Sony Pictures Animation has announced that the fourth and final chapter in its $1.3 billion animated feature franchise, Hotel Transylvanie: Transformania, will get an earlier summer release on July 23 (moved up from Aug. 6). The studio also unveiled a brand-new HT short today, Monster Pets!
The latest monster mash is directed by Jennifer Kluska (DC Super Hero Girls; story artist, HT3, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) and Derek Drymon (supervising director, CatDog; writer, SpongeBob SquarePants; head of story, Penguins of Madagascar), written by franchise creator Genndy Tartakovsky, produced by Alice Dewey Goldstone and exec produced by Tartakovsky, voice star Selena Gomez and Michelle Murdocca.
Sony’s upcoming release schedule also includes Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (June 18, moved up two weeks from original release date July 4th) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 (2022).
Next month, Tetsuya Nomura’s director’s cut of the 2005 CGI videogame epic Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete comes home in a remastered 4K Ultra HD home release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Fans can get the full Midgar experience in the June 8 release, which features all-new Dolby Atmos audio in both English and Japanese, 26 minutes of additional footage and over 1,000 revised scenes.
Based on the iconic RPG franchise and produced by Square Enix’s Visual Works studio, Advent Children was directed by Nomura — who has been involved in the game series in a variety of creative roles since FFV — and co-directed by Takeshi Nozue from a scenario by Kazushige Nojima. Despite receiving some mixed reviews stateside, its core audience of anime and games reviewers applauded the rich CG visuals and sword-swiping action. The pic received an honorary award at Sitges and was named best feature at the 2007 American Anime Awards.
Synopsis: Two years have passed since peace was won, and the ruins of Midgar stand as a testament to the sacrifices made to win that battle. But when a mysterious illness is linked to an insidious plot to resurrect an old enemy, Cloud must choose between the life of solitude he committed to or taking up the sword once more to save the planet he so loves.
Blu-ray bonus features:
On the Way to a Smile – Episode: Denzel – Animated Film
Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII – Original Story Digest
Reminiscence of FINAL FANTASY VII Compilation – Story Digest
***This article originally appeared in the May ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 310)***
The charming friendship between a mouse and a rabbit is at the heart of the upcoming preschool seriesPip and Posy. Based on the hugely popular books by Axel Scheffler, this 52 x 7-minute CG-animated show is produced by U.K.’s Magic Light Pictures and Blue Zoo animation studio. We had a chance to chat with the show’s Emmy- and Annecy prize-winning showrunner Jeroen Jaspaert (Stick Man, The Highway Rat) to find out more about this lovely new offering:
Animag: Can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved with this new show?
Jeroen Jaspaert: Having worked with Axel Scheffler for many years on our half-hour specials, we’d been aware of Pip and Posy since the first picture book release. We liked the characters a lot. They typified the appeal of Scheffler’s illustrations; these charming little animal characters, visually enticing stories and a lot of comedy sneaking onto the pages. It was the perfect inspiration for Magic Light’s very first TV series production. The company started to develop the project in 2017 initially working with long-time associates writer/director Max Lang (The Gruffalo, Zog, The Snail and the Whale) and writer/producer Suzanne Lang. Later in the year they were joined by Magic Light’s development producer, Vici King.
Jeroen Jaspaert
When did you actually start working on it and how many people work on the production?
I had been at Magic Light to direct Stick Man and The Highway Rat. It was a great experience working with them, so in 2018 I joined their animation development team. Initially I looked at various prospective projects, but as I had previous experience in preschool television, Pip and Posy instinctively felt like a natural match. Together with a few final scripts, this set out our vision for the series which met with a great response from the market. We were fortunate to get commissioned for 52 episodes by Milkshake, Sky Kids and ZDF. We are still writing the final scripts but have delivered the first batch of finished episodes for broadcast already. At the moment, we are at max capacity — we nearly have 100 people involved in this production.
Where is the animation produced? Which animation tools are used to produce it?
We did the original teaser with Blue Zoo animation studios. This was a great experience, as it quickly became clear to us they are a group of talented artists, who pride themselves in going beyond the expectations of preschool TV. They were the natural choice to produce the animation. We are working with Matt Tea as the series director, who has a great rapport with the whole team. The team at Blue Zoo is around 60 to 70 people strong. They use PanelForge for boarding, which is a great tool to combine animatics and pre-vis in one. The actual animation and lighting is done in Maya, comp in Nuke and Redshift for rendering. Adobe is used for design and editing.
Pip and Posy
What makes this show stand out in the busy preschool landscape?
I personally like the naturalism of the series. Even if we have this talking bunny and mouse, I see them as real, engaging children. At every stage we have tried to reduce that cartoony and noisy elements you might normally associate with preschool TV. Instead, we have relied on the natural charm and humor that is part of real six-year olds’ lives. Our main angle of the show is friendship: We only created stories that revolved around a friendship-conflict, and then explored how Pip and Posy — with empathy, humor, positivity and resilience — attempt to resolve this. We don’t have adults in their world, so this means there’s no one to wag a finger, explain what they should do and when to apologize. Pip and Posy need to find these things out for themselves.
This is Magic Light’s first foray into the series landscape … what do you like about working in this format?
I like that we have the scope of 52 episodes to explore who these characters are. We have the flexibility to expand their world, dig into the nature of their friendship, and then create a lot of fun story ideas to play that out. The series format is definitely more relentless than the half-hour specials I was used to before, primarily because I like to give it that same stamp of quality. A series feels more like jumping on a conveyor belt that needs to run at a fast pace and isn’t allowed to stop at any time. But that’s where the fun is as well. I’m always amazed about what we get done on a weekly basis.
Pip and Posy
What were your biggest challenges in getting this show of the ground?
Surprise, surprise: the COVID pandemic. We hadn’t even been in production for three months when the first lockdown was called in the U.K. So, we all started working remotely. This had countless challenges. For instance, we were due to start recording voices without any access to facilities. We had to rely on our cast of children to record from home in makeshift duvet dens, whilst puppies were barking and parcels being delivered. It was an enjoyable chaos; we relied on their parents to install this professional sound equipment, the children’s unflappable enthusiasm and our voice director’s boundless energy on Zoom to keep things on track. It’s a testament to everyone’s resilience that our duvet den recordings are of the best quality, and currently broadcast on TV.
What do you love about Pip and Posy?
I’m very proud of this show. I love the stories, the characters and the whole tactile look of it. It’s such an inviting series, and has that irreverent, witty humor which makes it an enjoyable watch for preschoolers (and hopefully parents as well). What I love most is how an episode seems to get ‘plussed’ at every stage it goes through. We’ve had stories where we weren’t sure if we hit an emotional beat correctly, and then the animation department knocked that out of the park. And episodes where we felt the pace dropped a little, the music score suddenly made you long for more. So far, we haven’t had a single dull day … every week something happens I’m really proud of.
Pip and Posy
Which animated show or movie had the biggest impact on you?
Slightly embarrassing perhaps, but it might be Beauty and the Beast. I loved animation since I was a child, but never really questioned it. So, this was probably the first animated movie that made me understand there was an industry behind these pretty drawings. I remember seeing one of those ‘featurettes’ before the actual movie and was blown away at the skill and diligence. So, when I went to see Beauty and the Beast in the cinema, I vividly remember looking at it more from a ‘filmmaker’ point of view, pointing out “multiplane!” at every opportunity.
What’s your take on the children’s animation scene in 2021?
I’ve got a sense it’s a healthy time for animation. It definitely has proven itself as a solid industry in this difficult year we’ve had, having adapted easier to working remotely. Preschool animation by default has a target audience with an insatiable appetite. Ironically, it feels like there has been more appetite for new content than ever before. I hope that this thirst for content and the accessibility via new viewing platforms will result in a surge of quality, not just quantity. Our younger viewers deserve thoughtful, engaging, fun and intelligent programs, just like adults do.
What kind of advice can you offer newbies who want to get into the animation business?
My experience is that there is no clear path, and that you gradually venture towards the area you feel you can offer the most. And that might not be the field you originally set out for! I see the animation business as a very social industry. So, whenever possible, please don’t fall for the trap of sitting quietly with your headphones on. I always think it’s worth it to show more interest beyond the department you happen to find yourself in. Positivity and communication skills are very important in our industry, and I think that schools don’t always focus enough on that. So, show interest in others and make sure they find you interesting. Be confident of the things you’re good at, but never assume you’re the best at it.
Pip and Posy currently airs in the U.K. on Channel 5’s Milkshake and will debut on the Sky Kids on-demand service in May.
***This article originally appeared in the May ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 310)***
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 22 years since Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Olaf Miller and Rob Davies decided to launch their own animation studio in Vancouver. The fab four animation pros initially formed Atomic Cartoons to help produce Milo’s Bug Quest with Sunwoo Ent.’s Jae Moh. The studio, which was bought by Thunderbird Entertainment in 2015, has created or helped produce an impressive list of beloved animated gems throughout the years, including shows such as Atomic Betty, Rocket Monkeys, Beat Bugs, Hilda, 101 Dalmatian Street, Molly of Denali, The Last Kids on Earth, The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special and Trolls: TrollsTopia.
“Atomic was started by four artists in 1999,” recalls founder and exec VP Bentley in a recent email interview. “We had previously worked together at other studios and decided we should take our experience and try and do things a little differently. We began with one service client and started developing our show Atomic Betty shortly thereafter.”
