Hasta La Motion!

Ben Affleck has decided to step down as the director of the standalone Batman movie of Warner Bros. News of Affleck directing the movie first came when Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara made the announcement in April 2016.

“There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions,” Affleck said in a statement. “Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require.”

The actor and filmmaker made his debut as Bruce Wayne in DC’s Extended Universe in the 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Though the film received mixed reviews, Affleck’s role as Batman was much appreciated. Later that year, he made a cameo as Batman in Suicide Squad.

Warner Bros., the studio behind bringing DC Universe to life said, “Warner Bros. fully supports Ben Affleck’s decision and remains committed to working with him to bring a standalone Batman picture to life.”

While Christopher Nolan directed the iconic Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises), it would be an arduous task to direct as well as play the lead in the film. This seems to be the reason for Affleck to reconsider his decision and finally refuse to direct the film. He still however is firmly committed to his role and can now divert all his attention in giving the role the justice it deserves. The standalone movie will feature Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke.

“Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world,” Affleck said, confirming his association with the untitled Batman movie. Affleck and the studios will now together look for a director.

Affleck directed and starred in the political thriller Argo for which he went on to win the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award as the Best Director and Best Picture and Academy Award for Best Picture. He most recently wrote, directed and starred in the film Live by Night that received mixed reviews and didn’t do well in box-office.

Affleck will be seen donning the cape of the Gotham vigilante, Batman in the upcoming DC and Warner Bros.’- Justice League, which is slated to release on 17 November, where he will be leading the group of metahumans against Steppenwolf and the Parademons.

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Florida based toy company, Jazwares has announced its partnership with the Indian animation studio, USP Studios which is one of the world’s foremost creators of online animated content for kids. Through this strategic partnership, Jazwares has obtained the licensing rights for USP Studios original properties that air exclusively on YouTube like Baby Bao Panda and Bob the Train. In addition, JazWings, the innovative idea incubation arm of Jazwares, and USP Studios will develop animated content based on exciting new brands in the JazWings incubation program to air on YouTube.

With billions of views and growing, animated shows by USP Studios are known by kids and parents worldwide. Jazwares and USP Studios, recognising the way in which kids consume content, believe that products based on YouTube brands will play an increasingly large role in the toy industry in the future. “Jazwares is one of the leaders in licensed products industry. We are looking to the future with this partnership between Jazwares and USP Studios to set a trend in the kids content and toy space. With YouTube emerging as a number one destination for kids globally, this should help us break new ground in the way brands will be launched,” stated USP Studios, founder and director, Uday Phoolka.

Jazwares product

Beyond a traditional licensing program with Jazwares, JazWings and USP Studios are also innovating the way new brands are built from the ground up. “USP has built some of the most successful kids channels on YouTube with millions of followers. They have accomplished this through beautiful animation and captivating storytelling. With new brand ideas coming from the Jazwings’ community, the ability for USP to create great original content is endless,” commented Jazwares, CEO and president, Judd Zebersky.

Through JazWings, Jazwares and USP Studios are looking to tap into the global creative community to build the next great properties. “JazWings has always been an incredible opportunity for creators and inventors from around the world to make their ideas real by partnering with a global toy company,” says JazWings, VP, Karen Kilpatrick. “Our new partnership with USP Studios expands the ways in which we are able to work with creators to bring ideas to life. It is an exciting and unprecedented approach that gives creators access and resources like never before.”

Multiple projects are already in the works with new releases launching as early as this spring.

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StratusCore, a content production technology company, announced the general availability of its cloud-based digital content production platform and suite of tools for the digital content industry. Film, television, gaming, advertising, virtual reality and other industries developing content for digital mediums can take advantage of StratusCore’s comprehensive offering of on-demand tools, services and community resources that eliminate the complexity and inefficiency often associated with the data-intensive content creation process.

Through StratusCore’s platform, digital artists gain affordable access to popular content creation tools and a marketplace of projects to which they can submit their credentials. At the same time, productions and studios gain superior control and protection of all assets and resources.

Global media and entertainment organisations including Sony, Sony Interactive, Universal, DreamWorks and Netflix have used StratusCore’s cloud-based platform to access high-speed large file transfer, secure storage, cloud rendering, role-based services provisioning, and remote collaboration. More than 45,000 digital artists worldwide are able to leverage StratusCore’s virtual workstation technology, with on-demand pay-as-you need access to content creation tools from companies like AutoDesk, The Foundry, NVIDIA and Chaos Group.

