Jul 25

One Take Media strikes content deal with iflix

Posted in: Animation

Kids, animation content creator and distributor One Take Media has inked a deal with OTT service iflix to launch their premium kids animated movies and series on iflix’s platform.

The content list includes most popular TV series like Nori – the roller coaster boy, Simba – The Lion King, The Legend of Snow White and many more.

One Take Media is one of the leaders in providing SVOD, AVOD, VAS to DTH, Telecom, OTT and Cable industries in India, Nepal, Dubai, US & UK. Services include Hollywood Movies, Hollywood Movies dubbed in Hindi, Kids animated content, Celebrity based Cooking shows and Korean TV series.

One Take Media director, Shamoly Khera said, “Kids are increasingly becoming smarter; hence, there is a need for high-quality, informative, educative and entertaining content for kids. We are very happy to partner with iflix to bring our  premium kids content to more viewers in the region. iflix’s geographical reach will help to further extend our entertainment footprint in Asia. We look forward to building on this association.”

iflix is Southeast Asia’s leading entertainment service, offering users unlimited access to thousands of TV shows, movies and more. The deal will see One Take Media’s premium content featuring on both iflixVIP, the platform’s traditional Subscription Video on Demand tier, and iflixFREE, the platform’s free tier, in SAARC countries.

One Take Media

iflix Global head of content Craig Galvin mentioned, “iflix is committed to delivering the very best entertainment to the young, and the young at heart, and we are thrilled to expand our kids content library through our partnership with One Take Media.”

Kids genre is the fourth largest genre in India after GEC and Movie genres.  Kids genre viewership has grown from 30 percent in the last few years and growth in Kids viewership corresponds to 27 per cent growth of overall TV Universe.  Kids are the single largest TV Audience amongst all the age Groups. The share of Cartoons/Animation in total kids Viewership has jumped to 89 per cent from previously 71 per cent.

With this shift to digital viewing, we’ve seen a wave of specialist kids OTT companies launching with the hope of attracting younger audiences by offering unique content and innovative product features. As a result, competition for eyeballs amongst providers is fierce, and it’s now more important than ever for rivals to push the limits of the traditional streaming service in order to stand out from the crowd.

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Jul 25

Kapil Sharma to dub for Red in the Hindi version of ‘Angry Birds 2’

Posted in: Animation

Kapil Sharma is all set to voice the hot-headed bird Red in The Angry Birds Movie 2. Sharma said in a statement, “In the West, artists first voice for their characters and based on that, the film is shot using graphics. But over here, we have to talk according to the graphics.” He further said, “He is the hero but, at times, he gets entangled in tough situations. Knowing my history, you’d agree I am Red.”

To attract the Hindi audience, Sony Pictures Entertainment India has roped in Sharma as the comedian-actor enjoys a dedicated fan following in the country.

We see the trend growing with Bollywood celebrities dubbing for the Hindi version of Hollywood films. Be it Ranveer Singh for Deadpool, Varun Dhawan for Captain America, Tiger Shroff for Spider-Man or the latest being Shah Rukh Khan and Aryan Khan for The Lion King. These actors shared their excitement when it was announced that they will be dubbing for these hit Hollywood films. Moreover, their fans also can’t keep their calm to hear their favourite actors on the big screen.

Produced by Columbia Pictures, Rovio Animation, and Sony Pictures Animation, The Angry Birds  Movie 2 is slated to release on 23 August 2019, in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu.

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Jul 25

MegaFans releases new eSports engine

Posted in: Animation

MegaFans, a mobile gaming startup, is on a mission to make the mobile platform a dominant force in eSports. The company has taken a huge stride in achieving this goal with the new release of tournament editions of two of its most popular gaming apps: Jet Jack and Candy Booo Mania. Both games feature the company’s premier eSports engine.

With the release of its first competitive eSports tournament games, players will now be able to earn tokens and prizes, all while playing to compete in MegaFans’ upcoming annual destination tournaments. Jet Jack TE, a scrolling shooter and Candy Booo Mania TE, a puzzle match game, represent the first commercial use of the MegaFans’ eSports engine in a mobile gaming app.

The company already has several other titles scheduled for release over the coming months and MegaFans’ co-founder Jeff Donnelly states, “Our full portfolio will cover all major genres of games including but not limited to: platformers, puzzles, strategy, racing-adventure, sports, RPGs, single-player, PVPs, and more.”

