The penguin apocalypse brings forth the dawn of man. For Club Penguin (2005 – 2017) —– Directed by Zach Jones & Ben Kitnick. Starring Finn Munsell pacificnature.bandcamp.com/album/no-thanks-ep-pnr-056 Cinematography by Saxon Richardson. Original Score by Markus Rennemann markusrennemann.weebly.com Club Music by Omeed Norouzi soundcloud.com/omeednorouzi Additional Thanks to Alexa Levine, Clayton McDougall, Matthew Powell & Dillon Vaughn.
Official music video for Isaac Gracie’s “Reverie” Directed by Clara Aranovich Stream, download or purchase Reverie by Isaac Gracie here: https://IsaacGracie.lnk.to/ReverieID Producer: Matt Klemera Production Company: Gas & Electric PM: Vanessa Mc Donnell Commissioner: James Hackett 1st AD: Louis Barron 2nd AD: Ali Hopper Director of Photography: Ann Evelin Lawford Focus Puller: Karl Hui 2nd AC: Michael Mcinally Art Director: Stefania Zissi Art Department Asst: Julia Beer Editor: Elena de Palma, Whitehouse Post Colourist: Oisin O’Driscoll, The Mill VFX: John Bashyam, Warm’n’Fuzzy (https://www.warmnfuzzy.tv/) Opening/Ending animations courtesy of: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser) Runner/Drivers: Andy Vyse, Amy Rose, Sam Barnham Label: Virgin EMI PRIMARY CAST: Girl: Ana Burgess Boy: James Gillespie Special thanks: Our extraordinary supporting cast and their parents, Tony of The Pie Shop in Bexleyheath, Browns Newsagent, Kim Barrett and Lee Robinson of Pelham Primary School, KBT Martial Arts Academy, Anita and Shakira, Najib Tarazi, Alex Hulsey, and Isaac Hagy.
Directed by Carolina Markowicz & Fernanda Salloum Written by Carolina Markowicz Co-written by Fernanda Salloum Produced by Fulano Filmes Staring Daniel Hendler as Javier Juarez Garcia Official Selection, 2014 Toronto Intl. Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Atlanta Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Florida Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Cleveland Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Hong Kong Intl. Film Festival Official Selection, 2015 Flickerfest Australia Official Selection, 2015 Athens Video+Film Festival Official Selection, 2014 Warsaw Intl. Film Festival Official Selection, 2014 Rio Intl. Film Festival Official Selection, 2016 Toulouse 200+ selections worldwide, 20+ Awards including 10x Best Film
US toy maker Mattel reported 15 per cent y-o-y (year-on-year) slide in its revenue on a constant currency basis for the quarter ended 31 March 2017 (Q1-17, current quarter). The slide would have been even steeper but for the growth in revenues contributed by the third world – the Asia Pacific specifically with 17 per cent and Latin America with four per cent as reported growths (as against 18 per cent and two per cent respectively on a constant currency basis). The third region that contributes to Mattel’s International Gross Sales – Europe – had a decline of 10 per cent as reported and a decline of seven per cent on constant currency basis.
The North American region that includes the US and Canada and Disney’s product line of American Girl reported 24 per cent decline in y-o-y sales. The North American region contributed $448 million (about 60 per cent) to Disney’s $735.6 million in Q1-17. That the toy major is hurt by the loss of Disney Princess line to competitor Hasbro would be an understatement, and today even a cliché.
“Our Q1 results were below our expectations due to the retail inventory overhang coming out of the holiday period, but we remain encouraged by strong performance at retail for our key core brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price as well as sustained momentum in high-growth markets like China,” said Mattel CEO Margo Georgiadis. “We are confident we have worked through the majority of this overhang and look forward to a strong launch of Disney’s Cars 3 theatrical in the second quarter. While we have a lot of work to do to successfully position Mattel for the future, we see a clear runway to improving growth and profitability over time,” she added on an optimistic note.
Barbie
In Q1-17, Mattel reported revenue of $735.6 million as compared to $869.4 million in the corresponding year ago quarter Q1-16. The company reported a higher net loss of $113.2 million in the current quarter as compared to a loss of $73 million in Q1-16. The Mattel board declared a 2017 second quarter cash dividend of $0.38 per share, which is flat compared to the second quarter of 2016.
