Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Simpsons, Phooey, Magilla on Disc

    Make room on your DVD shelf for more fun with Homer and two Hanna-Barbera favorites from the 1970s. Ripe for the picking this week are The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season, Hong Kong Phooey: The Complete Series and Magilla Gorilla: The Complete Series.

    All 25 episodes from the eighth season of The Simpsons come on four discs that include the instalments ‘Burns, Baby Burns,’ ‘The Homer They Fall,’ ‘Hurricane Neddy,’ ‘Lisa’s Date with Density,’ ‘Bart After Dark,’ ‘You Only Move Twice’ and ‘The Springfield Files,’ which features guest-starring turns by X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The Fox Home Entertainment collector’s set lists for $49.98 and includes such bonus features as The Simpsons House featurette, audio commentary, animation showcases, deleted scenes, a sketch gallery and promotional spots.

    Scatman Crothers voices the title role of Hong Kong Phooey, a Kung Fu-fighting canine hero who gets his crime tips while posing as a mild-mannered janitor in a police station. With help from his cat, Spot, the bumbling amateur superhero always manages to save the day and foil the evil plots of such villains as Claw, the Giggler, Goldfisher and the Gum Drop Kid. All 31 episodes of the 1974 series are contained on two discs, which also offer a retrospective documentary, a storyboard-to-animation comparison and commentary on three episodes by original team members including creative producer Iwao Takamoto and layout unit manager Willie Ito, as well as Warner Bros. animation producer-historian Scott Jeralds. The Warner Home Video releaes carries a suggested retail price of $26.99.

    Magilla Gorilla: The Complete Series is a four-disc set offering all 23 episodes of the show (1964-1965) about a big ape who lives at Mr. Peebles’ Pet Shop and is continually bought and returned when he wreaks havoc on customer’s lives. Also featured are secondary cartoons with the animated duos Punkin’ Puss and Mushmouse, and Rocochet Rabbit and Droop-a-long Coyote. Bonus materials include the feturette Magilla Theme Song, Live And Unplugged, which is introduced by series animator Jerry Eisenberg and offers rare footage of Hoyt Curtin and William Hanna at the piano. Mr. Peebles Pet Shop is an interactive interview gallery with Magilla voicer Allan Melvin, Eisenberg and animation historian Jerry Beck, and Here Comes a Star is an archival TV special that takes viewers inside Hanna-Barbera Studios. The Warner Home Video release lists for $44.98.

  • Illumitoon Grabs Get Ride!

    Newly formed Illumitoon Ent. has licensed the Japanese anime series Get Ride! Am Driver for release in the U.S. The action-adventure series of 51 half-hour episodes was produced by ADK in 2004 and has a licensing program in place with Japanese toy company Konami. The U.S. release is anticipated for early 2007.

    Get Ride! Am Driver Follows the exploits of a young group of warriors known as AM Drivers, who battle a dominating empire of machines. In addition to toys, Konami has released video games based on the series titled Get Ride! Am Driver: True Conflict and Get Ride! Am Driver: The Truth of Xiangke.

    Founded in January of this year by former FUNimation execs Barry Watson, Stephanie Giotes and Richard Ray, Illumitoon previously licensed Toei Animation’s popular series, Beet the Vandel Buster. The company is taking on the likes of ADV and Central Park Media by picking up anime properties and repackaging them for North American fans. For more information on the company, go to www.illumitoon.com.

  • Trek Captains Unite for Game

    As Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi creation celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, Bethesda Softworks announced that it will assemble all five actors who portrayed captains on the various Star Trek series over the years for one game. William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Scott Bakula, Avery Brooks and Kate Mulgrew will all lend their voices and likenesses to Star Trek: Legacy, a title launching this fall for Xbox 360 and PC under license from CBS Consumer Products.

    “I am delighted to have the chance to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Trek with my fellow captains by providing our voices to Star Trek: Legacy,” says Shatner. “Bethesda Softworks has done an excellent job in creating an exciting game that stays true to Star Trek‘s roots and accurately incorporates elements from each series.”

