I thought the Ego-related vfx in Guardians Vol 2 were fantastic, especially the youthenisation work by Lola, the dioramas by Animal Logic and Ego’s destruction by Weta Digital – find out more at VFX Voice.
MIP Cancun Latin American TV Market is introducing a new co-production matchmaking event to foster content development with the region’s leading players.
The only dedicated TV content trade event for Latin America and US Hispanic audiences, now in its fourth year, MIP Cancun will take place from 15 to 17 November, 2017 at a new venue, the Moon Palace Cancun meeting centre in the Mexican resort city.
The new co-production matchmaking market is a three-day programme at MIP Cancun to match production partners, and facilitate new projects and co-productions between pay TV operators, public channels, independent production companies, international studios and OTT and SVOD platforms, and give face-to-face insight into the Latin American market and key player strategies. The matchmaking event will be centred on drama, factual and animation productions, and will also welcome film producers who are being increasingly drawn to TV.
The new initiative is in response to the need to work with partners in the increasingly competitive marketplace, and the growing demand among Latam audiences for international content.
“Audiences today are always looking for better quality TV content; it doesn’t matter if the content is on a channel or a platform. That’s why it is so important that in Latin America we find collaboration models that will allow for co-financing/co-producing more competitive projects at an international level, especially in terms of production value and audience reach. Nowadays, it is very limited to think about content for only one screen or only one territory.” said Dynamo, executive producer and partner, Diego Ramirez-Schrempp.
The Co-Production programme takes place simultaneously with MIP Cancun’s highly successful one-to-one distribution market, which already brings together an unparalleled range of pan-regional broadcasters and international entertainment companies.
Distributors already confirmed for this year include A&E, All3Media, BBC Worldwide Americas, Comarex, Discovery Communications, Dori Media, FremantleMedia, Globo Communicaçao, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Telemundo Internacional, Televisa Internacional, TV Asahi, Viacom International Media and Zee Entertainment.
MIP Cancun will also feature a rich line-up of networking events, exclusive screenings, and panels on a range of topics affecting the region’s TV sector.
In 2016, MIP Cancun welcomed 560 TV executives from 42 countries, including 140 distributors and 135 Latam buyers and commissioning editors, matching delegates through 3,700 pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings.
“MIP Cancun has built a reputation as the most efficient market for distributors to meet face-to-face with the widest selection of Latin American TV buyers. We are delighted to be able to expand the offer to provide one-to-one pre-scheduled meetings for producers, commissioners, and programming and development directors seeking to develop production partnerships and find new hits for the fast growing Latin American and US Hispanic TV market,” said MIP Cancun, director, Ted Baracos. “And with a new hotel and an expanded meeting venue for 2017, all MIP Cancun participants can benefit from our ‘business first’ package, which includes three nights at the Moon Palace, all meals, and networking events galore.”
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Netflix revealed the first trailer for season one of its upcoming vampire-themed animated series Castlevnia, which will start streaming on 7 July, 2017.
Early this year, Netflix had announced that an animated series based originally on the dark fantasy-themed action-adventure video game developed by Konami will be out this year, but the date had not been confirmed. Debuting on Netflix, the series has Adi Shankar (Dirty Laundry, The Grey), Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde and Fred Seibert as executive producers. Ellis, who is the writer of the original Castlevania will both write and produce the series while Frederator Studios will do the animation.
As the trailer begins, nostalgia takes over as a user blows into an original Nintendo cartridge before inserting it into the NES. 8-bit graphics tease the game’s opening before finally launching into the animated trailer. The ominous voice-over proclaims that “a savior is needed,” as we, presumably, see the story’s protagonist, Trevor Belmont, spring into action.
The official synopsis of the series goes like this:
Inspired by the classic video game series, Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself. The animated series is written by best-selling author and comic book icon Warren Ellis and executive produced by Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert and Adi Shankar.
Season one will consist of four, 30-minute episodes and the season two will arrive in 2018. Mark your calendars for 7 July fans, violence is a promise!
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The final trailer of ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ is out and it looks quite surreal. As you would expect, given the quality of VFX provided in recent times assist in bringing larger-than-life, alien worlds to life, this is no different.
