Comedy Central has placed a digital series order for Bobby Moynihan’s new animation project Loafy, and a new season order for puppet comedy Blark and Son, from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. The No. 1 comedy net ordered eight new short-form episodes of each, along with a linear pilot script for both Loafy and Blark and Son. The new digital episodes will rollout across all Comedy Central digital and social platforms in 2020.
Loafy is an animated comedy about a weed-dealing manatee who runs a drug empire from his water tank at the Center (much worse than Central) Park Zoo. Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live, DuckTales, We Bare Bears) voices the main character and serves as creator, writer and executive producer of the series. Loafy is executive produced by Luke Kelly-Clyne’s Big Breakfast, a recent acquisition of Propagate Content.
“Bobby is a phenomenal talent and an even more phenomenal manatee,” said Kelly-Clyne. “We’re so lucky to be working with him and so thankful to our partners at Comedy Central for helping us bring Loafy and his zoo family to life.”
Created by Ben Bayouth, and developed with head writer Adam Aseraf, Blark and Son is a short-form comedy about an overly manly, single dad (Blark) who incessantly tries to hang out with his overly nerdy, internet-addicted son (named Son). Blark and Son continuously juggle the revolving door of oddball friends and neighbors who cycle through their zany — and, at times, heartwarming — lives. Blark and Son is produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios. Aseraf, Bayouth, Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters serve as executive producers.
“Comedy Central is like our cool new step-dad who lets us stay up late to watch R-rated movies with him and then gives us money to make more Blark and Son,” said Bayouth. “Hey Comedy Central, you cool if we just call you Dad?”
“We are so excited for both of these series as we continue add original content to our growing digital portfolio,” said Steve Elliott, Vice President of Digital Original Development for Comedy Central. “It’s a great opportunity to work with Adam and Ben again after the success of the first season of Blark and Son. And clearly, now more than ever, the world needs a weed-dealing manatee and more Bobby Moynihan – not necessarily in that order.”
You can watch full episodes of Blark and Sononline.
Catch Moynihan discussing his passion project Loafy in this episode of IMDB’s UnMade.
The National Film Board of Canada is celebrating International Animation Day (October 28) with a special Animation Week program, featuring bold and dazzling new works by animators from across Canada.
NFB.ca’s Animation Week showcase offers free streaming of eight premieres — with four works by women as well as new Indigenous animation from the Hothouse program. They will all remain online at NFB.ca as a celebration of great Canadian animation.
Animation Week premieres include:
WORLD PREMIERE: Meet Annie and take a whirlwind tour through her busy world while discovering the power that lies in the small choices we make every day, in Winnipeg animator Anita Lebeau’s A Change of Scenery.
Ottawa-born filmmaker David Barlow-Krelina’s computer-animated Caterpillarplasty is a prescient, grotesque sci-fi satire that lifts plastic surgery to another level.
The second instalment in a trilogy that began with the Canadian Screen Award-winning Paula, Montreal director Dominic Etienne Simard’s Canada/France co-pro Charles (DES animations/Les Films de l’Arlequin/NFB) introduces audiences to a boy who imagines a peaceful haven to escape the unfairness of his life.
In Bulgarian-born, Montreal-based animator Alex Boya’s Turbine, a pilot crash-lands into his home and his face has been replaced by a turbine. To save their marriage, his wife takes drastic action.
Inspired by a real bear that once lived in Stanley Park, Sundance Award-winning Vancouver filmmaker Julia Kwan’s first animated film The Zoo (NFB/Fire Horse Productions) follows the parallel lives of a polar bear cub and a Chinese boy who visits him until they’re both in their twilight years.
Hothouse has helped kick-start the careers of a new generation of animators. For its 12th edition, the NFB teamed up with the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and associate producers Amanda Strong and Amanda Roy to help address underrepresentation of Indigenous creators in film animation, with three innovative, highly personal works premiering during Animation Week:
Born in Edmonton and raised on the Enoch Cree Nation, Kassia Ward explores the concept of semi-private spaces and how we act when we forget that we might be being watched in her short film Collector.
Meky Ottawa from the Atikamewk Nation in Quebec gives us The Fake Calendar — a neon glimpse at how people come up with interesting and creative ways to avoid social functions, in favor of their own private space.
A young Mi’kmaq artist from the Pabineau First Nation in New Brunswick who is living with schizoaffective disorder, Christopher Gilbert Grant directed XO Rad Magical, a personal lyrical poem that shows how there is beauty in the brains of those who are at war with themselves.
In 2002, the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) launched International Animation Day to commemorate the first public performance of Émile Reynaud’s Théâtre Optique at the Musée Grévin in Paris on October 28, 1892. This celebration is held in over 40 countries, and the NFB is taking part for the 13th straight year through Animation Week!
XO Rad MagicalTurbineFake CalendarCollectorCharlesChange of SceneryZoo
Felix the Cat, “the first animated movie star,” is celebrating his centenary! November 9, 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of Felix’s debut — also known as Felix the Cat Day. To celebrate, Universal Brand Development has released all-new Felix the Cat clothing, products and accessories through collaborations with Loungefly, Funko, Skechers and more.
Felix made his first public appearance in a short film called Feline Follies, and soon after, he was playing in every silent movie house in the world. He then went on to appear in over 250 newspapers in 70 different languages, and even became the first image to be broadcast over television airwaves. Felix was also the first cartoon likeness to be made into a parade balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1933.