Atomic Betty was a beautifully designed, Flash-animated show produced with Tele Images Kids (France) and Breakthrough Films & TV (Canada), which followed the adventures of a not-so-typical 12-year-old girl from Moose Jaw, who is also part of an interstellar crime-fighting force. It was an instant hit for the studio and ran for three seasons (2004-2008).
Founder/EVP Trevor Bentley | flagship series Atomic Betty
Prioritizing Talent and Diversity
According to studio president and CEO Jennifer McCarron, the studio continues to focus on building a culture of excellence and increasing IP ownership as the team launches its new CP & distribution division. “Service work and honoring all of our partners remains a huge priority for us as well as we keep quality as our North Star,” says McCarron. “Focus on talent retention, diversity and inclusion remains paramount as we honor our greatest asset — our people.”
McCarron mentions that the company has grown in leaps and bounds, evolving from a 150-person studio primarily doing service work to a 700-plus studio with three locations in Vancouver, LA and Ottawa, with a growing focus on IP ownership and launching global content. “A focus on art and talent has been paramount since Atomic was launched in 1999, and remains key to this day,” she adds.
As CCO Matthew Berkowitz points out, “We have over 15 shows in production but unfortunately, as most haven’t been announced, we can’t say too many details — beyond sharing that we are privileged to be animating shows for clients and partners including Disney, Netflix, Universal, LEGO, HBO Max, DreamWorks, Apple, Adult Swim, PBS, Marvel, eOne, Hasbro and Spin Master! We’re also very excited about the progress on our IP development slate which is nearing 20 properties — all creator-driven, whether wholly original or adaptations!”
Berkowitz believes what sets Atomic apart from other similar studios is the passion the Atomic team has for animation and their commitment to its artists, creative partners and clients. “Our whole team loves to make cartoons: It’s a dream and a privilege to do it, and we aim to create an environment where artists can do the best work of their careers. We also work hard to foster a strong collaborative nature with our clients and partners. Finally, we firmly believe in not over-committing our studio, or taking on too much work. This way, both our artists as well as partners know we will be able to honor what we say we can do — and that’s to deliver top tier animation while having a great time in the process.”
CCO Matthew Berkowitz | CEO Jennifer McCarron
One of the big priorities of the studio is to maintain a safe environment where everyone is honored, no one feels like a number and mistakes are more than OK, allowing innovation to occur, says McCarron. “Our team is 45% male, 45% female and 10% gender fluid. In every fiber of our being, we know we are nothing without the amazing talent doing all the hard work and we strive to make Atomic the best run of people’s careers.”
“Before joining Atomic, I couldn’t help notice that the studio was producing the highest-level of both storytelling and animation, and the sheer number of projects was incredibly impressive,” says Richard Goldsmith, the studio’s president of global distribution and consumer products. “Now, being a member of the Atomic team for the last few months, I am seeing another side of the company with its new pipeline of projects developed in-house in addition to the many series that we produce for clients such as Netflix, Disney, LEGO and Nickelodeon based on their IP.”
“It has been a truly rewarding experience to share Atomic’s development with platforms around the world who have known about Atomic but now have the opportunity to partner with us directly,” adds Goldsmith. “We are really excited about the future of our new distribution and consumer products divisions to turn our creations into inspiring series and global brands.”
Eclectic Wheelhouse
Atomic currently produces content in both 2D and CG pipelines. The studio’s main tool set includes Harmony, Photoshop and Flash on the 2D side. The artists utilize Maya, Houdini and RenderMan to produce CG animation. Last March, the studio was able to transition smoothly to work-from-home to maintain the safety of the employees. “The key to Atomic’s success has always been our diverse and inclusive artist friendly culture — maintaining this while working 100% remotely has been our biggest and most important challenge of 2021,” says McCarron. “The teams work around the clock to make sure each and every individual is heard and receiving the support that they need.”
The Atomic team is happy to be riding the successful wave of animation in recent years.
“The heart and soul of our company is producing great content, and we are fortunate that the animation industry as a whole is experiencing its greatest growth in history,” notes Goldsmith. “Animation has proven to resonate with audiences of all ages, so platforms have expanded from kid-centric series to young adult and adult audiences. These platforms also understand the global nature of animated content versus live action. With this recognition, and the significant investment of both existing and new platforms in animated series, we are really focused on being great partners with platforms that we produce for.”
Richard Goldsmith, Pres. Global Distribution & CP | Series in development Mermicorno
It’s hard not to notice the level of enthusiasm the Atomic team carries in their heart for the medium. “We get to make cartoons with amazing people,” says Berkowitz. “We all grew up loving the medium, and then when we started working in this industry — we realized the only thing better than making cartoons is the people you get to make them with. To be able to team up with such incredible talent, and build something through true teamwork and collaboration, is really special and incredibly rewarding.”
Another big motivation is to inspire the next generation of toon fanatics. “We all grew up watching cartoons, and those shows inspired us and helped mold us into who we are today. The absolute best part of our jobs is when we hear from kids or their families about what our shows mean to them. It’s beyond amazing that we have an opportunity to make a small impact in these kids’ lives,” concludes Berkowitz.
“As a studio started by artists, the importance of the art is never far from our decision making process,” notes Bentley. “We’ve always put as much or more weight to the creative opportunity for the team and studio on any given project, be it service or IP. The creative really does matter at Atomic!”
Sky Kids (U.K.) has added the new animated original series Dodo to its summer line-up. The show, based on multi-award-winning film and YouTube hit Not the End of the World by British creator and series director Jack Bennett, will debut in June.
The 20 x 10′ Sky Original series is an animated school-based comedy for kids 8+ and families produced by BAFTA-winning Wildseed Studios (The Last Bus for Netflix, Counterfeit Cat for Disney). Leading kids’ and family entertainment specialist CAKE is launching the series internationally at MIPTV next week.
Dodo is a funny, relatable and heart-warming portrayal of everyday school life as experienced by 11-year-old Joe Connolly as he navigates the dramas and pitfalls of his first year at secondary school. With new situations and embarrassments around every corner, small events mean big drama for Joe, as he tries to fit in, make new friends, girlfriends and even loses his school trousers. But Joe has best friends Frisbo, Pete and Lily at his side, helping him realize that each challenge is really not the end of the world as he triumphs over adversity and survives another school day.
“Wildseed Studios have perfectly captured kids’ everyday experiences in school in a very fun and creative way,” noted Ed Galton, CCO & Managing Director at CAKE. “While kids will relate to Joe’s dilemmas, for adults, the self-consciousness, uncertainty and confusion of long-gone school days will come flooding back. An entertaining show for the whole family.”
The series is produced by Helen Stern (The Amazing World of Gumball), directed by creator Jack Bennett, with the support of Ben Ward (Horrible Histories) on scripting and with executive guidance provided by Wildseed’s Head of Kids and Animation, Sarah Mattingley.
Wildseed Studios is producing Dodo in association with Birkdale Film and Television, with Toonz Media Group in India and Telegael in Ireland both providing production services. CAKE is representing the series worldwide. The series was commissioned by Lucy Murphy, Director of Kids Content at Sky U.K. & Ireland, and exec produced for Sky by Estelle Hughes, Commissioning Editor, Sky Kids.
“Joe’s dramas at secondary school will feel familiar to anyone who has ever been to school yet, with his incredible animated fantasies and disaster-scenarios, they’re also uniquely funny and surprising. We know our audience will love this show,” said Hughes.
“Lucy Murphy and Estelle Hughes at Sky Kids were very quick to spot the potential of Dodo and we were delighted when they came on board,” said Miles Bullough, Managing Director at Wildseed. “Sky Kids has established itself as a platform of great quality and we are very proud that Dodo will join its distinguished roster of great shows and we look forward to working with the wonderful CAKE to bring the show to the international market.”
Sky Kids offers families eight kids’ channels and over 5,000 episodes of on demand viewing as well as the Sky Kids app, a safe space for younger kids’ content, games and art tools with parental controls including a sleep mode so parents can moderate screen time. This is complemented by the pin protected Safe Mode on Sky Q, which prevents children straying into areas of content that are not for them.
Mindshow, the Los Angeles-based CG animation production company built on proprietary software, has raised millions in funding and announced Sharon Bordas as its new President, along with several new executive hires.
Led by SWaN & Legend Venture Partners, Mindshow raised $10 million in financing to further invest in the company’s CG animation technology, expand its content pipeline and bring animation projects to market much more quickly. Sugar23, the emerging management production and creative platform founded in 2017 by Academy Award-winning manager-producer Michael Sugar, also participated in the fundraise.
Mindshow has now raised over $25M in total, which has been invested in developing the company’s proprietary animation technology that merges cutting edge video game technology, visual effects and machine learning. The software allows Mindshow to quickly produce high-quality CG content. Their most recent project was a 30-episode season for Mattel’s Enchantimals toy line: The company delivered final content in just four months, all while working remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are thrilled at what the team at Mindshow has accomplished over the past year, even more so in light of the challenges 2020 brought to all of us,” said Fred Schaufeld, the SWaN & Legend co-founder who is also an owner of the Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals and Washington Wizards. “We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in this next chapter of the company’s growth.”
Mindshow CEO Gil Baron also announced the promotion of Sharon Bordas from Head of Studio to President of Mindshow, and several key hires including Jason Reisig as Global Director of Animation, Michael McGahey as Head of Creative Development and Grace Buehler as Chief of Staff.
