May
14
May
14
Blade Runner?! I mean… come on. They claimed their territory and their prize. Motion Award winner.
Posted in: AnimationThe taste of success is sweet. Don’t be bitter, submit to The 2020 Motion Awards!
May
14
Erin Sarofsky answered our questionnaire, giving us the goods on recent FITC project, her go-to playlist, and other musings.
Posted in: AnimationCreative Connections: Need some tips for these “unprecedented” times? Erin shares some “in real life” and “work-life” BTS while WFH in Chicago.
May
14
Spider man says it’s not how big your title sequence is, it’s how you use it. All about Perception! Motion Award recipient.
Posted in: AnimationJoin the party and see how we play. Submit to The 2020 Motion Awards!
May
13
Nickelodeon has announced that the cast of SpongeBob Squarepants will team up for a virtual table read in The Stars of SpongeBob Fan Favorites Special, premiering on 5 June.
The Stars of SpongeBob Fan Favorites Special will see Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs) and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton) join in a half-hour virtually produced special to bring to life classic SpongeBob SquarePants scenes, as voted on by fans.
Fans can vote on a selection of scenes on NickPlay website, where they can choose to vote on classic moments, including Band Rehearsal, Alaskan Bull Worm, I’m Dirty Dan and more. The table read will also include a performance of a new rendition of the F.U.N. Song.
SpongeBob Squarepants was created by Stephen Hillenburg and is produced by Nickelodeon. Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller serve as co-executive producers. It ranks as television’s number-one animated series with kids two to 11 and kids six to 11 year to date.
SpongeBob SquarePants is the most widely distributed property in Viacom International Media Networks history, seen in more than 170 countries, translated in 30+ languages, and averaging more than 100 million total viewers every quarter.
The post ‘SpongeBob’ cast to re-create fan-favourite scenes appeared first on AnimationXpress.
May
13
Microsoft’s 343 Studio, the developer of the online game Halo, is arising with a MCC Pro Series, for followers and rivals in the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Esports tournament will have two lessons – open and professional.
The tournament, which will take place weekly, begins from 23 May and will finish on 18 July. The MCC Pro-Series tournament will run on the anniversary model of Halo 2, which will be launched on PC on 12 May.
Halo 2: Anniversary was first launched as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One in 2014. The PC version of the game currently features Combat Evolved Anniversary and Reach.
The open tournament has three cash prizes. The first-place winner will get $250, while the second place will earn gamers $150 and the third $100.
The total prize for pro tournament is $5,000 and it will also be divided among the top eight contestants. Open and pro tournaments will be held every alternate Saturday.
“Top eight teams from the first open tournament will qualify for the first 16 team pro tournament, where they will be met by the Top 8 teams from DreamHack Anaheim,” said the company. The top eight teams from each Pro tournament will automatically qualify for the next pro tournament till a winner is decided.
Faceit, a gaming platform for online multiplayer games, will be facilitating the tournament.
The post Microsoft to host new ‘Halo’ tournament from 23 May to 18 July appeared first on AnimationXpress.
May
13
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organisation behind Sesame Street, and Guru Studio are teaming up on the beloved property’s animated spin-off, Mecha Builders (working title). In October, HBO Max struck a five-year deal to stream new and old episodes of Sesame Street, as well as new spin-off series and specials. It was first announced then that a show called Mecha Builders would come to the streamer.
Guru Studio president and executive creative director at Frank Falcone said in a statement, “We’re thrilled to be working on such timeless and beloved classic characters with the amazing team at Sesame Workshop.”
Mecha Builders will feature well-known Sesame Street characters “as heroes in a robot-animation style,” according to the producers. It will air in the U.S. on HBO Max, the Warnermedia streaming service due to launch on 27 May. Production begins this month.
“With Guru Studio’s masterful animated storytelling, we’re going beyond the Sesame Street neighborhood with a new take on our iconic brand,” said Sesame Workshop head of development and production Kay Wilson Stallings.
Guru Studio is known for creating, developing and producing shows including Netflix Original preschool series, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, PAW Patrol, Mattel’s Ever After High, and Justin Time.
The post Sesame Workshop and Guru Studio team for animated ‘Sesame Street’ spin-off appeared first on AnimationXpress.