Some of the exclusive items fans will be clamoring to get their paws on include:
Plush, pillows and keychains from Aliquantum (full line on JellyBeet.com Nov. 16; select SKUs on BoxLunch.com)
Exclusive Fashion Nova long sleeve tee ($24.99) and tie-dye style short sleeve tee ($21.99)
Funko Pop! The Amazing Original Felix the Cat vinyl figure ($10.90, BoxLunch.com), Pop! Pez Dispenser ($9.99, Walmart/Mass) and Target.com Limited Edition Exclusive pack including silver Felix Pop! and tee in a charming “bag of tricks” box ($25, Dec. 5)
Loungefly Felix the Cat Checkered Mini Backpack ($59.90; Loungefly.com/BoxLunch/Amazon), Kisslock Crossbody Bag ($72; Loungefly/Amazon), Chenille Print Tote ($72; Loungefly/Amazon) and Zip Around Wallet ($38 Loungefly/Amazon)
A range of bold and branded men’s tees from Neon Riot, including two graphic styles for Tilly’s ($17.99) and four more colorful, stripy designs ($24.99)
A retro-inspired 3D Motion Wall Clock from NJ Croce ($44.90; Amazon/BoxLunch)
Dapper Felix pomade pots in both original and firm hold options from Sally Beauty ($11/$13)
A fresh women’s line of Skechers x Felix 100 shoe styles, in stores in November
Felix the CatFelix the CatFelix the CatFelix the Cat
The 55th Chicago International Film Festival announced the winners of the event’s diverse competitions on Friday night. Prizes were awarded to films in the following categories: International Feature Film Competition; New Directors Competition; International Documentary Competition; Out-Look Competition; and Short Film Competition. The Chicago Award and the Founder’s Award were also presented.
Animated feature Bombay Rose (India/U.K./Qatar/France) by director Gitanjali Rao was awarded the Silver Hugo in the New Directors competition, sharing the honor with César Díaz for Our Mothers.
In the Animated Short Film Competition, the Gold Hugo was awarded to French Cannes-selected short And Then the Bear, with the silver going to I Bleed (Sangro), a Brazillian piece about living with HIV which won the Jean-Luc Xiberras prize at Annecy.
Other major prizes went Int’l Feature Film winners Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Gold) and Vitalina Varela (Silver); Best Director to Maya Da-Rin for The Fever (Silver); New Director Gold Hugo to Franco Lolli, Litigante; Roger Ebert Award for emerging filmmaker to Maryam Touzani, Adam; Founder’s Award to Martin Scorsese, The Irishman; and The Chicago Award for local film to Ed Flynn, Tour Manager.
“It is our honor and pleasure to present a lineup of films that surprise, move and inspire our audiences at the Festival,” said Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “The diverse, dynamic group of award recipients from the 55th edition of the Festival serves as a celebration of excellence in filmmaking and the power of cinema to bring people together, introduce us to new worlds and cultures, and remind us of our shared human experience.”
The International Competition Jury was comprised of Gabor Greiner, Tatiana Leite, Tetsuya Mariko, Cosmina Stratan and Jennifer Reeder. Animated Short Film Competition jurors were Shelley Lynn Dodson, Ozge Samanci and Jim Vendiola.
New Directors Competition
Silver Hugo, Ex Aequo – Bombay Rose | Gitanjali Rao | India/U.K./Qatar/France
A dreamy, lush animated film with a rich aesthetic palette, this captivated the jury with its multigenerational story of longing, hope, love, belief, and family. The film’s striking hand-painted visuals alternately juxtapose Bollywood spectacle with Hindu symbolism and Islamic heroic iconography; we found its haunting soundtrack of traditional and contemporary Hindi, Persian and Urdu songs equally complex and affecting. The result is a formally and narratively ambitious tapestry that centers on star-crossed lovers, yet lingers poignantly amidst multiple intersecting stories and perspectives with finely textured details that are as exquisite as the whole.
Animated Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo – And Then the Bear | Agnès Patron | France
A young boy conjures a fierce bear to cope with his defiance and familial jealousy. Combining phantasmagoric imagery with an unusual Freudian narrative, director Agnes Patron expertly blends narrative and experimental techniques to convey a cohesive, nightmarish manifestation of inner turmoil.
Silver Hugo – I Bleed | Tiago Minamisawa, Bruno H Castro, Guto BR | Brazil
Beautifully poetic in narration and style, I Bleed utilizes a powerful collage of mixed media to tell the intimate personal journey of one man’s experience living with HIV. The film is a tragic-yet-hopeful meditation on the healing power of art.
***This article originally appeared in the December ’19 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 295)***
Five years ago, Disney opted to retell the story of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of its charismatic villain in the hit live-action movie Maleficent. This month, Angelina Jolie reprises her titular role in the sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil under the direction of Joachim Rønning (Kon-Tiki). The storyline follows the engagement of Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson) to Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) and how it triggers a war between the humans and faeries, and tests the bond between the bride-to-be with her godmother, Maleficent.
After previously collaborating with Rønning on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, VFX supervisor Gary Brozenich (The Lone Ranger) was given the responsibility of making the fantastical world of the horned faerie a cinematic reality. “The needs of Maleficent and Pirates were so different for both of us it was a lot of fun to jump into a brand-new pool,” he says. Approximately 2,168 visual effects shots were divided between MPC facilities in Montreal, Vancouver, London and Bangalore, with assistance from Mill Film in Montreal. “I was lucky to work with the team that came off of the back of The Lion King and a lot of them had worked on the previous Maleficent.”
Brozenich says the first movie’s use of facial capture effects and other visuals were great for the time. But, he adds, “Five years later, what we are able to do creatively and technically has become so much more advanced. Upgrading all of the techniques, looks and the ability to make the characters modern in the visual effects sense was one big hurdle.”
One unexpected challenge was dealing with four or five key performers with wings, all of whom have different personalities. “You have amazing actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is not used to pretending that he has wings, while Angelina Jolie did on it the previous film and came in armed with all of the knowledge and experience to immediately click into gear and become Maleficent,” he recalls. “When you’re choreographing huge scenes with loads of wings, which are essentially the size of a person each, then it changes the structure and the framing of everything.”
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Previs Before You Leap
To deliver the film’s complex effects, extensive storyboards and previs sequences were created. “In practical shooting terms that normally acts as a style guide rather than a bible, which for me is a better way to work,” states Brozenich. “It allows you to capture natural reactions on set. We have sections of the movie that are largely CG.”