“Over the last year with Sharon at the helm we’ve been building a world class content team and using our tech to bring more fun, creativity and mind-melting amazingness to the 3D animation space,” said Baron. “Working with world class partners to help define the future and shape what content gets made is a dream come true.”
Sharon Bordas (President) brings more than 20 years experience working in the entertainment industry as a writer, producer, executive and entrepreneur. Bordas is a long time champion of female directors and diversity in content, and was most recently VP of Programming for Scripted Series at Lifetime Television, and before that an EVP at MarVista Entertainment, a VC backed film and television studio.
Jason Reisig (Global Director of Animation) brings over 25 years of animation experience to Mindshow, formerly Co-Director at Warner Bros Animation, as well as a Head of Character Animation and Department Chair at DreamWorks Animation where he headed animation productions for Shrek Forever After and Home, and supervised for Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Trolls, among others. He received a SciTech Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences as he led the interaction design of Premo, DreamWork’s proprietary animation software. He’s animated on Academy Award-winning features Shrek and Spider-Man 2, the former he was nominated for an individual Annie Award. Reisig is also a tenured professor of Animation at USC.
Michael McGahey’s (Head of Creative Development) expertise comprises series, TV movies, feature film, and animation. As an executive at Deep River Productions, he began the campaign to get Little Miss Sunshine into production, and helped develop the Big Momma’s House franchise. At Disney, he developed Lab Rats, Kickin’ It, Wander Over Yonder, the Emmy Award-winning Mickey Mouse shorts, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil, among other series and movies. He was EP on Rebel for BET with legendary director John Singleton, and was an EP on movies and series for Nickelodeon and Netflix, respectively.
Grace Buehler (Chief of Staff) spent six and a half years working in stage and backlot operations at NBCUniversal as the operations representative on NBC productions including Champions, Law & Order: True Crime and The Good Place. Eager to explore the world of VR, Buehler moved to Magnopus and from there she was recruited by Netflix to join their studio operations team. There she managed operations for Netflix productions at three of Netflix’s master leased Los Angeles studios, serving on productions including Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood, Boys in the Band and numerous Netflix Kids and Family productions.
Founded in 2016, Mindshow started as a consumer facing app with the goal of making animation creation accessible to everyone. The launch of the app led to an Emmy nomination for interactive media and the launch of a professional content creation in 2020. Its debut project as a CG animation production outfit, Mattel’s Enchantimals, has racked up over 81 million views on YouTube. The studio has several projects in development yet to be announced.
FuseFX — a full-service, award-winning visual effects company with studios in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, Montréal, Toronto and Bogotá — announces its acquisition of Rising Sun Pictures (RSP), a world-renowned, high-end visual effects studio headquartered in Adelaide, Australia.
Rising Sun Pictures, founded in 1995 by Tony Clark, Gail Fuller and Wayne Lewis, offers a full suite of visual effects services and has a long heritage of creating world-class visual effects for many of Hollywood’s biggest blockbuster movies and streaming content. Over its 25-year history, RSP has established itself as one of the world’s elite visual effects studios.
Clark will continue to lead the studio as Managing Director and operate under the Rising Sun Pictures brand. Together, the combined companies have nearly 800 artists at eight locations across the globe. The partnership represents the combining of two great teams, both bringing world-class expertise from their respective fields.
“Tony, Gail, Wayne and the entire team at Rising Sun Pictures have created one of the most well-established and respected independent studios in the world,” said David Altenau, Founder & CEO of FuseFX. “Their commitment to delivering the highest quality art and service to their clients has helped make them an icon in the visual effects industry. Their previous work and position in the industry make them a fantastic partner for FuseFX.”
Clark shared, “We’re very excited to be partnering with FuseFX, which comes at an ideal time as we grow to meet the demand over the coming years. Our vision for Rising Sun Pictures is to be a cornerstone component of the next generation global full-service visual effects company, and with the FuseFX partnership, we can achieve this vision to ensure that we stay at the forefront of visual effects production and remain a trusted creative partner to our clients.”
“I’d sincerely like to thank my fellow founders and shareholders for the last 25 years,” Clark added. “We have all been crucial to the success of RSP, culminating at this pivotal moment in time. RSP will embark on an expansion plan over the next few years, and we’re grateful to be partnering with David Altenau and the team at FuseFX to help fully realize RSP’s potential.”
As RSP continues to execute on its plan, Tony will be joined by RSP’s well-established executive management team, including Chief Financial Officer Gareth Eriksson, Head of Business Development Jennie Zeiher, Executive Assistant Maree Friday, Head of People & Culture Scott Buley and Head of Production & Executive Producer Meredith Meyer-Nichols. There will be no operational changes to the RSP business and the team will look to add talent after a recent expansion of the Adelaide headquarters that provides the studio with a capacity of 270 crew.
Mortal Kombat
Over the past year, the studio has contributed to projects including Disney’s upcoming Jungle Cruise, led by VFX Supervisor Malte Sarnes, and as lead vendor on New Line Cinema’s Mortal Kombat, under the direction of VFX Supervisor Dennis Jones (on HBO Max April 23).
The South Australian state government welcomes the news of the partnership between FuseFX and RSP. “South Australia is enjoying a golden age in the production of film, television and streaming services, and the decision by FuseFX to invest in Adelaide vindicates the Marshall Government’s ambitious strategy,” said David Pisoni, Minister for Innovation and Skills.
Clark offered, “The state government has been incredibly supportive of RSP and the creative industries in South Australia. The incentives on offer, in combination with federal incentives, mean that South Australia is a prime destination for visual effects production and will continue to be for years to come.”
Altenau concluded, “We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Rising Sun Pictures to help fuel their ambitious expansion plans and to offer an even broader range of skill sets, geographic locations and storytelling solutions to our clients at the level of quality and service they demand.”
FocalPoint Advisors, LLC served as financial advisor to FuseFX and Will Berryman advised RSP.
Atrocious serial killings on holidays in Gotham send The World’s Greatest Detective into action – confronting both organized crime and a mysterious murderer – in Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One, the next entry in the popular series of the DC Universe Movies. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, the feature-length animated film – which will be accompanied by the latest DC Showcase animated short, The Losers – is set for release on Digital and Blu-ray (SRP $29.98 US/$39.99 CAN) on June 22, and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack with Part Two in 2022.
Inspired by the iconic mid-1990s DC story from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One begins as a brutal murder on Halloween prompts Gotham’s young vigilante, the Batman, to form a pact with the city’s only two uncorrupt lawmen (Police Captain James Gordan and District Attorney Harvey Dent) in order to take down The Roman, head of the notorious and powerful Falcone Crime Family. But when more deaths occur on Thanksgiving and Christmas, it becomes clear that, instead of ordinary gang violence, they’re also dealing with a serial killer – the identity of whom, with each conflicting clue, grows harder to discern. Few cases have ever tested the wits of the World’s Greatest Detective like the mystery behind the Holiday Killer.
Lauded for his performance as Red Hood/Jason Todd in 2010’s Batman Under the Red Hood, Jensen Ackles (Supernatural, Smallville) returns to the DC Universe Movies as the title character of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The late Naya Rivera (Glee), who passed away in 2020, gives one of her final performances as Catwoman/Selina Kyle.
The all-star cast includes:
Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Las Vegas) as Harvey Dent
Billy Burke (Twilight, Revolution, Zoo) as James Gordon
Titus Welliver (Bosch, Deadwood, The Town) as Carmine Falcone
David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Ant-Man, Dune, The Dark Knight) as Calendar Man
Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Batman: Arkham Knight) as Joker
Amy Landecker (Your Honor, Transparent) as Barbara Gordon
Julie Nathanson (Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay) as Gilda Dent
Jack Quaid (The Boys, The Hunger Games) as Alberto
Fred Tatasciore (American Dad!, Family Guy) as Solomon Grundy
Jim Pirri (World of Warcraft franchise) as Sal Maroni
Alastair Duncan (The Batman, Batman Unlimited franchise) as Alfred
Additional voices provided by Frances Callier, Greg Chun and Gary Leroi Gray.
Chris Palmer (Superman: Man of Tomorrow) directs from a screenplay by Tim Sheridan (Reign of the Supermen, Superman: Man of Tomorrow). Producers are Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) and Kimberly S. Moreau (Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Butch Lukic (Justice Society: World War II, Superman: Man of Tomorrow) is supervising producer. Executive producers are Michael Uslan and Sam Register.
Blu-ray & Digital special features:
DC Showcase – The Losers (New Animated Short) – The legendary rag-tag team of World War II outcasts – Captain Storm, Johnny Cloud, “Mile-a Minute” Jones, rookie Gunner and Sarge – find themselves marooned on an uncharted island in the South Pacific that is completely overrun with dinosaurs! Their would-be ally on this deadly mission, the mysterious and beautiful Fan Long of the Chinese Security Agency, tells them their job is to rescue the scientists that have been sent to study the time/space anomaly. Perhaps… but what is her mission?
A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie – An advance look at the next animated film in the popular DC Universe Movies collection, Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two.
From the DC Vault – Batman: The Animated Series – “Christmas with the Joker” and “It’s Never too Late”
Amid the COVID-induced workflow adjustments of 2020, Vancouver VFX house Artifex Studios was tasked with delivering 685 shots for SYFY Channel’s hit sci-fi comedy Resident Alien. As the series wraps its initial 10 episode run, the full scope of Artifex’s work is on display: everything from town and mountain environments, to spaceships and bacon-grabbing tentacles.
