Deadline 6.0 is a massive release and the result of a tremendous effort to improve an already powerful rendering tool. The new architecture is designed to be the platform of tomorrow – the foundation for scalability, performance and usability – and the phenomenal response we’ve received from our beta customers indicates we are right on track.”

For more information about Deadline, including pricing, visit www.thinkboxsoftware.com/sales.

Deadline 6.0

June 4, 2013
Doug TenNapel Kickstarts New Game Project

Animation veteran Doug TenNapel, creator of TV shows Earthworm Jim, Catscratch and the groundbreaking game The Neverhood, has launched a project called Armikrog in partnership with Pencil Test Studios. The clay- and puppet-animated adventure game is seeking to raise $900,000 from gaming and animation fans on www.kickstarter.com.

The founders of Pencil Test Studios, Mike Dietz and Ed Schofield (Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood), have assembled many of the original Neverhood development team to create a brand new game that blurs the lines between art and technology, using stop-motion animation and sculpture to bring this project to life. The game follows the adventures of space explorer Tommynaut and his blind, talking dog named Beak-Beak, who crash land on a mysterious planet and end up locked in a mysterious fortress called Armikrog.

The voice cast will include Michael J. Nelson (Rifftrax, Mystery Science Theater), Veronica Belmont (Revision), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Rob Paulsen (Pinky and the Brain) and Scott Kurtz (Player vs Player).

To learn more about the project, visit
www.kickstarter.com/projects/1949537745/armikrog.

Armikrog

Armikrog

June 3, 2013
69 Projects to Make a Splash at Cartoon Forum

The European TV animation event Cartoon Forum has released its list of accepted series projects which will be pitched to the industry at the 2013 edition. This year, 69 projects will be represented in various stages of production. Overall, 800 participants form 32 countries (including 250 buyers) are expected to attend the event, which takes place September 17 to 20th in the French city of Toulouse.

Among the many new and interesting European shows represented at the event this year are:

Tiger Aspect’s Aliens Love Underpants, Graphilm/Rai Fiction’s Boom Boom, Technicolor and Mercury Filmworks’ Chamelia, Spider Eye/Kavaleer Productions’ Danger Dog, Jam Media’s Early Bird, Monster Ent./Toonspace/Avalon’s Fuzzyworld, TeamTO’s Joe Giant, Cyber Group Studio’s Mirette Investigates, Imira’s Mondo Yan, Cartoon Saloon/Dog Ears’ Puffin Rock, Studio 100/Flying Bark’s Super Mega Hyper Pets.

According to the organizers, France continues to be the driving force behind European animation, presenting 21 of the projects selected for this year’s edition, followed by the United Kingdom with 10 pitches. Belgium, Ireland and Finland show a significant growth compared to previous years with respectively eight, seven and five shows. Germany will present five series, Spain three and Poland two. The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden will be present with one project each, while Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland are present as co-producers.

European animation producers are continuing to focus on cross-media, enabling 43% of the pitches at Toulouse to be viewed on mobile phones, video-games, tablets or the internet, in addition to television screens.The projects presented imply a total investment of 217 million euros and some 400 hours of shows.
In line with the growing number of children’s television channels across Europe, 45% of the projects are aimed at children 6-12 years. Preschool fare represents one third of the projects and 10% of the shows are aimed at young adults and adults.

The residents of Toulouse and the Midi-Pyrénées region will also be able to take in some animated fun with the “On Cartoon” festival, a side event which will offer some recent European films, introduced by the director or producer, as well as a selection of short films by local talents.

For more info, visit www.cartoon-media.eu/FORUM/selected.php.

Boom Boom

Danger Dog

Fuzzyworld

June 3, 2013
Peter Clarke Exhibit Launches Center Stage Gallery

The Creative Talent Network, host of the annual popular CTN Animation Expo will open a new gallery in Burbank devoted to the art of professionals who work in the animation industry. The Center Stage Gallery, which will be launched on June 13th, in association with Stuart Ng Books and Wacom Technologies is described as a permanent space that will “celebrate the talent and ability of contemporary artists from the feature film, illustration and video industries.”

Attempting to create a “new kind of gallery experience” the Center Stage will feature a monthly Artist in Residence series. The gallery will also include a rotating “Collectors Corner” displaying original artwork that has inspired generation to generation from various private collectors2—along with a regularly refreshed stable of books brought in from Stuart Ng Books.

As part of the gallery’s grand opening, the first artist-in-residence (from June 7th – June 30th) will be New York illustrator and animation designer Peter Clarke (Ice Age movies, Treasure Planet). His show, named Past, Pencil, Future, will be premiering both his personal and professional work, with many pieces for sale and on display. Clarke will be in residence at the gallery throughout the exhibit and will be signing his new book, MYTHOS: A Collection of Fantastical Drawings and Paintings.

