9 Story Media to rebrand Toronto animation arm as Brown Bag Films

9 Story Media Group’s Toronto animation studio is being re-branded to Brown Bag Films while 9 Story Media Group remains the parent company.

9 Story acquired Dublin and Manchester based Brown Bag Films in 2015 and since that time, has been undergoing a process to integrate its three animation studios. Brown Bag Films will operate as the company’s creative hub for both 2D and 3D animation across Toronto, Dublin and Manchester.

Tanya Green will maintain her position as VP-production for Brown Bag Films Canada while Gillian Higgins will continue as VP-production for Brown Bag Films Europe. Sarah McQuire will be director of operations UK. Darragh O’Connell will remain the creative director for Brown Bag Films, working with directors across each of its locations. Cathal Gaffney will continue as managing director for Brown Bag Films, and as chief operating officer for 9 Story Media Group.

‘Octonauts’

9 Story Media Group president and CEO Vince Commisso said, “Since becoming our group COO in 2016, Cathal Gaffney has been harmonising our three studios to operate under a unified set of standards. All three locations have benefited tremendously from sharing best practices, talent and infrastructure. The combined studio entity becomes a powerful creative hub from which to produce some of the best animation in the world.”

Brown Bag Films is known for its work on series such as Doc McStuffins, Octonauts, Nella The Princess Knight and Peter Rabbit. 9 Story’s Toronto studio has been known for its popular 2D series, such as Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood, Peg + Cat, Wild Kratts, 3 Amigonauts and the recently premiered The Magic School Bus: Rides Again.

“9 Story has an incredible history of producing best-in-class animation, and pushing the boundaries of technology,” said 9 Story Media COO and Brown Bag Films managing director Cathal Gaffney. “Brown Bag Films now is a global force with the best talent in the industry across 2D and 3D animation. We are committed to putting the creative first, and producing the highest-quality, cross platform animation with strong stories and engaging characters.”

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‘Olaf’s Frozen Adventure’ will have four original songs

The soundtrack from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 21-minute featurette Olaf’s Frozen Adventure will be released by Walt Disney Records on 3 November, 2017, ahead of the featurette.

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure opens in front of Disney-Pixar’s original feature Coco in US theatres on 22 November 2017.

Disney’s featurette introduces four all-new original songs written by Elyssa Samsel and Kate Anderson (Between the Lines), and a score by Christophe Beck, who was behind the score for 2013’s Oscar-winning feature Frozen.

The featurette welcomes back to the big screen the celebrated cast and characters from Frozen, including Josh Gad as unforgettable snowman Olaf, Idina Menzel as Elsa, Kristen Bell as Anna, and Jonathan Groff as Kristoff.

Emmy-winning filmmakers Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters said that the music helped shape the story in unexpected ways. “Music has always been a hallmark of Disney Animation, especially the world of Frozen,” said Deters. “So we’re thrilled to include four new songs to help tell our story.”

“Kate and Elyssa have such a sense of fun and enthusiasm,” added Wermers-Skelton. “The songs really capture the spirit of Olaf and his holiday endeavour.”

The featurette/soundtrack’s original songs include Ring in the Season, The Battle of Flemmingrad, That Time of Year and When We’re Together. The soundtrack also includes Olaf’s Frozen Adventure score suite by Beck, the traditional version of The Ballad of Flemmingrad, plus bonus tracks with instrumental/karaoke versions of each new song.

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure soundtrack list:

  1. Ring in the Season – performed by Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad
  2. The Ballad of Flemmingrad – performed by Jonathan Groff
  3. Ring in the Season (Reprise) – performed by Idina Menzel
  4. That Time of Year – performed by Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and cast
  5. That Time of Year (Reprise) – performed by Josh Gad
  6. When We’re Together – performed by Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff
  7. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure score suite – composed by Christophe Beck and Jeff Morrow
  8. The Ballad of Flemmingrad (traditional version) – performed by Jonathan Groff
  9. Ring in the Season – [Instrumental Karaoke Mix]
  10. That Time of Year – [Instrumental Karaoke Mix]
  11. When We’re Together – [Instrumental Karaoke Mix]

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‘Kid-E-Cats’ pounces into Europe and Canada

APC Kids, the children’s entertainment distribution company of boutique financier and distributor About Premium Content (APC), has secured a raft of new deals with broadcasters across Europe and Canada for its animated kids’ series Kid-E-Cats.