The vast majority of the production took place at the famous Pinewood Studios in the U.K. “Other than interiors which were largely in camera, with the exception of what was out the windows, 360 degrees looking at any direction could be a bluescreen. There were big set builds, but in the scope and scale of what the movie encompasses they don’t get you far, especially with flying characters which cover a lot of ground.”
The pixies trio of Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), Thistlewit (Juno Temple) and Flittle (Leslie Manville) reappear with the help of the latest performance capture system. “We used a software that has been developed by Disney Zurich called Anyma; that was combined with various mocap techniques, keyframe animation and three mocap actors miming to the facial capture that we did of the three key performers to have the pixies come to life. We had a heavy use of mocap on the show, which is always a great launch pad. If you have a six-armed, two-headed creature, mocap might not be the best way. But when you have bipedal and quadrupedal characters that are largely based on understood human animatronics, then mocap gets you there fast.”
A combination of wirework and CG was utilized to enable the winged characters to fly. “We did do a lot of work on a tuning fork, which is a man-tronic approach where you put somebody onto a stunt rig, and the stunt riggers and performers will manipulate and work with the actor to make it appear that they’re banking left and right, lifting and dropping,” explains Brozenich. “It was the same approach that was used for the first film. We did look at other techniques, like motion-control bases, but they weren’t practical considering the number of characters and scenes that we had to do, and the time that we had to do them in. Being able to work with the actors so that you’re not harnessing them into something that is completely preprogrammed and giving them a little bit of breathing room to give their own style, flare and technique to it was rewarding for them. It’s always hard to do flying people. A lot of time you have to replace them digitally, or parts of the body.”
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Different Shades of Magic
Green and red magic are part of the film’s dynamic visual language. “Green magic has a legacy to it, so there was an established look that was there for us when we walked onto the movie,” notes Brozenich. “Part of what we had to go through was trying to establish a way to respect that, replicate it, and try to technically advance it. The ability to use magic as a tool or weapon takes on a whole other level of dynamic that is much bigger and more demanding than what was used in the first one.”
The red magic was done entirely digitally. As Brozenich mentions, “We went through a whole period of trying to do parts of it practically on set. Half of the backlot of Pinewood Studios was turned bright pink in the matter of three hours.”
Wallerbogs and Tree Warriors have a major presence in the sequel, alongside new creatures such as fawn faeries that look like a cute little deer. “Aurora’s castle, which was Maleficent’s throne, is in the heart of the Moors; it’s the greenest and most luscious and beautiful place,” says the supervisor. “Everything ripples off from there. Once you get to human inhabitation, the Moor starts to look like an English forest. It’s beautifully lit by our DP Henry Braham [The Golden Compass]. We have added touches of magic and replaced some trees here and there to get that storybook quality. The Moors and forest are a mirror of the first film but hopefully we were able to make them look more advanced in terms of the skills and technologies that we have now.”
One of the movie’s new settings is the place where Maleficent came from. “The origin story, which is buried in the film, is the most fun,” notes Brozenich. “There’s a mythology based around who these people were, where they came from, and why they were in the place that she ends up with them, which has a direct relationship with the aesthetic of the scenes and the environment we got to make. Imagine all of the four corners of the Earth on steroids put into the same physical space. It’s a moment of explanation. We do continue to come back to it, but we only created one of the big environments.”
Brozenich praises his great relationship with stunt coordinator Jo McLaren (Cats) and second unit director Simon Crane (Edge of Tomorrow). “We gelled really fast and worked side by side.”
He also points out that the shortened post-production schedule and the variety of visual effects were some of the film’s biggest challenges. He says, “We had everything from rooms full of winged humans, full CG shots of over 100 characters, and loads of live-action set pieces with a few CG characters mixed into them.”
“I was the CG battle guy for quite a while,” notes Brozenich, whose credits include Kingdom of Heaven, Troy and Wrath of the Titans. “I welcomed the challenge of making the battles look threatening, scary, exciting and dynamic, but we also had to make sure the visuals fit within the familiar Disney vernacular. So that was a nice change!”
Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is currently playing in theaters around the world.
On Friday evening at the Cinekid Festival in Amsterdam, the jury and audience awards were presented for the best youth TV programs and children’s films of 2019. U.K. student film Heatwave was awarded Best International Animated Short, with Heer & Meester Film’s At First Sight taking the Lion for Dutch animation.
The winners of the MediaLab, Cinekid’s digital interactive exhibition, were announced on Thursday. The jury award for Best of MediaLab was presented to the virtual reality experience Eden’s Adventure by artist Abner Preis. The audience award was handed to the virtual reality game Museum of Symmetry by Canadian animator Paloma Dawkins.
2019 winners:
Best Children’s Film (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 7,500) BINTI | Frederike Migom | Bulletproof Cupid, Family Affair Films | Belgium, The Netherlands
Best Children’s Film (Cinekid Lion Audience Award) Sune vs Sune | Jon Holmberg | Unlimited Stories | Sweden
Best Dutch Family Film (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 7,500) Romy’s Salon | Mischa Kamp | BosBros
Best Dutch Family Film (Cinekid Lion Audience Award) My Extraordinary Summer with Tess | Steven Wouterlood | BIND Film
Best of MediaLab (Golden Lion Jury Award € 3,000) Eden’s Adventure | Abner Preis | The Netherlands
Best of MediaLab (Golden Lion Audience Award € 3,000) Museum of Symmetry | Paloma Dawkins | Canada
Best International Animated Short (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 2,500) Heatwave | Fokion Xenos | National Film and Television School | Greece, United Kingdom
Best International Live Action Short (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 2,500) Provence | Kato de Boeck | RITCS School of Arts | Belgium
Best Dutch Animation Short (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 2,500) At First Sight | Sjaak Rood | Heer & Meester Film
Best Dutch Documentary Short (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 2,500) 180CC | René van Zundert | Tangerine Tree | EO
Best Dutch Live Action Short (Cinekid Lion Jury Award € 2,500) En route | Marit Weerheijm | Room for Film
Best Youth Film (Cinekid Lion Youth Jury Award) Hacker | Poul Berg | Toolbox Film | Denmark
Best Dutch Fiction Series Seven Little Criminals | Rob Lücker | Pupkin Film | VPRO
Best Dutch Non-Fiction Series One Week to Go | Kim Faber, Jotte den Dulk, Anna Peeters, Winand Derks van de Ven, Marinka de Jongh, Stephane Kaas & Nelleke Koop | Moondocs | VPRO
National Audience Award, age 4-6 Fox and Hare | Mascha Halberstad & Tom van Gestel | Submarine, Walking the Dog, Doghouse Films | KRO-NCRV
National Audience Award, age 6-10 Floor Rules | Maurice Trouwborst | NL Film & TV | VPRO
At the Junior Co-Production Market of the industry event Cinekid for Professionals, an expert jury selected the best projects for youth media:
Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (Jury Award € 20,000) Snot and Splash, directed by Teemu Nikki and written by Ilja Rautsi. Produced by It’s Alive Films (FI). Snot and Splash is a previous Cinekid Script LAB project from 2018-2019.