Sales by brand
For Q1-17, worldwide gross sales for Mattel girls and boys brands were $441.1 million, down 16 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Worldwide gross sales for the Barbie brand were down 13 per cent as reported, and down 12 per cent in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Worldwide gross sales for other girls brands were down 34 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Worldwide gross sales for the wheels category were up four percent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Worldwide gross sales for the entertainment business were down 27 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
Gross sales for Mattel girls and boys brands in the international region were $238.4 million, down by two per cent as reported and down by one per cent in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Gross sales in the North American region were $202.7 million, down by 29 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
Fisher-Price brands
Fisher-Price
For Q1-17, worldwide gross sales for Fisher-Price brands, which includes the Fisher-Price core, Fisher-Price Friends and Power Wheels, were $246.9 million, down nine per cent as reported, and down eight per cent in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
Gross sales for their brands in the international region were $113.8 million, up one per cent as reported and up four per cent in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter. Gross sales in the North American region were $133.1 million, down 17 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
American Girl brands
American Girl
For the first quarter, worldwide gross sales for American Girl brands, which offers its products directly to consumers, were $82.2 million, down 12 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
Construction and Arts and Craft brands
For the first quarter, worldwide gross sales for construction and arts and craft brands, which includes the MEGA BLOKS and RoseArt brands were $38.5 million, down 38 per cent as reported and in constant currency, versus the prior year’s first quarter.
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Super Bheem, a weekly TV series on Pogo, is coming with a twist for the kids this Monday, 1 May, 2017. Pogo and Green Gold Animation wanted to keep the time of the telecast a secret for the kids to create a surprise for them.
After the good ratings and popularity among the kids for the Super Bheem episodic TV series, Pogo and Green Gold Animation have come up with this larger than life episode. The title of the episode is “Kirmada Ki Wapsi” who is dubbed as the ultimate adversary of Super Bheem. Super Bheem fights the powerful Kirmada who is on a spree, taking over the planets one by one, wiping down civilisations. Super Bheem thwarts his evil intentions of becoming the most powerful person in the universe. For the first time, Kirmada and Super Bheem will appear together on television.
Talking about the episode, Green Gold Animation founder and Chhota Bheem creator, Rajiv Chilaka stated, “As everyone is gearing up for the long weekend, Pogo and we are all set to add excitement quotient to the daily routine of our young fans. Every Sunday there has been a new episode for the Super Bheem lovers, but this Sunday there will be a power-packed surprise just for the kids where they have to find out the timing of their favourite show. This Sunday, the kids would be surprised to see the comeback of the main villain who is coming on TV for the first time with Super Bheem.”
The series kicked off with brand new Super Bheem episodes and a new story every weekend. It quickly found itself catapulted to the top of the list in the kids’ segment. Bheem never ceases to surprise kids and holding onto their attention, Green Gold Animation is planning to bring fresher stories for their young fans.
The post Green Gold’s surprise: Super Bheem and Kirmada face off this Monday on POGO appeared first on AnimationXpress.
From the makers of Teen Patti Gold and Alia Bhatt: Star Life, is yet another exciting game in partnership with the enormous Baahubali movie franchise.
Moonfrog Labs, one of India’s known game developers, comes with another game – S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Game on Google Play and Apple App Store. This is a first-of-its-kind game made for the Indian market developed in partnership Arka Mediaworks and S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali, with support from Graphic India. The game belongs to the real-time mobile strategy game genre, where the focus is on skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory.
This game is the official mobile game of the S.S. Rajamouli’s two-part Indian epic historical film, Baahubali, that stars Prabhas, Rana Daggubtti, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, and Nassar. The game is not a recreation of the film. Baahubali: The Game takes place in the Baahubali extended universe, where the player gets to be a part of the epic. The game was officially launched on 28 April in four languages simultaneously – Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu.
With Baahubali: The Game, the players act as ‘Senapatis’ (generals or commanders) who serve the kingdom of Mahishmati, train an army, build defences and join forces with Baahubali, Kattappa and the other heroes of Mahishmati to push back the ruthless. The game gives Baahubali fans a new entry point into the film’s universe as a player, where s/he can experience the challenge of being a general with the command of an army. The game features digital versions of Baahubali, Kattappa, Bhallala Deva and the other heroes of Mahishmati, who the players can include in their army. The end goal is for the player to prove their skills by building the strongest army, the best defended Rajya (outpost), and a working economy with food and gold to protect the kingdom of Mahishmati from the Kalakeya.
This game has been created by the team at Moonfrog Labs, led by award winning game maker Mark Skaggs – director and board member at Moonfrog. Skaggs has previously led teams that created some of the world’s most popular games – such as FarmVille, Empire & Allies, CityVille, Treasure Isle, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth and Command & Conquer Generals – and has reached 365 million people with his games.
