ESC Cuts Staff and Goes on Hiatus
ESC Ent., formed by Warner Bros. in 2001 to work on THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS and function as an in-house vfx facility, slashed its staff on Friday the 13th and is going on hiatus.
Tagged With: Work
HP Printing Division Showcases VFX Strengths of Poiraud
French brothers Didier and Thierry Poiraud have returned to the U.S. commercial market after releasing their feature debut, ATOMIK CIRCUS, in Paris last week. With leading commercial production company Tool of North America, the brothers co-directed a spot for HPs Printing division, PRINTER, which has been airing in key markets in Western Europe since June. Together with François Vogel, the Poiraud brothers direct U.S.-based projects through Tool satellite company Paranoid Projects @ Tool.
In Commercials, Visual Effects, Commercials, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Europe
JibJab In Legal Trouble over This Land Song
Evan and Gregg Spiridellis have been making political cartoons since the inception of their of JibJab Media, but their newest short set to the tune of Woody Guthrie's classic song, "This Land Is Your Land" has garnered them worldwide fame and legal troubles. The film, which has President George W. Bush and his opponent Senator John Kerry exchanging insults, has spurred legal action against JibJab from Ludlow Music, who owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune.
Making a Living in Voice-Acting: An Interview with Lia Sargent
Rick DeMott interviews veteran voice actor/director Lia Sargent about how someone goes about making a living in the world of voice acting.
Click 3x Adds VFX Producers to Staff
Producers Tyra Hanshaw and Cara Buckley have joined the production department at Click 3x. Both Hanshaw, who arrives from Berwyn Editorial, and Buckley, formerly with Spontaneous, have broad experience in producing visual effects, animation and other post work. At Click 3x, they will produce both commercial and broadcast design projects.
In Anime, People, Visual Effects, Anime, People, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All
Jeff Brown Signs With Tag Team Films
Academy and Emmy Award-winning director Jeff Brown has signed an agreement for exclusive representation with Tag Team Films in Los Angeles, an industry leading producer of kids and toy commercials. Brown, on staff at Rocket Films, New York City, for the past 10 years, has directed well over 100 toy spots, many involving very young children, including work for Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Tyco and Playskool.
Animator Ronald "Gillie" Potter Dies
Ronald "Gillie" Potter, the man who revolutionized digital effects in U.K. advertising, passed away May 25, 2004, reports THE GUARDIAN. He was 80 years old. Potter invented the device of having live-action sequences taking place on a moving product shot. He was involved in the production of more than 2,000 ads, including classic commercials for Rolo, Vicks Vapour Rub, Quaker Oats, Nesquick and Shredded Wheat. His special effects work can also be seen in feature films such as THE LAST EMPEROR, SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE and JURASSIC PARK.
Model Sheets vs. Business Models: How Independent Animators Work Within the System
Joe Strike sets out to find out how independent animators find work within the system while keeping their independence.
Breaking Into VFX
Steven Mirkin gets a few helpful hints from vfx houses about what theyre looking for in new hires.
Back to School in the U.K.
The nurturing of new talent is vital to the continued success of the U.K. vfx industry. But just how effective are the lines of communication between the professional and education sectors? Mark Ramshaw talks to Seamus Morley at Techimage about the need to stay on course.
Animation/Graphic Design/Web Design Spring Portfolio Review
Begins: June 15, 2004
Do you need new talent to work on your animation or game? Please join us at The Art Institute of California - Orange County's Spring Graduate Portfolio Review. Over 80 artists will be showcasing their work at The Shark Club www.sharkclub.com in Costa Mesa on June 15th.
This is a great networking event for studios wanting to partner with other professionals and possibly tapping into a new employee candidate pool. All artists will be ready to network and share with you their resumes and present their work!
Do not miss out on this opportunity to source over 80 artists at one time.
LACDA Digital Art Competition
Begins: June 10, 2004
Los Angeles Center For Digital Art announces its juried competition featuring digital art. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of artwork and photography created digitally suitable for wide format output will be accepted. Show is open to artists of all geographical locations. The selected winner receives 10 archival prints of their work up to 44x60 inches on canvas or museum quality paper to be shown in a solo exhibition in our gallery. The show will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artist.
Career Coach: Accepting a Job Proposal
The Career Coach points out various considerations and things to check out before you enter into a relationship with an employer that will hopefully result in a happy employment.