The premiere MegaFans eSports engine used to develop the two gaming apps features ‘double probation’ security—possibly the highest in the industry—to ensure gamers’ data and in-app transactions are fully protected. For MegaFans’game design partners, the engine is provided as a portable, light-weight (less than 50 mb) SDK and that’s simple to integrate. These features make the mass adoption of the eSports engine by other game developers frictionless and an easy win for companies looking to enter mobile eSports at reduced time and expense.

A big problem facing mobile games is low retention rates. Focusing specifically on launching mid-core and hyper-casual games, MegaFans aims to increase gamer retention rates by creating higher quality, richer experience for both gamers and developers.

Jet Jack: Tournament Edition and Candy Booo Mania: Tournament Edition are available for download from iTunes or Google Play.

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Jul 25

VIZIO | P-Series X Quantum

Posted in: Animation
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Jul 25

GE: An Apollo 11 Story

Posted in: Animation
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Jul 24

‘Dota 2’ tournament The International 2019 surpasses $30 million prize pool

Posted in: Animation

The prize pool for The International 2019 broke all records as Dota 2 Database World Championship surpassed $30 million prize pool. As of this writing, The International’s prize pool sits at $30.2M, which beats the 2018 record of $25.5 million.

Last year the prizepool total of $25,532,177 by more than a few dollars, and this year’s total will only rise as there is still time for the community to add more to the total by purchasing in game items.

The International’s prize pool primarily comes via crowdfunding. Dota 2 publisher Valve Database contributes the first $1.6 million, with the remainder provided by a percentage of sales from the game’s Battle Pass. The purchase lets players unlock in-game content and access The International Compendium, which includes a Fantasy Challenge for the tournament.

The prize pool can continue to grow for another month, as well, until the end of the actual tournament on 25 August, therefore, it is expected to grow even more.

Players are able to add to the prize pool by purchasing the TI9 Battle Pass in the game and then purchasing extras such as levels to get more rewards in the game, or TI9 themed loot boxes that give players exclusive cosmetics. 25 per cent of all the TI9 related purchases are added to the prize pool, so while that number is impressive, the number Valve has pocketed from all the microtransactions is much higher.

 

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Jul 24

eUnited wins Pro League title at CWL finals

Posted in: Animation

The Call of Duty World League, presented by PlayStation4, wrapped its Pro League season this weekend at the CWL Finals, crowning eUnited as its winner. Held in Miami, Florida, Call of Duty Esports welcomed south beach residents and CWL fans to the massive three-day event as the final stop before the year’s biggest event, the Call of Duty World League Championship, taking place in Los Angeles, 14 to 18 August.

eUnited secured this weekend’s victory thanks to the stellar teamwork and outstanding skill of Chris “Simp” Lehr, who was named CWL Finals MVP. Gen.G, FaZe Clan, and Reciprocity rounded-out the remaining top four placing Pro teams in Miami.

The CWL Finals also featured the final amateur competition of the season as over 120 teams competed in the MTN DEW AMP GAME FUEL Open Bracket. In the end, The Bhoys emerged as the final amateur champions of the season.

As the focus shifts to this year’s championship, 32 teams will head to L.A. to compete at #CWLChamps: All 16 teams in the CWL Pro League automatically qualified, while the top 16 teams in the amateur bracket at CWL Finals determine the remaining teams.

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Jul 24

Gitanjali Rao’s animated film, ‘Bombay Rose’ to open Venice International Film Critics’ Week

Posted in: Animation

Actress-animator-filmmaker Gitanjali Rao’s latest animation feature Bombay Rose will open the Critics’ Week at the upcoming Venice International Film Festival on 29 August. Apart from directing, Rao, best known for films such as October, True Love Story and Printed Rainbow, is credited as the screenplay writer, cinematographer and editor of Bombay Rose.

“I have always wanted to paint stories about people who live and love in the streets of Bombay, never become success stories, yet their struggle for survival makes heroes out of them. This is the city with its cast of unsung heroes and heroines that I want to share with the world and why I started this labour of love six years ago,” Rao said in a statement.

The official synopsis of the film reads, “Amidst the struggle of survival in a big city, a red rose brings together three tales of impossible loves. Love between an unavailable girl and boy. Love between two women. Love of an entire city for its Bollywood stars.”

