Pete Denomme, Executive Producer and CEO of Switch Animation, announced Tuesday the formation of a partnership with Aron Dunn of Treason Media to bring The World According to Dave series, written and developed by Dunn, to animated life. Jyotirmoy Saha of August Media will also join the production after a successful relationship with Switch on George of the Jungle.
In The World According to Dave, an overly-imaginative 11-year old finds an alien device called the Imagin-Atrix that brings his wildest daydreams to life. Now this pop-culture obsessed kid and his friends take adventures through their favorite comics, video games, movies and more. Each time Dave rewrites the world he faces a new challenge that he must overcome in order to reset the Imagin-Atrix. Reality is never going to be the same again.
The reality-bending adventures of Dave and his friends will leap off the page as a result of this newly announced partnership between Switch Animation and Treason Media.
“It is indeed a pleasure to be working with Aron once again on this uniquely creative animated comedy concept,” said Denomme.
“After recently working with Pete and the team at Switch Animation on a short film, I knew they were a perfect partner for Dave,” explained Dunn. “I’m thrilled that they want to be part of this riotous celebration of imagination. Pete’s team of amazing artists will render an eye-popping world that I’m sure audiences will want to leap into and join Dave on his adventures.”
This production is based on an idea by author Sylvia Medina and will be supported by David Wollos, co-founder of Think Tank Emporium.
Pete Denomme is CEO/EP of award winning, artist owned, boutique studio Switch VFX & Animation. Recent credits include Altered Carbon (Netflix), The Expanse (Amazon Prime), feature film Jigsaw, animated short Zoua and fan favorite George of the Jungle (Teletoon), with upcoming projects including The Perfect Project, an animated short where a young boy’s autism is portrayed as his superpower. Denomme also seeks to inspire the next generation of digital artists through investment in the education platform The Animation Lounge and industry scholarships at five Canadian colleges. He is a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Visual Effects Society, Computer Animation Studios of Ontario, National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences and the Alliance for Children and Television.
An industry vet with nearly two decades of experience, Creative Producer/Writer Aron Dunn leads his merry band of rebels on their campaign of creativity at Treason Media. He has worked with Netflix, Disney XD, Nickelodeon, Teletoon, YTV, Treehouse, KiKA and CBC Kids over the course of his career. He has also contributed scripts to numerous animated comedy series, including Cupcake & Dino, Super Wings, Chuck Chicken, Rusty Rivets, Pocoyo, Camp Lakebottom, Justin Time, Trucktown and The Insectibles. Prior to founding Treason Media, Dunn held senior development roles with some of Canada’s most prolific and acclaimed producers, including Breakthrough Entertainment and Portfolio Entertainment.
Amazon Games has announced Crucible, its free-to-play competitive team-based shooter for PC, will launch on May 20. In Crucible, players choose from a diverse roster of aliens, robots and humans, and work with teammates to hunt opponents, take down hostile creatures and capture objectives, all on a rogue planet at the edge of known space.
Crucible pits teams of hunters against a dangerous planet and enemy players in pursuit of Essence, a resource that amplifies hunters’ powers. Players begin each match by selecting from a line-up of 10 distinct hunters, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. There’s a hunter for every play-style — including Earl, an inter-stellar trucker who’s built like a tank and has a gun sized to match; Bugg, a robot botanist whose primary concern is protecting his plants; and Summer, a champion fighter and former welder whose flame throwers keep things hot on the battlefield. As players collect Essence, their hunters level up, increasing their power and enhancing their abilities. Crucible’sfast-paced combat requires players to constantly re-evaluate and adjust their strategies, adapting to their opponents’ moves and the ever-changing planet itself.
Crucible
Crucible will launch with three modes: Heart of the Hives, Harvester Command and Alpha Hunters. In Heart of the Hives, two four-player teams battle giant boss Hives that spawn throughout the world. Each Hive contains a valuable Heart, and the first team to capture three Hearts wins the match, making each match a dangerous balance between racing to defeat the opposing team and battling to survive the powerful Hives. Harvester Command challenges two teams of eight players to capture and hold Harvesters spread across the map, vying for control of the Essence that drew them all to the planet. The first team to deplete its opponent’s resources wins. In Alpha Hunters, eight teams of two fight to be the final team standing.
“In Crucible, every match is different, and players’ choices really matter,” said Christoph Hartmann, vice president at Amazon Games. “Every opponent, team, and mode poses unique dangers, and no two matches are the same, so players must constantly adapt to everything the world and the other teams throw at them. We’re excited for players to join the hunt in just a couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to hear what they think of it.”
Crucible
Crucible is developed by Relentless Studios, a Seattle-based team of Amazon Games. The studio is led by Louis Castle, co-founder of Westwood Studios, and includes industry veterans with previous experience at companies including Activision Blizzard, ArenaNet, Electronic Arts and Xbox. Crucible will be the first of two major titles from Amazon Games in 2020, followed by the launch of New World in August 2020.
While winding up the seventh season, the makers of NBC crime thriller The Blacklist (produced by Sony Pictures TV and Universal Television) decided to go back to the drawing board in the midst of the widespread live-action filming halt due to coronavirus. Recently renewed for season eight, the show will launch into the next chapter for intelligence officer turned criminal turned FBI asset Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader) with a partially animated episode featuring a noir graphic novel aesthetic.
“The Kazanjian Brothers”, set to air May 15 at 8 p.m. EDT, is the season’s 19th episode (out of a 22-episode order) and has been reworked to serve as an ad-hoc finale. The idea was brainstormed by exec producers Jon Bokenkamp and John Eisendrath in mid-March, after the New York-based show shut filming down. After joking about doing the show as an old timey radio drama over an image of a crackling fire, the duo started talking about how much DNA is shared between The Blacklist and comics/graphic novels, which led to the animated lightbulb.