A special mention was given to the project Totem, directed by Sander Burger and written by Bastiaan Tichler & Sander Burger. Produced by Volya Films (NL).
Best TV Project Award (Jury Award € 10,000) Art Mysteries, directed by Martijn Blekendaal and produced by Cerutti Film (NL, DE).
A special mention went to Folk Tales from Papua New Guinea, written & directed by Katherine Winfrey and Ursula Ulmi. Produced by Ulmi Film and Studio Epictus (CH, PG).
Filmmore Post-Production Award (Jury Award € 5,000) The Summer Dad Went Gay, directed by Petter Naess and written by Endre Lund Eriksen. Produced by Fabelfjord AS (NO).
The Cinekid Honorary Award was handed to Bea Appels and Dick de Jonge for their outstanding contribution to youth film. For almost four decades their distribution company Twin Film released numerous children’s films in the Netherlands
Eden’s AdventureCinekid Film & TV AwardsMuseum of SymmetryHeatwave
Nickelodeon to Debut Brand-New ‘SpongeBob’ Balloon, ‘Blue’s Clues & You’ Float at Macy’s T-Day Parade
Nickelodeon is celebrating 20 years of its iconic SpongeBob SquarePants series with a brand-new, 44’ x 36’ x 46’ balloon at the 93rd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for SpongeBob’s 15th appearance. The design features everyone’s favorite subaquatic sponge and his beloved pet snail, Gary. The nationally televised holiday spectacle will also feature a brand-new float inspired by the network’s highly anticipated preschool series Blue’s Clues & You!, which premieres on Nov. 11, featuring a 22-foot-tall Blue covered in 13 lbs. Of glitter.
The Parade on Nov. 28 will also feature three fan-favorite returning Nickelodeon elements: a one-of-a-kind Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles float; PAW Patrol’s Chase character balloon; and a Shimmer and Shine float.
Ataboy Studios Assembles with Director Noah Sterling
The NYC-based creative production company has signed Sterling as Director of Branded Content. Widely known as the creator of Marvel TL;DR animated web series and the animated shorts of Today in Marvel History, Sterling has led the pitch development of numerous animated series for both TV and streaming platforms. His foothold in the “geek-culture” landscape has made him a sought-after Development Director for major networks seeking new serialized content. Sterling also contributes as Adjunct Professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He joins Ataboy to introduce and expand his talents into the network, commercial and gaming worlds, further lending to more branded work.
CALL FOR ENTRIES: Tokyo Anime Award Festival
TAAF 2020 will be held March 13-16 in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Submissions are now open for short films (deadline: October 31, 2019) and features (November 10, 2019). The festival is organized by the Tokyo Anime Award Festival Executive Committee and The Association of Japanese Animations, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
’Tom & Jerry’ Jumps to Christmas 2020
The cat-and-mouse caper has been pushed up from its previous April 2021 date. Warner Bros. will pit the pic against DreamWorks’ The Croods 2 for holiday audiences. WB is also moving up Robert Zemeckis’ reboot of Roald Dahl’s The Witches a scootch, from Oct. 16 to Oct. 9 next fall.
WarnerMedia Acquires HBO in LatAm
The deal gives WM full ownership of HBO-branded services in Spanish-speaking Latin America and the Caribbean, including HBO, MAX, Cinemax and HBO Go. The ownership structure of HBO Brasil Partners, another joint venture between the companies that operates HBO in Brazil, is unaffected at this time. WarnerMedia and Ole Communications will continue their basic channel distribution business in Latin America.
WATCH: ‘The Casagrandes’ Official Extended Theme Song
Nickelodeon has issued an official extended version of the tune, performed by Ally Brooke and featuring Izabella Alvarez as Ronnie Anne Casagrande. This energetic and authentic song celebrates all of the things that make up The Casagrandes – family, love, humor and food. Written by award-winning composer Germaine Franco.
FYE has collaborated with anime giant Funimation to create a brand-new collection of exclusive products inspired by hit property My Hero Academia, arriving at FYE stores and online now.
First, for the ultimate fan, FYE and Funimation partnered with Japan Crate (www.japancrate.com) to create an exclusive triple-collaboration My Hero Academia Crate! Available only at FYE, these crates feature a delicious assortment of My Hero Academia-themed sweets & snacks from Japan. All crates include a free trial subscription to the FunimationNow anime streaming service.
Next up is the exclusive Plus Ultra Cereal. Each box is packed with a tasty Ultra Berry Blast cereal that will help you become a hero in your everyday life. And if that isn’t enough to wake up to, there’s the exclusive Bakugo’s Explosion Chocolate Bar. Each milk chocolate bar is loaded with explosive popping candy in every bite — just as volatile as Katsuki Bakugo himself.
This My Hero Academia collection is available exclusively at FYE stores and fye.com for a limited time.
Learn more about the show and find out where to watch My Hero Academia at funimation.com.