The voice cast includes Cyli Khare as Kamala, Amit Deondi as Salim, Makarand Deshpande as the villain, Anurag Kashyap as a Bollywood star, and Virendra Saxena as Kamala’s grandfather.

“It has been our privilege to work with Gitanjali and PaperBoat Studios over the last two years to bring this piece of beautiful cinema to life,” said Cinestaan’s producer Rohit Khattar in a press statement. He described the film as “a stunning love letter to Mumbai and its people”.

Produced by Cinestaan Film Company, Bombay Rose will be screened out-of-competition in Venice.

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Jul 24

VOOT Kids licenses children’s content from Oxford University Press

Posted in: Animation

Viacom18’s digital arm Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with India’s most inclusive kids’ entertainment and fun learning OTT application- VOOT Kids.

Catering to the digitally native kids’ ecosystem, VOOT Kids is all set to redefine entertainment and pedagogy through a diverse and multi-genre content offering across ‘Watch, Read, Listen and Learn’ segments.

Further expanding the entertainment experience in the kids’ category, VOOT Kids, the all new fun edutainment platform, has engaged with iconic brands including Oxford University Press (OUP) to fortify its rich content library by licensing 175 junior fiction and non-fiction titles. The 500+ e-books now available on VOOT Kids, are all set to provide an immersive reading experience to children across the nation.

Offering the most pedagogically advanced learning and educational content, OUP is a globally well-known and trustworthy brand with a wide range of children’s books. With its vast and multi-varied genre of content, VOOT Kids’ content slate will now include much-loved titles including traditional tales and rewritten classics, such as The Jungle Book, The Three Musketeers and Gulliver’s Travels.

Speaking on this occasion, VOOT Kids business head Saugato Bhowmik said, “Kids today are screenagers and have emerged as prolific users of content on digital.  As digital natives, they are the first to adopt trends on digital. It was hence imperative to create a platform that offers holistic entertainment and learning experience that would improve quality and relevance of content consumption by kids on digital. VOOT Kids is just that – an inclusive app aimed at enriching Kids’ entertainment and learning experience on digital through immersive segments that encourage reading, story-telling, quizzes, and more. Kids love stories and the addition of junior fiction titles from Oxford on VOOT Kids are sure to add significant diversity and value to our vast content slate.”

With over 5000 hours of content consisting of children’s all-time favourite Indian and International shows like Dora the Explorer, Oswald, Motu Patlu, Peppa Pig, Chhota Bheem, Ben10, Barbie Dreamtopia, diverse book titles , immersive audio books and fun learning games, VOOT Kids is all set to offer a dynamic and inclusive experience of fun, learning and entertainment.

“We are delighted to partner with VOOT Kids, and support its users’ learning through reading for pleasure. We commend VOOT Kids in its mission to bridge the gap between learning, knowledge and entertainment, and this collaboration with VOOT Kids will allow Oxford University Press to introduce even more readers to many of its most-loved books for children,” added Oxford University Press senior business development manager Giuseppe Trapan.

 VOOT Kids is now available for download on Google Playstore and iOS. 

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Jul 24

Nickelodeon’s ‘Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus’ to premier on Netflix in August

Posted in: Animation

Nickelodeon and Jhonen Vasquez’s new animated film, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus will debut on Netflix on 16 August 2019, the streaming giant announced.

The 27-episode series, Invader Zim, originally aired on Nickelodeon from 2001-2002, and chronicled the efforts of an extraterrestrial named Zim on a mission to conquer Earth and enslave the human race.

Considered a cult classic, the series won both Annie and Emmy awards. The show often ran afoul of network censors who objected to the proposed killing off of certain characters; Vasquez’s original design calling for the character of human classmate Dib to wear a trench coat troubled the network as well, which feared audiences would be reminded of the Columbine shooting tragedy.

In Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, Zim discovers his almighty leaders never had any intention of coming to Earth and he loses confidence in himself for the first time in his life, which is the big break his human nemesis, Dib has been waiting for.

The voice cast includes Vasquez, Richard Horvitz, Rikki Simons, Andy Berman, Melissa Fahn, Rodger Bumpass, Wally Wingert, Kevin McDonald, Olivia d’Abo, Eric Bauza, Breehn Burns, Justin Roiland, Fred Tatasciore, Jenny Goldberg, Mo Collins, and Michael McDonald.

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