Based on the comic-book series by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhous, Resident Alien is a mystery tale with a comedic sci-fi twist: An alien (played by Alan Tudyk) crashes on Earth and hides in a remote Colorado mountain town. After assuming the identity of the town doctor, his nefarious mission is threatened when he realises one of the townspeople, a nine-year-old boy, can see his true alien form. The series is produced by Jocko Prod., Universal Content, Dark Horse Entertainment and Amblin Television.
Harry’s octopus leg. Painted out what was visible of Alan Tudyk’s leg, and added the CG leg. Flailing animation, interacting with bacon.
The studio was involved early in setting key environments for Resident Alien, and continued to add embellishments or build-outs dependent on scene requirements. In Episode 6, the studio augmented stock plates to add sweeping snow-covered mountain ranges, while Episode 8 saw a build out of magnificent practical glaciers into a full environment.
The glacier sequence in Episode 8 in particular demanded that virtually every moment was touched in some way by Artifex, whether with matte painting, CG extensions, smoothing and alteration of the set, or texture work to subtly add snow and ice. The studio also had to provide extensive rotoscope work in the season finale to transform a daylight town scene into night, complete with lit matte interiors for buildings, etc.
Glacier environment. Lots of matte painting work, set extensions, but also smoothing and altering the texture of the set, to feel more like snow and ice where necessary.Augmenting stock plates to add sweeping mountain ranges with snow.
Artifex also got their creature animation fix, when called upon in Episode 7 to create a CGI octopus (voiced by Nathan Fillion), which Tudyk interacts with through aquarium glass. The photoreal octopod inspires a later scene in Episode 9 wherein the studio had to supplant Tudyk’s leg with a tentacle, which seeks out — among other things — bacon.
“The animation had to find a sweet spot that suited the vocal performance accompanying it,” said Artifex VFX Supervisor Rob Geddes. “We wanted to be careful to provide a grabbing visual without taking the viewer out of the moment by being too intentionally cartoonish or farcical.”
Octopus in restaurant tank. Animation had to find a sweet spot that suited the vocal performance, without taking you out of the moment by being too cartoonish or artificial.Harry’s octopus leg. Painted out what was visible of Alan Tudyk’s leg, and added the CG leg. Flailing animation, interacting with bacon.
Rounding out the work was the inside of the spaceship in Episode 10, the season finale. Artifex designed and integrated the spaceship interior inside and around the greenscreen set.
The project spanned roughly a year due to delays imposed by COVID, with both internal and external adjustments being made to reflect the realities of working remotely.
Hardware and software applied during the project included Maya and V-Ray for modeling, animation and rendering; tracking in Syntheyes, matte painting in Photoshop, compositing in Nuke, scheduling and production tracking in ftrack, and Meshroom for photogrammetry.
Resident Alien was renewed for a second season last month. Catch up on Season 1 on syfy.com.
Founded by Adam Stern in 1997, Artifex Studios is a fully-staffed creative service studio working with global TV, film and OTT clients. The studio provides visual effects services for entertainment players including Disney, DreamWorks, AMC, Blumhouse Pictures, History Channel, Nickelodeon, Paramount, FOX and Netflix.
Spaceship interior. Designed and integrated the spaceship interior in and around the greenscreen set.Spaceship interior. Designed and integrated the spaceship interior in and around the greenscreen set.
Tubi, a division of FOX Entertainment, today announced it has entered a content deal with Shout! Factory to bring a collection of premium anime films to its viewers. New titles coming to Tubi include the award-winning In This Corner of the World and Eleven Arts Anime Studio’s Millennium Actress, as well as Liz and the Blue Bird, Penguin Highway and several additional critically acclaimed titles.
These popular films will be available completely free to viewers – with most available in subtitled and dubbed versions – beginning April 8, with In This Corner of the World coming to Tubi in 2022.
In This Corner of the World
“Tubi has a significant audience of anime lovers and our latest additions from Shout! Factory will soon give them even more of what they’ve been bingeing,” said Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer at Tubi. “As we continue to super serve our anime viewers, we’re thrilled that these award-winning and fan-favorite titles will now have a new home on our platform.”
“This is an exciting new opportunity,” said Melissa Boag, SVP of Family Entertainment at Shout! Factory. “This agreement will provide Tubi viewers with access to an amazing collection of popular Japanese anime films from Shout! Factory. We’re excited to collaborate with Tubi to bring viewers quality anime content they enjoy.”
Julie Dansker, Head of New Content Sales at Shout! Factory, added, “We are thrilled to further expand our partnership with Tubi and make our award-winning Japanese Anime available to an even wider audience.”
Penguin Highway
Titles coming to Tubi include:
Millennium Actress | Winner of the Tokyo Anime Award and nominated for multiple Annie Awards, this gorgeous new restoration is what many believe to be Satoshi Kon’s (Perfect Blue, Paprika) greatest work. When the legendary Ginei Studios shuts down, filmmaker Genya Tachibana and his assistant are tasked with interviewing its reclusive star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who had retired from the spotlight 30 years prior. As Chiyoko recounts her career, Genya and his crew are literally pulled into her memories where they witness her chance encounter with a mysterious man on the run from the police. Despite never knowing his name or his face, Chiyoko relentlessly pursues that man in a seamless blend of reality and memory that only Satoshi Kon could deliver. The film also garnered the Grand Prize in the Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs Media Arts Festival.
Liz and the Blue Bird | Directed by Naoko Yamada, students and best friends Mizore Yoroizuka and Nozomi Kasaki prepare to play a complex musical duet, “Liz and the Blue Bird,” for oboe and flute. Though they play beautifully together and have been friends since childhood, Mizore and Nozomi find that with graduation looming and the duet proving difficult, their friendship begins to buckle under the pressure. Interspersed with their story is the fantasy tale of Liz, drawn like a storybook, contrasting with the crisp realism of the school. These two distinct styles weave with stirring music to tell an intimate coming-of-age story. The film was nominated for Best Film at the Crunchyroll Awards.
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms | Though only 15, Maquia knows she will live for centuries without aging past adolescence. She belongs to the Iorph, a clan of ageless beings just like her. Maquia’s elders warn her not to fall in love with anyone outside their realm. But fate pushes Maquia out into the mortal world one night when an invading territory separates her from the clan. There she discovers an orphaned baby, Arial, and takes him in as her own child. From this point, Maquia will suffer extreme heartbreak in the name of motherhood, as she watches Arial grow and seeks to reconnect with her lost Iorph friends, all torn apart by the cruel world of Mesate.
Penguin Highway | Budding genius Aoyama is only in the 4th grade, but already lives his life like a scientist. When penguins start appearing in his sleepy suburb, hundreds of miles from the sea, Aoyama vows to solve the mystery. When he discovers that the arrival of the penguins is somehow related to a mysterious young woman from his dentist’s office, they team up for an unforgettable summer adventure! The film was nominated for Best Animated Film at the Japanese Academy Awards.
The Wonderland | On the day before her birthday, young Akane meets the mysterious alchemist Hippocrates who brings her through a basement and into a fantastical world full of magic and color. Though things seem peaceful on the surface, he reveals this world is in danger and as the destined Goddess of the Green Wind, it is Akane’s responsibility to bring back the rain and save this world from the terror known as Zan Gu. Joining Akane on her journey is Pipo, an alchemist in training, and her adventurous Aunt Chii. The only problem? Akane just wants to go home. The film is directed by Keiichi Hara (Miss Hokusai, Summer Days with Coo).
Wonderland
Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Welcome To The Kitauji High School Concert Band
Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – May The Melody Reach You
Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Our Promise: A Brand New Day | Based on the manga and television series, the Sound! Euphonium movies follow Kumiko, a young girl at Kitauji High School who plays euphonium in her school’s orchestra. Follow the band on their mission to reach Nationals while juggling romance and adolescence.
Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern Parts 1 & 2 | Adapted from Waki Yamato’s popular manga, Kazuhiro Furuhashi’s Haikara-San is a heartfelt, and sometimes comical, tale of love surviving through the perils of war and separation.
Donten: Laughing Under the Clouds Gaiden Trilogy | It’s been a year since brothers and shrine guardians, Tenka, Soramaru and Chutaro, have defeated the legendary giant snake that threatened to destroy humanity. However, their lives are thrown into upheaval when they discover a plot to revive the evil serpent.
In This Corner of the World | Based on the award-winning manga by Fumiyo Kouno and brought to life by acclaimed filmmaker Sunao Katabuchi (Mai Mai Miracle) and producer Taro Maki, In This Corner of the World tells the emotional story of Suzu, a young girl from Hiroshima, who’s just become a bride in the nearby city of Kure during World War II. Living with her husband’s family, Suzu has to adjust to her new life, which is made especially difficult by regular air raids. But life must go on, and Suzu — through the help of her new family and neighbors — begins to discover the joys of everyday life in Kure. Much is gained in Kure, but with war, many things cherished are also lost. The film was nominated for Best Film at the Annie Awards, among several other wins and nominations.