The deal will see the show, with its kitten characters of Cookie, Pudding and Candy, broadcast on YLE Finland, TG4 in Ireland, TV Puls in Poland, as well as Knowledge Network in Canada.

Kid-E-Cats tells the story of three kittens: Cookie, Pudding and their kid sister Candy who are forever ready to jump into action with endless enthusiasm.


APC Kids MD Lionel Marty says: “Kid-E-Cats is a loveable, playful and ultimately fun show, and we are thrilled that these latest deals will take the show to new audiences.”

Based on an original ratings-winning Russian series produced by CTC Media and Studio Metrafilm, this international version of the show is brought to life by APC Kids, which has brought on board Nigel Pickard as executive producer, as well as Ceri Barnes (FloogalsPostman PatCasper’s Scare SchoolGuess with Jess) as story editor.

CTC Media head of licensing and merchandising Ksenia Gordienko says: “We are very happy to start our journey together with APC Kids on Kid-E-Cats brand development on TV and licensing and merchandising globally.”

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British Columbia and India strengthen partnership

The second annual B.C.-India Partnership Summit brought over 150 government and private sector stakeholders together to discuss collaborative opportunities in digital media and entertainment.

Hosted by the Canada-India Business Council, in collaboration with Creative BC, the Asia Pacific Foundation, and the B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology, the event was a resounding success and resulted in stronger professional relationships between India and British Columbia.

Among the attendees were the consul general of India in Vancouver, the Canada-India business council president, as well as many B.C. companies, educational institutions, business associations, visiting Indian delegates, and South Asian community members.

This year the summit focused on the province’s creative industries sector. The bulk of B.C. exports to India traditionally stems from the natural resource sectors, however as B.C.’s fifth-largest trade partner, India has recently expanded interests to include film, television, and other digital media trade opportunities.

One of the most exciting developments to come from the spirit of collaboration between B.C. and India is the establishment of a Vancouver headquarters for Mumbai-based Zee Studios, the first Indian broadcaster to set roots in Vancouver. The production company will employ a local team to oversee their creation of global content for television. A complimentary program by Vancouver Film School (VFS) will continue to grow the skilled workforce in the field; VFS announced they will be setting up an institute with a six month feeder program in Mumbai, Maharashtra after which the students will continue on to the production programs at Vancouver campus. VFS is also planning to launch programs in India that will lead students to be absorbed in the industry in India (VFX, gaming, animation and sound design). Trade and Invest BC is a sponsor of the Summit and has recruited several business delegates from India to attend.

The inaugural summit in 2016 addressed infrastructure and clean technology needs to support India’s Smart Cities mission. Significant relationships were established at the event and continue to grow. Companies in British Columbia are gaining traction in India, as BC clean technologies are now being considered alongside Indian and other foreign solutions for projects addressing water and waste management and power consumption in India. The academic realm is also involved, with universities and colleges looking at innovative ways to share technical skills with the youth of India.

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Fifth edition of Maruti Suzuki Hyderabad Comic Con concludes successfully

Comic Con India hosted city’s biggest pop culture event – Maruti Suzuki Hyderabad Comic Con 2017 over the weekend at Hitex Exhibition Centre. The show hosted a spectacular lineup of events including special international guest appearances, exclusive experiential & gaming zones, artist alley, fans sessions, cosplay, book launches  and much more.

Comic Con India founder Jatin Varma shared, “Celebrating our fifth anniversary with Hyderabad was really special this year. We had a great turnout. Thanks to the support of our sponsors, partners, exhibitors, volunteers and thousands of fans who visited us, we were able to make it the best weekend of the year. We’ll be back next year!”