    Star Trek: Legacy includes elements form the original 1966 series, as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterpris. The game will offer players the chance to be the Admiral of a task force of warships engaged in small- and large-scale battles. With single-player and multi-player modes, the title will test strategic and tactical skills in real-time combat featuring more than 60 authentic spaceships, full damage modeling and elaborate visual effects.

    The game is being developed under the direction of Bethesda Softworks at the studios of Mad Doc Software, creators of the highly successful and critically acclaimed Star Trek Armada II. For more information on Star Trek: Legacy, go to http://startrek.bethsoft.com.

  • Nicktoons Doles Out Awards

    This year’s Nicktoons Network Animation Festival kicked off over the weekend with a two-day live event in Burbank, Calif. During the festivities, producers of recognized filmmakers with the Student Award, the Diversity Award, the Producer’s Choice Award and the Show Off Your Show Award. The winners were selected from entries that poured in from around the globe for the short animation festival, which will be broadcast online and on-air from Saturday, Aug. 26 through Thursday, Aug. 31 at 10 p.m. For more invormation, go to www.nicktoonsnetwork.com.

    The winner of the $1,000 Student Award is David Bazelon of Los Angeles for his short film, Libraryhead. Meanwhile, Yeo Lee Nah of Singapore picked up the Diversity Award for Crocodile Journals and also received a $1,000 prize. Producers’ Choice went to Mark Shirra of Vancouver, Canada for A Great Big Robot From Outer Space Ate My Homework, which also screened at SIGGRAPH earlier this month. Shirra will receive a copy of Bauhaus Software’s digital 2D animation software, Mirage, along with an Apple Power Mac G5 to run it on. Rounding out the list of winners is 15-year-old Richard Wallace of Chino Hills, Calif., who walked off with the Show Off Your Show/Greater Creator Award and a prize package that includes a family trip to Los Angeles to visit the Nicktoons Studios, a chance to record his voice for an episode of Kappa Mikey episode and an afternoon Animation Academy at his school.

    The $10,000 Grand Prize Winner will be announced on-air on Nicktoons Network on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 10 p.m. The Viewer’s Choice Award will be announced online at www.nicktoonsnetwork.com on Monday, Sept. 18. Voting closes on Friday, Sept. 15. This year’s panel of grand jurors includes comedic duo Shawn and Marlon Wayans, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Disney animator Andreas Deja, famed indie animator Bill Plympton and last year’s Producers Choice and Student Award Winner, JG Quintel (The Naive Man from Lolliland).

  • China Bans Foreign Animation

    Chinese fans of The Simpsons, SpongeBob, Pok’mon and other toon imports will soon find it harder to get their regular fixes, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In an effort to support the domestic animation industry, China’s government has banned the airing of foreign cartoon programming between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m. beginning Sept. 1.

    According to a study, 80% of China’s young viewing public would rather watch foreign cartoons, especially from Japan, over those made in their own country. Chinese product is said to focus more on telling traditional tales than creating popular characters. With Mickey Mouse and Pikachu out of the way, more airtime will be devoted to less popular Chinese characters such as The Monkey King, star of the toon series Journey to the West.

    You may recall that, in February, the Chinese government put a curious ban on programs that depicted live actors on screen with animated characters, another move to limit foreign-made programming. These and other efforts to control pop culture in China have created a pervasive black market that is taking money out of the pockets of both domestic and foreign distributors.

    As we’ve seen with Internet piracy of films and other entertainment, consumers will find a way to get what they want, the way they want it. As a result, major U.S. studios are creating channels for legal downloads of their product and are even considering releasing films on DVD and the Internet on the same day they hit theaters. If China is to continue tightening its hold on the media, it too must find a way to crack down on illegal sales or more kids will be watching pirated DVDs instead of television.

  • Marvel Talks Live-Action Avengers

    With the two animated Ultimate Avengers features doing well on DVD, Marvel is considering a major motion picture staring comic-book franchises Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, Ant Man and Giant Man. The company revealed during its recent Analyst Day webcast that X-Men scribe Zak Penn has been hired to write a screenplay for the hero mash-up. Penn is also at work on the next Hulk feature, which may or may not be a sequel to Universal’s 2004 effort to bring the not-so-jolly green giant to the big screen.

