Tag Archives: Animation Director

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“Masks’s Battle”- Anima Mundi 2015 -Official Selection

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In a small town in the Brazil countryside, there is a folklore festival that explores the battles between christians and arabians people. Masks’s Battle show us the origins of this folk in Europe and how this travelled to Brazil, changing the life of many people that live today in Pirenópolis city and join this festival.
Official Selection 2015:
FILE Anima + РBrazil, Ṣo Paulo
Anima Mundi 2015 РInternational Festival of Animation of Brazil РṢo Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
River Film Festival – Padova, Italy
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Kidscreen Awards shortlist release

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 kidscreenawards 2016

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR ALL CATEGORIES!

Winners to be revealed at a gala event on February 9 during Kidscreen Summit 2016 in Miami

Toronto, November 24, 2015: Kidscreen, host of the global kids television industry’s leading awards for excellence, is delighted to announce the shortlisted entries that will be continuing in the competition through a final round of judging.

The nominees in the Programming Categories are:

PRESCHOOL

Best New Series

Hey Duggee (Studio AKA)

PJ Masks (Frog Box, Entertainment One UK, France Television, Disney Junior, CNC, Rhôdes-Alpes Region, Procirep, Angoa)

Puffin Rock (Cartoon Saloon, Dog Ears, Penguin Children’s Books)

Best Animated Series

Clangers (Coolabi/Sprout/CBeebies/Factory)

Peg + Cat (The Fred Rogers Company, 9 Story Entertainment)

Puffin Rock (Cartoon Saloon, Dog Ears, Penguin Children’s Books)

Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series

Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures (Sinking Ship Entertainment)

Hi Opie! (marblemedia in association with TVO and The Jim Henson Company)
Sesame Street (Sesame Workshop)

Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie

Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots (Entertainment One, Astley Baker Davies)

Ruby’s Studio: The Siblings Show (The Mother Company)

Sesame Street: The Cookie Thief (Sesame Workshop)

KIDS

Best New Series

The Adventures of Puss in Boots (DreamWorks Animation Television, Netflix)

All Hail King Julien (DreamWorks Animation Television, Netflix)

We Bare Bears (Cartoon Network Studios)

Best Animated Series

All Hail King Julien (DreamWorks Animation Television, Netflix)

The New Adventures of Figaro Pho (Chocolate Liberation Front, Luma Toons)

Steven Universe (Cartoon Network Studios)

Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series

Hank Zipzer (Kindle Entertainment, DHX Media, Walker Productions, Screen Yorkshire)

Horrible Histories (Lion Television)
Odd Squad (The Fred Rogers Company, Sinking Ship Entertainment)

Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie

Monster Beach (Bogan Entertainment Solutions)

Monster High: Freaky Fusion (Mattel Playground Productions)

Ten Pieces (Somethin’ Else, BBC Music)

TWEENS/TEENS

Best New Series

Dragons: Race to the Edge (DreamWorks Animation Television, Netflix)

Hetty Feather (CBBC In-House Productions)

Wild But True (Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Beyond Screen Productions)

Best Animated Series

Dragons: Race to the Edge (DreamWorks Animation Television, Netflix)

Bob’s Burgers (Bento Box Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Television)

Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series

4 O’Clock Club Series 4 (CBBC In-House Productions)

Nowhere Boys Series 2 (Matchbox Pictures)
Trio: Cybergold (Nordicstories, Fabelaktiv)

Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie

Lost Treasure Hunt (Argosy Film Group)

Pirate’s Passage (Mahon Pictures)

These shortlisted entries will be reviewed and assessed by a fresh panel of judges, including the following execs: Andy Yeatman (Netflix), Emily Hart (Disney Junior), Tara Sorensen (Amazon Studios), Jamie Piekarz (Corus Kids), Jennifer Dodge (Nickelodeon), Alison Stewart (BBC Children’s), Andrew Thomas (Hulu) and Deirdre Brennan (ABC Australia).
The nominees in the Broadcasting Categories are:

Channel of the Year

Cartoon Network (US)

Gulli

PBS KIDS

Best Channel Design
Boomerang
PBS KIDS

Best Programming Block
Sunny Side Up (Sprout)

Gulli Good (Gulli)