Bokenkamp told the Associated Press writer Lynn Elber, “[The show is] sort of a big, wild, slightly heightened show that feels like a comic book. … A bad guy in a fedora is our hero. It’s rather violent, at times it’s incredibly emotional.”
Spader, also an executive producer on the show, was intrigued by the idea — even though he ended up recording his lines in his noisey 1850s farmhouse getaway while getting out of town with his family: “I hadn’t yet played Raymond Reddington with my son tiptoeing into the kitchen to get snacks. But you do what you do.”
The Blacklist is already a geographically spread out production. The show is shot in New York and then edited and put through post-production in Los Angeles, overseen by Eisendrath (L.A.) and Bokenkamp (back home in Nebraska). For the animated sequences, equipment had to be shipped to the actors’ houses. The animation was created by Proof Inc. (Aladdin [2019], Spider-Man: Far From Home), primarily in Atlanta and London.
“It’s possible that if we knew how much work it took to do an animated half of this episode, we might well have not come up with the idea,” Bokenkamp joked.
Despite the round-the-clock, round-the-world effort, the producers were excited by the plot possibilities that animation opened up. For example, a scene between Red and Liz (Megan Boone) which was originally set in a single room, now sees them strolling on the Washington Mall, giving a more cinematic feel to the scene.
Eisendrath noted, “We felt that it was important to do our best in a difficult situation to try and get the episode completed.”
As part of Nickelodeon Latin America’s #chicosunidos campaign, Nick Jr. Latin America announced Tuesday that it has launched a microsite for its preschool edutainment app, Noggin, for its audiences in Latin America and Brazil.
The microsite features nine weekly educational online activities with different Noggin characters, downloadable worksheets, as well as tutorial hand washing videos hosted by the Bubble Guppies. The objective of the microsite is to reach parents and provide them with a variety of entertaining online activities they can do with their children who currently find themselves social distancing at home.
The Noggin microsite will be updated weekly with new content and features favorite Nick Jr. and Noggin characters including, PAW Patrol, The Care Bears, Garden Academy and Bubble Guppies, among others.
The ninth-annual Asian Animation Summit is moving forward as a live event scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia from November 18 to 20.
Over the course of the three-day event, up to 30 projects from Indonesia, Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and elsewhere in Asia-Pacific that are brand-new to the market and looking for financing and partners will be presented. Japan is participating as a partner region for the first time this year.
Roughly 50% of projects that debuted at past AAS events have since gone into production, including such well-known series as The Curious World of Linda (2018), Bluey (2016 Best in Show winner), Balloon Barnyard (2014), Kuu Kuu Harajuku (2013) and Bottersnikes & Gumbles (2012). A full 88% of producers who have presented projects at AAS report that they met critical broadcast and financing partners at the event. And 95% of them said attending AAS has helped them establish important relationships with international producers.
Registration for AAS 2020 is now open, and a $200 Earl -Bird discount is in effect until Friday, August 28. In light of the continued uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic, organizer Kidscreen has adjusted its cancellation policy for AAS so that if it’s not possible to produce a live event because of COVID-19, all event registration fees will be fully refunded.
AAS 2020 is owned and produced by Kidscreen, with generous support from hosting partner BAPAREKRAF (Indonesia); and presenting and supporting partners KOCCA (Korea), MDEC (Malaysia), Create NSW and Screen Queensland (Australia), DITP (Thailand) and VIPO (Japan).
Patricia Hidalgo, currently Senior Vice President, Chief Content and Creative Officer at Turner EMEA and International Kids strategy, and a well-established figure in the children’s media industry, has been appointed as the BBC’s new Director, Children’s & Education.
Hidalgo succeeds Alice Webb, who has taken a position outside the BBC. Sophy Jacob, Head of Business, is currently acting as interim Director of BBC Children’s & Education.
Taking up her new role in September, she will be responsible for developing and implementing creative and editorial strategy for BBC Children’s services across all platforms, with a focus on the strategic future direction of media consumption and business models.
Hidalgo will also head up the two most popular networks for children in the U.K., CBeebies and CBBC, and will lead the BBC’s Education department. She’ll oversee all the division’s content output including in-house productions, co-productions and acquisitions, reporting to James Purnell, Director BBC Radio & Education.
Hidalgo has a strong industry track record and is behind some of the most successful shows in kids’ TV. During her last six years at Turner, she was responsible for the production of the multiple award-winning series The Amazing World of Gumball, as well as the Emile-awarded and Bafta-nominated The Heroic Adventures of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe. In 2017 Hidalgo was honored with World Screen’s Global Kids Trendsetter award for her outstanding contribution to the kids’ media industry.
“Patricia has built a hugely successful career in kids’ TV with a track record that speaks for itself,” commented Purnell. “Engaging our audience and staying relevant has never been more important and I have no doubt that Patricia will bring her experience and passion to expertly lead the teams in Children’s and Education through their next chapter.”
Hidalgo said, “l am really excited to be joining an organization as forward thinking and respected worldwide as the BBC, and am honored to be given the great responsibility of leading the Children’s and Education teams in their efforts to engage, entertain and educate young people across the U.K.”
BBC Children’s is a bold, multi-genre, public service offering that has earned the unswerving trust of British families, delivering world-class, U.K.-produced programming across all genres, including drama, comedy, factual and news. It is home to much loved titles such as Bedtime Stories, Something Special, Blue Peter, Newsround and docu-series My Life.
BBC Education leads the education provision at the BBC and delivers our public purpose to support learning for people of all ages. Prior to her role at Turner, Patricia spent 15 years at Disney where she held a number of senior roles in Spain, Italy and the U.K.
SaberSpark, a member of Channel Frederator Network, the world’s largest multi-channel network for animators, artists, gamers, and entertainment, is taking the next step in his YouTube career by launching his very own animated content. Officially debuting on May 6, Drunk ReCap, a show where drunk Saber tries to recall the plots of animated movies and his ramblings are animated, is being produced with the help of Frederator’s $1 millon creative fund. This announcement also comes at a time when the content creator recently hit 1 million subscribers on his channel.