The Manchester Animation Festival (Nov. 10-14) has revealed more details of its 2019 program, sure to warm up the chilly English fall days!
In addition to the making-of session, MAF will present a preview screening of Netflix’s Klaus the day before its international streaming debut. The first animated feature from Netflix, this gorgeous, festive film is directed by Sergio Pablos, made by SPA Studios & AtresMedia Cine and follows a postman stationed on a frozen island above the arctic circle, who encounters a mysterious carpenter living alone in a cabin full of handmade toys.
Klaus joins an exciting lineup of feature film screenings which also includes the opening night presentation of Steven Universe: The Movie, courtesy of Cartoon Network. This long-form outing for Steve and the Crystal Gems is an epic, music-filled, adventure that overflows with more new songs and music than ever before.
In celebration of MAF’s five-year anniversary, the U.K.’s biggest animation festival will showcase the winners of past editions with two specially curated best-of-the-fest screenings offered free to the public.
Two additions have been made to the Industry Excellence Award Workshops program. On Tuesday, Nov. 12, Seb Burnett of Rumpus Animation will lead a Character Design Workshop. And partners Blu Zoo are lending Owen Fern to delegate a masterclass in the Character Animation Workshop.
Technical director Levente Sipos has been confirmed to join MAF for a Q&A after the screening of award-winning feature Ruben Brandt, Collector on Tuesday. The same day, animation legend Peter Lord will give a special introduction to Aardman Animations’ latest big screen outing, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.
Peter Lord
Professionals won’t want to miss the newly added panels on the final day of the fest. In Toon Boom Harmony: A professional overview for artists and animators, 2D animator and educator Adam Oliver will talk about his own career and demonstrate why Harmony has become the industry-standard tool for animation production in thousands of studios around the world, offering tips for working with the software and sharing useful advice based on his experiences. In Getting Animated with the Young Audiences Content Fund, the team will be on hand to give advice and guidance to potential applicants and anyone who is interested in hearing more information about the BFI’s new Fund.
Songbird
Further, MAF announced the selections for the Immersive Films program, which will be accessible for free at Gallery 1 at HOME from noon to 8 p.m. every day during the festival. The selection includes:
Nothing to Be Written (dir. Lysander Ashton) During the First World War millions of multiple-choice postcards were sent home by soldiers from the front lines. Nothing except a signature was allowed to be written on the card, communication could only take place through the prescribed phrases. Nothing to be Written is a VR artwork inspired by the messages on these postcards and the circumstances under which they were written and received.
Doctor Who: The Runaway (dir. Matthias Chelebourg) You’ve been in a collision. You wake inside the TARDIS. The Doctor introduces you to the person, or thing, you collided with. He’s a strange and magnificent ball of living energy called Volta. Part surly teenager, part bomb, Volta is very unstable. In fact, he’s primed to explode. Big time. Unless he can be returned to his home planet, sharpish. The problem is, a squad of galactic busybodies has other plans for Volta. Bad ones.
GYMNASIA (dir. Chris Lavis & Maciek Szczerbowski) Step into the stillness of an abandoned school and enter a place where the ghostly ephemera of a lost childhood await you. Recall the particular sights and sounds of a child’s world through the echoes of ball games, school lessons and choir recitals.
Drift (Immotion Studios) After losing his compass overboard, our seafaring hero dives into the ocean to rescue it and begins an underwater adventure of discovery and jeopardy. Shocked at the extent of man’s pollution of the ocean, he resolves to make a difference. An eco warrior is born.
Action Causes Reaction (dir. Jonti Picking) A 360 VR video for the animated Electro Pop band Savlonic, made using the Unity games engine, which the filmmaker learned to use over the eight weeks it took to create the film.
Songbird (dir. Lucy Greenwell) In this fairytale with a dark heart, you are transported to the island of Kauai in 1984 and into a painted replica of a lush cloud forest filled with colorful birds. Here, you are invited to search for the last known ʻōʻō, an iconic black bird with yellow leg feathers and a beautiful song, a bird whose existence has been threatened to the point of extinction.
Chuang: In the Pictures (dir. Qing Shao) Travel through the many abstract realities, and through the windows of the mind. You might find yourself in a magnificent library, or a secluded bedroom of a disabled little girl. It’s about self discovery, inner exploration.
Netflix is releasing a new animated short film from award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Titled Sitara: Let Girls Dream, the moving story centers on a 14-year-old girl named Pari who dreams of being a pilot, while growing up in a society that doesn’t allow her to dream.
“Young girls everywhere still face considerable hurdles in achieving their dreams. Sitara embodies that struggle; it is the story of Pari, a young girl who dreams of becoming a pilot and is robbed of it,” said Obaid-Chinoy. “For me, Sitara is more than a film; it is a movement that we want to start across the world, that encourages parents to invest in their girls’ dreams, freeing their daughters from the burdens of early marriage.”
Obaid-Chinoy is a two-time Academy Award winner and three-time Emmy Award winner, known for her work in films that highlight women’s experiences of inequality. She is the only female director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37, and her work has been screened around the world. Saving Face (HBO), which chronicles the lives of survivors of acid violence, won the 2012 Oscar for Best Documentary Short — Pakistan’s first Academy Award. A Girl in the River: The Price for Forgiveness (HBO) about honor killings in Pakistan won the 2015 Oscar for Best Documentary Short. Additional projects include: Song of Lahore, Peace Keepers and Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret.
VICE Studios financed and produced the film. Imke Fehrmann serves as producer on the film. Women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem and Darla Anderson, the Academy Award-winning producer of Coco and Toy Story 3, VICE Media Group CEO Nancy Dubuc, and Emmy-nominated Ariel Wengroff serve as executive producers, as well as Sharmeen’s animation production company Waadi Animation. Adnan Saeed joins the crew as CG supervisor, while Salman Nasir is the Art Director and Kamran Khan as the animation director. Four-time Emmy winner and Grammy Award winner Laura Karpman is the short’s composer.