Best Channel Website
Channel One News (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

PBS KIDS

Tiny Pop (CSC Media Group, part of Sony Pictures Television)
Best On-Air Host or Hosting Team
Louis-Philippe Deslauriers, Alexandra Janvier and Josée Leblanc (Groupe Média TFO)

Channel One News—Azia Celestino, Tom Hanson, Arielle Hixson Keith Kocinski, Demetrius Pipkin and Maggie Rulli (Houghton Miffin Harcourt)

 

Kidscreen‘s readers will now be invited to review these shortlisted entries, and vote for their favorite in each category. Their votes will determine the final winners

The nominees in the Digital Categories are:

PRESCHOOL

Best eBook
Disney Story Central (Disney Publishing Worldwide)

Little Emily (Ever After Tales)

My Little Pony: Twilight’s Kingdom Storybook Deluxe (PlayDate Digital)

Best Game App—Smartphone

Monkey See Monkey Dance (Smartoonz Entertainment)

Sesame Street Video Maker (Sesame Workshop, IDEO Toy Lab)

Best Game App—Tablet

My Very Hungry Caterpillar (StoryToys)

Peppa Pig: Golden Boots (Entertainment One and Kids Industries)

Sesame Street Art Maker (Sesame Workshop)

Best Learning App—Smartphone

Blaze and the Monster Machines (Nickelodeon Digital/CHEWY)

Sesame Street—Let’s Get Ready! (Sesame Workshop)

Sunny’s Hootenanny (Loudcrow Interactive/Twofold Films)

Best Learning App—Tablet

Elmo’s Animals: A Sesame Street S’More App (Sesame Workshop)

Mickey’s Magical Math World by Disney Imagicademy (Disney Publishing Worldwide)

Tiggly Tales (Tiggly)

Best Streaming Video Platform

Hopster (Hopster)

Nick Jr. (Nickelodeon Digital)

PlayKids (Movile)

Best Web/App Series 

The Adventures of Annie & Ben (HooplaKidz)

Fanny Foozle (Aether Entertainment, Cosmic Toast Studios)

Lalaloopsy Kitchen (MGA Entertainment)

Best Website 

ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy (Age of Learning)

Nickjr.com (Nickelodeon Digital)

Peep and the Big Wide World/El Mundo Divertido de Peep (WGBH Educational Foundation)

KIDS

Best Game App—Smartphone

Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Games (Cartoon Network Digital)

Crayola Color Alive! (DAQRI)

Mix+Smash: Marvel Super Hero Mashers (Disney Publishing Worldwide)

Best Game App—Tablet

Adventure Time Game Wizard (Cartoon Network Digital)

Toca Life: City (Toca Boca)

Weirdwood Manor (All Play, No Work)

Best Learning App—Smartphone

The Centsables Dash for Cash (DNA Creative)

Plum’s Creaturizer (WGBH)

Safari Tales (Kuato Studios)

Best Learning App—Tablet

The Foos Coding 5+ (codeSpark)

Weirdwood Manor (All Play, No Work)

Zoombinis (TERC and FableVision Studios)

Best Streaming Video Platform

Cartoon Network app (Cartoon Network Digital)

Nick.com (Nickelodeon Digital)

Toon Goggles (Toon Goggles)

Best Web/App Series

Life Hacks for Kids (DreamWorksTV)

Talking Tom and Friends: The Animated Series (Outfit7 Limited, arx anima Animation Studio)

Wonder Quest (Maker Studios)

Best Website

Design Squad (WGBH Educational Foundation)

The Next Step: Make a Scene (Secret Location/DHX Media/Temple Street Productions/Bell Fund)

Nick.com (Nickelodeon Digital)

These shortlisted entries will now be reviewed and assessed by panels of professional judges, including the following execs: Rachel Bardel (CBeebies Interactive), Sara Berliner (Night & Day Studios), Noemie Dupuy (Budge Studios), Matthew Evans (Nickelodeon), Robin Raskin (Living in Digital Times), Josephine Tsay (GlassLab Games), Amy Kraft (Monkey Bar Collective) and Anne Richards (Cracking Wise Interactive).     

