Shotgun Software is offering a new new integrated package and price point for its popular production management system. The tool now encompasses production tracking, scheduling, review and approval and asset management system, helping modern production pipelines run as efficiently as possible. The new Shotgun is priced at $49 per seat, per month.
The new pricing makes three previously independent products—Shotgun, Revolver and Tank—available now as a single, unified, comprehensive package.
“Our mission is to provide every studio in the world with the essential collaboration, management and pipeline tools they need to deliver mind-blowing work while maintaining a healthy bottom line,” explains Don Parker, CEO, Shotgun Software. “Hundreds of studios have invested in helping us build and refine these tools on thousands of productions over the last seven years. We are pleased to invest back in their success and the future of the industry.”
Shotgun surveyed over 300 studios to arrive at this new model, so that the new product offering and price point matches customer needs. The new Shotgun features allow improvements in tracking, scheduling, review and approval, customization and integration and asset management across content creation tools such as Maya, Nuke, Motionbuilder, Photoshop and 3ds Max.
Pricing for enterprise customers, advanced support options and education institutions is available upon request by emailing sales@shotgunsoftware.com.
Maggie is back! Fox has brought back the Oscar-nominated short Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”, to select theaters this month to increase awareness of the project, directed by David Silverman and written by Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, David Mirkin, Joel H. Cohen and Michael Price. Maggie Simpson will play with Fox’s other Oscar-nominated heavyweight Life of Pi.
In the well received short, Maggie Simpson attends the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, where she finds a caterpillar and faces off against her nemesis. You can read about the making of the short here:
In the wake of news that Yoda may be one of the central figures in Disney/LucasFilm’s upcoming Star Wars films, actor/director/writer Frank Oz says he would love to be the voice of the wise green creature.
Oz, who has voiced five of the six live-action Star Wars films, told L.A. Times’ Hero Complex that although he hasn’t heard a thing about the new feature projects, he’s game to return to the character.
“He’s in my heart,” Oz said. “I know Yoda very deeply.”
J.J. Abrams will direct Episode VII, with two separate scripts will be written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. Kasdan co-wrote the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back.
“I think it depends on the story, but I think at this point you can’t go back to the puppet,” Oz added. “The reason George [Lucas] did the CGI, which I supported, was that he wanted to tell a story that would have been hampered by the physical limitations of the puppet.”
A hand-painted animated feature about the death of famous Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh has been picked up by U.K. sales and finance outfit Bankside Films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, classically trained painter and animator Dorota Kobiela (The Flying Machine, The Little Postman) is directing the project, which centers on the story of the life and controversial death of the Impressionist painter, who shot himself in a field outside Paris in July 1890.
The film is billed as the first ever hand-painted movie (every frame will be an oil painting on canvas in Van Gogh’s style) and new animation techniques will be used to bring his paintings to life for the movie screen. Thirty painters will hand paint 56,800 frames to complete the film over a planned two-year production period for a launch in 2015, the year of the 125th anniversary of Van Gogh’s death.
A Breakthru Films/Trademark Films co-production, Loving Vincent is being co-directed and produced by Hugh Welchman who also produced the 2008 Oscar-winning short Peter and the Wolf and the animated Chopin anthology The Flying Machine. Sean Bobbitt and David Parfitt are exec producing the feature.
As the Kidscreen Summit in New York wrapped up, the event celebrated its special awards presentation honoring the year’s best work in children’s television. The Daily Show‘s Samantha Bee did hosting duty, bestowing honors determined by two panels of broadcast executive judges in the Programming and Creative Talent categories. Many toon projects were celebrated, including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, The Amazing World of Gumball and Bob’s Burgers, which took home the Best Animated Series titles in the Preschool, Kids and Tweens/Teens categories, respectively.
The Awards also included a Broadcasting category to spotlight the best efforts made by broadcasters to forge stronger connections with kids and family audiences around the world, as determined by an online readership vote which took place in December.
Here is the full rundown of winners:
PROGRAMMING—PRESCHOOL CATEGORY
Best Animated Series 2013
Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood
The Fred Rogers Company/9 Story Entertainment/Out of the Blue Enterprises
Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series 2013
Yo Gabba Gabba!
