Nov 19

Sony Pictures Entertainment now owns 100 per cent AT&T’s minority stake in Game Show Network

Posted in: Animation

Sony Pictures Entertainment  (SPE) has acquired AT&T’s minority stake in Game Show Network, (“Game Show Network”). SPE now owns 100 per cent of the multimedia entertainment company offering original and classic game programming to millions of subscribers through the U.S.-based cable network. It also offers online and mobile games to millions of users through GSN Games. Following the transaction, the Game Show Network channel will continue to be carried on DIRECTV.

“We’re excited to bring Game Show Network fully into the Sony Pictures Entertainment portfolio. The acquisition allows us to work more closely with the company’s talented team to deliver the best iconic game shows, develop and syndicate new game show IP for audiences across the nation, as well as to advance the fast-growing GSN Games business, all of which directly aligns with our strategy of developing targeted direct-to-consumer offerings,” said Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins.

The sale is consistent with AT&T’s strategy to monetize non-strategic assets as it de-levers its balance sheet and begins to retire shares. Prior to the transaction, SPE owned a 58 per cent stake in Game Show Network, and AT&T owned the remaining 42 per cent. In connection with the transaction, AT&T received approximately $500 million, including proceeds for its equity stake valued at $380 million (before transaction-related adjustments) and dividends of approximately $130 million.

Game Show Network will continue to be managed by Sony Pictures Television (“SPT”) with Mark Feldman continuing as President and CEO of the multimedia outlet. The acquisition will bolster SPT’s already robust catalogue of game shows and first-run series, such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, solidifying its position as the leader in all facets of the U.S. TV game show business.

Game Show Network television programming includes originals such as America Says, The Chase, Common Knowledge and Catch 21, syndicated favorites including Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud, and classics including The $25,000 Pyramid and Card Sharks. GSN Games’ collection of mobile games includes GSN Casino, Bingo Bash, Wheel of Fortune® Slots, Solitaire TriPeaks, and WorldWinner, among others.

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Nov 19

One Take Media Co. obtains rights to 3D animated series ‘Gattu Adventure to the World’ 

Posted in: Animation

One Take Media Co.(OTMC) has acquired the rights for the popular global 3D animated series Gattu Adventure to the World for SAARC countries. The series consists of 26 episodes of 13 minutes each, which are available in English, Hindi and other languages. 

Gattu: Adventure to the World series revolves around Gattu and his friends who travel around the world as an agent squad, to help people solve their problems. Although their journeys are full of danger and unknown adventures, these brave agents are highly committed to their missions and never step back. On their way to the global adventure, they learn about local cultures and customs, which are accompanied with funny stuff and interesting stories.  

Gattu visits places like Lochness in UK, Dinosaur Park in Canada, Venetian Carnival in Venice, Bullfighting festival in Spain, Monkey Festival in Thailand and so on. He finds out the secrets to the problems in each location and with his wit and talent resolves the problems at each place.

One Take Media co-founder and CEO Anil Khera said, “A good children’s show ought to teach you something. Gattu Adventure to the World will teach children how to find a solution to all problems rather than being bogged down by them. Also his visits to various locations in the world, will create excitement and curiosity in kids for travel and adventure. I hope watching Gattu Adventure to the World will be a delight to children and give them an enthralling as well as entertaining experience.”  

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Nov 19

Counter-Strike has now new characters and weapon skins

Posted in: Animation

Valve has announced a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operations after nearly two years. Operation Shattered Web is a massive update that introduces agents or characters for the first time in the game along with several cosmetic upgrades.

Valve has announced a new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operations after nearly two years. Operation Shattered Web is a massive update that introduces agents or characters for the first time in the game along with several cosmetic upgrades.

They are called Agents and they will be rolled out as mission progress rewards. In other words, these are just skins that can be unlocked as you play and there are 22 of them. All agents are classified into tiers where ‘Master Agents’ is the highest tier that includes Lt. Commander Ricksaw and Special Agent Ava of the FBI. All the characters have their own voices and animations.

CS:GO also has new maps including Jungle, Lunacy, and Studio that will be available in all the regular matchmaking games.

Operation Shattered Web is priced at $15 and it will go on for 16 weeks with a new set of missions being unlocked every week through its course.