Check out the (not for kids!) pilot:
Launched in 2018, Channel Frederator Network’s $1 million creative fund acts as a resource for its network members to use for producing new projects, pushing the bar creatively, and bringing their dreams to life. All Channel Frederator Network members have the opportunity to pitch their ideas for a portion of the funding.
The Channel Frederator Network team has worked with SaberSpark, who got his start in the My Little Pony scene and has since moved on to commentating on various animated content. From ‘70s adult animated films to Disney fare, and everything in between, Saberspark holds a lens to parts of the animation world and industry many never knew existed and shines a new light on them today. His main seriesWhat The Hell Is…involves Saber taking a deep dive into the more obscure parts of the animation world and educating his viewers on not just what they are but how they came to be.
“It’s been fun working alongside Frederator over these past few years! I got connected with the company in 2015 and it’s been a great relationship ever since, and I hope to continue moving forward with them,” said SaberSpark. “They’re genuine people and that’s the most important thing to me when it comes to working with a network. I’m also super excited to have worked alongside them with my newest series on my channel Drunk ReCap.”
Marley Diazdelvalle, Talent Strategy & Programming Manager, said, ”When I started at Frederator I had one thing in mind: Make cool things with cool people. Saberspark embodies that perfectly. It’s been a joy to see him not only hit a million subscribers but to also be a part of Drunk ReCap from its days as just an idea to a full fledged animated series.”
Kenny Ash, VP of the Channel Frederator Network, added, “At Frederator we’re strong believers in activating our talented members by helping them take that big next step. I’ve worked with SaberSpark for three years when he was at 200,000 subscribers, and we’re all very proud of the work he has put in to finally reach this incredible milestone.
Channel Frederator Network is the world’s largest multi-channel network for animators, artists, gamers and entertainment with over 3,000 members. Since starting in 2015, the network has amassed over 140 million subscribers on YouTube with billions of views per month. Channel Frederator Network members include Jaiden Animations, Domics, Lindsay Elyse, ChaoticCanineCulture, CircletoonsHD, Mithzan and more within the tech, cosplay and creative space. A key component of the “Frederator Loves You” promise is a dedication to help every member achieve their dreams and express themselves creatively.
Members of the network receive 360-degree protection for video, images, sound effects & music with our libraries of royalty-free assets. The network provides affiliate opportunities & sponsorships, tools & platforms to help members succeed on YouTube, opportunities for gaming, animation platform discounts, merch account management, the option to pitch a cartoon to Frederator, and much more. Contact support@frederator.com to learn more about becoming a member.
Following 17 years of successful operations in Canada, visual effects and production studio The Embassy has announced its expansion to the U.S., opening a new L.A. office and appointing innovative Executive Producer Kenny Solomon to head up the operation.
The move to expand and create a presence in the U.S. was a carefully considered decision for the company, following growth in film, advertising and streaming and a hugely positive 2019. The L.A.-based office will allow The Embassy to have a direct connection and point of contact with their growing U.S. client base, provide front end project support and tactile creative development whilst Vancouver – offering world-class pipeline and technology infrastructure – remains the heart of operations.
“We have happily been here in Vancouver for the past 17 years plus. I’ve seen the global industry go through its ups and downs and yet we continue to thrive through it all. I’m so proud of our team; we have stayed the course and 2019 was our best year to date,” commented Winston Helgason, President of The Embassy. “Many of our U.S. clients have asked over the years when we might have a local presence – so here we are! The last few months have been a difficult period of uncertainty and business interruption and, whilst we are operating successfully out of current WFH restrictions, I can’t wait to open up to our full potential once the world is a little more back to normal.”
Heading up this expansion is newly-appointed EP Solomon. An entrepreneur in the film, TV and streaming industries for the past 20 years, Solomon has launched and operated a number of award-winning companies. The most recent was Big Block Media Holdings – an Emmy, Cannes, Webby, Promax and Clio-winning integrated media company founded nine years ago.
Now turning his attention to The Embassy, Solomon recognizes the company’s world-class work, fabulous reputation and sustained growth in an always-changing marketplace as influential factors behind the decision.
“Just look at their recent work for Tarsem and RadicalMedia with Saatchi for Toyota,” Solomon noted. “It’s amazing work and the clients all speak of a fantastic experience. Winston, Dave and the team are just great people too.”
As part of the expansion, The Embassy has also added a number of new reps to the team: Sarah Gitersonke joins for Midwest representation, whilst Kelly Flint and Sarah Lange join for East Coast.
2020 has already been an exciting year for The Embassy, who recently reunited with AREA 23/FCB and RSA director Robert Stromberg (Maleficent) to craft a series of fantastical VFX environments for Emgality’s spell-binding new campaign.
The team has also been in full production for the past 16 months on all VFX work for Warrior Nun, an upcoming 10-episode series for Netflix. The Embassy was responsible for providing everything from concept art to pre-production, on-set supervision and almost 700 visual VFX shots for the show. The team in Vancouver is currently working both remotely and in the studio to deliver the full 10 episodes.
“I’ve been a huge fan of The Embassy’s award-winning work for years – we’ve been competitors while I was at CafeFX/The Syndicate and Big Block,” said Solomon. “The response here in the U.S. has been nothing short of amazing – I couldn’t be more excited to share this best kept secret that’s been creating such brilliant work for the past 17 years with the American market! And, being from Vancouver, the team is used to working remotely, so this WFH mandate has not caused us to miss a beat.”
Halgason added, “Kenny was a key component to our growth in the U.S. as I was looking for someone with like-minded creative sensibilities, a fantastic reputation, and solid industry contacts. Kenny has scaled a number of successful companies in the entertainment space and this is exactly what we need in the U.S. market. Sometimes the stars just align and things are meant to be. I couldn’t be happier to have a trustworthy set of eyes and ears representing and growing the Embassy brand.”