DHX Media
Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie 2013
Driver Dan’s Story Train
3 Line Media, in association with TwoFour54 Abu Dhabi
Best Companion Website 2013
Dinosaur Train
The Jim Henson Company
PROGRAMMING—KIDS CATEGORY
Best Animated Series 2013
The Amazing World of Gumball
Cartoon Network Studio Europe
Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series 2013
4 O’Clock Club
CBBC In-House
Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie 2013
The Jungle Bunch—Back to the Ice Floe
TAT Productions/Master Films/Vanilla Seed
Best Companion Website 2013
Wild Kratts
Kratts Brothers Company/9 Story Entertainment
PROGRAMMING—TWEENS/TEENS CATEGORY
Best Animated Series 2013
Bob’s Burgers
Bento Box Entertainment/20th Century Fox Television
This week’s news of looming layoffs at DreamWorks Animation and the delayed release of Mr. Peabody and Sherman (from Nov. 2013 to March 2014) is taking its toll on the studio’s stocks. Variety reports that DreamWorks Animation stock closed down 67¢, or 3.8%, to $16.75 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. The company will report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 26.
Of course, this means there will be more pressure on the performance of DreamWorks’ 2013 releases The Croods and Turbo, which will be released by Fox on March 22nd and July 29th respectively.
“We believe the best strategy for DreamWorks Animation in the long run is to ensure that every one of our films has an optimal release date with the biggest opportunity to succeed at the box office,” said studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “The move of Mr. Peabody & Sherman means that we will now release two films in 2013, and we are adjusting our operating infrastructure costs accordingly.”
Deadline.com reports that DreamWorks Animation may cut up to 500 employees in the next few months as the result of the disappointing performance of the studio’s holiday release The Rise of the Guardians.
Focus Features and Oregon-based animation house LAIKA, the companies behind the Oscar-nomninated stop-motion film ParaNorman, have announced their third collaborative project is set to begin with the kick off of production on The Boxtrolls. The new movie will be released nationwide by Focus on October 17, 2014, Focus CEO James Schamus and LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight stated in the announcement.
The Boxtrolls is a 3-D stop-motion/CG hybrid animated feature, based on the popular fantasy adventure novel Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow. The film will be a comedic fable unfolding in the posh Victorian-era town of Cheesebridge obsessed with wealth, class and fine cheeses. Below its streets live the four monstrous Boxtrolls who come out at night to steal the townsfolk’s children…and cheese–or so it is thought. The Boxtrolls are actually quirky and lovable oddballs raising a human boy named Eggs. When their underground community is targeted by a malicious exterminator, the Boxtrolls must rely on their adopted boy and an adventurous rich girl to bridge the two worlds.
“The Boxtrolls is a visually dazzling mash-up of gripping detective story, absurdist comedy and steampunk adventure with a surprisingly wholesome heart,” says LAIKA’s Knight. “It’s Dickens by way of Monty Python. Tony [Stacchi] and Graham [Annable] have crafted a strange and beautiful world replete with fantastical creatures, good-for-nothing reprobates, madcap antics, and rip-roaring feats of derring-do. But at its core, like all LAIKA films, The Boxtrolls is a moving and human story with timelessness and powerful emotional resonance. We’re thrilled to partner with Focus Features and Universal to bring this remarkable story to family audiences around the world.”
The Boxtrolls is being directed by Anthony Stacchi (co-director of the hit animated feature Open Season) and Graham Annable (story artist on Coraline and ParaNorman), and produced by David Ichioka and Travis Knight. The voice cast includes Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, Academy Award nominee Toni Collette, Elle Fanning (marking her fourth movie with Focus), Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Game of Thrones), Emmy Award nominee Jared Harris (Mad Men), Simon Pegg (Star Trek), Nick Frost (of Focus’ upcoming The World’s End), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), and Tracy Morgan (30 Rock).
Production has begun on the third season of Atlantyca Entertainment and Moonscoop’s popular 2D-animated series Geronimo Stilton. The 78 x 23 series, which is produced with the participation of Rai Fiction, France TV and M6, will be available by fall of 2014. Atlantyca’s head of animation department and exec producer Caterina Vacchi and Moonscoop’s CEO Christophe di Sabatino made the announcement this week.
Based on the successful children’s book series, Geronimo Stilton first launched in September 2009 on Rai 2. The series has performed well internationally and is currently broadcast in over 100 territories, globally, including season two being launched on ARD’s (Germany) KIKA Channel in November. The series will be broadcast on the regional channels in July of this year.
“Geronimo Stilton has demonstrated, consistently, to be incredibly popular with young audiences in many key territories around the world,” noted Vacchi. “The Geronimo Stilton brand–whether through the animated series, books, games, or live stage shows —is an established success. We know that this is the right time to start working on the next chapter of Geronimo’s animated adventures and are so excited to start working on bringing his newest stories to the screen.”
