Hasta La Motion!

SiriusXM and Marvel announced a multi-year agreement under which Marvel will create a substantial amount of exclusive podcasts for SiriusXM and Pandora. In Marvel’s most sweeping podcast deal ever, the venture will include both scripted and unscripted series, themed live events, and much more, premiering in 2020. SiriusXM and Pandora will also debut many of Marvel’s most popular podcasts before they can be heard anywhere else.

The post Marvel partners with SiriusXM to create original podcasts appeared first on AnimationXpress.

The nominees for the present year’s British Academy Children’s Awards (BAFTA), which honours the very best in children’s media, was announced on 23 October. The Awards are slated to take place at The Brewery, London, on Sunday 1 December. Being one of the most  prestigious awards, BAFTA is a much awaited award of the year. Here are the nominees in the animation-related categories.

In the Animation category the nominations are : The Amazing World of Gumball (Ben Bocquelet, Mic Graves, Sarah Fell – Great Marlborough Productions/Cartoon Network); Danger Mouse (Production Team – BBC Children’s In-House Productions/CBBC); The Demon’s Head (Production Team – CTVC/TrueTube) and Hilda (Luke Pearson, Stephanie Simpson, Kurt Mueller – Silvergate Media/Netflix).

In the Channel category the nominations are: CBBC, CBeebies,Hopster and Truetube.

For the Director category, the nominees are : Dirk Campbell (The Worst Witch – CBBC/Netflix);Steve Connelly (Horrible Histories – Cbbc); Mic Graves (The Amazing World Of Gumball – Cartoon Network) and Grant Orchard and Sander Jones (Hey Duggee – Cbeebies).

For the Feature Film category, the nominees are : Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans. (Will Clarke, Caroline Norris, Dominic Brigstocke – Altitude Film Entertainment, Citrus Films/Altitude Film Distribution); Mary Poppins Returns (Rob Marshall, John Deluca, Marc Platt – Walt Disney Pictures/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) ; Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord – Sony Pictures Animation/Sony Pictures Releasing in UK) and Toy Story 4 ( Josh Cooley, Jonas Rivera, Mark Nielsen – Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures). 

For the International Animation category, the nominations are : Apple & Onion. (George Gendi, Brent Tanner, Benton Connor – Cartoon Network Studios/Cartoon Network); Doc Mcstuffins (Dan Nosella, Michael Stern, Chris Nee – Brown Bag Films/Disney Jr); SpongeBob SquarePants (Stephen Hillenburg, Vincent Waller, Marc Ceccarelli – Nickelodeon Animation Studio/Nicktoons)and Teen Titans Go! (Production Team – Warner Bros./Cartoon Network)

The Preschool Animation category has nominations like : Digby Dragon (Adam Shaw, Chris Drew, Jen Upton – Blue Zoo Productions/Channel 5); Floogals (Ruther Ducker, Lee Walters, Ceri Barnes – Nevision/Channel 5); Hey Duggee (Grant Orchard, Sander Jones, Janine Voong – Studio Aka/Cbeebies)and Numberblocks ( Joe Elliot, Simon Taylor, Ben Lee-Delisle – Blue Zoo For Alphablocks/Cbeebies).

The Writer category has nominations like :Writing Team (The Amazing World Of Gumball – Cartoon Network); Ciaran Murtagh (Andrew Barnett Jones Danger Mouse – CBBC); Writing Team (Horrible Histories – CBBC) and Mark Baker (Neville Astley, Phil Hall Peppa Pig – Channel 5)

The post British Academy Children’s Awards 2019 nominations announced appeared first on AnimationXpress.

KhelPlay Rummy – the online gaming platform for rummy, is bringing notable actress Kajal Aggarwal to join hands with them to become the face of the brand.

Kajal symbolises both fun and success, making her the right choice to showcase KhelPlay Rummy’s vision. Such attitude and traits have tremendous synergy with rummy playing audience who have the passion to make it big. These synergies between Kajal and KhelPlay Rummy and the former’s interest in the game of rummy makes this the right combination.

Talking about this association, Khel Group head of marketing Chaitanya Salunke, said, “We are excited to have Kajal as the face of the brand as this will go a long way in improving the awareness of our brand and the game overall. Moreover, this affiliation will also help the people relate more with rummy and re-emphasise the fact that rummy is a skill-based game which offers fun & thrill at the same time. We are the rummy pioneers in India and look forward to many more users on KhelPlay Rummy’s thrilling platform.”

Kajal Aggarwal, an avid rummy player, whose thoughts and objectives resonate with KhelPlay Rummy’s ideology makes her an ideal pick for KPR to showcase their foresight in the arena of online gaming. Speaking about the move on becoming the face of KhelPlay Rummy, Kajal said, “I, like any other Indian has been playing rummy recreationally for a while now. I am happy to officially be a part of KhelPlay Rummy who is one of the leaders in the online rummy space in India.”

She further added, “KPR’s initiative to bring about the confluence of rummy in the digital world is what the country needs now to be a part of the online gaming platform. It’s amazing to see the growing passion for rummy in India and KPR’s initiative to drive the generation via digital platforms to play the game.”