Learn more about The Embassy at theembassyvfx.com.
Today, Epic Games is releasing Unreal Engine 4.25, with next-gen platform support enabling developers to build and ship games for Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X using Unreal Engine. This support solidifies Unreal Engine as a robust foundation for game developers with scalability across platforms, including mobile, consoles and PC. In addition, Unreal Engine’s Niagara visual effects system, battle-tested on Fortnite, is now moving from Beta to production-ready in this release.
Key features in Unreal Engine 4.25 include:
Next-Gen Console Platform Support: Unreal Engine 4.25 delivers initial support for Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X as first-class platforms, and throughout the year we will be updating the 4.25-Plus branch with optimizations, fixes and certification requirements to support developers launching on the next generation of consoles. Features include platform-specific functionality, such as new audio advancements, initial support for online subsystems and early support for TRC and XR certification requirements.
Enhanced Profiling: First introduced in UE 4.23, Unreal Insights is a standalone profiling application that integrates with Unreal Engine to collect, analyze and visualize engine trace data. Now with the UE 4.25 release, Unreal Insights offers UI improvements and introduces Networking Insights to help developers optimize, analyze and debug network traffic while cross-referencing against other types of data. In addition, Unreal Editor now has a new Animation Insights plugin which enables animators to visualize gameplay state and live animation behavior while working in Unreal Editor, to more easily diagnose problems and optimize performance.
Niagara VFX Now Production-Ready: Battle-tested on Fortnite, Unreal Engine’s Niagara visual effects system is now production-ready. In UE 4.25, Niagara comes with a polished new UI, significant performance and stability improvements, and an array of new features including an audio waveform data interface, particle-to-particle communication and spatial hashing. Niagara lets users create complex, large-scale particle effects, such as flocking and chains, and have those particles react to music or other audio sources, all in real time.
Chaos Advancements: Unreal Engine’s Chaos physics and destruction system, now in active use on shipping seasons of Fortnite, includes major advancements in UE 4.25. Chaos now supports destruction, static mesh dynamics with collisions, cloth, hair, rigid-body skeletal control for items such as ponytails and scene queries. As a native physics system, Chaos’ code is easily extended and optimized specifically for Unreal Engine for the most powerful real-time performance.
Shading Model Improvements: The UE 4.25 release adds a new physically based Thin Transparency shading model and a new Anisotropy material input property, as well as improvements to the Clear Coat shading model. The Thin Transparency shading model provides native support for true tinted translucent materials with physically accurate properties, so that users can easily simulate materials such as tinted car windows in a single pass. New Anisotropy support enables the simulation of complex materials like brushed metal and other materials that have been “sanded.” The Clear Coat shading model, used to simulate multilayered car paint, now provides more physically accurate behavior in response to directional, spot and point lights.
Ray Tracing Features Now Production-Ready: Unreal Engine’s ray tracing features are production-ready in the 4.25 release, along with several additions and improvements including: added support for Niagara Mesh Emitters on both CPU and GPU, added support for the new Anisotropy shading model, significant improvements to the Clear Coat shading model when used in conjunction with ray tracing features, and added Clear Coat BRDF material support to the Path Tracer when generating ground truth comparisons.
High-Quality Media Output: UE 4.25 adds a new pipeline that supports high-quality rendering of movies and stills with accumulated anti-aliasing and motion blur, as well as tiled rendering for extremely high-resolution output. This lets creators efficiently produce high-quality media for use in cinematics, marketing materials, linear entertainment and very high-resolution images intended for print, all directly from Unreal Engine without post-processing. Multiple render jobs may be queued and rendered without user intervention.
Immersive, Realistic Audio: In UE 4.25, the Unreal Audio Engine now provides support for convolution reverb processing and sound field rendering, ultimately delivering more immersive and lifelike audio to listeners. Designers may use these new features to enhance their projects by using detailed captured or designed sound fields that spherically envelop their listeners, and sampled reverb impulses that simulate real-life acoustic spaces.
LiDAR Point Cloud Support: UE 4.25 adds native Unreal Engine support for importing, visualizing, editing, and interacting with point clouds acquired from laser scanning devices, thereby giving accurate context to newly designed elements. UE 4.25 also adds support for working with multiple point cloud segments while still maintaining frame performance, an option to delete hidden points and various other enhancements. These updates enable design visualization specialists, manufacturers, set designers, builders and more to aggregate and use huge datasets captured from the real world.
Improved HoloLens 2 Support: The UE 4.25 release offers production-ready support for Microsoft’s HoloLens 2, and introduces initial support for Azure Spatial Anchors. Users will also see performance improvements, new support for mixed reality capture from a third-person camera view, and the ability to enable HoloLens remoting from packaged Unreal Engine applications via a command line.
Nickelodeon is celebrating “Tuesday Blue’s Day” all month long with episodes of the preschool hybrid hit Blue’s Clues & You! on air, and all-new virtual playdates with series host Josh (Josh Dela Cruz) on linear and Nick Jr.’s social channels beginning Tuesday, May 5.
In the brand-new episode “Science with Blue,” airing Tuesday, May 5, at 9 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon, gospel sensation Yolanda Adams will lend her voice to the character of the Sun, a stellar singer with a radiant personality. Josh and Blue meet her while exploring outer space and she leads them in a catchy song about the solar system.
Additionally, the net will debut original Blue’s Clues & You! virtual playdates that will let preschoolers sing, play, move and learn with Josh and Blue in all-new ways from the comfort of their own homes. The 10-minute playdates will be available Tuesdays at 9 a.m. (ET) on Nickelodeon, as well as Nick Jr.’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook throughout the month of May.