May
13
COVID-19 lockdowns buoyed Tencent’s first-quarter revenue and profits, with blockbuster games PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile and Honor of Kings helping it beats forecasts.
The Chinese company’s video games business, which generates more than a third of its revenue, saw growth of 31 per cent to $5.26 billion as people idled away the time in front of screens and used online multiplayer games to virtually hang out with friends.
Tencent’s two flagship games, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile and Honor of Kings topped mobile games revenue worldwide in March, analytics firm Sensor Tower said. “We expect in-game consumption activities to largely normalise as people return to work, and we see some headwinds for the online advertising industry,” Tencent said, after reporting a revenue rise of 26 per cent.
In-game spending on things like power-ups, object skins and accessories on PUBG Mobile alone surged to $232 million, more than three times what the title generated in March 2019.
However Tencent, a gaming and social media giant, warned that it expected some of the business boosts it enjoyed during lockdowns to be temporary.Average revenue per user of Tencent’s mobile games jumped from 62.9 yuan in Q4 to 85.2 in Q1 as a result of limited offline entertainment options, Jason Zhou, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities, calculated.
However, Tencent’s President Martin Lau said that in-game consumption was reverting to normal levels after the May 1 holiday as people began to return to work.
The post Tencent’s revenue skyrockets during COVID-19 lockdown appeared first on AnimationXpress.
May
13
Anita Nayyar
To lead and drive growth in the AdTech space, ZEE5 has brought on board industry veterans – Havas Media Group, India and SouthEast Asia ex-CEO Anita Nayyar; Jayesh Easwaramony, a seasoned entrepreneur and an expert in the tech and media world known for his ability to scale businesses, and DAZN former head of digital platforms Dhruvadeep Roy – to further strengthen the team.
These new appointments along with the current ZEE5 team will be spearheading and responsible for paving the next phase of ZEE5’s advertising business growth.
Nayyar, in her new role as head of customer strategy and relationships, will help build the agency-partner ecosystem for ZEE5 India business. She has an experience of over 20 years, and has been instrumental in driving strategic business development, client relations and creative narratives for brands across her stints at varied Indian and global firms.
Prior to this, Nayyar has been responsible for driving growth at Havas Media Group and has received acclaim and accolades on various platforms over the years for her leadership and achievements. She is an alumnus of IGNOU in Masters in Management.
Jayesh Easwaramony
Easwaramony, on the other hand, has joined ZEE5 as a consultant for AdTech to drive all advertising, user data and audience related initiatives, right from strategy to implementation with vendors and product teams. Prior to this, Jayesh was responsible for driving the APAC business of Softbank invested advertising firm, InMobi for several years and helped scale their business manifold, from setting up the Asia team to creating deep partnerships with advertisers. He brings with him vast expertise in digital advertising and data monetisation in his expansive career over 20 years of experience in TMT. Before ZEE5, he has worked both as a consultant and executor in companies such as Frost and Sullivan, Tata Sky, Star India and Tata Group.
Both Nayyar and Easwaramony will work closely with the recently appointed ZEE5 chief revenue officer Rajeev Dhal to pave the next chapter of growth for the platform.
Dhruvadeep Roy who has joined ZEE5 India product team as director product – AdTech, will be responsible for leading all the product initiatives within AdTech and help ZEE5 move towards building a self-serve platform. He brings with him an array of experience spanning over 16 years and was leading the platforms and product at DAZN sport streaming service across the UK, US, Canada and APAC previously.
Dhurvadeep Roy
Holding BSc in business administration majoring in digital media from the University of Bedfordshire, Roy has also worked with streaming services such as SoundCloud, Xbox in Microsoft and Apple Music. Originally from Mumbai, he has lived in Kolkata and is presently living in the UK since the last 22 years.
Commenting on these key appointments, ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial said, “I am ecstatic to share that ZEE5 has already taken a step towards flagging-off its next phase of growth by welcoming three acclaimed leaders of the industry to lead the advertising tech business. I welcome Nayyar, Easwaramony and Roy to the ZEE5 team and I am confident that their experience will further enable ZEE5 to achieve even greater heights. This current strengthening of our leadership team is in line with a clear focus to build a robust digital advertising ecosystem like no other.”
The post ZEE5 brings in three industry veterans to drive growth in the AdTech space appeared first on AnimationXpress.
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