    Directed by Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Unleashed) The Incredible Hulk will follow Ghost Rider as the second project independently financed and produced by Marvel through the company’s $525 million revolving film financing facility. Ghost Rider, starring Nicholas Cage, will be open in theaters on Feb. 16, 2007. The John Favreau-directed Iron Man falls next in line behind Hulk. Also in development at Marvel are features based on comic favorites Captain America, Nick Fury and Ant Man. In addition, the company has The Punisher 2 set up at Lionsgate, Wolverine and Magneto at 20th Century Fox, Namor at Universal and Gargoyle at Sony.

  • Batman, Titans Season 2 Discs on Deck

    Warner Home Video (WHV) will release The Batman: The Complete Second Season and Teen Titans: The Complete Second Season on home video Sept. 19. Both Warner Bros. Animation series are based on popular DC Comics properties will be accompanied by bonus materials that get viewers caught up on what’s happened and what’s coming up on each show.

    The second season of The Batman has the Dark Knight going up against The Riddler, in addition to The Joker, the Penguin and Mr. Freeze, while forming an alliance with police detective and future Commissioner Jim Gordon. All 13 episodes are contained in a two-disc collector’s set that will also include the bonus feature Catching up With’ The Batman: Inside Season 2.

    Young superheroes Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Terra combine their awesome powers to save earth in Teen Titans: The Complete Second Season. This slate of 13 episodes introduces Terra, a free-spirited teenager whose ability to manipulate earth make her an asset to the team, though her loyalty is tested by arch memesis Slade. The boxed set also features

    Catching Up with’ Teen Titans.

  • SCI-FI Orders More Dr. Who

    Daily Variety reports that SCI-FI Channel has picked up a second season of Doctor Who, the vfx-heavy update of the classic British science fiction series. Licensed from BBC Worldwide Americas, the new installments will begin airing next month with a two-hour premiere that introduces a new actor in the title role.

    David Tennent, who appeared as Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, became the tenth actor to play Dr. Who in the second season of the latest incarnation, which originally aired on BBC. Tennent took over the role from Christopher Eccleston, who played the good doc last season.

    SCI-FI attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers a week with the first season of Doctor Who and hopes to keep that momentum going with another round of eccentric, time-traveling adventures. The network is also gearing up to launch a third season of its successful Battlestar Galactica redux, which it plans to give a huge promotional push.

    Doctor Who fans can also look forward to an animated project coming to DVD this November. BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment tapped U.K. toon house Cosgrove Hall to recreate two lost episodes from the 1968 Cyberman story thread titled ‘The Invasion.’ Lead actor Patrick Troughton and the rest of the cast were animated in black and white using the original soundtracks. BBC was inspired to fill in the missing gaps by the popularity of the new Doctor Who series. The animated installments will be released with live-action Invasion episodes in November. A sneak preview can be downloaded at www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2006/06/20/33077.shtml.

  • Zoom, Pulse, Trade Bring FX to B.O.

    On the heels of My Super Ex-Girlfriend comes another vfx-laden action-comedy that has some fun with the superhero genre. Zoom from Sony /Revolution Studios flies into theatres today, taking on Dimension’s techno-horror flick, Pulse and Oliver Stone’s account of real-life horror, World Trade Center. Also opening is Buena Vista’s teen-centric dance pic, Step Up.

    In Zoom, Tim Allen plays retired superhero Captain Zoom, who is called to a private academy to transform four unruly kids with special powers into an elite crimefighting force. This Fantastic Four for the tween set also features Courtney Cox and Chevy Chase, as well as visual effects by Luma Pictures, Digital Domain and Custom Film Effects. The pic was direceted by Peter Hewitt, who helmed 2004’s Garfield: The Movie.

    Lions Gate’s The Descent, a superior horror entry which opened last weekend, gets some competition from Pulse, a remake of a popular Japanese chiller. In the film, Kristen Bell, Tate Hanyok and Ian Somerhalder play college students who pick up a strange frequency on their computers and realize that they must stop evil forces from taking over the world. Horror legend Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) adapted Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s original screenplay and visual effects are provided by The Orphanage, Live Wire Prods. and ICO Ent.