The Blue’s Clues & You! virtual playdates are part of Nickelodeon’s overall global, multiplatform prosocial initiative #KidsTogether, which launched on March 18, and uses Nick’s most popular characters and talent to engage with kids and families on tips for staying healthy and ideas for activities to do together while in the home.
Bruce Daitch has been tapped by Netflix as its new Vice President of Animation for Production. Formerly an executive at DreamWorks Animation for over 20 years (including COO and CFO), Daitch will oversee production strategy and operations for Netflix’s global animation business as the company leans into the kids & family toon space. He will also have oversight of the Netflix animation studios in Los Angeles.
Daitch will report to Ty Warren, VP of Physical Production, and work closely with the content and production teams in the original feature and series animation divisions to grow the global Netflix slate.
VP of Original Animation Melissa Cobb continues to lead the kids & family content team (movies and series), Director of Original Series Mike Moon oversees adult animation series, and Director of Content for Japan John Derderian is still in charge of anime.
Emmy-winning French animation producer-distributor Dandelooo has picked up worldwide distribution rights to new preschool series Cubs (26 x 2′), from JPL Films (France) and Videolotion (Portugal). Each episode, directed by a different creator and with its own animation look and technique, tells a bedtime story about one of the most adorable and mysterious species in the animal world, from elephants and hedgehogs to flamingoes, whales, snakes and bees. Each tale reveals the renewed pleasure of discovering a new species in a different and original aesthetic.
Nina and Olga
Mondo TV Iberoamerica (part of Mondo TV Group) announced that it has, through its subsidiary Mondo TV Producciones Canaries, teamed up with boutique Italian animation studio Enamition to co-produce Nina & Olga, a new series based on beloved preschool publishing property Olga the Cloud already pre-sold to Rai Ragazzi. Aimed at 4-6 year olds, the 52 x 7′ 2D HD series introduces a new character, Nina: a special friends of Olga’s whom the friendly cloud helps with everyday challenges and understanding her feelings. Nina & Olga is due to launch in spring 2021.
That’s Joey
Superights has cinched the first slate of sales for its new 3D CG series, That’s Joey! (52 x 13′), which has been picked up by RTBF (French-speaking Belgium), RTS (Switzerland), Discovery Kids (Middle East and North Africa), RTI (Ivory Coast) along with commissioning broadcaster M6 (France). Planeta Junior also struck a deal with Kidzone in the Baltics. Other pending deals with international broadcasters are in discussion.
Produced by Superprod Animation (Paris & Angouleme), in coproduction with Digital Graphics, Atmosphere and Planeta Junior, That’s Joey! is based on the comic books created by Thierry Coppée and published by Delcourt, with over 5 million copies sold worldwide. Aimed at kids 6-9, the show follows the adventures of Joey, an irresistible and unpredictable kid with an overactive imagination. Joey just can’t stop concocting the zaniest schemes, in class, at home or everywhere in between.
Guddu
Cosmos-Maya (India/Singapore) and “Entertainment Super-app” ZEE5 (India) — boasting around 11.4 million Daily Active Users — have entered a far-reaching, multi-project partnership which will bring 250+ new episodes of the studio’s content to air on the OTT app’s new offering, ZEE5 Kids. The deal will see the exclusive digital premier of three properties: Guddu (Season 2),Bapu and Gadget Guru Ganesha. This new agreement brings a total of 500+ episodes of Cosmos-Maya’s content broadcasting on ZEE5 platforms following a previous agreement for three other series: ViR: The Robot Boy, Eena Meena Deeka and Chacha Bhatija, which have been airing on ZEE5 as part of its library.
Space Doctor Cat
Space Doctor Cat continues to reach for the stars, topping 2 million views on YouTube thanks to a significant increase in viewers from February to late April. The channel has seen a stable growth of its audience. As of April, 29 the number of subscribers hit 11,000+ people (+17% over March and +66% over January). The show’s audience on Instagram also grows rapidly — more than 1,000 as of April, 29. Red Carpet Studio‘s children’s animation department is currently working on a collection of music videos as well as adapting Season 1 for hearing impaired and visually impaired children and dubbing the episodes in English and Chinese.
Space Doctor Cat is an educational and entertainment puppet show with elements of 2D animation for children 2-4 and their parents. It’s about a Cat who lives in a fictional galaxy and works as a doctor. The Space Doctor Cat travels on a spaceship and helps the inhabitants of various planets. At the end of each episode the Cat gives out recipes of simple and healthy meals as well as safety, healthy living and hygiene advice.
POB Production (Finland), the production company behind the Icebreaker Snow book series, and award-winning Finnish animation studio Anima Vitae had broken the ice with a new trailer for their collaborative animated series, Icebreaker Snow Adventures.
Currently in development, the 52 x 11′ 3D CG series is anchored on Icebreaker Snow and his friends who live in Juniper Point near the Arctic sea. Icebreaker Snow embarks on challenging adventures with his friends with a lot of heart and courage. The aim is to take young viewers on a dive into the icy and arctic conditions and uncover each character’s colorful personality. Surrounded by Arctic seas, foreign visiting ships and exciting missions offer fascinating stories.
Leading global anime provider Funimation has unveiled FunimationCon, its first-ever virtual con on July 3-4 celebrating the anime community. The free, two-day virtual festival will bring the spirit of the con experience into the homes of anime fans in the U.S. and Canada with panels, cosplay meetups, forums and more. Funimation will share additional details on the event in the coming weeks.
“FunimationCon is a chance for us to give back to a community which has supported us for over 25 years by re-imagining the convention experience,” said Colin Decker, General Manager of Funimation. “With so many anime events being canceled this year, we’re jumping in to fill the gap with a new way for fans to come together and enjoy some great content and experiences.”
FunimationCon follows an impressive year for Funimation: Funimation released the box office hit My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising which passed $13 million at the domestic box office; added a robust slate of anime to its expansive catalog of new, classic, and must-view anime available through its streaming service; and released the 30th Anniversary Dragon Ball Z Collector’s Edition, which was a top seller.