To find out more information about the Center Stage Gallery, please visit: www.centerstagegallery.com.

Peter Clarke Exhibit Launches Center Stage Gallery

June 3, 2013
Amazon and Fremantle Execs to Keynote at MIPCOM

French TV confab MIPCOM today announces the initial line-up for the Media Mastermind conference program at the Palais des Festivals’ Grand Auditorium in Cannes. The confirmed speakers are Frances Berwick, president of Bravo and Style Media; Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia; Ryan Kavanaugh, CEO of Relativity Media, and Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. Organized by Reed MIDEM, MIPCOM will take place in Cannes, 7-10 October 2013.

“Television is undergoing a dramatic transformation and confirms itself as the world’s most creative medium for the world’s best storytellers. With more screens and more interaction coming into play, television and storytelling as we know it is being redefined — leading to more creative and business opportunities than ever before,” said Laurine Garaude, director of Reed MIDEM’s Television Division. “As we enter a new golden age of television, MIPCOM is delighted to welcome some of the most influential personalities of the new world of content from major film, television and online companies such as Bravo and Style Media, FremantleMedia, Relativity Media, and Amazon Studios.”

For more info about the upcoming event, visit www.mipcom.com.

Amazon and Fremantle Execs to Keynote at MIPCOM

June 3, 2013
Former Mill Artists Form New Milk VFX House

Six former members of vfx house The Mill have formed a new London-based vfx studio called Milk. The new shop will specialize in innovative 3D effects and character animation for both TV and feature films. Milk will immediately begin work on the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who (BBC) and Sherlock: Series Three (Hartswood Films/BBC), as well as the new TV adaptation of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Cuba Pictures/BBC) a mini-series due to premiere on BBC One in 2014.

Milk’s founders and owners are Will Cohen (Milk CEO/producer), Nick Drew (Milk managing director/exec producer), Jean-Claude Deguara (vfx supervisor and joint head of 3D), Nico Hernandez (vfx supervisor and joint head of 3D), Sara Bennett (VFX supervisor and head of 2D) and VFX supervisor Murray Barber. All six founders of the business previously comprised the senior management and creative team of The Mill’s Film and TV division. Milk is based in Fitzrovia and has the capacity for 100 artist seats.

Milk CEO, Will Cohen says, “The talented team that makes up Milk has a wealth of award-winning experience in creating film quality visual effects for TV and highly complex stand-alone sequences for feature films. Nine years of working together prior to Milk has allowed us to build an effective working methodology with the ability to achieve creative excellence. And the work all comes together with incredible team spirit and passion.”

Cohen adds, “Milk aims to be the most sought after visual effects team in what we believe is blossoming into a thriving industry for high-end TV visual effects. Our new venture is timed to enable us to capitalize on the new tax breaks in the U.K. as we expect to see an influx of TV work, as well as continued feature film work, coming to London over the next few months and beyond.”

For more info, visit www.milk-vfx.com.

Milk

June 3, 2013
Platige Image Offers Details About New Movie

Award-winning Polish animation and vfx studio Platige Image has unveiled new information and a trailer for its upcoming animated feature Another Day of Life. Based on the book by Ryszard Kapuściński, the feature is directed by Raul de la Fuente and Damian Nenow (Paths of Hate). The pic is produced by Jarosla Sawko and Ole Wendorff-Østergaard (Platige Films), Amaia Ramirez, Manuel Cristobal and Raul de la Fuente (Kanaki Films), Erid Goossens (Walking the Dog) and Stefan Schubert (Wueste Film).

Based on the real-life experiences of Polish war reporter Ryszard Kapuściński, the film centers on the his trip to Luanda, Angola during the exit of the Portuguese colonists, and the fight for power between the Kremlin and the CIA during the early days of the Cold War era.

Here is the new trailer for the much-anticipated movie:

For more info, visit www.platige.com/en/ and www.anotherdayoflifefilm.com/.

Another Day of Life

Another Day of Life

Another Day of Life

Another Day of Life

Another Day of Life

June 3, 2013
‘Epic,’ ‘Croods’ Continue to Draw Audiences

Although audiences didn’t respond to M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth this past weekend (the movie opened at No. 2 with a $27 million at the box office domestically), families are continuing to turn up to catch Fox/Blue Sky’s Epic and DreamWorks’ The Croods. Directed by Chris Wedge, Epic tied for fourth place with $16.4 million with Star Trek Into Darkness. (The final order will be determined when official numbers are released on Monday). Epic also brought in an additional $28.8 million in overseas ticket sales, making its global cume a stellar $151.5 million.