The action-packed animated series focuses on the life and adventures of the super famous mouse journalist, and head of the Geronimo Stilton Media Group. The third season will encompass even more friends, old and new, who get involved in new sensational journeys set in a background of distinctive locations.
In addition to the animated series and extensive European licensing partnerships, the brand has been developed for a diversity of entertainment channels including live stage productions (for Benelux, Iberia, and Canada) and in 2011 Sony Computer Entertainment launched the successful videogame Geronimo Stilton: In the Kingdom of Fantasy exclusively for the PSP and will introduce the sequel: Geronimo Stilton: The Return to the Kingdom of Fantasy – The Videogame this year.
The release date for DreamWorks Animation’s much-anticipated CG-animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman has changed from Nov. this year to March 7, 2014. The film, which will be distributed by Twentieth Century Fox takes over the March spot previously held by Me & My Shadow, which is heading back to development.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman follows Mr. Peabody, a talking dog who is the smartest being in the world, and his “pet” boy Sherman. Based on characters created by Jay Ward and featured on Peabody’s Improbable History segments of the 1960s TV series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, the film is directed by Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Stuart Little) and produced by Alex Schwartz and Denise Nolan Cascino. The script is by Craig Wright (Six Feet Under, Brothers and Sisters). The voice cast includes Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Stephen Colbert, Ellie Emp, Ariel Winter and Allison Janney.
“Our distributor, who has had great success in March with their Ice Age franchise, has recommended we move Mr. Peabody & Sherman to the spring of 2014, which we totally agree is a much more advantageous release window,” said Anne Globe, chief marketing officer of DreamWorks Animation. “Mr. Peabody & Sherman is now the first of our three-picture lineup for next year.”
“We believe the best strategy for DreamWorks Animation in the long run is to ensure that every one of our films has an optimal release date with the biggest opportunity to succeed at the box office,” added Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. “The move of Mr. Peabody & Sherman means that we will now release two films in 2013, and we are adjusting our operating infrastructure costs accordingly.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DreamWorks Animation will also be hit by layoffs as the result of the weak performance of its holiday release of Rise of the Guardians.
DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming feature list includes The Croods on March 22, Turbo on July 19, How to Train Your Dragon 2 on June 20, 2014 and Happy Smekday! on Nov. 26, 2014.
L.A.-based animation shop BrainZoo Studios has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its popular short Pepe & Lucas. The crowd-sourcing plan is to adapt the eight-minute short about clowns, mimes and a pie-launching device, into a full 22-minute pilot episode for an animated TV series.
“We’ve been creating character driven animation for some of the biggest and well-known brands for over 17 years,” notes Mo Davoudian, creative director and CEO of BrainZoo. “So why start making stuff for ourselves? When the economy took a turn for the worst, we saw lots of animation studios shutter their doors and call it a day. Instead of lying down and going the way of the Dodo bird, we decided to make our own way by doing what we do best; telling fantastic character driven stories using the talent and technology right here in our studio.”
Joel Cohen, veteran writer and producer for The Simpsons, offered a hilarious take on the iconic’s show approach to creativity during Kidscreen Summit’s opening keynote session in New York City today (Feb. 5). During the irreverent keynote titled “The Tao of Homer—Lessons in Creativity and Innovation from The Simpsons,” Cohen talked about the various elements that have played a huge part in keeping the show on the air for 24 seasons.
The writer, a Calgary native who got his first big break in business writing for the Brook Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan, talked about how The Simpsons made the jump from being an interstitial on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 to turning into the powerhouse toon that build the FOX-TV network. Echoing the words of comic Don Rickles, Cohen said the show makes fun of everything—hoping that by offending everybody, you end up offending nobody. He gave credit to the incredibly creative environment in which the show’s writers are able to work. “One of the amazing things that [producer] Jim Brooks did was that he told FOX that he wanted to do the show without any network notes or interferences—and Fox agreed,” said Cohen.
Among the key factors in the show’s success are the jokes’ audience relatability (connecting to audiences with an emotional tether), building on the team of writers’ ideas, not chasing the best idea if it doesn’t fit the big picture, having a very diverse team of writers, fighting your first instinct when it comes to chasing ideas, and having a humble filter—“go for the idea that generates the biggest laughs, regardless of who came up with it!”
Since The Simpsons has such an impressive record for attracting the biggest guest voices, Cohen was asked whether anyone had ever turned them down. He said Bruce Springsteen was the one big star he knew of who had said no to the Springfield family show…and rocker Jon Bon Jovi turned down a guest voice gig after he realized that the script would make fun of him! Cohen also spilled the beans that fanboy hero, director and producer Guillermo del Toro is following in the footsteps of Bansky and Bill Plympton and working on an opening couch gag sequence which will air in the near future.