For information on FunimationCon and to receive updates, visit FunimationCon.com.
Adding more variety to its offerings for streaming service subscribers in North America, Funimation has also announced a deal with NIS America to bring 19 popular titles to the platform — from the magic of the original Cardcaptor Sakura series to Toradora! Teaming with NIS America is part of Funimation’s commitment to offer the best anime to fans. The streamer currently has over 700 anime series and 13,000+ hours of both new and classic must-view anime.
The first selection of titles available on Funimation beginning May 5 include: Toradora! Cardcaptor Sakura Love Live! School Idol Project (Season 2) Love Live! The School Idol Project Movie Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea
Coming soon to Funimation: Arakawa Under the Bridge (Season 1 & 2) bunny drop Chronicles of the Going Home Club Daily Lives of High School Boys The Eccentric Family (Season 1) Genshiken Second Generation Ghastly Prince Enma Burning Up Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl Hanasaku Iroha – Blossoms for Tomorrow – Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home (Movie) If Her Flag Breaks kimi ni todoke -From Me to You- (Seasons 1 & 2) PandoraHearts YURUYURI (Seasons 1 & 2)
The New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) has announced that, In partnership with independent arthouse theaters and cultural organizations nationwide, it will offer virtual cinema screenings for families, launching May 8 and available through May 17. Tickets are available now.
Aiming to serve families and kids directly while supporting theaters whose doors are currently closed, NYICFF is providing two of its celebrated Kid Flicks award-winning short film programs to view at home. The programs, previously only screened in theaters, are now available directly via virtual cinema to families across the country who are looking for engaging content and exciting family viewing events during this period of quarantines.
“We’ve been thrilled to see the ingenuity of the independent theater community who have moved quickly to serve their audiences. Kids and families deserve the same high-quality programming that’s available to adults, so we were inspired to find a way to offer our programs through a new platform,” said Executive Director Nina Guralnick. “We know that families are desperate for new and exciting ways to keep their kids engaged as they struggle through the challenges of remote learning and stay-at-home orders. And now seems like an ideal time to offer our film programs, which always inspire great family discussion.”
To date, over 55 arthouse theaters and cultural organizations across the country have partnered with NYICFF to offer the programs, with more joining each day. A virtual Route 66 of cinemas and institutions, from the Eastern Seaboard states to Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California, and many more — NYICFF’s geographically expansive community partnerships and digital delivery reflect a community model of meaningful collaboration through the arts.
Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment are suiting up a new movie to bring more heroic action to fans this summer: Superman: Man of Tomorrow. The animated adventure centers on Clark Kent, an intern for the Daily Planet who is also learning on the fly how to save Metropolis as his powerful alter ego.
The pic will be available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray. Release date TBA.
The recently revealed voice cast is led by Darren Criss (Hollywood, Transformers: Robots in Disguise) as Clark Kent/Superman and Zachary Quinto (Star Trek, Big Mouth) as supervillain Lex Luthor. Alexandra Daddario (San Andreas) voices Lois Lane.
Man of Tomorrow will also feature some less familiar faces from the Superman universe. Ryan Hurst (The Walking Dead) is voicing intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo — self-described as “The Main Man” — while Brett Dalton (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) plays Parasite (a.k.a. Rudy Jones), a monster who can suck life force and superpowers out of other beings.
The cast also features prolific animation and games voice actor Ike Amadi (Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Tales of Arcadia) as Martian Manhunter, Neil Flynn (Scrubs) as Jonathan Kent, and Bellamy Young (Scandal) as Martha Kent.
Superman: Man of Tomorrow is directed by Chris Palmer (Voltron: Legendary Defender) and written by Tim Sheridan (The Death of Superman). Butch Lukic (Justice League: Batman Beyond) is supervising producer.
Best-selling cookbook author and Good+ Foundation children’s charity founder Jessica Seinfeld (wife of comedian Jerry) is teaming up with production company Avalon (Spitting Image, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) for a new animated kids’ series themed on urban farming. Titled Downtown Sprouts, the project is written and created by Sean Gill and Jana Petrosini (The Adventures of Kid Danger, Game Shakers); Seinfeld is executive producing.
This will be Avalon’s first kids’ show and first fully animated production.
Downtown Sprouts follows six-year-old June Sprout and her daily life on her family’s rooftop farm in the middle of downtown New York City. Using her special ability to talk to the farm animals, June is responsible for helping the barnyard beasts live their best big-city lives. When she’s not helping her dad up on the roof, June is downstairs helping her mom run the coolest farm-to-table restaurant in town.
The synopsis doesn’t mention whether it’s a vegetarian restaurant or how permanent the talking animal characters are.
In big “May the Fourth” news: Academy Award winner Taika Waititi, who recently won Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit and directed the widely-acclaimed first season finale episode of The Mandalorian on Disney+, will direct and co-write a new Star Wars feature film for theatrical release. Joining Waititi on the screenplay will be Academy Award nominee Krysty Wilson-Cairns (1917, Last Night in Soho), who received a BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year for the three-time Oscar-winning film, 1917.
Walt Disney Studios has also confirmed the previously reported news; that Emmy-nominated writer Leslye Headland (Russian Doll, Bachelorette) is developing a new, untitled Star Wars series for Disney+.
Headland will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner for the in-development series, which adds to a growing list of Star Wars stories for Disney’s streaming platform, including The Mandalorian, now in post-production on season 2, and two other previously ordered series: one based on Cassian Andor prior to the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and another following the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Learn more about the galaxy of Star Wars projects at www.starwars.com.
This year’s virtually produced telecast of Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2020: Celebrate Together, hosted by Victoria Justice (Victorious) on Saturday, May 2, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) continued the events’ tradition of packing in the stars, surprises and slime, as well as revealing kids’ favorite TV shows, movies, games and more.