“Twelve million girls every year are forced into child marriage, losing their ability to dream. We hope this film gives young people and their families the ability to spark a conversation for a different perspective on what we allow our children to aspire to be when they grow up,” said Wengroff. “We are thrilled to have Netflix as a partner to share this project with the world.”
Steinem commented, “Thanks to the universal language of animation, Sitara will help girls everywhere to dream and to soar.”
GUCCI’s social impact initiative Chime for Change, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Ariel Wengroffwill create an impact campaign for the film around the theme “Let Girls Dream,” through which they hope to encourage girls around the world to share their dreams and gain inspiration from one another. Learn more at www.LetGirlsDream.org.
While the previously announced Muppets project has been scrapped, Disney+ is teaming up with The Jim Henson Company for a new, out-of-this-world concept. Earth to Ned, a comedic celebrity chat show hosted by an affable alien puppet and his ET lieutenant, has received a straight-to-series order for the streamer, which launches Nov. 12.
Synopsis: Ned, a blue-skinned alien, and his lieutenant Cornelius were sent to scout Earth for an eventual invasion — but instead became obsessed with popular culture. Now they host a talk show, broadcast from the bridge of their spaceship hidden deep underground, where they interview our most precious commodity — celebrities — to talk about Ned’s current pop culture obsessions. Ned will be bringing real-life celebrity guests to his ship from across the known universe and interviewing them, late-night talk show style, in hopes of producing the ultimate talk show — making Ned a celebrity and putting him further off-mission. And the more Ned learns about our human culture, the more obsessed he becomes.
The series is produced by The Jim Henson Co. and Marwar Junction Productions; JHC Chairman Brian Henson (son of the late Jim Henson) and Head of Development & Production Vince Raisa are executive producers alongside Marwar’s Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley. Ned, Cornelius, their artificial intelligence BETI and their army of furry little CLODs (Cloned Living Objects of Destruction) are created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop (Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance).
The British Animation Awards (BAA), the only ceremony in the U.K. devoted to rewarding animation, has announced the categories for its 2020 awards, including two new awards. The 13th BAAs to be held since their introduction in 1996 will take place at BFI Southbank in London on March 12.
The BAA is inviting entries for animation produced in the U.K. in 2018 and/or 2019 in the following categories:
Best Animation in a Commercial
Best Design Graphics
Best Long Form Animation
Best Voice Performance
Best Use of Sound
Best Children’s Pre-School Series
Best Children’s Series
Best Music Video
Best Short Film
Best Commissioned Animation
Writer’s Award
Best Original Short Form Content
Best Post-Graduate Student Film
Best Under-Graduate Student Film
NEW: Best Original Music
NEW: Social Good
In addition, there are Public Choice Awards for Favourite Short Film and Favourite Music Video, which are voted for by audiences at screenings held across the U.K. in early 2020. Young animation fans get their say too as a panel of children selects the Children’s Choice Award from finalists in the children’s categories.
BAA’s new Director, Helen Brunsdon, said, “Taking over the BAAs from the founding director Jayne Pilling has been a formidable task. I’d like to thank her on behalf of all for her amazing legacy with the BAAs. We are working hard to continue and develop the BAAs which are a firm fixture in the U.K. animation calendar. We urge animators and producers in every part of the U.K. to get their submissions in before the deadline at the end of November. I hope the BAAs in 2020 will offer the animation industry a warm glow of respect and support that we all need from time to time.”
The BAAs sheep-themed awards are unique works of art from some of the most respected artists and animators. Previous winners include Tim Burton, Nick Park, Simon Tofield, Harry Potter, Gorillaz and Martin Freeman. The evening will once again be hosted by the comedian Miles Jupp.
Primeworks Studios and Wau Animation announced today that Ejen Ali The Movie is set for theatrical release on November 28, simultaneously in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. This marks the first feature film the super popular Malaysian animated series.
With 2 million eyeballs tuned in weekly on TV3, Malaysia’s largest free-to-air channel, and over 1.4 million subscribers on YouTube, Ejen Ali is one of Asia’s fastest-growing animation brands. Since debuting in 2016, the series has been broadcasted in over 50 countries, including on regional networks Disney Asia, Nickelodeon India, MNCTV in Indonesia and AlMajeed TV in the Middle East and North Africa.
Ejen Ali The Movie follows 12-year-old Ejen Ali, who after being accidentally recruited as a spy has now grown to embrace his role in secret agency Meta Advance Tactical Agency (MATA) to protect the futuristic city of Cyberaya from outside threats. Ali is surprised to discover that he is no longer the only master of the Infinity Retinal Intelligence System (IRIS) gadget, since MATA has now upgraded to IRIS Neo for all MATA agents. When the new invention leads Ali to question his place and usefulness to MATA, he is approached by a rogue figure who claims to know about a surprising personal connection to Ali. Risking his loyalty to MATA, Ejen Ali embarks on a thrilling chase to unravel these mysterious links.
“2019 is fast becoming the year Malaysian animation dominates at the local box office,” Primeworks Studios CEO Datuk Ahmad Izham Omar said during the announcement. “Kudos to Wau Animation for their ingenious craftsmanship and contribution in bringing Malaysian cinema to a whole other level. We hope fans and movie-goers alike will show their support for Ejen Ali this coming school holiday season.”
Usamah Zaid Yasin, CEO of Wau Animation, added, “We truly appreciate the unyielding support from Ejen Ali’s die-hard fans, who motivate us to continue reaching for new heights in producing the first feature film. We hope our efforts to polish and perfect the film will exceed all the hard-won fans’ expectations.”
Ahead of the film’s release, the first single from the original soundtrack, “Bukalah Matamu” by Aisyah Aziz and rising rapper Bunga, was released on September 20 on all major music streaming platforms. The lyric video was also released on YouTube and has chalked up over 700,000 views to date. The second single, “Kita Jaga Kita” by hip-hop maestro Altimet with Cuurley and Malik Abdullah, will be released this Friday, October 25; a lyric video will also be launched on the Ejen AliYouTube channel at noon on the same day. The film’s score is composed by Azri Yunus and Hakim Kamal, both key members of the Ejen Ali production team since its inception.