DreamWorks continues to soar with hits prehistoric comedy adventure The Croods. Directed by Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders, the film has made over $180.5 million stateside and $388.6 overseas, making its global cume a very healthy $569.1 million.

The next big animated feature release date is June 21st, when Disney/Pixar’s Monsters University opens nationwide. Here is the final trailer for the much-anticipated pic:

Epic

The Croods

June 2, 2013
‘Day of the Crows’ to Open Toronto Animation Fest

The Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) has announced an impressive lineup for its second edition, slated for July 26 to 28 at TIFF Bell Light House and Corus Quay. The festival begins on a high note with a special screening of the French hand-dawn animated feature Day of the Crows, based on a novel by Canadian writer Jean-Francois Beauchemin and directed by Jean-Christophe Dessaint, (first assistant director of The Rabbi’s Cat).

The festival also offers a free outdoor event (Freshwater TAAFI) with live music, caricatures and food trucks at Sugar Beach followed by the world premiere of Fish N’ Chips, the locally produced 3D-animated action comedy featuring the voice of John Leguizamo.

Another highlight is the screening of Persistence of Vision, the tale of creative genius gone horribly awry, the untold story of the greatest animated film never made. Visionary animator Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit) toiled for more than a quarter century on his masterpiece – only to have it torn from his hands. Filmmaker Kevin Schreck has woven together mind-blowing 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 to the screen.

A screening of the brand-new animated series Axe Cop (voiced by Parks and Recreation‘s Nick Offerman) based on the web comic written by eight-year old Malachai Nicolle, illustrated by his 32-year-old brother Ethan Nicolle. Premiering on FOX as part of their late night animation block on July 27, TAAFI will replay the first episode on July 28 followed by a Q&A with both brothers via Skype

A tribute to the rich legacy of the visual effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen, master classes with Sam Youssef and Scott Caple, a retrospective of NFB’s Hothouse toons and a session with NFB’s Michael Fukushima are all part of the program.

For a complete list of this year’s fantastic lineup, visit taafi.com.

Here’s a clip from the animation documentary Persistence of Vision and the trailer for Day of the Crows:

Day of the Crows

June 2, 2013
‘Grojband’ to Rock Cartoon Network in June

Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton talk to us about their rockin’ new show Grojband, which premieres on Cartoon Network this month.

You would think that after working on one of the most popular animated shows of the past few years, Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton would be taking some time off to rest on their laurels. Not these two. Two of the creative forces behind Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch’s beloved Total Drama series, are back at it again this summer with a clever new show that promises to be another huge crowd-pleaser.

Their latest baby is called Grojband, a Flash-animated toon which follows the musical misadventures of 13-year-old Corey Riffin and his three best buddies. After coming to the conclusion that they can’t come up with good lyrics to save their lives, Corey realizes that he can use his older sister Trina’s diary as an amazing source of inspiration. Thus he sets out to give Trina even more teenage angst to feed their artistic pipeline.

So how did they come up with this sticky concept?

Grojband

“The idea of doing a show about a garage band always appealed to me, but it didn’t have the magic nugget that I was looking for,” says Kauffman during a phone interview from the studio. “So it basically sat in my head for a while, until I came up with the premise of our lead character’s sister and her diary. What if she leaves her diary out and it contains the lyrics that make a hit song?”

Kauffman, who grew up with two sisters of his own, says he presented the idea to industry veteran and Fresh TV president Tom McGillis, whose many credits include all the Total Drama shows as well as Stoked, 6Teen and My Babysitter Is a Vampire. “He really loved the idea and fell out of his chair!” he recalls. Before long, Teletoon, FremantleMedia and Cartoon Network all came on board.

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Fresh TV on what will be our third co-production together, and the first animated property to develop from our partnership,” says Bob Higgins, senior VP of FremantleMedia Kids & Family Entertainment. “Grojband is freakin’ hilarious and will provide all Cartoon Network viewers with huge laughs, great musical elements and offbeat and quirky characters.”

Since the duo had a lot of experience in using Adobe’s Flash software to produce their shows, they decided to continue relying on it for Grojband.

Grojband

“We’ve been working in Flash ever since it came out,” says Thornton. “It helps us keep the animation here in Canada; the crew is all here at the Elliott Animation studio and we can all work together on the production. There’s no time difference, and we know the software ourselves and can make revisions to refine the animation.”

Thornton and Kauffman, both graduates of Toronto’s well-regarded Sheridan College, say they have a huge amount of respect for their Cartoon Network idols, artists like Craig McCracken, Maxwell Atoms and Genndy Tartakovksy, who paved the way for the next generation of toon auteurs with shows such as Powerpuff Girls, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Dexter’s Laboratory.