Masterful McCay Now on DVD
Chuck Jones used to say that the two most important people in animation were Winsor McCay and Walt Disney, so kudos to Milestone for assembling this indispensable collection of pioneering work by McCay (1911-1921) on DVD. WINSOR MCCAY: THE MASTER EDITION (Image, $29.99) streets June 1. Most of this cartoonist's work is present, revealing what a fine draughtsman and storyteller he was when it came to exploring reality and fantasy and the metamorphosis of shapes.
Cinesite Wins High Profile VFX Slate
Cinesite (Europe) Ltd. has been awarded major visual effects and model contracts for a large slate of high profile films scheduled for release at the end of 2004 and 2005, including CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Warner Bros.), HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE (Warner Bros.), HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (Disney) and ALFIE (Paramount Pictures).
A52 Arrives in VFXWorld's Focus On Gallery
Visual effects house A52 is the next pick for VFXWorld's Focus On Gallery. Check out more than two-dozen images from the company's work and read up on the techniques and challenges that went into making them. From music videos to commercials, the Focus On Gallery highlights some of the best work coming out of studios both big and small.
If you'd like to be considered for inclusion in the Focus On Gallery, contact Dan Sarto at dan@awn.com(link sends e-mail).
Visit the Focus On Gallery.
BAFTA Hands Out Craft Awards
BAFTA announced the winners of its Craft Awards on May 16, 2004 at a ceremony hosted by Alistair McGowan at the Dorchester. The TV documentary RESTORATION won the BAFTA for Graphic Design while Framestore took home the Visual Effects BAFTA for its work on SEA MONSTERS A WALKING WITH DINOSAURS TRILOGY.
Animation World Network's Tribute to William Moritz Now Online
AWN is pleased to announce the publication of a very special issue of Animation World Magazine honoring the lifetime achievement of visionary animation filmmaker, historian and educator, Dr. William Moritz.
In Headline News | Geographic Region: All
Career Coach: How to Impress a Recruiter
The Career Coach explains what recruiters do for their company or client and how to help them land you a job.
rhinofx Shows off New ATI Graphics Technology with Doublecross
When ATI Technologies launched the latest generation of its Radeon graphics technology in April, the company wanted a visual demonstration piece that would show off the card's realtime rendering and graphics capabilities.
Cecil B. DeMille''s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Begins: May 4, 2004
Sunday at 12 noon.
Post Film Talk by Reg Hartt: WHY THE TEN COMMANDMENTS can't work, don't work and won't work.
WARNING: By its nature this program is bound to offend.
More Post Houses Doing 3D Work
According to TRENDWATCH, 22% of all U.S. studios/facilities do 3D modeling/animation/rendering (including character set-up, enveloping/skinning, lighting, etc.).
Significantly, this number jumps up to 68% for vfx/animation studios/facilities specializing in 3D work. Also, 35% of post-production studios/facilities do this type of 3D work as well. This number is up from 31% of post houses doing this work in TRENDWATCH's summer 2003 survey.
Excerpted from the TRENDWATCH VISUAL EFFECTS/DYNAMIC MEDIA REPORT Issue #4, Winter 2003-2004.
Colorist Coleman Joins Company 3
Sean Coleman, a colorist with a strong following among leading commercial and music video directors, has joined Company 3's office in Santa Monica. Coleman arrives from Rushes/601 in Los Angeles, where his recent credits included spots for Nike, Nokia and Sony Playstation, and music videos for such artists as Sigur Ros and Lenny Kravitz. In his first project for Company 3, Coleman is handling final color correction on a campaign for Adidas directed by Park Pictures' Lance Acord for TBWA Worldwide.
A 'Passion' for VFX
Bill Desowitz sits down with Ted Rae, the visual effects supervisor and 2nd unit director on The Passion of the Christ, to discuss the digital challenges of Mel Gibsons surprising biblical blockbuster.
Motion Graphics Presentation
Begins: April 22, 2004
California State University Northridge presents a seminar with motion graphics director Ed Cheetham. He will present his work for CMT-MTV and TNN and discuss careers in motion graphics and animation. The discussion will be followed by a review of student work. The event will take place at 2:00 pm in the Art Department Ad 300 Purple Crit. Room. For more information, e-mail mary.a.trujillo@csun.edu(link sends e-mail).