Denise Muyco

“As the cloud has gained broad acceptance and adoption, the time was right in the market for an all-encompassing ecosystem that mitigates the pain points of all parties involved in the digital content development space, from studios and production companies to individual artists,” said StratusCore, co-founder and CEO, Denise Muyco. “We’re pleased to be working with innovative studios, over the top (OTT) providers, post-production houses, game developers and artists to help reimagine the digital content creation industry.”

StratusCore’s cloud-based dashboard also provides:

1. Unprecedented visibility: Studios and productions can securely track a project’s assets from inception to delivery, orchestrate hundreds of freelance digital artists, and access rich data around people, assets and financial investments across global teams.
2. Substantial cost savings: StratusCore’s pay-as-you-go approach only requires that artists pay for the time they use the tools, removing the high cost of entry and bringing the average cost of entry to $1,500.
3. Secure collaboration: With content transferred via private networks and accessed securely through a virtual desktop, production managers and content owners retain superior control of assets with role-based access control. Project-specific email contains communication within a production and controls leaks. StratusCore’s platform is Motion Picture Association (MPA)-compliant, meeting the highest standards of security required by the industry.

With a surge in digital content consumption and subscription services such as Netflix, along with an increase in computer-generated content displacing on-location shoots, the digital content market is expected to reach $549 billion by 2019. In tandem, cloud services represent a $148 billion industry projected to grow 25 per cent annually.

Moreover, according to Cisco, motion imagery will be responsible for 82 per cent of all network traffic by 2020. Specifically, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are projected to represent a combined $120 billion revenue industry by 2020. Data-intensive industries, including film, television and gaming require quick sharing of massive files, heavy computation and petabytes (PB) of storage. To remain agile and competitive, access to turnkey cloud-based solutions that modernise the content creation processes will become increasingly critical.

Line producer and 30-year industry veteran Warren Carr added, “It is abundantly clear that we are facing a tsunami-sized wave of data and an unquenchable demand to store, protect, share and move it in massive volumes at greater speeds while being able to track and archive it almost at the particle level. StratusCore is tackling these issues head on with innovative solutions.”

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S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali: The Baginning’ enthralled its audiences with the grandeur in display and a plot-twist in the end. Appreciated globally for its stellar use of VFX to bring a majestic kingdom to life, the film definitely took the indigenous industry by storm. The backdrop of the feature left everyone awestruck with even the professional not mincing their praises. The VFX breakdown of the movie released by one of the studios that worked on it, Makuta VFX, crossed one million views in a matter of just 15 days!

While everyone has been eagerly awaiting the second instalment of the movie, which will provide a closure to the first feature’s cliff-hanger, Baahubali: The Conclusion is already in news for its pre-release revenue generation.

According to a tweet by industry tracker Ramesh Bala, the movie which is slated for a 28 April release has already managed to garner Rs 500 crore through its distribution and satellite rights.

#BaahubaliTheConclusion ‘s Humongous Pre-release Biz WW.. pic.twitter.com/a3rQhtjnp0

— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) February 1, 2017

The upcoming sequel will likely provide the answer to the greatest question and settle it once and for all, ‘Katappa ne Bahubali to kyun maara?’ (Why did Katappa kill Bahubali)

The movie would be simultaneously released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions will be presenting the movie in Hindi and has acquired the rights for the same for an amount of Rs 120 crore.

As we know, Baahubali‘s upcoming edition has completed its shoot and is under the post-production stage. Baahubali: The Conclusion’s VFX supervisor RC Kamalakannan took to the popular social media site – Facebook to thank all the VFX studios for working towards a common vision.

The post says: “Friends, it is 15 months since taking over the reins of Baahubali – The Conclusion Visual Effects. It’s Amazing that almost all major VFX studios in our country following one pipeline, working towards one common goal. Racing towards the release, with Post production happening at more than 33 studios across the world. Opportunity to share and learn simultaneously. Life can’t be more satisfying. Thank you.”

17 VFX houses including Makuta VFX, Firefly Creative Studio, Prasad EFX, DQ Entertainment, Tau Films, Part 3, Igene, Srushti VFX and 600 VFX artists worked on the first part – Baahubali: The Beginning which was being supervised by the VFX maestro Srinivas Mohan. However, due to his prior commitments with director Shankar, he had given the handover of The Conclusion to RC Kamalakannan.   

With Makuta VFX still doing the major work on the movie, NY VFXWAALA, Pixel D, SURPREEZE are few other studios working on this VFX-heavy movie.