Primeworks Studios and Wau Animation also announced multiple collaborations in line with the film’s release; namely with Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Mydin and Pediasure for exciting joint marketing campaigns. A series of roadshows will also be announced soon for fans of Ejen Ali to meet the character mascots in person and to win exclusive movie merchandise. New branded consumer products are set for release too, such as kids’ body wash from Carrie BacBuster, revamped Back-To-School range, toys, confectionery and many more. These products will be made available nationwide through retail stores like Mydin, Parkson and AEON.
Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine and Jake Thomas are set to reprise their roles as Jo, Sam and Matt McGuire, joining previously announced Hilary Duff as Lizzie, in the Disney+ series Lizzie McGuire. The series continues the adventures of the popular character and her animated alter-ego. This week, the cast convenes for the first time in 15 years for a read-through of the first episode.
Original series creator Terri Minsky also returns as showrunner and executive producer.
“We are incredibly excited to bring back one of the most popular Disney Channel series of all time along with some beloved and familiar faces,” said Ricky Strauss, President, Content & Marketing, Disney+. “With Terri at the helm and Hilary, Hallie, Robert, and Jake back after all these years, it’s our honor to welcome the McGuire family into the Disney+ family.”
“Just like there is no Lizzie McGuire without Hilary Duff, there is no McGuire family without Hallie, Robert, and Jake,” said Gary Marsh, President & Chief Creative Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide. “The original series holds a special place in the hearts of so many, and we can’t wait to introduce fans, both old and new, to an older, wiser, yet still perfectly imperfect Lizzie.”
The new story picks up as Lizzie McGuire is just about to turn 30. She seemingly has it all – her dream job as an assistant to a fancy New York City decorator, her dream guy and a picturesque Brooklyn apartment – but things aren’t always as they seem. With a little help from her friends, her loving family and her 13-year-old alter-ego in animated form, Lizzie navigates the ups and downs of adulthood.
Hilary Duff and Rachel Winter will also executive produce alongside Minsky. Ranada Shepard is the co-executive producer. Lizzie McGuire is a production of Salty Pictures, Inc.
HBO Max has picked up gen:LOCK for a second season, following its success as Rooster Teeth’s newest animated series. Starring Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther), the half-hour animated series focuses on a near-future dystopia undergoing a new, technologically driven world war. gen:LOCK originally premiered on Rooster Teeth; Season 2 will premiere on HBO Max and 90 days later will be available on Rooster Teeth for FIRST members.
“We are proud to bring gen:LOCK’s bold vision, inventive style, and extraordinary cast to HBO Max, and to build on the success that our partners at Rooster Teeth and Outlier Society have crafted so skillfully,” said Billy Wee, SVP Original Animation, HBO Max.
“We’re beyond excited to be producing a second season of gen:LOCK for HBO Max,” said Matt Hullum, co-founder and Chief Content Officer at Rooster Teeth. “Billy Wee and the team at HBO Max have been incredibly supportive in the development process, and we’re thrilled to be working closely with them on this project. We were blown away by the response to the first season of this show, both by the Rooster Teeth community and the Adult Swim audience, and cannot wait to bring it to more fans of action, sci-fi, and mecha animation.”
Set 50 years in the future, gen:LOCK tells the story of an oppressive authoritarian force that threatens to conquer the world. A daring team is recruited to pilot a new form of devastating mecha, but they must be willing to sacrifice everything to save the world.
Dakota Fanning (The Alienist, Twilight Saga), Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones, Early Man, New Mutants), Golshifteh Farahani (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and David Tennant (Jessica Jones, Doctor Who) are all set to return to the series along with Jordan.
gen:LOCK is executive produced by Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo of Outlier Society, along with Rooster Teeth’s Matt Hullum and Ryan P. Hall. The series is produced by Rooster Teeth’s in-house animation studio.
HBO Max is set to launch in spring 2020, from WarnerMedia. Learn more at HBOMax.com.
Year-old shingle Mythos Studios is in active development on three animated features, according to company heads David Maisel (founding chairman of Marvel Studios) and Scooter Braun (record exec). In addition to previously announced Cupid, the slate included two projects inspired by late comic-book artist Michael Turner, whose works Mythos gained access to when it acquired an ownership stake in Aspen Comics.
Cupid stars Justin Bieber as the titular love god in a musical adventure take on the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The project is directed by Gorillaz animator Pete Candeland from a script by Carlos Kotkin (Rio 2), from a story by Maisel. Cupid is intended to kick off a connected “MythoVerse” for the studio, with stories and characters inspired by Greek and Roman mythology.
On the “TurnerVerse” side, Kevin Adams and Joe Ksander (of Netflix feature Next Gen) are developing Turner’s Fathom and Soulfire comic books.
Fathom is being written by Kristin Gore (Futurama, Saturday Night Live) — daughter of Vice President Al Gore. The comic centers on a marine biologist named Aspen Matthes, who discovers she is actually a member of an advanced, underwater-dwelling species.
Soulfire is getting a screenplay by Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt (Star Trek: Discovery). Turner’s story follows an orphan boy named Malikai — the living key to magic’s return to the world, who must take on the dark lord of technology with the help of the winged goddess Grace.
Maisel and Braun have also built up their Los Angeles-based team with the addition of veteran animation and VFX production executive Aaron Dem (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Space Jam, Titanic) as VP of Physical Production. He joins a senior exec team which also includes Andrew Swett, formerly of Lord Miller, who joined Mythos last year as VP Production & Development.
Organizers of the Animation! co-pro section of the Ventana Sur film and IP market in Buenos Aires (Dec. 2-6) have announced the selected projects for 2019. The selections include seven feature films and eight series.