The convention had set up exclusive experiential and gaming zones at the event. Maruti Suzuki Zone had awesome art installations and gaming for fans. At Nodwin ESL India Premiership gaming zone Hyderabad got to experience the fall season of ESL India Premiership 2017. Top teams from the Master League were present there & prizes worth Rs. 16 lakhs were distributed.

One of the main attractions of the event were first of its kind Thor: Ragnarok, 360 DOME VR Zone & Justice League Zone.

Other exclusive experiential zone at event included AXN Experience Zone where fans got to indulge in engaging and exciting activities for its iconic shows like The Voice, Sherlock, Vikings, Ray Donovan and Breaking Bad.

On day one of the convention, Abhijeet Kini conducted a special session on how to create comics. On day two, Sailesh Gopalan, creator of Brown Paper Bag conducted a special session on creating webcomics.

For the sheer love for Comics, six new Comic Book titles were launched at the convention. These were, Rhyme Fighters: Odes to our Unsung Heroes by Abhijeet Kini Studios; Caster Issue #2  and Age Of Immortals #3 by Holy Cow Entertainment; 13 Days Horror Story Book 2, Ved Series Book 3 (Barf) & Takshak – Indian Superhero launch by TBS Planet.

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JetSynthesys showcases their tech-take of upcoming game ‘Sachin Saga Cricket Champions’

With the surging popularity of celebrity games in India, more studios are looking to encash on this phenomenon.

The concept of celebrity games, much like movie-based games revolves around the notion that the game would already gain quite the visibility given the name of the celebrity already present. While movie-based games generate a lot of buzz around the movie’s release, celebrity games can have more consistent user-base in the long run.

JetSynthesys, a digital entertainment and gaming company based out of Pune and having joined the celebrity-game bandwagon recently, already has two titles to its name.

The first game they launched was ‘Being Salman’ in association with Bollywood actor, Salman Khan, last year. It has been launched under the banner of PlayIzzOn, the game publishing arm of the company.  Since then, they have been working on their next game. Titled ‘Sachin Saga’ the game is in collaboration with the legendary cricketer himself.

Recently it organised a media invite for a tech-showcase session of the  celebrity game ‘Sachin Saga Cricket Champions’ featuring the master blaster – Sachin Tendulkar.

The session delved into the details on the technology behind the game that promises a console quality experience on a mobile device. The event took place recently at The Garage, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

Motion capture technology has been used to used to capture Sachin’s shots with the help of the legendary cricketer himself. The other characters in the game have not been captured with this technology. The makers of the game explained that the game portrays the entire journey of Sachin starting from the age of 16 till the last match of his international career. Also, a lot of effort has been apparently made to highlight the historical facts attached to the game like the name of the country, pitch condition, year, historical data et cetera.

The company released a prelude to the game at the beginning of this year, which was a 2:2:2 (two player, two over, two minute) batting game, where players across the globe could compete in real time.

Currently, the game proposes a single-player experience only, however multiplayer options are expected to be launched soon.

Here’s the official description of the game from the company:

Get ready to play as the legendary master blaster himself in all his glory! Hit shots the way he did, in iconic matches that he led to victory and in authentic stadiums with real world conditions. We put you in Sachin’s shoes to live and experience the cricketing adventure of god himself.

Choose from over a 100 cricketers and build your dream team. Compete on the leaderboard in timed events and chase the dream to become the ultimate cricket champion and meet Sachin himself.

The game reportedly sports motion captured iconic shots from Sachin Tendulkar himself to add to the feel of the gameplay. Apart from this, the game also will be hosting multiple ‘Time Limited Events’ every month where a player, with his aggregated team can compete with others and climb up the leaderboard.

Winning leaderboard events also has a premise to help you win goodies signed by the Master Blaster himself.

Some of the big names from the company like JetSynthesys vice president products and marketing Roopak Nair were present at the event. With the pre-registrations for the game already underway, the game is expected to be launched on 16 November, 2017 with all its active content.

The game can be played by swiping it to left or right and accordingly the batting action is performed. At the conclusion of the event, their team welcomed everyone to play the game for themselves.