As for Srinivas Mohan, he is currently working on Enthiran 2.0 and bringing the Mahishmati world to life with the help of virtual reality. The teaser of the VR movie The Sword of Baahubali is already out and Srinivas Mohan is working towards wrapping up the project.

2015’s Baahubali: The Beginning was made at a budget of Rs 180 crore and went on to collect around Rs 600 crore worldwide. Baahubali’s second instalment features Prabhas, Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati and Tamannaah.

AMD has also created a VR experience for the upcoming sequel.

With the film already garnering so much attention before its release, it might be a better sequel to an already-great prequel.

Amarendra Baahubali with Devasena. From one of the most artistic sequences in #BAAHUBALI2. #WKKB. pic.twitter.com/TdN3DfWqJA

— rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) 26 January 2017

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Genius Brands International “Genius Brands” (Nasdaq: GNUS) has extended the reach of its Kid Genius Cartoon Channel today by approximately 20 million households as the channel “goes live” on OTT platforms, including Roku, Apple TV (Nasdaq: APPL), and Amazon’s Fire (Nasdaq: AMZN), boosting the channel’s reach to an estimated 50 million U.S.A. households.  Additionally, the company is launching new apps for its signature Baby Genius and SpacePOP brands on these platforms, in an attempt to present the audiences with multi-platform engagement opportunities.

In addition to the OTT platforms, Kid Genius Cartoon Channel is available on Comcast’s Xfinity on demand platform. Among the channel’s original programming offerings are Baby Genius, SpacePOP, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, as well as shows from other program creators around the world, including Eddie Is A Yeti and Nancy Drew Codes & Clues.

“We’ve been anxiously awaiting the ‘go’ for Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on these platforms since we first announced the distribution agreement with Future Today in November,” explained Kid Genius Cartoon Channel, GM, Debra Pierson. “As anyone with kids understands, being able to access and stream engaging entertainment on demand is essential in today’s world.  And if you want to reach the widest possible audience, you do that through Roku, Apple, Amazon Fire and more.  These are not alternative platforms, they are vital platforms, and Kid Genius Cartoon Channel will be there with hours of stimulating Smart TV for Kids.”

Genius Brands is also introducing new apps on Amazon Fire, Roku and Apple TV for its Baby Genius and SpacePOP brands.

The Baby Genius app aims to reach the coveted mom and pre-school audience and features the Baby Genius programming as well as top pre-school programs such as Happy Kids!  Expanding the appeal of its 500 songs, 125 music videos, and music-based toys featuring classic nursery rhymes, Baby Genius relaunched September 2015 on Amazon.com with fresh new designs, new entertainment, and dozens of new toddler products. In addition, a whole new library of music has been produced by music industry veterans Ron and Stefanie Fair, who have written and produced for numerous multi-award winning artists, including the Black-Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga and others.

Genius Brands’ SpacePOP app expands the distribution of the hit series across OTT platforms.

Genius Brands forged a new path in the children’s media space by utilizing YouTube as its initial distribution path for SpacePOP, which launched exclusively on the YouTube SpacePOP channel in June 2016 and has already amassed approximately 13 million views.  In the U.S.A., SpacePOP is also available across multiple digital platforms, including Toon Goggles, PopJam, BatteryPOP, and the Kid Genius Cartoon Channel on Comcast, as well as on OTT platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Roku, Google and more, which brings the combined audience reach to nearly 50 million.  Additionally, in December 2016, Genius Brands launched the first SpacePOP merchandise program into the U.S. mass retail market at Toys”R”Us, Kohl’s, Claire’s and more.

SpacePOP is comprised of over 100 serialized adventures featuring original music woven into a narrative that follows five teenage princesses who disguise themselves as musicians and form a band while they secretly plot to vanquish an evil Empress who is seeking to enslave the galaxy. SpacePOP offers a colorful blend of music, fashion, beauty, friendship and intergalactic adventures resulting in an engaging lifestyle and entertainment brand.

The SpacePOP series was developed with best-in-class development and production teams, including Emmy Award-nominated Steve Banks (head writer and story editor of Sponge Bob Square Pants) as content writer; Han Lee (Pink Fizz, Bobby Jack) for original character designs; multiple Grammy Award-winning producer and music veteran Ron Fair (Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Black Eyed Peas, Pussycat Dolls, Christina Aguilera and more) together with his singer songwriter spouse Stefanie Fair  (founding member of RCA’s girl group Wild Orchid with Fergie) for the original SpacePOP theme music; and veteran music producer and composer John Loeffler (Kidz Bop, Pokémon) for original songs.

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