Animation! is an exclusive space within the market for animation, a unique opportunity for producers from across Latin America and professionals from other parts of the world to connect. The program includes the presentation of projects seeking strategic alliances, as well as networking activities, round tables, workgroups with international specialists and pitching training sessions.
Feature Films:
Bestia (Mexico/Brazil/Denmark) Dir. Miguel Angel Uriegas, Prod. Jaime Romandia Creel
Bestia
Coda (Argentina/Chile) Dir. Juan Pablo Zaramella, Prod. Alvaro Ceppi
Coda
Mie (Colombia) Dir. Simón Acosta, Prod. Alberto Serrano
Mie
O Reino dos Passaros / The Kingdom of Birds (Brazil) Dir. Wesley Rodrigues, Prod. André Pereira
O Reino dos Passaros
Olivia y las Nubes / Olivia and the Clouds (Dominican Republic) Dir. Tomas Pichardo Espaillat, Prod. Fernando Santo Diaz
Olivia Y Las Nubes
Shenku (Argentina) Dir. Micaela Gabot, Prod. Nacho Malter
Shenku
Una Historia del Sur/ History of the South (Argentina) Dir. Camila Alvarez Carrasco, Prod. Pilar Smoje
Historia del Sur
TV Series: Chicho & Darz (Peru/Argentina) Dir. Maria José Campos, Prod. Gonzalo Speranza
Chicho and Darz
El Piso de Arriba / The Upper Flat (Mexico) Dir. Andrea Mondragón, Prod. Ana Cruz
The Upper Flat
Meu Pai é um Pirata / My Father Is a Pirate (Brazil) Dir. João Castro, Prod. César Barbosa
My Father is a Pirate
Primeras / First (Chile) Dir. Bernardita Ojeda, Prod. Catalina Fontecilla
Executive produced by Noelle Stevenson, the fourth season of DreamWorks She-Ra and the Princesses of Power begins with the respective rises of Queen Glimmer as leader of the Rebellion and Catra as co-leader of the Horde. As the Horde makes advances on the Rebellion under the looming threat of Horde Prime’s arrival, the Princess Alliance makes heroic strides but begins to disagree on the best way to defend Etheria. Ultimately, a shocking discovery about Etheria itself causes Adora to reconsider everything she thought she knew.
Thirteen all-new episodes premiere exclusively on Netflix on November 8.
DreamWorks Animation recently announced that Jacob Tobia has joined the cast of the Emmy and GLAAD Media Award nominated series for the new season. Tobia voices Double Trouble, a non-binary shape-shifting mercenary from the Crimson Waste, who joins forces with Catra and the Horde. The character makes an appearance in the new trailer. Tobia is a gender nonconforming writer, producer, and performer, most recently publishing their bestselling debut memoir Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story.
Tobia joins the talents of Aimee Carrero (Young and Hungry) as Adora/She-Ra, Karen Fukuhara (The Boys) as Glimmer, AJ Michalka (Schooled) as Catra, Marcus Scribner (Black-ish) as Bow, and Lauren Ash (Superstore) as Scorpia. Additional voice talent includes Reshma Shetty (Royal Pains) as Angella, Lorraine Toussaint (Orange Is the New Black) as Shadow Weaver, Keston John (The Good Place) as Hordak, Christine Woods (Hello Ladies) as Entrapta, Genesis Rodriguez (Time After Time) as Perfuma, Jordan Fisher (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before 2) as Seahawk, Vella Lovell (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Mermista, Merit Leighton (Alexa and Katie) as Frosta, Krystal Joy Brown (Motown: The Musical) as Netossa, and Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as Castaspella. Geena Davis (Thelma and Louise) returns as Huntara.
Russian-based television and film production studio, Red Carpet Studio, has signed with leading independent streaming platform Ameba TV for the animated web series Blinky and Knobby (26 x 1 & 2 min.). The deal marks the first international distribution deal for Red Carpet Studio and the launch of the series in North America.
Blinky and Knobby is a non-dialogue, 3D animated series about the titular Blinky and Knobby — two space travelers exiled to Earth for being lazy and dumb. The new planet is a place of incredible adventures and discoveries. The first season launched in Russia in 2019, Red Carpet is producing season 2 which is set for spring 2020 release.
“We are a fledgling animation department with three series in production, Blinky and Knobby, Space Doctor Сat and The BUGABOOZ,” noted Natalia Ivanova-Dostoevskaya, Vice General Producer of animation business development at Red Carpet Studio. “This deal marks a significant move for us and we are so excited to have Ameba TV as our first international distribution partner and to have our first North American deal be with the leader in streaming content to young audiences in the U.S. and Canada.”<
“This deal signifies Ameba’s own new initiatives in working with international content producers to attain original content for our audiences,” said Tony Havelka, CEO of Ameba. We are thrilled to have Red Carpet Studios as one or our newest streaming partners and look forward to sharing this wonderful animation with our young audiences.”
See more of Ameba’s offerings at www.amebatv.com.
Following the reveal of the official film lineup, the full program of Kaboom Kids (Nov. 9-12 in Utrecht) and Kaboom Festival (Nov. 13-17 in Amsterdam) is available online in English and Dutch. For its first edition, Kaboom offers more than 300 programs in over 13 locations — including films, talks, masterclasses, celebrations and Industry Day.
Kaboom’s programs aim to cater to different tastes while staying true to the traditions established by its two predecessor festivals, KLIK and HAFF: Masterclasses and workshops with trailblazing animators like Steven Woloshen and a symposium on Dutch animation are programmed alongside a masterclass by BoJack Horseman‘s Mike Hollingsworth and The Night of Shame — a program where animators share their very worst ideas!
From highbrow to lowbrow and everything in between, the inaugural festival’s theme programs cater to all. Journey through space with out-of-this-world blocks of films in To Infinity and Beyond, survey the animation of South Korea, celebrate 100 years of Dutch animation, comics and the world of Aardman Animations. Attendees can also binge hit series like Undone and Candide, or immerse themselves in state-of-the-art virtual reality projects.