“We’re using our expertise as game makers to give Indian players the opportunity to experience the characters, environments, and battles in the Baahubali universe up close and personal,” says Skaggs. “Great film franchises like Star Wars live on in the minds of players even after the film ends on the big screen. This game will let people live, play and experience the universe of Baahubali in new ways,” he further adds.
God is in the details. And as you upgrade the game to various levels, you see the details on your own Rajya in the Baahubali universe. The challenge of bringing the epic world of Baahubali into a small screen was met by the art team watching the film over 100 times to recreate the extended universe with nuances such as iconography, colours, architectural styles, weaponry and clothing styles into one game board. From concept sketches to 3D models and paint overs, every detail of the game went through a laboured process of creation, development, and building.
“I like to think of Baahubali: The Game as an extended Maahishmati universe. The Game is another step for us in creating a cross-media fictional World Of Baahubali. To make this happen, we worked with Mark Skaggs and Moonfrog Labs to bring the World Of Baahubali to your phone!,” says SS Rajamouli.
The game is about the player’s skills as a general with the strategy and the smarts needed to become the most powerful Rajya in Mahishmati. The game can be played in two modes – Solo Player (Campaign) and Player versus Player (PvP). In Campaign mode, the player is a part of the Baahubali universe, where s/he constructs and defends her/his own Rajya. The player can build farms to maximise food production, erect barracks to build troops and drill gold mines to upgrade infrastructure and build more buildings. This gives players the resources to wage war and fight the Kalakeya in campaign mode. Attacking various Rajyas of the Kalakeyans such as the Watchtower, the Fort, Thieves’ Den and the Forbidden Village, brings more resources into the player’s Rajya.
In the PvP mode, players get to fight against other players, and here’s where one can form alliances with family and friends who are also playing the game. The player can enlist Mahishmati “heroes” including Baahubali, Kattappa, and Bhallala Deva, in her/his army. The heroes come with their special powers which the players can deploy to help them protect your base or attack with you.
Speaking about the game Moonfrog Labs, co-founder, Tanay Tayal comments, “Baahubali: The Game is an important milestone for us because it shows the quality of games that we can make and build in India. We’re excited to partner with Arka Mediaworks and SS Rajamouli. As a team, we love the film and want to do justice to all the work that SS Rajamouli and the Arka team have put into building it by making a great game that people can play and enjoy even many months after the films have come out in the theatres.”
Features of Baahubali: The Game
* Rule the strongest Rajya in Mahishmati – The goal of the game is to build the most powerful army, with the aid of the Baahubali heroes, and defeat the Kalakeyas! Through your strategy, cunning and smarts, you can build resources and defeat the enemy.
* Bring the Baahubali Heroes into your fold – Unlock powerful heroes and deploy their over-the-top abilities. Baahubali’s infamous Lion Punch and Bhallaladeva’s Chain Mace will make short work of your enemies.
* Build your Rajya and a Robust Army – Erect barracks, gold mines, palaces and grain storage to generate resources. Fight with 10 unique units, raised and trained from the kingdom of Mahishmati.
* Defend your Home – Ambush invaders with the treacherous Spike Traps and lay waste to your enemies with iconic weapons like the Arrow Machine.
* Destroy the Enemy – Lay siege to enemy fortresses using powerful War Elephants and long range Catapults. Steal the enemy’s resources and raze his structures to the ground.
* Battle with Players from Around the World – Fight live battles with friends, families, and players from all over the world while you experience the world of Baahubali.
* Join an Alliance – Form powerful alliances with your friends and wage war against others for the glory of Mahishmati!
Baahubali: The Game is available for download on Google Play. It will be available soon on the Apple App Store.
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Since 2015, there’s been one question lurking in the mind of most of the people – be it a kid, teen, adult or a senior citizen. And finally today, after almost 600 days of anticipation and waiting, the answer is out there, waiting for it to be discovered in the theatres. By now, you might have guessed what I am referring to. Yes, it’s that million dollar question around which the whole hype has been built by the filmmakers. I am talking about the famous dialogue from Baahubali : The Beginning movie – ‘Katappa ne Baahubali ko kyu maara?’ (Why did Katappa kill Baahubali)
While most of the people have been fanatically trying to unravel this mystery, let me clear out one thing: Don’t go to watch Baahubali: The Conclusion merely to know the answer behind this atrocious act. Rather go to witness the narrative style and the brilliant execution of the script. Staying true to his words, SS Rajamouli has given us a film which has all the key elements in it: the grandeur of the kingdoms, few light-hearted moments, high-octane action shots, deep emotional sequences and the background score building up the overall experience.