    World Trade Center‘s Wednesday opening was overshadowed by new of the foiled terrorist plot in London, but the weekend should yield big returns for the true-life story of New York City policemen who dared to enter the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Recreating the collapse of the skyscrapers was the task of vfx shops Framestore CFC, Bain VFX, BUF, Double Negative, The Senate VFX, Baseblac, Men-from-Mars and Machine.

    While many believe it’s too soon for a 9/11 movie, critical response has been positive, though good reviews didn’t exactly help Universal’s United 93 reach a wide audience. The modestly budgeted film about one of the doomed Sept. 11 planes was released in April and only managed to earn $31.4 million domestically. But with a bigger budget, a big star (Nicolas Cage) and Oliver Stone’s name behind it, World Trade Center stands to fare better. Still, it has its work cut out for it as goes up against the hit Will Ferrell comedy, Talladega Nights, which debuted at No. 1 last week with $47 million.

  • DQ Ent., Onyx Films Team for CGI Features

    Animation, gaming and visual effects company DQ Ent.Ltd of India and CG-animation house Onyx Films in France have formed a joint venture to produce CGI feature films. DQE also announce plans to acquire up to a 20% stake in French TV production company Method Films

    Speaking about the joint venture Mr. Tapaas Chakravarti said: ‘We are thrilled to announce about our joint venture with the leading French-based animation giant Onyx Films. The joint venture also clearly endorses the fact that we are on par with the best in the business in terms of quality, and capabilities to execute large multiple projects within the stipulated time frame with state-of-the-art facilities and a strong talent pool’.

    DQE will initially invest approximately 1.5 million euros in the joint venture with Onyx Films and will hold a 51% stake in the partnership, which has three feature films in the planning stage. The goal is to release one feature film budgeted at around $30 million each year starting in 2008. Initial titles are Skyland, Night of the Child King and The Enchanted Boy.

    Lending her experience to the operation is Theresa Plummer Andrews, who most recently served as exec producer and president of children’s programming at BBC, which she acquired and co-produced many live-action and animated series between 1986 and 2005. Her career also includes stints a U.K. entities Portman Prods, Global Television, and ITV.

    Commenting on the stake in Method Films, Chakravarti says the deal will help DQE access global revenue and overseas funds for production, while providing a sizeable pipeline for animation, vfx and post-production work. In addition to its move into the feature animation arena, DQE plans to greatly expand its presence in the console and mobile video game arenas.

  • Luma Zooms In on VFX

    Venice, Calif.-based visual effects studio Luma Pictures completed approximately 80 effects shots for Sony Pictures’ Zoom, a tween-targeted superhero action-comedy that opens in theaters today. The company was one of several studios contracted to provide effects design, compositing and 3D animation for the Tim Allen vehicle about a retired superhero who agrees to help a quartet of young misfits learn to harness their special powers for good.

    According to Luma visual effects supervisor Payam Shohadai, the nature of Zoom‘s challenges allowed the studio to rediscover its ‘generalist’ roots. ‘The typical films we’ve work on in recent years have required us to segment work among teams of specialists to handle the complexities associated with CG creatures and CG environments,’ he says. ‘But for Zoom, much of the work was better served by having individual effects shots executed by artists with generalist skills who could oversee a shot from start through completion.’

    In one shot, we see one of the young characters using his talents to make an apple slowly disappear dimensionally towards its core. ‘We used a volumetric rendering technique coupled with a fluid simulation to produce the main element,” notes CG supervisor Vincent Cirelli. For a scene involving a character using super powers to repair a spaceship engine, Cirelli says they designed a series of geometric interlocking cylinders that could only fit together if rotated in a specific way. ‘The design of this puzzle presented many challenges in that we needed to allow clearance between the shapes to rotate and translate precisely into place in three dimensions.”