Based on the 1967 french comic book by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézičres, focuses on the adventures of the dark-haired Valérian (Dane DeHaan), a spatio-temporal agent, and his redheaded female colleague, Laureline (Cara Delevingne), as they travel the universe through space and time.
In the final trailer, the city of Alpha is shown, which is a gigantic metropolis linked with thousands of planets. As expected a lot of aliens have already popped up through the trailer.
But now, the city, which has preserved harmonious existence since ages is threatened by dark forces which can alter the very balance of the city and the universe. It is now up to the titular character and his colleague to save the day.
The visuals look pretty spectacular, from giant buildings to even bigger aliens, the set up sure looks promising.
It was also revealed that pop-star Rihanna would be a part of the movie, we’ll have to see how that works out for the sci-fi universe.
To give this futuristic based movie an aesthetic and real look, the big-budget project had tapped three elite visual effects firms Weta Digital, Industrial Light and Magic and Rodeo FX.
The film is being produced by Besson’s EuropaCorp and the shooting took place in France, at Besson’s mega-studio housed at the Cite du Cinema in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris.
The film is slated for a 21 July 2017 release
The post Behold the surreal final trailer of ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.
A mysterious web-delivered satirical project HBO was developing with Jon Stewart has been scrapped.
The cable network announced that they have decided to not proceed with the short-form digital animated project which was first announced in November 2015. Both have mutually decided to put an end to the project they thought had great potential, due to technical issues. The problems that were in terms of production and distribution proved difficult given the turnaround and topical nature of the material, they said.
HBO added that other projects with Stewart are in the works “which you will be hearing about in the near future.”
Jon Stewart
The four-year exclusive pact between Stewart and HBO was announced in November 2015, three months after Stewart ended his 17-year run as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
The network said then that the partnership would launch with an animated parody of a cable news network allowing Stewart to comment on daily breaking news in real time. It was to be showcased on HBO Now and HBO Go as well the linear channel. The project entailed what HBO called pioneering digital technology.
No start date for the animated series was declared at the time, but last summer HBO voiced hope that it would premiere before the end of 2016.
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Casual Connect Asia 2017 is gradually increasingly becoming the place where the games industry congregates, just like its larger US parent. The latest edition between 16-18 in the Hard Rock Café on Sentosa Island in Singapore was arguably its biggest Asian event ever; it gave attendees a chance to meet and interact with masters and enthusiasts of the industry alike.
Indian indie game developers have been visiting the island nation in increasing number and Casual Connect Singapore has proved to be a rather significant platform for them. This year too, was no different; a bunch of them showcased their own creations.
We got in touch with some of them to get an understanding of their experiences, from their perspective.
There were five to six teams present from India at this year’s Casual Connect Singapore, some of which were Where is my way by Maxin Games, Mukti by UnderDOGS Gaming Studio, Play God by Weloadin Studio, Globe – in a state of war by Optimum Games and The Bonfire by Xigma Games.
“It was an amazing overall experience. We got to meet so many indie developers and got a chance to check out the games everyone has been working on. We also showcased our game The Bonfire, it was a great learning experience to see people play our game. We were happy to receive positive and constructive feedback on our game from indie devs, publishers, and experts of the industry,” said Xigma Games, founder, Himanshu Manwani.
As mentioned earlier, the event is pretty much B2B and thus provides the developers with insights on how to improve their games as well.. This was what Optimum Games Aditya Natarajan shared: “Events like these really educate indie developers on how to go about the business end of game development as making games is only half the process really. It also opens up way more opportunities and developers are presented with many more options with their game.”
It was the first time Natarajan was attending the event and it seems that it left a deep impact on him. “It was a really great first time experience, being there itself was victory, but getting so much love and positive feedback was incredible. We got to learn so much from the people there, the talks were amazing. To get feedback for our game on that level was unprecedented. We have come back inspired and super charged to release our game GLOBE.”
Dropout Games’ Ankush Madad was at the event too and here’s what he had to say about it, “I was part of the two people team that was organizing Casual Connect’s maiden mentorship session where developers and veterans interacted with each other in one-on-one meeting sessions. It was a no holds barred kind of event where the developers were allowed to go all the way and ask whatever they wanted to. There were no restrictions to their questions and they could have deep discussions with the mentors. It was a successful maiden attempt and Casual Connect plans to add it as a main attraction in the future conferences.”