“We try to put everything we’ve learned from them over the past 20 years in Grojband,” says Kauffman. “We even pay homage to movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, breaking the fourth wall or having characters that speak backwards, etc. We’re also huge fans of Clone High. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, they were doing what we really loved about 10 years ago.”

Of course, the duo really hit the TV toon jackpot during their time on Total Drama, Fresh TV’s popular series that captured lightning in a jar by marrying animation with the reality TV competition trend and tween humor.

Grojband

“We loved interacting with the fans of the show,” says Thornton. “We had quite a lot of views on the show blog, but when it hit Cartoon Network, the traffic went from 200,000 views to 2 million in a very short time. We loved how passionate the fans are and seeing how they dressed up as characters from the show at Wizard Con and Fan Expo in Toronto. That’s why we would read their comments and incorporate their ideas and feedback in the series. I think people fell in love with the characters. Because we actually got rid of the main characters, it really hit a chord with the fans.”

By the way, Thornton and Kauffman want everyone to know that they’ll be exploring all kinds of musical genres and styles on their cool new show. “You’re basically covering everything,” says Kauffman.

“Cowboy, rock metal, yodeling, elevator music, pirate sea shanty—we even make up our own genres! The show is all about music, after all!”

Grojband premieres on Cartoon Network on June 10 at 5 p.m and will air Mondays thru Fridays in the same timeslot.

Grojband

June 2, 2013
Columbia Picks Columbus to Direct ‘Pixels’ Pic

Director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) is being courted by Columbia and Happy Madison productions to direct a feature adaptation of Patrick Jean’s award-winning 2010 short Pixels. EW.com reports that formal negotiations have begun for the gig. The feature is described as “a Ghostbusters-style action comedy in which characters come out of a video game to wreak havoc in the real world.” Jean will executive produce the movie.

The beautifully conceived and animated Pixels centered on the invasion of New York city by all kinds of 8-bit creatures, including Pac Man, Frogger, Tetris pieces, Arkanoid and Donkey Kong. The French short was the recipient of the prestigious Annecy Cristal award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival two years ago.

You can watch the whole short below:

Pixels

May 31, 2013
Miller’s Animation Studio Dr D Closing Shop

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Babe director George Miller is holding a fire sale of the assets of his digital animation studio Dr D via online auction house Gray’s. Five auctions are planned through June 13 for millions dollars worth of computers, studio equipment, servers and office furniture. Bottom of Form Gray’s listed the reasons for sale as “closure of one of Australia’s leading film and animation studios.”

Dr D opened its doors in 2007 as a partnership between two of Australia’s largest film production companies, Kennedy Miller Mitchell—makers of the Mad Max, Babe and Happy Feet films—and Omnilab Media (The Killer Elite). The studio helped animate Miller’s sequel Happy Feet Two.

In its annual report for the year to June 30, 2011, Dr D reported net profits for the year of almost $8.8 million and net assets of over $14.2 million. According to industry watchers, the disappointing performance of its parent company’s output, combined with the deterrent effect for Hollywood productions of the high Australian dollar were reasons for the studio’s tough fortunes.

Kennedy Miller Mitchell’s 2011 film Happy Feet Two grossed about $150 million worldwide on a reported budget of $130 million. Kennedy Miller Mitchell’s Mad Max film Fury Road is scheduled for release next year.

Happy Feet Two

May 31, 2013
Spike & Mike Launches 20th Anniversary Kickstarter

The animated anthology festival Spike & Mike has launched a 20th Anniversary edition Kickstarter campaign to raise $15,000. The show will feature all-time favorite “Sick and Twisted” films, including shorts by Tim Burton and Ed, Edd n Eddy creator Danny Antonucci (Lupo the Butcher), as well as hot new items.

The time frame of the show is set at late August to early November 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla. If you contribute to the campaign, you can also get exclusive DVD’s, T-Shirts, Tote Bags, and a whole lot more!

According to the site, 100% of the money raised will be used to deliver highest quality production of all Limited Edition Prizes, and the production of festival event itself, including venue costs, film costs and celebrity guest appearances.

Since 1986, Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation has been one of the top venues for catching independent, experimental and foreign animation. The festival has received international acclaim and is responsible for premiering early films by Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), Nick Park (Wallace and Grommit) and South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

You can learn more about the event here:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/1017372821/spike-and-mikes-sick-and-twisted-festival-of-anima?ref=recently_launched.

Spike & Mike’s Festival of Animation

May 31, 2013