    Accustomed to demands for photo-realistic effects for films and television, Luma switched gears a bit for Zoom since producers wanted the effects to look a bit more cartoonish to play better to its target audience. ‘Since Zoom is a kids movie, elements must easily read on screen,’ explains vfx producer Steve Swanson. ‘The paintballs we created for the training sequence initially were made to be photo-real. However, the client asked that they be modified’that they be brightly lit, with bright, over-saturated colors. Our challenge then was to maintain realism while accommodating a somewhat exaggerated appearance.’

    Luma Pictures’ previous credits include Underworld: Evolution, Hoot, The Cave, Into the Blue, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Crash and Ray. Currently on the studio’s plate are The Covenant for Screen Gems, The Holiday for Columbia and No Country for Old Men for Miramax. Luma Pictures is located at 248 Westminster Ave. in Venice, CA.

  • DigiKidz Nets Spider-Man for DVDs

    Florida-based DigiKidz Inc. has licensed Marvel’s Spider-Man property to make personalized, animated DVDs in which kids can star as the friendly neighborhood web slinger. Parents will be able to go to www.digikidz.com to order their tailor-made DVD adventures, which will be customized by DigiKidz designers. A distribution deal is in the works will involve major retail outlets, according to the company.

    DigiKidz has been marketing various personalized kids’ products since 2004. The company now has a proprietary line of 12 personalized animated video adventure stories branded ‘U.R. The Star.’ Main characters in the cartoons have been animated with a white space where their faces should be so that photos of kids’ faces can be inserted. Fans of FOX’s The Simpsons may recall an episode where Homer had a similar type of video made for Lisa.

    The Spider-Man licensing deal with Marvel covers U.S. rights. Each DVD offered on the site costs $29.95. In addition to the personalized DVDs, DigiKids has produced its first educational entertainment DVD for toddlers.

  • Luxology’s modo Takes Apple Design Award

    Independent technology company Luxology LLC was recognized for its modo 3D modeling and animation package at the 11th Annual Apple Design Awards during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), held this week in San Francisco. Luxology’s flagship product, modo took Best Use of OS X Graphics, one of only eight awards handed out at the event.

    The Mac OS X version of modo enables Apple users to create 3D models and images for graphic design, game and film production, education, design visualization and more. Engineered to smoothly integrate into existing tool pipelines and work together with other leading 2D and 3D software applications, modo accelerates the creation of models, associated color and normal maps, and high-quality renderings.

    Other Apple Design Awards winners include Electronic Arts’ The Sims 2 1.0 Rev E, which was named Best Mac OS X Game, beating out runner-up WingNuts 2: Raina’s Revenge 1.0 from FreeVerse Software. Additional awards were given for developer tools, workflow automation, scientific computing and dashboard widgets. To see all of the winners, go to http://developer.apple.com/ada/. To purchase modo or learn more about the software, go to www.modo3d.com.

  • MTV2 In Doghouse Over Toon

    MTV2 has drawn fire from a watchdog group called Industry Ears for an episode of its new animated series, Where My Dogs At? The Associated Press reports that the organization took issue with images of an animated Snoop Dog leading two women around by chains attached to neck collars, which the rapper actually did once at a red-carpet event.

    Created by comedian Jeffrey Ross and scribe Aaron Lee, Where My Dogs At? spoofs the insanity of Hollywood by showing it through the eyes of two dogs who roam the streets of Tinsel Town and find themselves in the company of celebrities who often grace the covers of tabloids. The show premiered on June 10 and has recently completed its first season. Producers are now waiting to see if MTV orders another slate of episodes.

    In the meantime, MTV defends the show, which actually points out how wrong the Snoop Dog appearance was. One of the dogs even says, ‘I find that degrading, and I am a dog.’” Still, the network is apparently deciding whether or not to pull the episode from rotation. Complicating the matter is the fact that the fairly adult show airs during the afternoon, unlike Cartoon Network’s late-night home for edgy animation, [adult swim].

  • Director Gets His Halo

    The feature film based on Microsoft’s hugely successful Halo video game franchise is closer to becoming a reality with news that Microsoft and exec producer Peter Jackson have chosen a director. Having directed commercials, music videos and short films, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp will make his big-screen debut along with Master Chief.