Perennial Nick favorite SpongeBob SquarePants won the Animated Series category, while Disney’s Frozen II won both Favorite Animated Movie and Male Voice (Josh Gad, “Olaf”). Beyoncé won Female Voice for playing “Nala” in Jon Favreau’s reimagined The Lion King. And Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame picked up the Favorite Movie gauntlet.
Screenshot of KCA 2020: Celebrate Together host Victoria Justice [Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for Nickelodeon]
Highlights from Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2020: Celebrate Together:
+ A $1 million donation to No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America, in support of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
NBA champion and global icon LeBron James receiving Nickelodeon’s 2020 Generation Change Award, in honor of his commitment to creating real and lasting change through education, with his charity The LeBron James Family Foundation’s groundbreaking I PROMISE School, which provides his hometown’s most at-risk students and their families with educational resources and support.
A special appearance from the cast members of Avengers: Endgame (Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner).
A sneak peek of Nick’s new live-action series The Astronauts, from Imagine Kids+Family (watch here).
JoJo Siwa discovering slime secretly placed in every area of her home and ultimately getting slimed herself.
David Dobrik doused in slime.
A performance by recording artist and actor Asher Angel of his chart-topping single “All Day.”
An exclusive look at Nick’s Slime in Space
Celebrity appearances from Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Camila Cabello, Millie Bobby Brown, Ellen DeGeneres, BTS, Shawn Mendes, Lil Nas X, Dove Cameron, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, SSSniperWolf, cast members of Stranger Things (Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink), the cast of Henry Danger (Jace Norman, Riele Downs, Sean Ryan Fox, Cooper Barnes, Ella Anderson, Michael D. Cohen), and more.
The KCA 2020 winners are:
TELEVISION:
FAVORITE KIDS TV SHOW Henry Danger
FAVORITE FAMILY TV SHOW Stranger Things
FAVORITE REALITY SHOW America’s Got Talent
FAVORITE TV HOST Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen’s Game of Games)
FAVORITE ANIMATED SERIES SpongeBob SquarePants
FAVORITE FEMALE TV STAR Millie Bobby Brown (“Eleven,” Stranger Things) FAVORITE MALE TV STAR Jace Norman (“Henry Hart / Kid Danger,” Henry Danger)
FILM:
FAVORITE MOVIE Avengers: Endgame
FAVORITE MOVIE ACTRESS Dove Cameron (“Mal,” Descendants 3)
FAVORITE MOVIE ACTOR Dwayne Johnson (“Hobbs,” Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw; “Dr. Smolder Bravestone,” Jumanji: The Next Level)
FAVORITE SUPERHERO Tom Holland (“Spider-Man,” Spider-Man: Far From Home / Avengers: Endgame)
FAVORITE ANIMATED MOVIEFrozen II
FAVORITE FEMALE VOICE FROM AN ANIMATED MOVIE Beyoncé (“Nala,” The Lion King)
FAVORITE MALE VOICE FROM AN ANIMATED MOVIE Josh Gad (“Olaf,” Frozen II)
MUSIC:
FAVORITE FEMALE ARTIST Ariana Grande
FAVORITE MALE ARTIST Shawn Mendes
FAVORITE MUSIC GROUP BTS
FAVORITE SONG “bad guy”- Billie Eilish
FAVORITE MUSIC COLLABORATION “Señorita”- Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
FAVORITE BREAKOUT NEW ARTIST Lil Nas X
FAVORITE GLOBAL MUSIC STAR Taylor Swift (North America)
OTHER CATEGORIES:
FAVORITE MALE SOCIAL STAR David Dobrik
FAVORITE FEMALE SOCIAL STAR Annie LeBlanc
FAVORITE GAMER SSSniperWolf
FAVORITE VIDEO GAME Minecraft
FAVORITE SOCIAL MUSIC STAR JoJo Siwa
FAVORITE FEMALE SPORTS STAR Alex Morgan
FAVORITE MALE SPORTS STAR LeBron James
Faced with the uncertainty and disruption of the global COVID-19 crisis, many studios and individual creatives are tackling inspired new projects to bring a little more light into the world (and vanquish boredom in the bargain). A newly launched compilation short, #Flatten the Curve, is one example of this amazing wave of output.
Organized by Kathrin Steinbacher and Emily Downe — the award-winning filmmaker founders of London animation boutique Studio Desk — the project began as a call for animators to contribute a short clip highlighting something positive that they have experienced during this difficult time. The response was strong, with more than 140 animators around the world signing up, and the duo have launched the first of three planned films showcasing blends of artistic, poignant, funny and sweet animated snapshots of daily life in lockdown.
Watch the short below and scroll down to read Animag‘s Q&A with Downe and Steinbacher.
Animag: How would you describe #Flatten the Curve? What was your inspiration for the project?
Kathrin Steinbacher: It really is a celebration of a wonderful and diverse industry and we want to celebrate collaboration and show that supporting each other in this industry is so important, especially in more difficult times. We are hoping that the audience will feel more positive and encouraged after watching the film and are hopefully as inspired and excited as we are.
Emily Downe: A lot of us right now are confined to one space and it could be quite uninteresting and repetitive, but through animation you can be transported anywhere and you can re-imagine the space you are in. Animation also in itself is expressive and so the animators telling their stories can tell you not only what lockdown looks like for them, but what it feels like.
Can you give us some background on Studio Desk Animation?
Kathrin: We met at University studying BA Illustration Animation at Kingston School of Art in 2014, and then continued studying MA Animation at the Royal College of Art and started collaborating when we were still at uni. We loved it and immediately decided to continue collaborating after we graduated and started our own studio this year, @studiodeskanimation.
As far as we know, we are the only female animation studio in London. Our films have been screened at animation festivals around the world (Annecy, Zagreb, LIAF, Edinburgh Animation Festival, Sundance…) and my graduation film (In Her Boots) got nominated for a BAFTA this year.
