Here's an update via his Facebook page, which is a group to assist and publicize a benefit art auction for Pres Romanillos. Pres is a friend and animator who is awaiting a bone marrow transplant for a relapse of leukemia.
Donate platelets or blood for Pres
Because of the chemotherapy Pres is undergoing, he needs a constant supply of blood and platelets. You can help by donating. The need for platelets is especially great. Any blood type can donate platelets directly for Pres.
You can do that by calling City of Hope at 626-471-7171 or 626-301-8385 and scheduling an appointment (appointments available M,T 10-6, W 8-3, Th, F, Sat 6-1:45). City of Hope is in Duarte, just east of Pasadena, and the process takes about 2-2.5 hours.
If you're type O- or O+, you can donate blood directly for Pres. That's also a shorter process, about an hour total including the time for the questionnaire. If you're not O- or O+, you can donate platelets, or you can donate blood that will go to the general bank of blood to help others (this is where Pres is getting his blood, so you'd be indirectly helping him).
Does Flash Have a Future?
Animation created in HTML5
The controversy about Apple’s exclusion of Flash from the iPad may appear to have minor relevance to animators, but considering the number of artists and studios who animate with Flash, the issue will affect the animation community sooner than later. Primarily, it raises the question that if Flash becomes obsolete as a way of delivering video over the Web, is it also headed towards obsolescence as an animation production tool? The tool was never designed for broadcast animation production to begin with, and Adobe’s poor track record of supporting the needs of broadcast animators hasn’t endeared it to the community.
This article at Wired magazine is the single best piece I’ve read about what HTML5 is all about and how it will replace Flash on the web. The article includes this Spider-Man animation created entirely in HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3 (note: it is not viewable in all browsers). It is crude, but no cruder than what was being created with Flash’s predecessor, FutureSplash, in the mid-Nineties. Nevertheless, reading this making-of about the Spider-Man piece is an eye-opener. It amazes me how much effort is required to make cartoons that look less sophisticated than what was being made in the 1920s.
What Flash has working in its favor is loyalty from a core user base. Many animators still think that Flash is the best option. Nick Cross, who has made numerous shorts with the software, wrote an impassioned defense of Flash and explained why he doesn’t intend on abandoning it anytime soon. Adobe would be wise to listen to these animators and ensure that they don’t jump over to the next piece of technology that comes along.
(Thanks Cartoon Brew)
2010 ASIFA-East Animation Festival Winners
Check out the complete list of winners from the 41st ASIFA-East Animation Festival.
The top prize, Best in Show, was awarded to Backwards directed by Aaron Hughes.
Another winning film that is online is Stephen Neary’s Let’s Make Out which won second place for independent film:
I Am a Paleontologist (dir. Sean McBride) won second place for sponsored film:
First place for commercial was awarded to Jeremy Galante and David Cowles for this spot advertising the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra:
Second place for student film went to Jake Armstrong’s The Terrible Thing of Alpha-9 which can be seen on Cartoon Brew TV. Third place for student film went to David Sheahan’s Together! which can also be seen on BrewTV.
The festival’s signal film, directed by Elliot Cowan, is worth a view too:
(Thanks Cartoon Brew)
Animators: Help Celebrate Ray Bradbury’s 90th Birthday
Ray Bradbury (c.) with Ward Kimball and Chuck Jones
Lou Romano asked me to share this with Cartoon Brew readers. In honor of Ray Bradbury’s 90th birthday later this year, animation producer Steven Paul Leiva is putting together a collection of artwork that will be presented to Bradbury in the form of a printed book. Here is what he’s asking for:
We are putting out this call to all professionals in World Animation: If you would like to honor this great American author, and contribute to a unique gift, create a portrait or caricature of Ray, or illustrate a scene from one of his novels or short stories for inclusion in RAY BRADBURY: THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, a book and possible a DVD compilation of such work to be presented to Ray during RAY BRADBURY WEEK as a gift from the Animation community.
There are more details including how to submit artwork in the letter below from Leiva. Click on it to read a larger version.
(Thanks Cartoon Brew)
Bone — What Could Have Been
Just for fun, animator Andrew Kaiko created this hand-drawn Flash animation test of Jeff Smith’s comic Bone. He took the audio from an existing Bone video game. It’s too bad the forthcoming Bone feature won’t look nearly as appealing. The film is being made by Animal Logic, the studio that created Happy Feet, and based on the studio’s prior work, their interpretation will likely be all kinds of unwatchable. Jeff Smith himself recently told a crowd that he would have preferred the film to be hand-drawn except that nobody was willing to put up the money if it wasn’t CG. It’s a pathetic state of affairs when a cartoon creator, who understands his work best, is denied the technique of his choice because of unfounded beliefs about the financial performance of one particular animation technique over the other.