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Nov 19

SAVE THE DATE: The 40% Off One Day Only Sale Is Coming Soon!

Posted in: Animation

The One Day Sale is your chance to take 40% off EVERYTHING Greyscalegorilla offers. Join Plus and grab all the new plugins, assets, and suites for 40% off.

Get ready for our biggest sale of the year. More tools, more training, more savings. The Greyscalegorilla 40% Off One Day Sale starts soon!

Below you will find exact details and recommendations on how you can save BIG on Greyscalegorilla pro training, Cinema 4D plugins, material collections, suites and more.

When is the One Day Sale?

The Greyscalegorilla 40% Off One Day Sale starts Tuesday December 3rd at 8AM EST and ends Wednesday December 4th at 8AM EST.

Mark your calendar now, set a reminder, set an alarm, put a sticky note on your monitor, tell your friends to remind you. Whatever it takes, just don’t miss it!

How do I save 40%?

Check back here on December 3rd at 8PM EST for the 40% off discount code.

LOOK HERE FOR THE CODE ON DEC 3

Then, just add your products to your cart, and use the discount code at checkout to save.

What is new in the store? What should I get?

This year saw the release of new must-have HDRI packs, assets, and beautiful material collections, but THE must-own product of the year is definitely a Greyscalegorilla Plus membership.

Greyscalegorilla Plus

Get 40% off your first year of Greyscalegorilla Plus, the new motion design platform for professional training, high-quality 3D materials, and so much more to come.

To date, a Greyscalegorilla Plus membership gives you instant access to over $2800 in pro training and material collections.

What training is included with Greyscalegorilla Plus?

Your Greyscalegorilla Plus membership gives you immediate access to all the professional training series currently available in the store as well as new training exclusive to Plus.

Members also have instant access to new series so they can stay up to date on the latest 3D software and motion design trends.

Explore the Greyscalegorilla Plus page for an overview and preview lessons.

What downloads are included with Greyscalegorilla Plus?

With a Greyscalegorilla Plus membership, you get over 1200 drag-and-drop materials for Cinema 4D, with more materials and textures to come.

The Greyscalegorilla Plus library is constantly expanding, and members have instant access to everything included. New training and products are added monthly. As a glimpse inside, take a peek at the November monthly update.

 

You can also visit the Greyscalegorilla Plus preview page to watch a few example lessons.

Join during the One Day Sale, and you’ll get 40% off your first year of Greyscalegorilla Plus. You get over $2800 in training and materials for only $268 for your first year.

Learn More About Plus

Modern Surface Material Collection

The latest material collection features over 250 drag-and-drop materials to use with Redshift, Arnold, and Octane.

Inspired by mid-century modern looks, this collection includes ceramics, metals, paper, stone, terrazzo, wood, and 60 trendy patterns. Easily customize 140 materials with your own color choices or use one of the 48 included color palettes.

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EXPLORE THE COLLECTION

Area Light Maps

The ease and simplicity of working with HDRI Link, now for Area Lights. These high-dynamic range Light Maps offer the look of professional studio lights with realistic reflections.

Compatible with HDRI Link for Cinema 4D, you can quickly browse through 30 different area light maps and add them to area lights in your favorite third-party render engine, including Redshift, Arnold, and Octane.

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Modern Industrial has 20 exteriors and industrial work spaces. Bring your 3D scenes and product renders to life with these professionally captured high-dynamic-range-images.

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Happy Toolbox Vol. 2

The Happy Toolbox 3D Model Pack Volume 2 includes 180 new 3D models in four main categories: Adventure, Household, Convenience, and Workshop.

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Dust Bundle

Get 3D Dust Particulate and 4K Dust Elements together for one low price.

3D Dust Particulate features twenty unique drag-and-drop 3D dust Alembic files that add atmospheric depth to your projects. No plugins required!

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All products built and produced by Greyscalegorilla will be 40% off. That includes Greyscalegorilla Plus, all plugins, pro training, materials, HDRI, and suites.

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Greyscalegorilla Plus – Procedural Systems

Cinema 4D Plugins:

Area Light Maps HDRI Link - Ford GT Dome

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Greyscalegorilla Plus and the many suites! Save extra by joining Greyscalegorilla Plus or purchasing a Greyscalegorilla suite. Not only do you already save on the price of the individual products, you’ll save an additional 40% off the price of the suite.