The Kidscreen Summit continues this week through Friday February 9 in New York City at the midtown Hilton. The show attracts over 1600 professionals working in the TV business and offers a chance to meet some of top industry executives, show creators and decision-makers. To find out more about this week’s event, visit summit.kidscreen.com.
After Disney dropped the ball on Henry Selick’s much-anticipated feature The Shadow King, the movie has found a new life, thanks to producer Josh Penn (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and the German/U.K. sales and distribution outfit K5 International. The Hollywood Reporter says the stop-motion animated feature is well into pre-production. K5 is overseeing international sales on the project and will pitch it to buyers starting at the European Film Market in Berlin this week.
The Shadow King centers on a nine-year-old orphan in New York with fantastically long fingers which he tries to hide from the rest of the world. When a living shadow girl shows him how he can use his hands to make his hand shadows come to life, Hap’s fingers become powerful weapons in a shadow war against a monster bent on killing his brother Richard and destroying New York itself.
Selick (Coraline, James and the Giant Peach) wrote and will direct The Shadow King. Among the top-notch talent tied to the project are cinematographer Peter Sorg (Frankenweenie), animation director Eric Leighton (Legend of the Guardians); production designer Lou Romano (The Incredibles), editor Wyatt Jones and composer Bruno Coulais (Coraline). Disney reportedly spent about $50 million on The Shadow King before bailing on the project last September because of the film’s dark subject matter.
New Zealand-based Pukeko Pictures and Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop are working on a new reboot of Gerry Anderson’s legendary puppet-animated children’s series Thunderbirds for U.K.’s ITV. Slated for broadcast on ITV’s kids channel CITV in the U.K. in 2015, the 26 x half-hour series will use a combination of CG animation and live-action models.
Featuring the show’s family of heroes, International Rescue, Thunderbirds are Go! will follow the adventures of the five Tracy brothers who will fly their Thunderbirds’ vehicles in exciting rescues all over the world. Created by the Gerry Anderson, who passed away last December, the show first aired in the U.K. in 1965 and 1966 and found a new life in syndication. It was responsible for introducing the style of marionette puppetry—known as Supermarionation—to a large global audience.
Thunderbirds are Go! will be executive produced by Estelle Hughes for ITV Studios, Giles Ridge for ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Richard Taylor and Andrew Smith for Pukeko Pictures. Rob Hoegee (Generator Rex, Teen Titans, Ben 10) is the show’s head writer.
Taylor, co-owner of Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, noted, “Thunderbirds was a hugely influential television series in my childhood. I personally, together with the teams here at Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, look forward to designing and creating an inspirational world that will engage the imagination of a whole new generation as it did for us nearly half a century ago.”
Smith, Pukeko CEO adds, “Pukeko Pictures is focused on high-quality value-based programming, and we are thrilled to be associated with such an iconic brand, one that brilliantly encompasses family values, heroism and generosity.”
MAXON USA’s online training and education resource Cineversity has unveiled a new series of 3D animation tutorial series. Created by computer animator and 3D authority Dr.-Ing.V.Sassmannshausen (Dr. Sassi), JETProduction Notes is billed as one of the most comprehensive collections of instructional videos and tutorials ever created documenting the entire 3D animation filmmaking process from conception to execution. The series is aimed at motion graphics artists, independent filmmakers and those collaborating in large film studio production teams and use MAXON CINEMA 4D as the cornerstone software application to illustrate fundamental skills and techniques digital artists can use to add dimension and elevate the quality of their 3D animated projects.
“Animators and visual effects artists today sometimes have limited or no fundamental education before joining studios and often find they need to run before they learn to walk,” Sassi explains. “With this new series I hope to fill in some gaps. My goal is to take a vast amount of filmmaking and 3D animation info and break it down into simple, yet valuable methods, ideas and knowledge — not flashy and cool tricks.”
Sassi, who holds a Ph.D. in computer animation, draws reference material for the Cineversity tutorials from his decades of production and technical experience, artistic knowledge and the real world production challenges he faced as an independent filmmaker of Junior Extra Terrestrial (JET), a four-minute animated and live-action short film he created entirely on his own in shortly over a year, using CINEMA 4D.
“Dr. Sassi’s CINEMA 4D expertise as a production professional, artist, educator and trainer, make him uniquely qualified to author this groundbreaking step-by-step tutorials series documenting every facet of the complex animated filmmaking process,“ says Paul Babb, president and CEO of MAXON USA. “MAXON remains committed to providing Cineversity members the highest quality online education and training materials and we’re confident the new JET-based tutorial series will provide animators and visual artists at every level with practical CINEMA 4D knowledge to elevate their 3D skill sets.”