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MIP Junior 2017: The silver jubilee year ups the content market with ambition

MIP Junior is now 25 years old! Yes you heard it right. The silver jubilee celebrations of MIP Junior started at JW Marriot Hotel, Cannes in France with some amazing sessions, screenings, conferences, panel discussions and loads of networking sessions. Animation Xpress India team was there to celebrate the junior version of world’s largest content market. Let’s us go through some of the highlights of day one of MIPJunior on October 14, 2017.

New Visitor Workshop

On 14 October, the content market’s day one started with a workshop for new visitors. Isabelle from Reed Midem says, “This is a very great MIPJunior so far.We have a lot of programs this year in the screening library.I am taking care of people who come here for the first time.Here we give tips on how to attend conferences, discuss with people about their experiences and know about the mistakes they make. It is always about learning.” Mind it people at MIP always have that care and empathy for the first timers who either lose their way or find difficulties. So if you lose your way, then relax you will be helped with a sweet smile and a Bonjour!

Venues

The venues were named as conference room 1-Renoir, conference room 2-Renoir where there  are close seated chats and discussions.There was also CR-Grand Theatre-1 where all the big screenings, panel discussions happened. Screening room 1 and 2 were the places specifically reserved for the buyers and sellers so that they can watch a new IP and give their points. The whole thing can be seen at the screening lists, email points report afterwards. There were private meeting tables, a networking lounge on the lobby and a rooftop place for networking as well. Overall it was a closed focussed market targetting mostly kids entertainment.

International Trends

This year, the number of programs screened has grown to 1400 and undoubtedly has been growing every year. The event was for 2 days from October 14-15, 2017 at JW Marriot Cannnes with 1600 executives from 50 plus countries and around 700 buyers. There were strategic keynotes, worldwide premieres, international pitch and match making sessions.

MIP Junior 2017 Meetings at the lobby of JW Marriot, Cannes

Zokast Kids TV

On day one, Zoland Animation (China) launched Zokast Kids TV, an SVOD for kids in partnership with M.E.I Group (France). The service caters to children from all ages, offering up to 1,000 hours in multiple languages. It will be launched late this year first in South East Asia with English and Chinese languages and subsequently the roll-out will include North America and the rest of the world with additional languages in French, German, Italian, Neutral Spanish and Dutch.

Ana María Nunez, acquisitions director, Fox/NatGeo Latin America said, “Buying for kids you have to move in advance, at the origin of the product. If it is already finished, it is not so good if it is still available’. Javier Uriarte, acquisitions director Atresmedia, Spain said, ‘In kids we like the transgressor series, as Netflix’s Rick and Morty. We are rebranding our DTT Neox, with a 3 hours slot for kids’.

Eurodata TV

Eurodata TV worldwide head of content  insight Avril Blondelot addressed the audience about “Binge Watching session: Kids Success across the globe.” She also announced Eurodata TV ‘s worldwide launch of NoTa Kids. It is a new content monitoring service for younger audiences covering eight countries and 77 TV channels, plus Amazon and Netflix. She said, “Discovery, family, imagination, fun are the four key trends in 2017.”  Indeed we agree to it!

We Kids

The MIP junior networking lunch was organised by We Kids. Founder and CEO Sean Chu welcomed everyone and thanked 220 producers and distributors who licensed their properties to We Kids.He welcomed opportunities for acquisition, pre buying, gap financing, co-productions. Big news is that it is organising an animation incubator competition to discover innovative Chinese talent making creative properties for the global market.Interested participants can submit animated shorts from January 2018 onwards. The winners will get deals with Nelvana, We Kids and Toon Boom. Hey there are lot more news left from the MIP Market, Cannes! Au Revoir.

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Why You Shouldn't Be an Artist


No one said the artist’s creative life would be easy. Host and Creator – Simon Cade Graded with FilmConvert – 10% off: http://dslrguide.tv/filmconvert (I earn a commission from purchases ^^) WEBSITE: http://dslrguide.tv TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/dslrguidance INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/cadevisuals CONTACT: simon@dslrguide.tv

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HUAWEI company & manufacture intro_Buyers World BV


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! 170.000 employees, 45% active in R & D
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