As the event flourishes through its yearly editions, the platform becomes bigger but it also becomes tougher for the developers as they have to go through much more competition for their games to be selected.
As UnderDOGS Gaming CEO and founder Vaibhav Chavan pointed out, “Casual Connect Asia had a lot more to offer this year than any other I’ve been to and I have visited the past two years as well. The amount of publishers that showed up this year was more than ever and we had an opportunity to connect with almost each and every one of them.” He further stated, “There were only few Indian devs as compared to last year, clearly it was because of some very tough competition to get your game through to the indie prize section. Of course it paid off really well for us.”
UnderDOGS Gaming showcased its upcoming game, Mukti, through a live stream titled “MeetTheDevs”, which apparently received positive response from the audience.
When asked about his takeaway from the event, Chavan asserted, “One of the best things is networking with people from different cultures and understanding the design thinking they follow. The key for any indie developer coming to Casual Connect or any event for that matter is’to get noticed’ and I think these events really help you to be known among others. Probably you’ll meet some publisher who will be interested in your game and wants to publish it, some talents across the country who would want to collaborate with you on your ‘cool’ project or just be there to listen to the talks from veterans of the industry. It helps in every possible way.”
Added Manwani: “The connections we made during the conference with indie devs, publishers, and store managers were our biggest take aways from the event.”
It was not any different for Madad as well. Said he: “There’s a huge presence of major publishers, mostly catering to F2P (Free to play) games as well as store managers and media persons that could benefit your games in several ways depending on what you seek. Overall, I’d have to say that there’s something or the other for everyone and one should definitely consider the conference if they’re working on a mobile game both paid and F2P.”
Overall, the Indian developers seem to have had a great time at Casual Connect Singapore, 2017, as Natarajan concluded: “It was the best learning experience we could get, and the best feedback we could receive.”
Obviously, Casual Connects was a good connection he appears to have made.
Check out the upcoming titles from Indian indies here.
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Direction: Kouhei Nakama (http://kouheinakama.com/) Music: ” Hella” by Broke For Free (http://brokeforfree.com/)
The Light Barrier series by studio Kimchi and Chips create volumetric drawings in the air using hundreds of calibrated video projections. These light projections merge in a field of fog to create graphic objects that animate through physical space as they do in time. The installations present a semi-material mode of existence, materializing objects from light. The third edition continues to exploit the confusion and non-conformities at the boundary between materials and non-materials, reality and illusion, and existence and absence. The viewer is presented with a surreal vision that advances the human instinct of duration and space. The name refers to the light barrier in relativistic physics, which separates things that are material from things that are light, and since 1983 has been used to specify the exact meaning of the metric system of spatial measure. The 6-minute sequence employs the motif of the circle to travel through themes of birth, death, and rebirth, helping shift the audience into the new mode of existence. The artists use the circle often in their works to evoke the fundamentals of materials and the external connection between life and death. The artists are interested in how impressionist painters were inspired by the introduction of photography to create ‘viewer-less images’. The installation allows images to arise from the canvas, creating painting outside of perspective. It is a direct approach to the artists’ theme of ‘drawing in the air’. In this third edition, 8 architectural video projectors are split into 630 sub-projectors using an apparatus of concave mirrors designed by artificial nature. Each mirror and its backing structure are computationally generated to create a group that collaborates to form the single image in the air. By measuring the path of each of the 16,000,000 pixel beams individually, light beams can be calibrated to merge in the haze to draw in the air. 40 channels of audio are then used to build a field of sound which solidifies the projected phenomena in the audience’s senses. Artists : Kimchi and Chips (Mimi Son, Elliot Woods) Thanks to Engineering : Chung Youngjae, Studio Sungshin Sound design : Pi Junghoon Production team : Lee Soyoung, Yang Yoona, Yoh Donghoo, James G Jackson, Yi Donghoon, In collaboration with Arts & Creative Technology Center, ACC www.kimchiandchips.com
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.