JET Production Notes is comprised of four sections with a focus on topics ranging from cinematography, integration, speed modeling and more. In addition, there are three additional series focused on animation techniques, lighting and industrial modeling. The entire collection will be released over the next few weeks, one new section each week, starting February 4th. For more info, visit www.maxon.net.
Disney’s underdog hero Wreck-It Ralph had a sweet night at the Annie Awards on Saturday (February 2) as it took home the prize for Best Animated Feature. The film’s helmer Richard Moore also won for Best Director. The acclaimed movie, which has made over $368.4 million globally, was also honored for the Annie for Best Music (Henry Jackman), Best Writing in an Animated Feature (Phil Johnson, Jennifer Lee) and Voice Acting in an Animated Feature (Alan Tudyk as King Candy).
Winning the Annie puts Ralph in a good position to also take home the Oscar later this month. Award observers point out that since the introduction of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002, the Annie winner has also been the Academy’s choice 73 percent of the time. For example, last year’s Annie winner Rango also won the Oscar. Disney’s Animation’s beautiful black-and-white short Paperman (directed by John Kahrs) was also the winner of the Best Animated Short Annie—and is also nominated for an Oscar.
Among the night’s other feature winners were DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians, which won for Storyboarding (Johanne Matte) and Animated Effects (Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton), LAIKA’s ParaNorman for Character Design (Heidi Smith) and Character Animation (Travis Knight) and Pixar’s Brave for Editorial (Nicholas Smith, Robert Grahamjones, David Suther) and Production Design (Steve Pilcher).
On the TV front, DreamWorks/Nickelodeon freshman series Dragons: Riders of the Berk had a very strong night, taking home the Best Animated TV Series award as well as Best Music (John Paesano), Best Directing (John Eng) and Storyboarding (Doug Lovelace). Nick’s stop-motion holiday special SpongeBob SquarePants: It’s a SpongeBob Christmas won the Annie for Character Animation (Dan Driscoll) and Bubble Guppies was the winner of the Best Animated Preschool race. Disney’s Tron: Uprising was honored for its Character Design (Robert Valley) and Production Design (Alberto Mielgo) The always-funny Kristen Schaal, who voices Mabel on Disney Channel’s new hit show Gravity Falls, also took home the Annie for Best Voice Acting in a TV production.
Terry Gilliam, Oscar Grillo and Mark Henn received the Winsor McCay Award; Disney p.r. maestro Howard Green was the recipient of the June Foray Award and the awesome team at Toon Boom Animation earned the Ub Iwerks Award.
While the 40th edition of the Annie awards had its share of technical hiccups——we don’t think the person in charge of the teleprompter will be asked back——host Leonard Maltin and voice-over veterans Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche did their best to keep the ceremony running smoothly. Nevertheless, it’s always a good idea to keep comics like Tom Kenny or Patton Oswald handy to keep the jokes coming during long awards ceremonies.
Among the many emotional highlights was the dedication of the Tex Avery Animation Award (originated by Dallas-based Reel FX) to Annies founder and entertainment legend June Foray (the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale). To see this amazing, dynamic woman light up the stage year after year has become one of the undeniable pleasures of the Annie Awards. Let’s hear it for ASIFA president Frank Gladstone and his hard-working crew for putting on another great celebration of the creative toon community.
Here is a complete list of Annie winners (the winners are in bold):
Best Children’s Series category:
Adventure Time ‘Princess Cookie’ (Cartoon Network Studios)
Dragons: Riders of Berk ‘How to Pick Your Dragon’ (DreamWorks Animation)
LEGO Star Wars ‘The Empire Strikes Out’ (Threshold)
Penguins of Madagascar ‘Action Reaction’ (Nickelodeon)
SpongeBob SquarePants ‘It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!’ (Nickelodeon)
The Amazing World of Gumball ‘The Job’ (Turner Broadcasting System Europe)
The Fairly OddParents ‘Farm Pit’ (Nickelodeon)
The Legend of Korra ‘Welcome to Republic City’/’A Leaf in the Wind’ (Nickelodeon)
Best General Audience Animated TV Series
Archer ‘Space Race, Part 1’ (Weissman Markovitz Communications for FX)
Shi Zimu Dragons: Riders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
Sihanouk Marinona Before Orel: Trust – Starburns Industries, Inc.