Greyscalegorilla Plus

Invest in your education today, and enjoy the upcoming year of new releases. Get all the professional training, material collections, and Plus exclusive series today.

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Only Plus members can stream new training series like Procedural Systems by Zachary Corzine.

 

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Nov 19

Fx Cake Interstitials

Posted in: Animation
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Nov 18

Sony YAY! associated with Crossword Bookstores on children’s day

Posted in: Animation

Kids broadcaster, Sony YAY! associated with Crossword Bookstores, to disrupt the regular routines of children and their families and brought them together for a day full of unlimited masti. The idea was to revive the innocent and euphoric yet simple delights of childhood in both kids and their parents through all the fun. Bringing this to life, the channel teamed up with the book-retail chain to curate a playful and fun bonding session.

On this occasion, the adorable feline duo Honey Bunny joined the parents and kids at Crossword Bookstore, Oberoi Mall to play various fun games where they competed against other teams to solve exciting puzzles and answer questions where their knowledge of their favourite YAY! toons was put to test. 

Crossword Bookstores CEO Chiragh Oberoi said, “Along with the importance of academics, life values also go a long way in the overall development of a child and shaping their future. I am glad that we marked Children’s Day celebrations this year in Mumbai in association with Sony YAY! to provide an engaging experience to our young audience. At Crossword Bookstores, we envision to make learning an interesting experience with many such enriching experiences in the future.”

Honey Bunny also opened the dance floor for their young fans and matched steps with them. The fun day also created a lot of buzz on social media as the event saw the presence of leading mommy bloggers along with their kids to meet Honey Bunny.

The fun didn’t just end at Crossword Bookstores though as Sony YAY! brought in a day long movie marathon of popular Honey Bunny Ka Jholmaal movies, that was packed with doses of adventure, laughter, horror, comedy, action and excitement. The movies slated under the line-up were Honey Bunny in Crazy Family Adventure, Honey Bunny as Super team X reloaded, Honey Bunny Train Chase, Honey Bunny in Kung Fu Challenge and many more.

Commenting on this initiative, Sony Pictures Networks India, Kids’ Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta added, “Children’s Day is one special day of the year where not just the young ones, but even the young-at-heart celebrate the simple joys of childhood. What makes the day so special is that it transcends all age groups. On this day, Sony YAY! aims to reach out to kids and their parents and see them let go of all inhibitions and just enjoy being a kid. Through our initiative, the aim is to bring children and their parents together where they can rediscover their inner child, have fun and create memories for a lifetime.”

Honey Bunny also made a surprise visit to the hit Marathi comedy show Maharashtrachya Hasyayatra on Sony Marathi and took over the Children’s Day special episode and left the audience in splits with their comic timing and light hearted banter. They also got all to groove on their special dance moves on the sets and also extended the Children’s day celebration on the sets of popular Sony SAB TV show Aladdin – Naam Toh Suna Hoga.

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Nov 18

Mickey Mouse turns 91

Posted in: Animation

The universally popular mouse, Mickey is celebrating its 91st birthday today. Mickey Mouse came into our lives on 18 November 1928 in the animated film, Steamboat Willie.

It was one of the first synchronized sound cartoons produced and was entered into the National Film Registry in 1998. Walt Disney himself provided Mickey’s voice in the cartoon, as well as Minnie’s. Disney performed Mickey’s voice from 1928 to 1947 and again in 1955 to 1959.

The Band Concert was the first color Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was released on 23 February 1935. In 1947, Mickey Mouse had a new voice for the movie Fun and Fancy Free‘s Mickey and the Beanstalk segment. James MacDonald took over voicing Mickey Mouse for Disney when Walt’s schedule or voice would not allow it.

In June 2013, Disney started producing shorts for its YouTube channel. The first one, No Service, has had more than eight million views. The latest, Carried Away, was posted in July.

Mickey was originally going to be named Mortimer, which Disney’s wife found too pompous, and she convinced Disney to change his name to Mickey.

This cute, naughty mouse has made millions of childhoods joyous and fun. Wishing our favourite Mickey a very happy birthday!