India’s online gaming industry is reported to generate a revenue of INR 11,900 cr by 2023 and is currently spurring at 22 per cent KPMG report. To boost this further, KhelPlay Rummy has a database of 30 lakh users and continuously strives to engage their players and retain them by having an array of 10, 13, 21 and 27 cards rummy like pool, points, and deals. KPR actively enables their users to break in the online sports gaming and play responsibly with real money.

The thought behind the platform of KhelPlay Rummy is driven by the idea of customization and focusing on the target audience being the people who have access to data and smartphone/computer.  Salunke also touched upon the fact that, “Engagement and responsible gaming are two of the most important attributes of an online rummy game. KPR has been ensuring both with tailored offers and tournaments with safe payment gateways. It has a large line- up of tournaments that provide players with opportunities to win and connect with other players. The offers run by the platform are crafted in a manner that best suit a player’s requirements.”

Rummy aficionados often look for gaming websites that offer rummy variants under one platform, complete security for financial transactions and profile information, and access to card games for free and cash. All these benefits can be found on KhelPlay Rummy’s website and app for rummy enthusiasts. If you like to play rummy, then you should definitely register on KhelPlay, as the website offers bonus to players, fair-play, games 24×7, choice of tourneys, and a lot more.

The post Kajal Aggarwal becomes the face of ‘KhelPlay Rummy’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor theme park on the continent, is finally opening in New Jersey on 25 October. Inspired by the children’s network, the 8.5 acre theme park will is opening at the interactive American Dream mall in East Rutherford.

Featuring about 35 rides, roller coasters, and other attractions, the theme park also includes Shellraiser roller coaster with a 122-foot drop. Nickelodeon Universe will also have Slime Stage and tons of your favorite characters hanging around, including the big dogs of the channel: Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In 2018, a news release from New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said the $5 billion project created more than 23,000 jobs during its construction. Murphy said the project is estimated to create more than 16,000 permanent new jobs on site and over 6,700 jobs in the surrounding communities.

In the coming weeks, more attractions will open at American Dream, including DreamWorks water park and an indoor snow park.

The post Nickelodeon Universe theme park to open at American Dream Mall appeared first on AnimationXpress.

2K  and Nike announced the NBA 2K20 x Nike Gamer Exclusive Program, a gaming and sneaker partnership, which launches alongside the new MyPLAYER Nation mode and NBA season tip-off, on 22 October 2019. The Program will allow NBA 2K20 players the opportunity to earn up to 10 pairs of soon-to-be-released virtual Nike Basketball signature shoes for their MyPLAYER by completing in-game challenges and the chance to purchase the real-life version of the limited-edition shoes from Nike.MyPLAYER is NBA 2K’s player creation feature that allows gamers the opportunity to build their own basketball player, get drafted, rise through the ranks of the NBA elite, and help take their team to glory.

2K is now taking MyPLAYER to the next level with MyPLAYER Nation, which integrates the community of NBA 2K20 MyPLAYER gamers with the real-life NBA – and the opportunity to unlock exclusive Nike gear. Once gamers create a player, are drafted by a team and join the new season-long NBA 2K20 MyPLAYER Nation mode, they will represent their MyPLAYER’s real-life team as part of a community with other players who also play for the same team. They will play through the NBA schedule, with individual matchup wins and losses determined by the overall community’s winning percentage.

Along the way, players will earn double progression on all games played as well as other bonuses, like the chance to unlock the virtual Nike Gamer Exclusive sneakers for your MyPLAYER to wear in-game and purchase real-life versions of the shoes.

“We’re excited to be the first sports game to offer our players the chance to buy exclusive shoes from their favorite Nike athletes.We always strive to push the boundaries of in-game partnerships and offer our players unique experiences alongside traditional basketball gameplay. We can’t wait to see our fans progress through the challenges to unlock and purchase each pair,” said 2K VP of global marketing Alfie Brody.

NBA 2K20 players will need to link their 2K account with a Nike account and download the Nike SNKRS App, as the shoes won’t be available for direct purchase from Nike without completing specific in-game challenges. The first challenge will take place on October 29, 2019 and other shoes will be available at key moments during the NBA season including NBA All-Star 2020, NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals.

“The Nike Basketball Gamer Exclusive program is a natural and innovative extension of our great partnership with NBA 2K.By now giving NBA 2K gamers the opportunity to connect their membership platforms we are unlocking a new way for those who live the game virtually, and physically, to earn access to a very cool range of exclusive Nike products,” said Nike’s VP of digital partnerships Eric Wood.

Nike Gamer Exclusive Sneakers are only available for players who complete Gamer Exclusive challenges in NBA 2K20 on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or Nintendo Switch. Ability to purchase real-life shoes from Nike is only available to legal residents of the 50 United States who are 13+. Physical quantities are extremely limited and only available while supplies last. Nike Gamer Exclusive Sneakers (physical or virtual) are not available for PC players.

The post NBA 2K20 x Nike program gives players chance at in-game and real-life new kicks appeared first on AnimationXpress.