Teri Yam Dragons: Riders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
Yan Jiazhuang Dragons: Riders of Berk – DreamWorks Animation
Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dan Nguyen Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
David Pate Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Jaime Landes Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Phillppe LeBrun Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Pierre Perifel Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Travis Hathaway Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Travis Knight ParaNorman – Focus Features
Will Becher The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Erik de Boer, Amanda Dague, Matt Brown, Mary Lynn Machado, Aaron Grey Life of Pi – Orangutan – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Erik de Boer, Matt Shumway, Brian Wells, Vinayak Pawar, Michael Holzl Life of Pi – Tiger – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser, Scott Benzu, Steve King, Kiran Bhat The Avengers – Industrial Light & Magic
Mike Beaulieu, Roger Vizard, Atushi Sato, Jackie Kochler, Derek Esparza, Richard Smith, Mac Tyrie – Columbia Pictures – The Amazing Spider-Man – Sony Pictures Animation
Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Andy Bialk Dragons: Riders of Berk: Alvin and the Outcasts – DreamWorks Animaton
Andy Suriano DC Nation-Plastic Man: The Many and the Fowl – Big Hair Productions, Inc.
Bryan Konietzko, Joaquim Dos Santos, Ryu Ki-Hyun, Kim Il Kwang, Kim Jin Sun The Legend of Korra: Welcome to Republic City – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
“C” Raggio IV Kick Buttowski: Petrified – Disney TV Animation
Derrick Wyatt, Chap Yaep, Steven Choi Ben 10: Omniverse: The More Things Change, Pt. 2 – Cartoon Network Studios
Gordon Hammond T.U.F.F. Puppy: Dudley Do-Wrong – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Robert Valley Disney Tron: Uprising: The Renegade, Part I – Disney TV Animation
Thaddeus Paul Cauldron Secret Mountain Fort Awesome: Secret Mountain Uncle Grandpa – Cartoon Network Studios
Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Bill Schwab, Lorelay Bove, Cory Loftis, Minkyu Lee Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Carlos Grangel Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
Carter Goodrich Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
Craig Kellman Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
Heidi Smith ParaNorman – Focus Features
Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon, Colin Stimpson Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Illumination Entertainment
Directing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Howie Parkins Jake and The Never Land Pirates: Peter Pan Returns! – Disney TV Animation
John Eng Dragons: Riders of Berk: Animal House – DreamWorks Animation
Mark Cabalero, Seamus Walsh SpongeBob SquarePants: It’s a Spongebob Christmas – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Mic Graves The Amazing World of Gumball: The Job – Turner Broadcasting System Europe Ltd.
Michael Chang Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Never Say Xever – Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Zack Keller Dick Figures: Kung Fu Winners – 6 Point Media
Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Genndy Tartakovsky Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux The Rabbi’s Cat – GKIDS
Remi Bezancon, Jean-Christophe Lie Zarafa – GKIDS
Rich Moore Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Sam Fell, Chris Butler ParaNorman – Focus Features
Music in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Adam Berry Penquins of Madagascar: Private and the Winky Factory – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Alf Clausen The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXIII – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
Frederik Wiedmann Green Lantern The Animated Series: Into the Abyss – F. Wiedmann, Composer
Guy Moon T.U.F.F. Puppy: Really Big Mission – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
John Paesano Dragons: Riders of Berk: How to Pick Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
Alexandre Desplat Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Bruce Retief Adventures in Zambezia – Saltzman Communications
Henry Jackman Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda Secret of the Wings – DisneyToon Studios
John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
John Powell, Cinco Paul Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – Illumination Entertainment
Mark Mothersbaugh Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Alberto Mielgo Tron: Uprising: The Stranger – Disney TV Animation
Ian Worrel Gravity Falls – Tourist Trapped – Disney TV Animation
Lynna Blankenship, Sean Coons, Hugh Macdonald, Debbie Peterson, Charles Ragins, Lance Wilder, Darrel Bowen, John Krause, Kevin Moore, Brent M. Bowen, Brice Mallier, Steven Fahey, Dima Malanitchev, Karen Bauer, Eli Balser, Anne Legge – The Simpsons: Moe Goes From Rags to Riches – Film Roman
Nick Jennings, Martin Ansolebehere, Sandra Calleros, Ron Russell, Santino Lascano, Derek Hunter, Catherine E. Simmonds – Adventure Time – The Hard Easy – Cartoon Network Studios