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Nov 18

Disney India signs a record deal with 67 brands for ‘Frozen 2’

Posted in: Animation

Disney India has inked a record deal with 67 brands as sponsors for its upcoming animated musical fantasy Frozen 2 that opens in theaters this Friday. This is the highest number for an animation theatrical in the country till date.

The range of consumer products includes partnerships with brands like toy retailer Hamleys, fashion brands Max and Reliance Trends, clothing chain Pantaloons and e-commerce company Flipkart.

Disney India executive director and head, consumer products Sanjeet Mehta commented, “Frozen merchandise has been one of the top-selling products for us and is enjoyed all year round. On the occasion of the movie’s release, we will be launching an all-new range of Frozen inspired products to celebrate the love young fans have towards the franchise and give them an opportunity to take home a piece of their favourite character.”

Pantaloons has come up with a special Frozen collection for toddler and junior girls which includes printed joggers, leggings, sweatshirts and sweater dresses with interactive prints, fancy sequins and appliques and footwear featuring the film’s characters. Toy and board game company Hasbro, will also introduce a range of new dolls and playsets inspired by the two protagonists, Elsa and Anna while multinational conglomerate ITC has launched a line of stationery products such as notebooks, geometry boxes and colouring sets based on the movie.

Hasbro India and Middle East country manager Bhavesh Somaya added, “We are excited to give Disney’s Frozen fans an opportunity to relive their favorite movie moments through the best play experiences. To celebrate the magic of the film, Hasbro has introduced play patterns such as singing Anna and Elsa dolls in new signature outfits, hair braiding tools, and even a Fold and Go Arendelle Castle portable playsets.”

Asian Paints too has brought out a line of wall décor products (decals) around the Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee directed film while Flipkart will be offering Frozen 2 merchandise across categories like kids’ fashion, toys and school supplies. 

Pantaloons head of marketing and e-commerce Ryan Fernandes noted that the company understands how kids connect with their favourite movie characters. Its new range for toddler and junior girls captures the movie’s essence and lets the little ones flaunt their favourite character merchandise.

Localisation and marketing initiatives by Hollywood studios in India have come a long way over the past five years, with the increase in the number of partnering brands, getting high-profile local names to dub and create conversation about the film on their social media accounts.

While the Hindi version of Frozen 2 will be dubbed by actor sisters Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Parineeti Chopra, the Tamil dub will feature the voices of actor Shruti Haasan in the roles of protagonists Elsa and Anna. While popular actor Nithya Menen will dub for Elsa in the Telugu version, superstar Mahesh Babu and Namrata Shirodkar’s seven-year-old daughter Sitara Ghattamaneni will voice for Baby Elsa.

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Nov 18

“WowKidz Distribution is a logical extension of the overall efforts taken up by Cosmos-Maya” : Devdatta Potnis

Posted in: Animation

Cosmos-Maya is one of the leading innovative animation studios based out of India and Singapore. Now the studio has launched its own sales arm, WowKidz Distribution, under its digital banner WowKidz as its first step in becoming the global content gateway.

WowKidz Distribution aims to be a one-stop shop for all the distribution requirements of global animation content players starting with the widely growing key market of Asia Pacific and then expanding into the rest of the world. Content acquisition is one of the key focus areas for WowKidz in the first stage of its distribution initiative, with the division debuting its dedicated acquisitions team at MIPCOM. 

Cosmos-Maya has been the forerunner and flagbearer for many firsts within the animation industry in its region. From commanding a staggering 65 per cent share of the Indian domestic animation production market, producing 50 half hours a month to add to its existing content bank of 2000 half hours, to a multitude of European co-productions, the studio has been focusing on bringing about change in the dynamically evolving market.

Talking to Animation Xpress about this new initiative, Cosmos-Maya Revenue and Corporate Strategy SVP, Devdatta Potnis revealed their content strategy, future planning and more. Read on :

1. What was the idea behind creating WowKidz Distribution under the banner of your digital channel,  WowKidz?

It was a logical extension of the overall efforts that the company has been taking for the longest time now. If you look at Cosmos-Maya’s overall portfolio, we have a strong presence here in India and also doing very well in international production space. By the virtue of being present in all the markets, having a great deal of content of our own, we are fully aware of the lacuna on both sides, as content creators and also as platform owners who have got content pieces, a common pathway was missing. So, this was like a logical extension of bridging the gap of one business in that sense.