When did you start this project?
After the outbreak of COVID-19 and the beginnings of global lockdown, we were hit by the level of anxiety and fear that was being expressed and generated through social media especially. But at the same time, also seeing how many artists and individuals were responding creatively to combat that and encourage others through it. We thought it would be great to make a collaborative film and see people connect from all over the world by telling their own experiences of COVID-19 through animation.
Also, as a lot of people have freer diaries — and for some, no work. We wanted to have a project to work on, and thought others might, too. We hoped it would encourage people to stay home and see that there are still some positives to come of it. So, we sent out a call on social media to any animators who wanted to send us up to 15 seconds of animation depicting something they have experienced, seen or thought in the midst of this strange time.
How many people have contributed?
Over 140 animators from around the world signed up and we received over 70 final clips of animations in the end.
What is your creative process like?
This started as a little fun project and we wanted to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible. We directed the film and worked on the editing and animated sections ourselves.
There were only two rules: We provided the color scheme and it had to be something positive they experienced during quarantine.
How do you share your material with each other? Which technologies do you use?
We created a Google Drive folder. And a Google Sheet list where people could sign up.
What has been the biggest challenge?
The challenge was trying to make it work as a whole series of three films. Initially we were planning on making one film and were completely overwhelmed with the amount of submissions — something we never expected. That’s the reason why we decided to make a series of three films in total, which we will release within a break of 1-2 weeks in between. Our sound designer Jan Willem de With did a great job tying the clips together though.
The highlight was to connect with other filmmakers from around the world. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to find new amazing talents, especially now that we have just started our own studio.
What do you hope people will take away from this experience?
This collaborative film focuses on the positive aspects of this hard situation! When the news is all doom and gloom — as it has been since the outbreak of the coronavirus — it’s hard for even the most optimistic among us to stay positive. So we are hoping that the audience will feel more positive and encouraged after watching the film and are hopefully as inspired and excited as we are.
It focuses on personal stories that each of us has experienced during the outbreak of COVID-19 and the series features over 70 different animators/directors from all around the world. It really is a celebration of a wonderful and diverse industry and we want to celebrate collaboration and show that supporting each other in this industry is so important, especially in more difficult times.
Secondly, a lot of us right now are confined to one space and it could be quite uninteresting and repetitive, but through animation you can be transported anywhere and you can re-imagine the space you are in. Animation also in itself is expressive and so the animators telling their stories can tell you not only what lockdown looks like for them, but what it feels like. They can make their plants talk, or humans turn into dogs, travel to the mountains, or imagine what it would be like to shave their hair off. The audience gets to see a little of the animator’s internal thoughts and experiences where a camera would just show them sitting in their bedroom.
Also, not to mention, the great thing about animation is you can make a film from indoors, which unfortunately a lot of live-action crew are unable to do at the moment.
Learn more about the studio at http://studio-desk.co.uk or by following @studiodeskanimation, @kathrin_steinbacher and @emilydowne on Instagram.
Nominations are in and voting has opened for the 24th annual The Webby Awards, honoring excellence in seven major media types: Websites, Video, Advertising, Media & PR, Social, Apps, Mobile, & Voice, Games and Podcasts. And as ever, animated projects have a strong presence in the year’s most acclaimed new media projects.
“The Internet is our glue right now. It’s the most powerful tool for us to support and uplift one another, and it is no surprise that this year’s Nominees are the companies and people leading the charge,” said Claire Graves, Executive Director of The Webby Awards. “They’ve accelerated their ingenuity, using their platforms to respond to this crisis by innovating, connecting, informing, and helping people all over the world.”
All Nominees are eligible to win the Internet industry’s two most prestigious awards: The Webby Award, selected by the Academy, and The Webby People’s Voice Award, voted on by Internet fans around the world.
Public voting for The Webbys People’s Voice Award is open through Thursday, May 7.
Established in 1996 during the web’s infancy, The Webbys is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) — a 2,000+ member judging body. The Academy is composed of Executive Members — leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities — and Associate Members who are former Webby Winners, Nominees and other Internet professionals.
Key animation category nominees are:
Video – Branded Entertainment – Animation
Creativity for All | Goodby Silverstein & Partners
The egg which doesn’t kill the chicken | Brand Station
Christmas doesn’t need much. Only love. | Serviceplan Germany
The Predator Holiday Special | Stoopid Buddy Stoodios
Wonderful Tools | Buck / TBWA\Media Arts Lab
Video – General – Animation
In Case You Haven’t Noticed | Hook
Lost & Found | Wabi Sabi Studios
La Noria | NightWheel Pictures
Thom Yorke: Last I Heard (…He Was Circling the Drain) | Art Camp
The Lonely Goalkeeper | Dress Code
Video – Series & Channels – Animation
Gary and His Demons | Look Mom! Productions
Tales from the Trip | Comedy Central (Viacom)
RSA Shorts: World-Changing Ideas | The RSA
Outer Monologue | Mailchimp Studios
Tasty Truths | Gallegos United
Video – Immersive & Mixed Media – Animation
Gymnasia | National Film Board of Canada
Doctor Who: The Runaway | Passion Pictures / BBC
I’m Still Kenny | Coat of Arms
Bonfire | Baobab Studios
Lessons of Auschwitz | RT
Advertising, Media & PR – Craft – Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics
AT&T Train | BBDO New York
Fine Day | Serviceplan Germany
#hannabumblebee | Jung von Matt/Donau Werbeagentur
Cyberpunk 2077 | Goodbye Kansas Studios
Apple Music – Memoji | TBWA\Media Arts Lab
![Screenshot of KCA 2020: Celebrate Together host Victoria Justice [Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for Nickelodeon]](https://www.dev.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/KCA-2020-Victoria-Justice-post.jpg)