    Written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later), the Halo movie will faithfully follow the games, which have Master Chief battling alien forces for the fate of the planet. Weta Digital and Weta Workshop will provide the film’s visual effects and Peter Jackson and producing partner Fran Walsh will provide creative consulting on all aspects of production through their WingNut Films banner. Jackson reportedly championed Blomkamp for the director gig after seeing some of his short works.

    You may not know him by name, but you’ve probably seen Blomkamp’s commercial work, which includes the Citroen spot in which a car transforms into a robot and performs a hip-hop dance on a rooftop. The commercial won three Clios and took top prize in Animation Magazine‘s AniCom Awards last year. His short films include Tempbot, in which an office gets some temporary help from a humanoid robot, and Alive in Joburg, a faux documentary about space aliens living in the slums of Johannesburg. You can watch Tempbot online here: www.transbuddha.com/mediaHolder.php?id=1301.

    The first Halo video game was released in 2001 and spawned a hugely successful sequel, Halo 2, in 2004. Together, the titles have sold more than 13.8 million copies worldwide and grossed more than $600 million. Halo 2 alone earned $125 million in first-day sales. The 20th Century Fox movie is slated for release sometime in 2008.

  • MTV Networks Snatches Up Atom

    Viacom’s MTV Networks today announced that it will acquire Atom Entertainment Inc., home to web-based short film distributor AtomFilms and three other major online entertainment destinations. The $200 million buy-out will give MTVN control of AtomFilms.com, Shockwave.com, AddictingGames.com and AddictingClips.com, which the company will use to expand its multiplatform distribution of music, games, entertainment, news and interactive content. The transaction is expected to be coplete in the third quarter of this year.

    ‘This acquisition is right on the money with our digital strategy,’ comments Viacom CEO Tom Freston. ‘It adds great scale with users, improves our growing casual gaming position and brings a world-class digital video library and a fantastic management team.” The deal follows MTVN’s recent purchases of XFIRE, Y2M, GameTrailers.com, IFILM and Neopets, all popular web destinations for young consumers.

    AtomFilms.com and AddictingClips.com will add to MTVN’s 24 broadband channels and its library of user-generated content, while the addition of Shockwave.com and AddictingGames.com is intended to help the company get a stronger foothold in the casual gaming market, which is growing in leaps and bounds.

  • Lasseter, Catmull in Pixar Pickle?

    Daily Variety reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into evidence that Pixar may have used bogus dates for stock options issued to principles John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. A number of companies have come under the microscope recently for the practice known as options backdating, which can result in execs receiving artificially high profits from a stock sale. Though sometimes legal, the move can lead to heavy fines and even jail time if it is proven that investors were deceived.

    Pixar filings reportedly show Catmull and Lasseter received one million and two million options respectively on Dec. 6, 2006, when the stock price was at a low for the period. The stock then went up more than 20% a couple weeks later, and was up approximately 50% by the end of January, possibly yielding a windfall of as much as $12 million for Lasseter and $6 million for Catmull. Also under suspicion are stock options issued to Lasseter in 1997, just before Pixar inked its first deal with Disney.

    The SEC hasn’t launched a formal investigation into Pixar and may not pursue the matter since options backdating is difficult to prove, according to Wall Street insiders. That fact that options were granted prior to a price spike may, after all, be mere coincidence.

    Often refered to as Pixar’s creative heart and soul, Lasseter directed the company’s first feature, Toy Story, and went on to helm Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life and the recently released Cars, which is currently raking in big bucks at the box office. With Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, he is also heading up the Imagineering department, which designs theme park attractions.

    Following its latest round of lay-offs, Dinsey recently posted a thrid-quarter net inclme of $1.13 billion, a 39% increase over the same period last year. Since profits from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest won’t be factored in until next quarter, the studio’s bully performance can be largely attributed to the strong box-office performance of Cars. With the CG family flick coming out on DVD on Nov. 7 to add to the Pirates booty, the House of Mouse can look forward to stellar foruth quarter as well.

  • Zoic BC. Open for Buisness

    Award-winning Los Angeles-based visual effects house Zoic Studios has announced the official launch of its Canadian facility, Zoic BC. The new branch has already completed work on the upcoming feature film Pathfinder for 20th Century Fox and is at work on episodes of SCI-FI Channel’s Eureka and Spike TV’s Blade.