Peter Martin, Chris Grine, Ira Baker, Ramon Olivera, Scott Brown hoops & yo yo’s Haunted Halloween – Hallmark
Scott Brandon James, Lee Keith Justin Time: The Rubbery Dumplings – Guru Studio
Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin, Shannon Jeffries, Lindsey Olivares, Kenard Pak Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – DreamWorks Animation
Marcello Vignali Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
Nash Dunnigan, Arden Chen, Jon Townley, Kyle McNaughton Ice Age: Continental Drift – Blue Sky Studios
Nelson Lowry, Ross Stewart, Pete Oswald, Ean McNamara, Trevor Dalmer ParaNorman – Focus Features
Norman Garwood, Matt Berry The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animation
Patrick Hanenberger, Max Boas, Jayee Borcar, Woonyoung Jung, Perry Maple, Peter Maynez, Stan Seo, Felix Yoon Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
Rick Heintzich Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
Steve Pilcher Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
Storyboarding in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production
Andy Kelly Doc McStuffins: Righty-On-Lefty – Disney TV Animation
Doug Lovelace Dragons: Riders of Berk: Portrait of Hiccup as a Buff Man – DreamWorks Animation
Holly Forsyth Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess – Disney TV Animation
Irineo Marramba, Ciro Nieli Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Robert Valley, Kalvin Lee Tron: Uprising: The Reward – Disney TV Animation
Ryan Kramer, Paul Linsley, Kenji Ono, Le Tang, Alice Herring, Mike Mullen, Aaron Hammersley Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness: Enter the Dragon – Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Annies founder June Foray and host Leonard MaltinRich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) wins the Annie for Best DirectorAnnie winners Kristen Schaal and Seth Green share a laugh
Cinema Management Group (CMG)’s new 3D animated feature, The Legend of Sarila, will open in theatres in Quebec on February 22nd and in English-speaking Canada in April. CMG will screen the completed film for the first time to buyers in Berlin on Saturday February 9th at 2:45pm and Monday February 11th at 2:45pm at Cinestar 5.
Since AFM, CMG has closed deals with; Luxor, for distribution in Russia/CIS; Telepool, for distribution in Germany/Austria; Five Stars, for distribution in Israel; Pa-Dora, for distribution in Ex-Yugoslavia; and Blue Pictures, for distribution in West and East Africa. They join already announced deals including; Alliance Films for Canada, Associated Euromedia for Turkey, Front Row for Middle East, and Talent Epitome for China.
The pic has garnered two publishing deals with Bayard Canada; one will be a picture book, while the other will be a novel for young readers. Books release will coincide with the theatrical release of Sarila in Canada.
“We’re excited to show the film in 3D in Berlin to buyers and we are proud of director Nancy Savard and producer Marie-Claude Beauchamp who delivered a great film,” says CMG president Edward Noeltner. “Using an indigenous people’s story and music, they have brought to life with humor, action and adventure the story of three young Inuits and their search for a promised land hoping to save thei clan from famine.”
The Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), the Canadian government agency which was involved with the production of the film, will be present in Berlin with a cocktail party introducing The Legend of Sarila as well as other films of Quebec cinema. Additionally, the film will head to the Monstra Festival in Portugal on March 7th-March 17th.
The Legend of Sarila follows a voyage of initiation but is also the story of a fight to the death between two shamans, the young Markussi and the aged Croolik, who feels that his power is threatened. With humor, action and adventure, The Legend of Sarila is a coming-of-age story of triumph, self realization and hope for all people. The film stars the voice acting of Oscar-winner Christopher Plummer, Oscar-nominee Genvieve Bujold, Rachelle Lefevre and Dustin Milligan. The film is directed by Nancy Savard and produced by Savard and Marie-Claude Beauchamp.
We’re happy to share an exclusive clip from one of the new Minnie’s Bow-Toons episodes that will premiere on Disney Junior next week. These five new shorts will be premiering daily beginning Monday, Feb. 4 thru Friday, Feb. 8 on Disney Channel (9:55 a.m. ET/PT) and Disney Junior (3:55 p.m. ET/PT).
Minnie’s Bow-Toons is produced by Disney Television Animation and features the voices of Russi Taylor, Tress MacNeille, Avalon Robbins, Nika Futterman and April Winchell. The series first debuted on Disney Channel in November 2011.
In the new episodes, Minnie and Daisy give the Bow-Tique a makeover, babysit for a fussy baby pig and help Cuckoo-Loca fix her new bow-making machine. Here’s a link from an episode titled “Adventures in Piggy Sitting” for your weekend enjoyment!
The organizers of this year’s New York International Children’s Festival have unveiled an A-list line-up of acclaimed animated features from all over the world scheduled to screen at the fest (Feb. 28-March 25).