Donten: Laughing Under the Clouds Gaiden
Tubi has more than 30,000 movies and television shows from over 250 content partners, including every major studio, giving fans of films and television programs an easy way to discover new content that is available completely free.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years — the newest addition to the SpongeBob SquarePants universe — made a splash on Nickelodeon (Friday, April 2 at 7 p.m. ET/PT), scoring the net the top telecast of 2021 to date with Kids 2-11, on ad supported TV. (Source: NMR, Live+Same Day, 2021-YTD [12/28/20-4/04/21], excluding sports, movies, news and shorts)
In Live + Same Day, Kamp Koral averaged a 1.7/336K with Kids 2-11, posting an increase of +31% year over year. The telecast also ranked number one for the week with Kids 6-11, averaging a 1.5/179K, posting double-digit year-over-gains (+36%); and drew 714,000 total viewers.
In Live +3, Kamp Koral posted double-digit lifts of +24% among Kids 2-11, averaging a 2.2/416K, ahead of the animation genre average lifts +10%. With Kids 6-11, the telecast averaged a 1.5/179K, posting a +32% increase in Live +3, outpacing the genre average +25%. The episode also posted double-digit lifts with total viewers, up +20% (855K).
The series premiered on streaming service Paramount+ on March 4.
Following Friday’s Kamp Koral episode, Nickelodeon debuted its brand-new live-action puppet series The Barbarian and the Troll (Friday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT), which posted double-digit year-over-year gains with Kids 2-11 (1.4/271K, +17%) and was the number two telecast for the week with Kids 6-11 (1.3/153K, +30%), only after Kamp Koral. The show also drew 607K total viewers (+10% vs year ago).
In Live + 3, The Barbarian and the Troll telecast posted double-digit gains with Kids 2-11 (1.4/271K, up +13% vs LSD) and Kids 6-11 (1.3/153K, up +21%), up +23% and +34% over the live-action genre average, respectively. The episode also posted double-digit lifts with total viewers, up +19% (725K).
Sony & Amazon Falls Open First Columbia Pictures Theme Park in Thailand
Dubbed “Aquaverse,” the new theme and waterpark will be built on a 14-acre plot in the seaside town of Bangsaray, about 20 minutes from Pattaya and 90 minutes from Bangkok. Rides and attractions will begin to open in October 2021, inspired by popular Columbia/Sony entertainment brands, such as:
Hotel Transylvania Kid-Friendly Zone – Aquaverse’s biggest water park attraction featuring over 100 water features, splash buckets, water rockets and more!
Surf’s Up in Surfers’ Paradise – Surf a mighty wave and show us what you’ve got on the exhilarating water park attraction with our dual Flowrider!
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Swallow Falls River Adventure – Take a break from the day’s thrills by touring the Aquaverse along the lazy river and meet the amazing Foodimals featured in the hit film.
Vivo Wave Pool – Relax in a giant wave pool inspired by the upcoming animated musical. The wave pool zone is the ideal venue when hosting music events and live shows, where celebrity artists and world-class international DJs will take to the stage.
Men in Black Thrill Rides – Aquaverse’s most thrilling rides and attractions can be found here, including hair-raising water coaster rides, one of which has a 12-meter free-fall ride that sends you careening down a MIB Wormhole.
Ghostbusters Supernatural Experience – Step into the Ghostbusters portal and zip across ghost traps as you glide down a water coaster with your best friend or dare to enter the world’s first and only fully-enclosed water dome in a family raft ride.
Bad Boys Raceway – Experience the thrill of the chase and put the pedal to the metal around the new outdoor go-kart tracks in a neon Miami themed racecourse.
Jumanji Jungle Adventure – Brave the world of Jumanji through wild jungle themed water slides, visiting Jaguar Mountain while being chased by Mandrills before plunging into Jumanji’s splash pool!
‘The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom’ Game Launched June 4
Outright Games has teamed up with Atomic Cartoons (Thunderbird Ent.) and dev shop Stage Clear Studios to craft a kid-friendly monster action game, under a partnership managed by worldwide agent Cyber Group Studios.
Set in the world of the best-selling graphic novels and Emmy-winning animated series, Staff of Doom immerses fans in an all-new story as they explore the town of Wakefield and take on hordes of zombies. Players guide Jack, Quint, June and Dirk as they search for the missing pieces of a powerful relic and try to overcome Malondre, the Queen of the Slime Monsters, as she seeks to summon Rezzoch, the Ancient Destructor of Worlds. At launch, up to four players can jump into offline co-op mode, with an online multiplayer patch set to follow. Available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and Steam.
ITFS Goes 100% Digital
Following a similar decision by sister event FMX conference, the Stuttgart Intl’l Festival of Animated Film (May 4-9) has canceled onsite events and cinema screenings due to coronavirus guidelines. Originally planned as a hybrid edition, the 28th ITFS will be expanded and enhanced with new features, like a VR Hub to bring attendees to a digital Schlossplatz and extended access to the media library, from May 3 to 16.
“The onsite meetings and exchange between the general public and guests from the industry is not just traditionally the core of the Festival, but shall also remain to be so, even if in the future online programme sections are to be used to expand the audience community nationally and internationally,” said Commercial Managing Director Dieter Krauß. “The planned 2021 Festival program will be offered online as far as possible, to bring the Festival to home screens.”
ITFS 2021 will feature a virtual reality Schlossplatz.
YMA Honors Three Outstanding Women
Canada’s Youth Media Alliance is bestowing its 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award on kids’ animation veteran Michelle Melanson Cuperus who, over the last 30 years, has produced hundreds of episodes and earned more than 50 accolades, including the Canadian Screen Award and Emmy and BAFTA nominations. Cuperus has worked with PBS, Nelvana, CBC, Cookie Jar Ent. and Radical Sheep Prod. on series including Rescue Heroes, Cyberchase, Stella and Sam and The Berenstain Bears. She is also the founder of animation networking/mentorship org Women Drawn Together.
YMA is also honoring identical twins and award-winning kids’ live-action producers Georgina and Rennata López (Lopii Productions) with the Emerging Talent Award. These distinguished professionals will be honored at a virtual gala to be streamed live from the CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto on May 26.
ADK Emotions NY Welcomes New President & CEO
The New York-based subsidiary and licensors of global franchise Beyblade Burst has named Shunichi Ogawa to the post. A seasoned and well-respected executive who joined ADK in 2005, managing marketing and advertising for various brands, Ogawa previously served on the ADK Emotions NY board of directors and now oversees the business division of CEO for North America, China and Asia. He will work alongside COO Daichi ‘David’ Wakabayashi to shepherd Beyblade Burst and other emergent anime IPs in their global expansion.
Former president Shuji ‘Shawn’ Wada will continue to spearhead the company and remains on the board of directors for both the Tokyo and New York offices. Now in its third decade, ADK Emotions NY recently moved to new office space in Midtown Manhattan.
The Upside Down River
Dandelooo Collab Author Jean-Claude Mourlevat Honored
The French children’s author won prestigious 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, presented by the Swedish government to outstanding contributors to kids’ and YA literature. Mourlevat’s novel La rivière à l’envers (Editis Group) has sold over a million copies in France and numerous other countries, and has recently been published in English by Andersen Press.
Dandelooo is adapting the book into animated series The Upside Down River (9 x 26′). Commissioned by Canal+ France, the 2D series will be produced at Dandelooo’s Valence animation studio Ooolala in cooperation with Canal+ Family. Directed by Paul Leluc (The Wolf, The Long Long Holiday), written by Jean Regnaud (Ernest & Celestine) and Marie de Banville (Tobie Lolness), the series targeted at kids 8-12 is set for delivery in early 2022. Dandelooo will be responsible for worldwide distribution.
Counting With Paula
TV & Streaming Bytes:
Omens Studios secured a slew of deals for preschool hit Counting with Paula (300 x 11′). New partners: TV3 (Catalonia), free-to-air/digital, S4-5; ZooMoo Networks, worldwide multilanguage Pay TV, S3; Future Today’s Happy Kids TV (U.S., Can., U.K.), S5; Me Interactive’s Enfan TV (Japan), S4-5; Kidoodle.tv (streaming worldwide), S1-3; and Amazon (NorAm), S4.
Spacetoon has extended its partnership with Hasbro’s eOne in a multi-year deal that will bring three of eOne’s most successful series to MENA. Transformers: Rescue Bots, Power Rangers Beast Morphers and My Little Pony: Pony Life will be available across Spacetoon free-to-air channels in the region and streaming service Spacetoon GO.
APC Kids has picked up distribution for S4 of global preschool hit Kid-E-Cats (156 x 5′), commissioned by CTC Media (Russia). The co. will handle rights outside Russia, CIS and China.
Illuminated Film Company inked a deal with ABC Commercial for the first two seasons of The Rubbish World of Dave Spud (kids 6-11, 78 x 11′)in Australia & New Zealand.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure, 2021 BAFTA winner for Best British Game and Family Game.
Event Bytes:
SCAD GamingFest returns this weekend for a virtual edition, Fri. April 9 & Sat. April 10.
Wizard World Signature Series presents the creators of X-Men: The Animated Series, Eric and Julia Lewald, in a virtual panel Sat., April 17 at 1 p.m. PT.
Key Buyers Event: Digital, the int’l online audiovisual market out of Russia (held in English), sets its 3rd edition dates for June 8-10, 2021.
SMOF 2021 (Stop Motion Our Fest) calls for entries for the 4th edition of Argentina’s only dedicated stop-mo celebration, July 28-Aug. 1. Deadline: June 10.
British Game Awardswinnerswere announced recently. Hades earned five awards, and two each went to Animal Crossing, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and The Last of Us Part II.
Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. today announced it has entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire kids and family entertainment company, Curiosity Ink Media, LLC – a producer and developer of original kid-friendly content – to complement the Company’s existing offerings of brand-safe social media for kids, animation production and web filtering for schools, government agencies and private businesses. Additionally, Grom appointed two former Nickelodeon executives – Curiosity’s President Russell Hicks and Paul Ward – to lead its animation, social media and educational divisions.
An emerging platform and content provider of entertainment for kids under 13 years old, the Company’s subsidiary, Grom Social, Inc. provides a secure social media venue for kids that is monitored around the clock and invites parents and guardians to play an active role in a child’s social media activities. The announcements were made by Darren Marks, Grom’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The addition of Curiosity opens the door for Grom to explore original programming, including serving as an original content pipeline for SVOD services and others looking to fortify their content offerings with kid and family-friendly programming. Additionally, the Company anticipates that the acquisition would unlock the potential for Grom to create cross-platform synergies whereby Curiosity’s content can debut on Grom Social, gain user feedback and help inform series development.
“We expect that the acquisition of Curiosity will strengthen our foothold in original content production and allow us to explore synergies across our animation, social media and educational services while fortifying our mission to serve kids and families in a variety of ways,” said Marks. “We believe the arrival of Russell and Paul to drive Grom’s portfolio, along with the addition of Curiosity Ink Media, will be a watershed moment for us. We are energized and elated by the possible opportunities the addition of Russell, Paul and Curiosity Ink Media represent.”
Penn Zero Part Time Hero
As Chief Content Officer of Grom, Hicks will continue to oversee Curiosity Ink Media’s original film, television and publishing projects, in addition to his new role as President of Grom’s subsidiary, Top Draw Animation, Inc. Top Draw boasts a 22-year history as an animation producer of several series including Tom & Jerry, The Hollow, Monster Beach and Penn Zero, among others. Hicks will join Top Draw’s CEO & founder, Wayne Dearing, and the studio’s Executive SVP, Stella Dearing, in combining original animation with the company’s legacy role as a producer of animated content.
Ward will assume two roles for Grom. In the newly-created position of President of Grom Social, Ward is charged with building on the success of Grom’s emerging COPPA-compliant social media platform, which is designed to engage kids while educating users about the importance of Internet safety. As Executive Vice President, Social Enterprises, Ward will spearhead the evolution of the Company’s subsidiary, Grom Educational Services, Inc., a provider of web-filtering services used in education, government and private businesses.
Russell Hicks, Paul Ward
Together, Hicks and Ward will identify and champion synergistic opportunities across Grom’s portfolio. Both veterans of kids’ and family entertainment, Hicks and Ward served as executives with Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite during the combined network’s historic, uninterrupted 13-year run as the number one network in ad-supported cable television.
Prior to the formation of Curiosity, Hicks was President of Production & Development at Nickelodeon, where he was instrumental in cultivating several blockbuster hits including SpongeBob SquarePants, Henry Danger, The Loud House and the revival of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Earlier in his career, while an executive at Warner Bros., Hicks played major roles in the development of Teddy Ruxpin and the revival of the time-tested and beloved animated series, Scooby-Doo.
Ward, whose 23-year tenure with Viacom was capped by his role as Nickelodeon Kids’ & Family Group’s Executive Vice President of Primetime, Acquisitions and Strategy, where he led Nick at Nite’s foray into original programming and was instrumental in securing top series including Friends, George Lopez and The Nanny to round out the company’s roster of hit programming. As a member of the TV Land Executive Team, he was instrumental in championing numerous attention-grabbing promotions including the TV Land Landmarks initiative, which placed bronze statues of iconic TV characters in cities that served as their backdrops including a Mary Tyler Moore statue in Minneapolis and one of Andy Griffith in Raleigh, NC, among others. Ward also helped develop the Nick at Nite & TV Land Family Table, a multi-year pro-social campaign designed to promote the social and academic benefits of families who take time to sit down and eat together, an initiative he undertook with Columbia University’s CASA (Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse).
Hollywood filmmakers and movie stars have joined forces with Humane Society International (HSI) to produce a powerful stop-motion animated short film, Save Ralph, calling for an end to cosmetic testing on animals around the world. Although banned in 40 countries, the practice is still legal in most of the world, and even making a comeback in some regions, according to the organization.
Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Tricia Helfer and others have come together to help HSI change that by providing the voices for the film, which aims to shine a light on the suffering animals endure and engage consumers and policy makers in HSI’s mission to ban it. Writer and director Spencer Susser (Hesher, The Greatest Showman) and producer Jeff Vespa (Voices of Parkland) teamed up with the Arch Model studio of puppet maker and set designer Andy Gent (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Isle of Dogs) on the production to bring Ralph to life.
“I think the beauty of animation is that you can tell very complex stories and bring them to life in a non-threatening and educational way,” Gent remarked. “In our miniature world of models and puppets using stop-motion filmmaking we hope to bring attention to this mission to stop animal testing for cosmetics. We’re all very passionate about what we do, and it’d be very nice to think that this project to Save Ralph will have a greater, wider effect.”
Save Ralph
The film is also being launched in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Vietnamese with Rodrigo Santoro, Denis Villeneuve, Rosario Dawson and others voicing the characters in those languages, and Maggie Q providing a video message of support.
“Save Ralph is a wake-up call that animals are still suffering for cosmetics, and now is the time for us to come together to ban it globally,” said Jeffrey Flocken, President, HSI. “Today we have an abundance of reliable, animal-free approaches for product safety assurance, so there’s no excuse for making animals like Ralph suffer to test cosmetics or their ingredients.”
The film features HSI’s campaign spokesbunny Ralph, voiced by Waititi, being interviewed as he goes through his daily routine as a “tester” in a toxicology lab. HSI’s #SaveRalph campaign tackles the disturbing issue of animal testing in an original and unexpected way — using the story of one bunny to shine a light on the plight of countless rabbits and other animals suffering at this very moment in laboratories around the world. It engages viewers to help ban animal testing of cosmetics once and for all.
“It’s easy to assume that companies are the problem, but the truth is they are a vital part of the solution,” Troy Seidle, HSI’s VP for research & toxicology, explained. “It’s laws that need to be changed, and industry leaders like Lush, Unilever, L’Oreal, P&G and Avon are working with us to secure meaningful animal testing bans in many of the world’s most influential beauty markets. We’ve recruited Ralph as our spokesbunny to help get these laws over the finish line.”
Gervais, an outspoken animal rights activist, added, “Animal testing just makes me angry. There’s no justification for dripping chemicals in rabbits’ eyes or force-feeding them to rats just to make lipsticks and shampoo. Science has evolved enough to give us non-animal solutions to end this terrible cruelty — it’s time for our humanity to catch up.”
The campaign is focused on 16 countries including Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, South Africa and 10 Southeast Asian nations, with partner organizations the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund focused on legislation in the U.S. HSI is also standing up for bans that are already in place, like in Europe where authorities are attempting to exploit a legal loophole by demanding new animal testing of cosmetic ingredients under chemical law. #SaveRalph will shine a spotlight on all these countries, driving them toward the cruelty-free future that the public and consumers expect.
This is a cool thing that is coming soon. If you don't watch it and love it then you hate animals and we can't be friends anymore.#SaveRalphpic.twitter.com/3oG2VqXr7o
Watch Save Ralph and find educational materials on the current status of animal testing and how to take action against it available at www.hsi.org/saveralphmovie.
Funimation, the leading global anime content provider, has officially unveiled the latest trailer for the upcoming musical anime film and co-production, Sing a Bit of Harmony, via the Funimation Blog. The new spot reintroduces the film’s two main characters, Shion Ashimori and Satomi Amano, as their journey with music comes into focus. The company’s first co-produced original feature revolves around a mysterious transfer student and a song that will bring her classmate’s happiness…
Funimation has also announced the film’s cast, including Tao Tsuchiya (ERASED) as Shion, Haruka Fukuhara (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?) as Satomi and Asuka Kudo as Touma. The cast will also include Kazuyuki Okitsu, Mikako Komatsu (Dr. STONE) and Satoshi Hino (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba).
Additional staff was revealed as well, including Ryo Takahashi (SK8 the Infinity) on musical composition and Yohei Matsui as songwriter.
Sing a Bit of Harmony is written and directed by Yasuhiro Yoshiura, who took home the “Excellence Award” at the Japan Media Arts Film Festival’s animation division for his work on Patema Inverted: Beginning of the Day, and the “Best Anime Award” at the Tokyo International Anime Fair’s OVA division for Time of EVE.
The film’s crew also includes Ichirou Ohkouchi (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Lupin the Third Part 5) as co-screenwriter, Kanna Kii (The Stranger by the Beach) as original character designer, with J.C.STAFF (Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.) for animation production, and Hidekazu Shimamura (Trigun: Badlands Rumble, Code Geass: Akito the Exiled) as animation director.
In advance of its second season premiere, FOX has renewed the animated hit comedy Duncanville for a third season. From Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Amy Poehler and Emmy Award winners Mike and Julie Scully, Duncanville follows a spectacularly average 15-year-old boy, his family and friends.
“Watching Amy bring her incredible talent to Duncanville both on and off the screen these past two seasons has been an amazing experience,” said Michael Thorn, President, Entertainment, FOX Entertainment. “Duncanville’s entire cast and crew, led by two of television’s best showrunners in Mike and Julie, continue to deliver a show that represents everything fans expect from our animated series; and I’m looking forward to another season of Duncanville to relive my teen years, thanks to one of the most irreverent comedies on the air.”