In the comment of his video, Kaiko writes, “Reflecting on this, even though the movie will be in CG, I REALLY think they should have a little 2D in it! Like, maybe in the opening and/or closing credits… or maybe in a short sequence in the body of the film!! It worked marvelously for Kung Fu Panda, and Cloudy.”
(Thanks Cartoon Brew)
Ralph Bakshi on Frank Frazetta's Passing
Frank Frazetta 1928 - 2010
'When he was young, and he was young for a very long time, he ran with the wind, danced between raindrops to stay dry, hit baseballs so far that he laughed at their disappearance. And when he drew, the Italian Renaissance lived in his hands. He painted in smoke so soft it looked like real light not paint. His materials were simple, so basic. He hated artistic pretense. With a child's $2 watercolor set, he painted exquisite studies. And with a few worn brushes, he painted masterpieces in his living room beside his TV on a shaky cheap easel. Just last week we laughed on the phone. Hey Frank, you just sold a painting for ! million dollars that you were paid $150 to do! He loved that. He laughed. He was fine, happy, still working, proud of the sale. He knew he was good but did he know he was the best ever? Did he know he taught millions of artists how to dream? He never repeated a drawing. He always created anew, discovering again and again what it meant to create, to be a true artist that copied no one, not even himself.
A world without Frank Frazetta makes no sense. No one like him will ever appear again. Remember him well.'
Ralph Bakshi
disappearance. And when he drew, the Italian Renaissance lived in his hands. He painted in smoke so soft it looked like real light not paint. His materials were simple, so basic. He hated artistic pretense. With a child's $2 watercolor set, he painted exquisite studies. And with a few worn brushes, he painted masterpieces in his living room beside his TV on a shaky cheap easel. Just last week we laughed on the phone. Hey Frank, you just sold a painting for ! million dollars that you were paid $150 to do! He loved that. He laughed. He was fine, happy, still working, proud of the sale. He knew he was good but did he know he was the best ever? Did he know he taught millions of artists how to dream? He never repeated a drawing. He always created anew, discovering again and again what it meant to create, to be a true artist that copied no one, not even himself.
A world without Frank Frazetta makes no sense. No one like him will ever appear again. Remember him well.'
Ralph Bakshi
Frazetta at F&I story meeting 1982
Frank's art opening in NY 1994
Frazetta & Bakshi Fire & Ice 1982
(Thanks campaign.constantcontact.com)
Video Releases Revisit Daria, Revive Mr. Magoo
Revisiting the most annoying aspects of attending high school in the 1990s may not sound like a lot of fun — unless your guide is the sardonic, sharp-witted teen Daria.Long missing from DVD shelves, Daria: The Complete Animated Series (Paramount, $66.99), brings home all five seasons of the MTV series, which ran from 1997 to 2002 and was spun out of Mike Judge’s classic series Beavis and Butt-head.
Another animated icon of the past returns in Kung Fu Magoo (Vivendi, $14.97), the first new Mr. Magoo production in more than 30 years. Kung Fu Magoo sees Mr. Magoo compete against the world’s worst villains in an “Evil-lympics” tournament, with the help of his nephew Justin.
On the anime side, there’s plenty of Japan’s favorite little stinker in Shinchan: Season One (FUNimation, $49.98) and Shinchan: Season Two (FUNimation, $49.98)
And for visual effects fans who like horror, there’s the release of two recent theatrical features with Legion (Screen Gems, $28.95 DVD, $34.95 Blu-ray) and Daybreakers (Lionsgate, $29.95 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray).
(Thanks Animation Magazine)
Cake Places Angelo Rules with Super RTL
Cake Entertainment has sold the German broadcast rights to the animated comedy series Angelo Rules to Super RTL.The broadcaster will air the 78 seven-minute episodes in the 3D-animated series about a 12 year old who tries to control his life using elaborate strategies he bases on his observations of human behavior. The series is based on the books by Sylvie de Mathuisieulx and Sebastien Diologent.
Cake co-produces the series with Paris-based animators TeamTO.
“Angelo Rules is a really strong property, being both the most viewed show at MIPCOM Junior 2009 and winning the Pulcinella Award for its original concept and charismatic hero,” says Ed Galton, managing director of Cake. “With Angelo Rules and Hareport both doing well in the international marketplace, we’re looking forward to creating more shows of this standard with TeamTO.”