The voice of Sivagami acts as the opening of the movie with still arts from the first part displaying on the screen, serving as a quick recap. The movie starts from where it ended previously: Amarendra Baahubali being declared as the King and now, preparations are in full throttle for the coronation. In order to understand the people and their problems, Sivagami advises Baahubali to visit the areas around where he falls in love with Devasena and from thereon the actual interesting part of the movie begins (which I won’t be disclosing).
This visually extravagant movie wouldn’t have been possible without the aid of visual effects. With National Award winner, R.C.Kamalakannan serving as the VFX supervisor and Makuta VFX as the main VFX house, we knew we were in for some high quality work. The DI service has been provided by Annapurna Studios. Due to the sheer magnitude of this movie, it required the work of 33 studios so that this magnum opus hits the theatres on time.
In the opening act itself, we can observe the use of VFX to showcase the wild elephant and Mahishmati kingdom. Some other parts where VFX/CGI has been used are: To showcase the new kingdom from where Devasena hails which has been located amidst the snow clad mountains and greenery. The romantic song ‘Hamsa Naava / Veeron Ke Veer Aa’ (Telugu / Hindi) which showcases a dreamlike setting with the ship sailing through the water and flying above the clouds where the clouds take shapes of horses and butterflies. The four major fight sequences in the entire 171 minute movie. Various animals like: elephants, horses, wild pigs, bullocks, oxen. Also, there’s a sequence with herd of bullocks whose horns are on fire being released towards the enemy (reminding me of the movie Bajirao Mastani).
This isn’t a movie with flawless VFX, but it definitely has some of the best work seen in an Indian film. However, if compared to Hollywood movies, we still have a long way to go (need more budget and time).
While VFX did serve as an important tool to enhance the overall experience movie, without the actors playing out their characters with utmost conviction, the movie wouldn’t have had been possible. The months of training and hard regime paid off for Prabhas (Shiva alias Mahendra Baahubali and Amarendra Baahubali) and Rana Daggubati (Bhallala Deva) as both can be seen in their beefed up bodies, flexing muscles in their dual combat. There’s an evident change in Prabhas’ characters – Shiva and Mahendra Baahubali. A special mention goes to Sathyaraj (Kattappa) for his intense performance and some hard-hitting dialogues. Anushka Shetty as Maharani Devasena is seen in a young and strong avatar in this movie. Ramya Krishana who portrays the role of Sivagami had a lot riding on her shoulders and her expressions managed to showcase that emotional turmoil. Nassar (Bijjaladeva) plays his villanious part well. As for Subbaraju (Kumara Varma, brother-in-law of Devasena), brings the comical quotient in the plot and Tamannaah (Avanthika) is seen reprising her role in the concluding sequences.
Talking about the entire movie, there were couple of sequences which gave me goosebumps and director SS Rajamouli sure knows how to keep the viewers glued to their seats. The best part of the initial half was the coronation ceremony’s heart-pounding music and the entire sequence as a whole. Music composer M. M. Keeravani deserves an applause for his work on this movie. While the first half of the movie picked up pace as the interval approached, the second half was filled with drama and suspense. Over here too we could see new techniques and innovations done in the weaponry which was quite interesting to witness like the shooting of three arrows from a bow.
Directed by SS Rajamouli and produced by Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devineni, Baahubali : The Conclusion has a crisp storytelling, fine acting and larger than life imagery. The movie has hit the theatres today in four languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.
Verdict: The first half of the movie would have been more enticing if the two songs – Soja Zara and Veeron ke Veer Aa – wouldn’t have had been there. Touted as the most expensive Indian films, the film does has its lows but the highs outweigh them and it definitely has what it takes to break office numbers and go down in Indian cinema history.
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The Blaze – First EP will be available on April 7th // Pre-order: https://lnk.to/TheBlazeTerritory
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The Blaze defy time and spread confusion amongst minds with their mesmerising very first track and video Virile, featured on Homieland vol.2 back in january 2016.
Music video directed by The Blaze.
UKMVA Best Pop Alternative Video.
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HOMIELAND vol.2
Out January 22nd, 2016
Order the compilation here: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1068…
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The Blaze – Territory // EP Territory, pre-order the vinyl or stream it: https://lnk.to/TheBlazeTerritory
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Music video directed by The Blaze
Produced by Iconoclast
Production service by Deux Horloges
Director of photography : Benoit Soler
Producer : Roman Pichon Herrera
Actor : Dali Benssalah
Stylist : Juliette Alleaume
A huge thanks to Yacine & Hugo, the ‘2 Horloges’ from Algiers
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A. during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