Season 2 premieres with a special two-episode debut on Sunday, May 23 (8:30-9:00 p.m. ET/PT and 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), after which the series moves into its Monday time period, following the debut of the all-new animated comedy Housebroken, on May 31 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT).
In the series, Duncan (Poehler) can see adulthood on the horizon: money, freedom, cars, girls … but the reality is more like: always being broke, driving with your mom sitting shotgun and babysitting your little sister. He’s not exceptional, but he has a wild imagination in which he’s never anything less than amazing. Poehler also voices Duncan’s mother, Annie, and Emmy winner Ty Burrell voices Duncan’s father, Jack. The series also features the voices of Emmy nominee Riki Lindhome as Duncan’s 12-year-old sister Kimberly; Emmy nominee and Grammy Award winner Rashida Jones as Mia, Duncan’s on-again, off-again crush; Grammy and Golden Globe nominee Wiz Khalifa as Mr. Mitch, the universally loved teacher/guidance counselor, occasional gym coach and school nurse; Joy Osmanski, who voices Jing, Duncan’s six-year-old sister; and Betsy Sodaro, Yassir Lester and Zach Cherry as his friends Bex, Yangzi and Wolf, respectively.
The adventures continue in the Season 2 premiere of Duncanville, when the Harris family takes its first vacation. The episode features Parks and Recreation stars Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, Retta and Nick Offerman making guest voice appearances. Other storylines in the new season include Duncan saying the one thing no kid should ever say to their dad, which shifts their power dynamic; Duncan and Kimberly being sent to therapy camp; Jing and Jack starting a child birthday band together, with Annie managing them; and Duncan racing stock cars. Catch up on Season One on FOXNOW and Hulu.
Duncanville is produced by 20th Television Animation; Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group; and FOX Entertainment. Mike Scully, Julie Scully and Amy Poehler co-created and executive produce the series with executive producer Dave Becky. The series is animated by Bento Box Entertainment.
WarnerMedia is revitalizing one of the most storied names in animation history, establishing Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe (previously Cartoon Network Studios Europe, operating from Great Marlborough Productions) as its flagship television animation studio within EMEA.
The new studio name was announced today by Tom Ascheim, President, Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics (GKYAC). Sam Register, President of Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) and Cartoon Network Studios (CNS) and Vanessa Brookman, Head of Kids EMEA, will co-lead the London-based studio.
“Earlier this year, we aligned two of the industry’s most powerful animation studios in Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios and their collaboration is already yielding some very exciting results,” said Ascheim. “Now with Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, these three brands represent some of the most talented artists, iconic characters and properties in the entire history of animation, making us more than formidable in the increasingly competitive global media landscape.”
The original studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions, was founded in 1957 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and became the first studio to have significant success with television animation. Many of the artistic styles, storytelling devices, production techniques and sound effects the studio pioneered more than 60 years ago are still used today. Hundreds of iconic characters were created by the studio, including Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear and more.
Alongside industry leaders WBA and CNS, Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe will further WarnerMedia’s global kids content strategy. Combining the tremendous creative talents of the animation community in the U.K. and across EMEA with the expertise and resources of the overall studios group, Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe is poised to be a unique entity in the world of animation.
The studio will build on its award-winning pipeline of local productions, including The Amazing World of Gumball, The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe and Elliott from Earth while seeking out new production opportunities. The studio will focus on developing and producing new originals while embodying the spirit of its beloved library of characters, embracing the same high-quality, whimsical and classic look that enchanted Hanna- Barbera’s audiences for decades.
The studio is currently in development on the previously announcedThe Amazing World of Gumball Movie (working title) — the upcoming feature-length TV movie based on the hit Cartoon Network series, which follows the hilarious misadventures of Gumball Watterson and his goldfish best friend, Darwin.
“There are few names in the animation industry that elicit such reverence and joy as Hanna-Barbera. Saturday mornings and series animation would not be the same without the work that came out of that studio and, as television is once again evolving, it’s only fitting that Hanna-Barbera returns to be an impactful part of it,” said Register. “I cannot wait to get started and I’m humbled at the opportunity to be creating cartoons under this banner again.”
Brookman added, “It is an enormous privilege to be expanding our EMEA studio in the name of one of the most prestigious and beloved brands in animation history. Sam and I share an ambitious vision for growing our European pipeline of content, fueled by the talented team behind the award-winning success of our existing productions across the region. We look forward to bringing our kids and family audiences around the world even more exceptional content as we start this new chapter in our global animation strategy.”
The Visual Effects Society presented the 19th Annual VES Awards on Tuesday night in a virtual ceremony, celebrating outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation worldwide in film, animation, television, commercials and video games, and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and artists who bring this work to life.
Disney-Pixar’s Soul swept the Animated Feature categories, taking the top category prize and four others, while George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky (and Disney+ Star Wars hit The Mandalorian took the top honors in the Photoreal Feature and Photoreal Episode categories.
As previously announced, the VES Award for Creative Excellence was bestowed on VFX supervisor, second unit director and director of photography Rob Legato, ASC (The Lion King, Avatar), and director-producer-screenwriter Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, King Kong, Mortal Engines) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Winners below; see the list of this year’s worthy nominatees here.
The Midnight Sky
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Soul | Pete Docter, Dana Murray, Michael Fong, Bill Watral
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature The Midnight Sky | Matt Kasmir, Greg Baxter, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, David Watkins
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode The Mandalorian “The Marshal” | Joe Bauer, Abbigail Keller, Hal Hickel, Richard Bluff, Roy Cancino
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial Walmart – Famous Visitors | Chris “Badger” Knight Lori Talley Yarin Mares Matt Fuller
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature Mank | Wei Zheng, Peter Mavromates, Simon Carr, James Pastorius
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode The Crown “Gold Stick” | Ben Turner, Reece Ewing, Andrew Scrase, Jonathan Wood
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature The One and Only Ivan, Ivan | Valentina Rosselli, Thomas Huizer, Andrea De Martis, William Bell
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial Arm & Hammer – Once Upon a Time,Tuxedo Tom| Shiny Rajan, Silvia Bartoli, Matias Heker, Tiago Dias Mota
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Soul, Terry | Jonathan Hoffman, Jonathan Page, Peter Tieryas, Ron Zorman
Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project The Mandalorian “The Jedi”,The Child | John Rosengrant, Peter Clarke, Scott Patton, Hal Hickel
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature Mulan, Imperial City | Jeremy Fort, Matt Fitzgerald, Ben Walker, Adrian Vercoe
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Soul, You Seminar | Hosuk Chang, Sungyeon Joh, Peter Roe, Frank Tai
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project The Mandalorian “The Believer”, Morak Jungle | Enrico Damm, Johanes Kurnia, Phi Tran, Tong Tran
Mandalorian
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature Project Power | Yin Lai Jimmy Leung, Jonathan Edward Lyddon-Towl, Pierpaolo Navarini, Michelle Lee
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature Soul | Alexis Angelidis, Keith Daniel Klohn, Aimei Kutt, Melissa Tseng
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project Lovecraft Country “Strange Case”, Chrysalis | Federica Foresti, Johan Gabrielsson, Hugo Medda, Andreas Krieg
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project Soul | Matt Aspbury, Ian Megibben
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project Ghost of Tsushima | Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Jasmin Patry, Joanna Wang
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project The Midnight Sky, Aether | Michael Balthazart, Jonathan Opgenhaffen, John-Peter Li, Simon Aluze
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project Migrants | Antoine Dupriez, Hugo Caby, Lucas Lermytte, Zoé Devise
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Project Power | Russell Horth, Matthew Patience, Julien Rousseau
Outstanding Compositing in an Episode Lovecraft Country “Strange Case”, Chrysalis | Viktor Andersson, Linus Lindblom, Mattias Sandelius, Crawford Reilly
Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial Burberry – Singin’ in the Rain | Alex Lovejoy, Mithun Alex, David Filipe, Amresh Kumar
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project The Bourne Stuntacular | Salvador Zalvidea, Tracey Gibbons, George Allan, Matthías Bjarnason, Scott Smith
Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project Fear the Walking Dead “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” | Frank Iudica, Scott Roark, Daniel J. Yates
We recently had the chance to catch up with Anish Mehta, CEO of Cosmos-Maya, one of the leading animation studios in India. The company, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, boasts of a 14,000 sq. ft. state of the art studio located in the heart of the Indian entertainment industry, Film City in Mumbai. It has expanded to other locations in Mumbai and Hyderabad, with a total area across its studio facilities in excess of 70,000 sq ft.
Starting life as a service provider in 1996, Cosmos-Maya has been on a global growth trajectory with a clear business expansion plan. The studio has gone from a local work for hire shop to line producing for international companies such as the BBC and Disney. Here is what Mehta told us about his growing company’s plans in 2021:
Anish Mehta, CEO
Animag: Can you tell us a little bit about the early days of the company?
Anish Mehta: Cosmos-Maya was founded by veteran filmmakers Ketan Mehta and Deepa Sahi, who established their roots in the field of animation in India in 1996, when they started work as a service animation unit in the heart of Film City in Mumbai. During this time, they built up a reputation as one of the most reliable units for animation, and simultaneously started the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) to catalyse the technical training ecosystem in the burgeoning 3D animation market.