All Kidscreen Awards winners will be announced and celebrated at a special presentation event and after-party during Kidscreen Summit, on the evening of Tuesday, February 9. Kidscreen Summit delegates are invited to attend as part of their event registration, and tickets for just the Kidscreen Awards evening can be purchased for US$150 by contacting Kidscreen Events Sales Manager Joel Pinto (416-408-2300 x650 or jpinto@brunico.com).

Additional details about the Kidscreen Awards, including categories, eligibility, judging and entry process, can be found at awards.kidscreen.com.

For further information, please contact:

Janet Balmforth at DDA Blueprint PR

Tel: +44 (0) 20 8868 0511  EMail: janet@ddablueprint.com

Notes to editors:

Kidscreen Summit 2016, which takes place from February 8 to 11 at the InterContinental Miami, offers an unparalleled opportunity to keep abreast of important issues and trends in the fast-moving international kids entertainment industry, generate business and revenue opportunities, and network with leading decision-makers.

Last year, Kidscreen Summit welcomed more than 1,700 attendees, representing 1,000+ companies from 54 countries around the world. And more than 450 buyers and investors were at the event looking for new content and partners. More information about Kidscreen Summit 2016 is available at summit.kidscreen.com.

 

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Where to Work: Top 100 Studios for Animation Professionals

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Animation Career Review has a list of the Top 100 Studios for Animation Professionals. Below is A-B. Click the link for a full list!

343 Industries

This is the studio that took over Bungie’s Halo series back in 2009 and released Halo 4 in 2012.  In October this year we’ll finally get to play Halo 5: Guardians and see what’s in store for the future of Master Chief. No matter where the series is headed, I’m sure 343 will consider hiring plenty more game artists in the coming years to create make Halo 6. Next year we’ll get Halo Wars 2 to help us wait.

A-1 Pictures

This is simply one of the hardest working animation studios in the anime industry today. In 2014 and 2015 combined they have released a new season for twenty four different anime series including the highly anticipated Sword Art Online II and Persona 4 The Golden: Animation. Sure, they often collaborate with other animation studios to complete so many shows, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen a 2D animation studio deliver such an intense schedule of releases in such a short amount of time.

Aardman Animations

If you fell in love with the stop motion clay animation in Chicken Run or the Wallace and Gromit films, then this is a studio name you probably know well already. In 2006, they entered the computer animation industry with the film Flushed Away, and since then they’ve worked on the films Arthur Christmas (2011), The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012), Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) and they’re currently at work on Early Man (2018) and Shaun the Sheep 2 (TBA).

Animal Logic

My prediction from last year for this Australian studio hasn’t come true yet, but I’m still holding out hope! Illumination Entertainment hired Mac Guff to create most of the film Despicable Me for them, and then used the massive profits to buy the studio outright. Warner Bros. Animation went through a similar symbiotic relationship with Animal Logic, which animated all of The Lego Movie for them, so I still wonder if an acquisition is on the horizon. Either way, Animal Logic just opened a new office in Vancouver a few days ago, so they’re doing just fine! Both offices are hiring, so check them out!

Anzovin Studio

This animation company is located in Massachusetts and offers services in storyboarding, animation, graphic design, game art, software development, Maya plugins, character designs, character rigging, and can work in Maya, Mudbox, 3DS Max, ZBrush, VRay, Substance Designer, and all the Adobe CC products. Their rigging tools look superb, and it’s no surprise they’ve worked with famous clients like Bungie, A&E, PBS Kids, Microsoft, Syfy, DreamWorks Animation SKG, and Sea World. If you want to work on lots of different projects over a year instead of a huge neverending project over many years, then this could be the perfect studio for you.

Bardel Entertainment

The name “Bardel” comes from the names of its married founders, Barry Ward and Delna Bhesania, and they formed this Vancouver animation studio in 1987. Together they’ve handled plenty of large projects in the past, but what’s really gaining them global recognition is The Prophet and their hilarious art in the new television show, Rick and Morty. One of their other ongoing projects is doing all the animations for VeggieTales and VeggieTales in the House.

Bento Box Entertainment

This California studio is one of the younger ones on the list, but already has several hit series under its belt. Founded in 2009, they’ve already helped worked on Neighbors from Hell, Bob’s Burger’s, Allen Gregory, Brickleberry, Out There, Murder Police, and Bordertown. Add in the Web series The Awesomes and Gloves and Boots, as well as the films Achmed Saves America and Madea’s Tough Love, and you’ve got one of today’s most promising young studios.