Devdatta Potnis

2. How has this digital platform WowKidz proved to be beneficial for Cosmos Maya?

WowKidz has been consistently growing at a significantly higher rate year after year. I don’t want to get into the details of CAGR, but it has been growing at a phenomenal rate. Digitally if you look at it, this growth rate can only grow up to an extent and that’s when one has to diversify the avenues.

When we initially started, WowKidz was primarily dependent predominantly on YouTube. But presently, we are looking at a multitude of platforms our content is present on. Platforms like Zee5 are coming where our content is available , we have got our shows on Netflix as well. So, there are are larger synergies happening on account of of big global deals, like the Disney star Merger and Hotstar being one of the  front-runners in India.

We saw that as an opportunity in the days to come. We were checking the trends of what’s happening in the USA because the Indian market generally follows suit. There’s an Apple TV coming up; even Warner Bros. is launching their own streaming platform so eventually,  kids content is becoming one such thing that drives stickiness, if not grabbing subscription because we are in this kids content space. Hence, it ends up being a critical component of a long-term standpoint in the digital space which is where we come in.

3. What are the territories you are looking at or targeting for content syndication and distribution?

For WowKidz Distribution, obviously when we are creating a new division, one is obviously going to play on its strengths, which in our case are the Asian markets to begin with.  Once that grows up to a critical mass and we are able to penetrate every possible avenue within every possible country within the continent, then we will look at expanding further to Europe because it’s logical to extend our markets there and also because we are doing a lot of European co-productions.

In Asia, China is one of the biggest markets from the consumption standpoint, and we have a dedicated person handling our business for the Chinese Market. What also works is that, once we have a greater control over the distribution, then the distribution insight itself sort of works as a fuel or a catalyst if it is not an inspiration to the content we create.

4. Is there any specific team working on this and are you heading this arm?

We are at the moment working with the resources we have at our disposal. But of course there would be independent consultants who would be working and taking care of this initiative.

5. Do you have any recent projects under this banner?

To be honest with you, we have a couple of projects, some really interesting titles  under this banner that will be announced in due time. This initiative has really got the kind of traction of people as well as in the media more than what we anticipated at the first go. A soft launch coincided with MIPCOM 2019 which was largely from the B2B standpoint and to create awareness among the content creators and owners. We are looking at this division to be carried off in a much larger manner and specific projects and deal related announcements will take shape in due course of time.

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Nov 18

‘The Day Henry Met…?’ season 4 to premiere on Nick Jr

Posted in: Animation

The latest season of Wiggleywoo’s series, The Day Henry Met…? has just been completed and will premiere on Nick Jr in the UK and Ireland in January before going on to air on Nick Jr in 178 other countries.

Other broadcasters who will air Season 4 include RTE Jr, TV3 Catalunya in Spain, TVP in Poland, Ceska in the Czech Republic, Eesti in Estonia and Viaplay SVOD in Scandinavia.

Earlier seasons have recently been sold to Playkids, OCS, iDipper, TFOUMax, Azoomee and Kanopy, all for SVOD, and TV Azteca in Mexico.  The series airs on a range of Free TV channels including Milkshake! in the UK and Ireland, RAI in Italy, ABC in Australia, TVO, TFO and Knowledge in Canada and on many SVOD platforms.

Two new publishers, de Agostini in Italy and Agyra in Greece have signed up to publish a range of books based upon the series, Di Costa in Italy have created Henry Easter eggs with a gift inside and there will be a Henry promotion through kiosks in Italy organised by Teaser Lab. LMI has taken on the UK licensing and merchandising rights in the UK and 25 airlines are featuring the series in their in-flight entertainment.

The series is continuing to enjoy terrific ratings – e.g. in Italy, The Day Henry Met…? has ranked fifth among the most viewed programs on free children channels, with a 13.32 per cent share of viewers aged four to seven. The Day Henry Met…? performed similarly to Albero Azzurro and Peppa Pig and has also received a morning timeslot on RAI YoYo.

The series has been sold to 25 airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Delta,Emirates, Qantas Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, Norwegian Air, Cathay Pacific, KLM

Every day Henry meets something new – The day Henry met a compass!,  The day Henry met a cookbook!, The day Henry met a Surfboard!

How exciting, I wonder what Henry’s going to meet today?

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