What is Cosmos-Maya focusing on in 2021?
Growth! We did incredibly well in the domestic Indian space in 2020 with five new kids’ television shows, and we plan to maintain this trajectory in 2021 with two international co-productions already in the pipeline. We have a new show coming up titled Dabangg, based on a blockbuster Bollywood franchise of the same name, which will be a landmark production for us, and broadens the scope for IP extension within the Indian content space. The third season of Eena Meena Deeka will be released, this time with WildBrain Spark joining us as an international partner who were attracted by the global potential of this IP. This year also marks the release of Putra, our latest international production for the Indonesian market.
Beyond children’s animation, we plan to expand more into the fast-growing EdTech sector, and the global licencing and merchandising market. In light of that, we have initiated production work on The Incredible Monsta Trucks, a show designed to lend itself to our growth in consumer products.
Dabangg
How did you make the transition from service provider to content producer?
We had been service animators and trainers for nearly 15 years, and after each season of a project that we worked on we’d have to establish our job-worthiness all over again for the next season. We didn’t have a stake in the projects we were working on. Eventually we decided this was an uncertain way of business, and that we should work towards establishing greater creative control in our projects. This meant becoming more entrepreneurial, starting to build our own IP and nurturing our desire for storytelling.
In 2010, the company moved forward in this direction and entered the IP production space, starting conceptualization of the popular show Motu Patlu – which would go on to release in 2012 on Nickelodeon. This kickstarted the studio’s content library.
In 2015, Cosmos-Maya made a strategic move to go global with its first internationally focused IP, Eena Meena Deeka, which launched in the European market, following which we set up a digital platform and licensing/merchandising wing under the name of Wow Kidz. Wow Kidz also has its own multichannel network on YouTube where it currently caters to 54 million subscribers in 18 languages across 34 channels.
By 2016, Cosmos-Maya had established a leading position in the market with ten TV series in simultaneous production, working with reputed names across the domestic and global animation industry to produce nearly 25 episodes a month. In 2017, the company solidified its market ownership at 60% of the domestic animation output in India, and KKR-backed Emerald Media came on board with a controlling stake in the company.
Eena Meena Deeka
What would you say are the biggest challenges facing the studio in 2021 as we all face the realities of COVID continuing to wreak havoc around the world?
I think like most business units – media or non-media – the biggest challenge in 2021 is to streamline our work/production processes to maintain the same adherence to timelines as we did in 2020, irrespective of whether we work from home or out of the studio premises. We have always been active in adapting to change, and we managed to discover our own rhythm in the new normal. Production timelines and timely delivery was ensured and uncompromised. Our entire workforce at Cosmos-Maya synergized wonderfully to ensure that all our planned shows and projects in 2020 released as scheduled, and we hope to remove kinks in that process (if any) to facilitate a seamless and productive work process. Hopefully we shall get to transition back to a situation akin to the old normal.
Which animation tools does your team currently use to produce animation?
In the largest chunk of our work, for 3D animation we use Maya by Autodesk and for 2D animation we use Flash by Adobe. For rendering we adapt and use various other technologies: We partnered with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine (known for bestsellers like Fortnite) for production of The Incredible Monsta Trucks. Beyond these, we are working to develop Toon Boom Harmony to ramp up the 2D animation end. For ensuring efficient and timely production tracking and seamless delivery across all processes, we have our own proprietary software.
Titoo
How many people are currently working at the studio?
We are moving toward becoming a completely self-sufficient studio powerhouse with end-to-end and exhaustive animation capabilities. A team of nearly 1,200 animation artists and technicians help us reach towards this goal.
What are some of the animation highlights we can look for in 2021 from Cosmos-Maya?
We will have a much more diversified – artistically and stylistically – range of animation while maintaining our signature volumes of delivery. As we mentioned, we have multiple international feature films and four to five new shows and seasons already planned for 2021. We shall work towards expanding our business in the co-production sector, which besides extending our global reach, also helps us get a much better understanding of audiences and their tastes in different territories and the kind of topics and subjects families and their children today are interested in exploring.
We are using this understanding to bring on more contemporary and mature storylines in the future and diversify our portfolio beyond the standard pre-school and kids’ genres. Moreover, we seek to bring in new creative dimensions with our existing bestsellers like Motu Patlu that have started to attract big audiences in the European market.
What is your take on the animation industry in India?
It’s been just a little over a decade since the Indian kids’ animation sector fully came into being, i.e. the homegrown IP production sector. We see a lot of creative development happening in this space, with skilled artists and technicians with a contemporary voice coming onboard. The growth trajectory has been absolutely great for the Indian animation sector, a chunk of which rests in the kids’ genres, and a large segment of the future scope of this industry lies in genre and audience diversity. We hope to see more mature content for different age groups coming up, with significant strides in adult animated content, too.
Motu Patlu
What do you want animation and kids content professionals around the world to know about your studio?
If we could describe our studio in a few words, they’d be: young, meteoric and powerhouse. We started our expansionary phase just over a decade ago, and our ambition is reflected in our current scale of business, both within and outside of India. We are artistic, experimental and are known for maintaining excellence in our delivery capabilities. For anyone who has an artistic bent, a vision for the media space and a business acumen, Cosmos-Maya is a place to spread their wings. Our growth in these past eight years is testament to our vision of becoming a completely self-sufficient creative organism.
What do you love about working in animation?
Animation is unbound by ideas of perceptions of reality. Any visual that the human mind can synthesize, animation can achieve. It is a format that lends itself almost naturally to the most fantastical narratives. For a fraction of the cost and logistical input, content creators can achieve the most surreal video storytelling from animation as compared to conventional live-action filmmaking, which is also evident in the growth of the CGI service industry, propelled by filmmakers looking to reduce their infrastructural footprint by achieving entirely realistic worlds rendered into their content through the magic of special effects and animation. Animation lends itself to any kind of genre today. From crazy kids’ cartoons, movies and educational content, to adult satire and political commentary, filmmakers have utilized this format to give a semiotic depth to their narratives which can be seen in mainstream movies like Frozen or Inside Out, or in darker films such as Waltz With Bashir. Where films are supposed to be larger than life, animation provides viewers an absolutely new dimension to explore.
Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
What does the future hold for Cosmos-Maya?
The company is exercising its efforts to grow the corporate brand globally. We are establishing ourselves more firmly in the theatrical film space, with Dogtanian and Three Muskehounds, our co-production with Apolo Films coming out in 2021, and multiple other film projects in the offing. We have partnered with Italian producer Gruppo Alcuni for the next segment in our title Leo Da Vinci. The digital tech space is rearing to see a value of $1.336 billion in 2022E, and we’re making the best of every inch of that growth.
Cosmos-Maya used 2020 to ideally position itself to ride the increasing demand for kids’ content from the expanding OTT and pay TV climate. Our distribution and licensing arm Wow Kidz sources 2D and 3D animated content from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific among various other markets. The company is making strides in all possible avenues of the animation spectrum. EdTech is Cosmos-Maya’s youngest and fastest-growing division and is expected to account for 20%+ of production revenues for FY 2022E. We are the preferred content partner for EdTech decacorn Byju and are in active discussion with leading companies in this space in India. Moreover, we’ve forayed into EdTech driven OTT, amping up the L&M to have a deeper access into the consumer side of the business, focus on scaling up the quality of animation further with some high-end mainstream North American projects – the groundwork for which has already been laid and continuously evolving to ensure the retention of the significant majority stake of the Indian domestic animation market.
Building on initial efforts in FY 2020A for International Service Work, the company has been able to grab multiple high quality, high-margin projects such as Prince of Tennis, Monkey King, etc. and will continue to grow on the back of those as well.
Following the success of previous titles such as Simon’s Cat: Crunch Time and Simon’s Cat: Pop Time, the latest title inspired by the frisky feline, Simon’s Cat: Story Time, has launched today exclusively on Apple Arcade.
Developed by Tactile Games, Story Time sees Simon and his cat face their biggest challenge yet. When the tranquillity of suburban life is threatened by a huge building site, they mobilize the neighbors to help restore the mysterious wasteland before the diggers destroy it all. As the clock ticks down, players will solve challenging match-3 puzzles to help the community rebuild the gardens under the critical eye of the curmudgeonly next-door neighbor, Mr. Potts, who has a secret ancestral connection to the wasteland which he intends to keep buried forever.
By completing puzzles, players will earn stars to unlock the next phase of the story and win coins to purchase game boosts to help complete difficult levels. Fans will meet a huge cast of in-game animal and human characters and discover the true meaning of community spirit in this adorable, immersive addition to the Simon’s Cat franchise.
“I’ve had great fun coming up with this game, all the ideas and new characters, and I can’t wait for you to find out what I’ve been up to,” said Simon Tofield, the “Simon” and creator of Simon’s Cat.
Based on Tofield’s original webtoons, the brand enjoys international success across multiple categories including entertainment, gaming, publishing and apparel. Simon’s Cat mobile games have in excess of 20 million downloads, more than 90 million digital sticker downloads and over 2 million books sold across 30 countries. Simon’s Cat has over 18 million fans and subscribers across social platforms, with the classic shorts totalling more than 2 billion views.
Simon’s Cat, a Banijay company, is represented by Banijay Brands, who control the brand licensing rights to high-profile IP including Mr Bean, Black Mirror and Peaky Blinders.