Bethesda Game Studios

If you’re a gamer, then all I have to say is the Fallout series and The Elder Scrolls series. Enough said? Enough said. Not a gamer? Then this is a studio name to remember; even when it’s been years since they’ve released a game for either series, I still listed them as one of the most influential video game studios in the world. When Skyrim came out in 2011, the Internet was a quiet wasteland for a few days as everyone unplugged to play the expansive game. Forums went dry, comments sections were barren, and no one got insulted on YouTube for a whole sixty seconds once. Then, a few days later, the Internet damn near broke when everyone came back all at once and discussed the game everywhere and anywhere on every dot com imaginable, which made for one of the most memorable months the net has ever experienced. This November, Fallout 4 will finally be released! Prepare yourselves!

BioWare

One of the oldest game studios on this list, BioWare was founded back in 1995 and has been relevant ever since then. Its famously memorable storylines rely heavily on award winning writing, making it a highly competitive studio to get employed at. Lately they’ve been releasing several games for the series Dragon Age and Star Wars: The Old Republic, and are now looking to launch another Mass Effect title. They’ve got a lot of exciting things in motion, but they also have a lot of job applications, so bring your best and see if you can get an interview.

Blizzard Entertainment

In one word, legendary. Blizzard was legendary long before they became an Activision subsidiary. Sometimes Blizzard gamers can be notorious for only playing Blizzard games, but even when that’s not the case, the loyalty is still strong. When Blizzard releases a game, almost everyone plays it, regardless of their demographics. For decades they have released the most breathtaking 3D animated cinematics the world has ever seen, even when compared to the best films the box office has to offer those years. They only hire the best, but the projects they tackle are so huge that they hire a lot of employees, so if you want to be one of the thousands of names listed in their next credits list, then apply and see what happens!

CONT’D…

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Animation House Film Roman Bought By Waterman Entertainment

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the-simpsons

Animation House Film Roman Bought By Waterman Entertainment

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting (as they are wont to do) that Waterman Entertainment, the animation and live-action production company, has acquired the Burbank-based animation company Film Roman from Starz, it was announced today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Film Roman is one of the defining names in animated content,” Waterman said in announcing the acquisition.  “Their track record is unparalleled and their team’s passion for executing top-shelf animation is evident in every frame they’ve created. Once it became clear how thoroughly our companies’ assets complemented each other, this deal was almost a foregone conclusion.

Dana Booton, who has been serving as Film Roman’s general manager, has been promoted to president of production. She will continue to oversee the company’s day-to-day business while also managing development and co-productions. Phil Roman, who founded Film Roman in 1984, is returning in the role of chairman emeritus and has been working with Booton and Waterman founder Steve Waterman.

You can read the entire article here.

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“Skylanders Academy” to be Activision Blizzard Studios first TV series

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Skylanders-Academy

Mashable is reporting that “Skylanders Academy” is to be Activision Blizzard Studios first TV series.

Skylanders Academy is one of the first projects for Activision Blizzard Studios, the video game mega-publisher’s newly launched film/TV arms. There’s no premiere date to share just yet, nor are there details on the story or delivery mechanisms. We don’t know if this is going to be a standard network series, a Netflix/Hulu/Amazon play or something else entirely. But it’s being driven by an impressive set of talents.

The fictional location called “Skylanders Academy” debuted in the series’ 2014 game release, Skylanders: Trap Team. It served as a hub location where players could retire between levels, and in the series’ fiction it’s where Sidekicks go to train before they can become full-fledged Skylanders, protectors of the Skylands.

The showrunner seat is filled by Eric Rogers, who wrote for Futurama during both eras of its existence. Surrounding him is a cast that includes Justin Long (How to Train Your Dragon) as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale (Phineas and Ferb) as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald (Saturday Night Live) as Glumshanks, plus Harland Williams and Richard Horvitz in unspecified roles.

You can probably expect your first look at Skylanders Academy in early 2016, with Activision Blizzard targeting a mid-year premiere.