Benjamin Renner’s Cesar-nominated, charming 2D-animated feature Ernest and Celestinekicks off the festival on March 1st at 6 p.m. at the DGA Theater. (A special adults-only benefit event is also planned for Feb. 28 at 6:30 pm.).
Here are some of highlights of the 2013 edition:
Approved for Adoption (2012) Directed by Laurent Boilea, Jung. (March 10, FIAF)
The Day of the Crows (2012). Directed by Jean-Christophe Dessaint. (March 2, SVA; March 10, FIAF)
From Up on Poppy Hill (2012). Directed by Goro Miyazaki. (March 16, FLSC; March 17, IFC Center)
Hey Krishna (2012). Directed by Vikram Veturi. (March 3, IFC ; March 24, DGA)
Kirikou and the Men and the Women (2012). Directed by Michel Ocelot. (March 16, IFC; March 24, DGA)
Meet the Small Potatoes (2013). Directed by Josh Selig. (March 2, March 23, Scholastic Theater)
The Painting (2012). (English-language version). Directed by Jean-Francois Laguionie. (March 10, FIAF)
Pinocchio (2013). Directed by Enzo D’Alo (March 16, SVA)
Wolf Children, (2012) Mamoru Hosoda (March 9, SVA; March 24, DGA)
Zarafa (2012). Directed by Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie (March 10, FIAF; March 17, DGA)
The festival will close on Sunday, March 17 with a Best of the Fest screening and an awards program. For more information and to secure your tickets for this one-of-a-kind festival, visit www.GKIDS.com.
Dallas-based animation and live-action studio Reel FX has announced that Aron Warner, the Oscar-winning producer the Shrek features has joined the company as president of animation. In addition to the Shrek trilogy, Warner’s many production credits include Antz, True Lies, Independence Days, Alien Resurrection, Volcano and Titanic.
Warner will oversee and expand Reel FX’s animation slate which already includes the day of the dead-themed project Book of Life (Guillermo del Toro producing/Jorge Gutierrez directing), which will be released in theaters by Fox Animation on October 10th, 2014, Turkeys (Jimmy Hayward directing) which will be released in theaters on November 14th, 2014 by Relativity Media and Beasts of Burden (Warner and Andrew Adamson producing).
Reel FX’s film slate follows almost 20 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects and interactive projects for companies like Fox, Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.
Warner said: “Reel FX has the talent, technology and track record to create the highest-quality theatrical animated films for reasonable budgets. Our model allows us to take creative risks and has already attracted world-class filmmakers looking to tell unique and daring stories that appeal to audiences across the world. I am honored to be part of the Reel FX team and look forward to continuing to build upon our slate.”
Warner’s team at Reel FX includes Jeff Fierson, head of development, Brad Booker, creative producer of Book of Life and Scott Mosier, creative producer of Turkeys.
FremantleMedia is dismantling its FremantleMedia Enterprises division and naming two separate global divsions, one devoted to kids and family entertainment and distribution and the other on digital and branded entertainment. As a result of the reorganization, FME’s international CEO David Ellender gets the new title of CEO, FremantleMedia International and Kids in charge of the new distribution, kids and family entertainment division. He reports directly to Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia.
Sander Schwartz will remain on as president of FremantleMedia’s kids and family group, reporting to Ellender. The head of the new digital and branded entertainment division has not been appointed yet.
Earlier this week, FME signed a five-year pact with BBC Children to develop and produce children’s TV programs. FME and the BBC have partnered before on shows such as the CG-animated preschool series Tree Fu Tom and Russell T. Davis and Phil Ford’s Wizard vs. Aliens.
Since its debut in 2010, FME’s Kids and Family Entertainment division has produced original family programming across multiple genres including traditional animated, CGI and stop motion series, live-action and mixed media shows. The partnership does not affect the first-look deal that BBC Children’s has with BBC Worldwide who continue to invest in children’s programming and also operate the CBeebies international channels.
“When we started FME’s Kids and Family Entertainment division just three years ago, our goal was to join forces with leading broadcasters and producers of kids’ content in order to inspire, transform, challenge and stimulate our young audiences who will grow to be the world’s next generation of leaders,” said FME Kids and Family Entertainment president Sander Schwartz.
“BBC Children’s is the top echelon in the kids and family genre and we have had phenomenal success in working with them on shows such as Wizards vs. Aliens and Tree Fu Tom,” added Bob Higgins, exec VP, FME Kids and Family Entertainment. “They are fearless in their dedication to make bold, creatively brilliant programs and we couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to continue working with such an amazing partner.”