    Zoic BC was set up by Zoic Studios vfx supervisors Patti Gannon and Randy Goux, who have relocated from Los Angeles to the Vancouver area to serve as creative directors at the new office. They oversaw the production of 280 visual effects shots for Pathfinder, directed by Marcus Nispel, who helmed the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The studio will also complete vfx work for Warner Bros.’ upcoming feature, One Missed Call.

    Zoic’s new recruits include vfx supervisor Bob Habros, who is overseeing work on Blade, and seasoned vfx producer Patrick Mooney, who came aboard to guide production at the Canadian studio. In addition, 20 local artists have been hired to fill key positions.

    The 4,000-square foot Vancouver office has workstations set upto accommodate more than forty 2D and 3D artists. The studio will be linked to Zoic’s Los Angeles headquarters via high-speed connections and video conferencing, allowing the Canadian team to access and utilize the 100 terabytes of storage and more than 1,000 render nodes housed at the Los Angeles facility.

    Zoic Studios’ feature film credits include Serenity, Zathura and Talladega Nights, while small-screen accomplishments can be seen in epispodes of SCI-FI’s Battlestar Galactica and CBS’ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami. More information on the studio can be found at www.zoicstudios.com.

  • Sedelmaier Animates Tek Jansen

    Comedy Central’s hit new series, The Colbert Report, this week debuted a new animated segment titled Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen. Produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Prods. (JJSP), the satirical cartoon will soon be available on Comedy Central’s Motherload broadband site at www.comedycentral.com/motherload.

    The Tek Jansen serials chronicle the exploits of a 25th-century renegade hero working for Alpha Squad Seven. In the first chapter, ‘Operation: Heart of the Phoenix’Dead or Alive,’ Jansen must stop his sensual, Peruvian nemesis, Abraxia, from destroying the Earth’s cloud supply. Colbert voices the lead role, which bears a striking resemblance to himself, while frequent collaborator Amy Sedaris (Strangers With Candy) pops up as Abraxia.

    Before getting his own Comedy Central show, Colbert lent his voice to the role of Ace in Saturday Night Live’s The Ambiguously Gay Duo catoons, which JJSP initially animated. Colbert then suggested the toon studio for the title sequence of Comedy Central’s cult-favorite series Strangers with Candy, and voiced two characters in the 2002 JJSP cartoon Midterm Elections. JJSP also created the animated title card for Colbert’s production company, Spartina, seen at the end of every installment of The Colbert Report.

    All the pre-production and animation for the Tek Jansen short was produced at JJSP’s studio in White Plains, with J.J. Sedelmaier serving as director, producer and designer. The project was made with a combination of hand-drawn techniques, Macromedia Flash and After Effects, with Adobe Photoshop and Crater CTP also coming into play. Digital ink & paint and compositing were performed at DL Digital in New York City. More information on JJSP can be found at www.jjsedelmaier.com.

  • Rat Named People’s Choice at SIGGRAPH

    In addition to winning Best of Show in this year’s Computer Animation Festival at SIGGRAPH, Alex Weil’s One Rat Short has received the People’s Choice Award. Announced today, the award is only the second to be determined by SIGGRAPH attendees, who were allowed to vote on their favorite selections from the Electronic and Animation Theaters for the first time last year.

    One Rat Short is a short film that chronicles a New York City rat’s journey from his own gritty world to the interior of a futuristic laboratory. Along the way, our rodent hero experiences love, navigates dangers and discovers his own fate. According to SIGGRAPH organizers, the entry received an overwhelming majority of votes.

    The SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival is an internationally recognized event that engages and inspires artists and technologists alike. This year saw 726 entries from 37 countries but only two winners. In addition to Best of Show going to Rat, Special Jury Honors were given to 458nm, a short film by Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck and Tom Weber of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany.

    SIGGRAPH 2007, the 34th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, will be held August 5-9 at the San Diego Convention & Exhibition Center in San Diego, Calif. For more details, go to www.siggraph.org/s2007.