(Thanks Animation Magazine)
WIA-Bay Area Sets Picnic, Disney Museum Visit for May 15
Women in Animation – Bay Area is planning its spring gathering for May 15.The group will gather for a picnic lunch followed by a group visit to the Disney Family Museum.
The picnic will start at noon at the Crissy Field warming hut, bookstore and café. The event is a potluck, and members are encouraged to bring something to share. (Soda, plates, cups, napkins and plastic utensils will be provided.)
The group will then walk to the Disney Family Museum to begin the tour at 1:30 p.m. Admission to the museum is $20 per person; $15 for students with valid ID. Tickets can be bought at the door or in advance at the museum website at:
http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/index.html
To attend, please RSVP as soon as possible via email to wia.bayarea@gmail.com.
Additional details can be found at the WIA-Bay Area blog at http://wia.animationblogspot.com/
(Thanks Animation Magazine)
Italy Issues Geronimo Stilton Stamp
Italy’s own Geronimo Stilton, star of the hit Atlantyca Entertainment animated series of the same name, is being honored with a postage stamp.Poste Italiane will issue the stamp as part of the new Europe 2010: Books for Kids collection. The stamps were released officially May 7 with the first cancellation.
The Geronimo Stilton stamp will be available as an individual stamp costing 0.65 euros and also will be made available on a sheet of 50 stamps; cards postcards; a folder with card, postcard and DVD; and other formats.
“This latest honor for our quintessential children’s character is testimony to the fact that Geronimo Stilton has earned a permanent position among Italy’s most memorable pop culture icons. We are extremely proud of Geronimo’s latest achievement,” said Maria Giovanna Gurrieri, licensing director for Atlantyca.
(Thanks Animation Magazine)
Rainmaker's first-quarter loss drops 85% to $406K
First-quarter losses at Vancouver-based animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment Inc. fell to $406,000 (two cents a share) in the first three months of this year -- down yearly 85% from a loss of $2.7 million (16 cents a share) a year earlier.
The company announced Monday that revenue in the year's first quarter grew to $5.1 million from $4 million. The producer and distributor of animated films and TV shows attributed the gains to its involvement in an animated short and a feature film.
Rainmaker said that it recently finished an animated short that is being shown at the Canadian Pavilion for the Expo in Shanghai. The studio also worked on two DVD films for American toy company Mattel.
Meanwhile, work continued on the feature film Escape from Planet Earth at what Rainmaker called "scaled-down production levels." The studio is still working with Mattel to consider production options -- which, it warned, could include the "possible disengagement" of Rainmaker.
Rainmaker shares of the company last traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange at 40 cents.
UPA financial executive Dorothy Schechter dies, 85
UPA Productions financial executive Dorothy Schechter, who was executive producer Henry Saperstein's assistant for 38 years, died April 12 in Los Angeles. She was 85.
The Bronx-born Schechter continued acting as a consultant for Classic Media after it bought the UPA library.
Schecter moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, handling finance and payroll for the Burbank, California-based UPA. The studio's productions included the Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy TV cartoon series.
She was also involved in handling the licensing rights for Mr. Magoo and Godzilla, the giant Japanese monster whose movies UPA distributed in the United States for the Toho Company.
For UPA, Schechter also worked on The TAMI Show and The TNT Show, along with TV shows All Star Golf, Championship Bowling and Miss Frances' Ding Dong School.
She was a longtime volunteer for the Denver-based AMC Cancer Research Center.
Joaquim Dos Santos Directing Upcoming Animated "DC Showcase: Jonah Hex" Short
Director Joaquim Dos Santos will be directing the upcoming DC Showcase: Jonah Hex animated short to be included on the Batman: Under the Red Hood home video release.
The DC Showcase: Jonah Hex animated short will be directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, and executive produced by Bruce Timm. Dos Santos is slated to direct all future DC Showcase, with Timm also playing a heavy role in future animated shorts. Santos also directed the inaugural DC Showcase short, DC Showcase: The Spectre, which was featured on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray home video release for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the previous DC Universe Animated Original Movie title.
Further details on the upcoming DC Showcase: Jonah Hex animated short, to be included on the Batman: Under the Red Hood home video release, will be release shortly. A co-production of Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, the direct-to-video Batman: Under the Red Hood animated feature debuts July 27th, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray disc from Warner Home Video.
Persuasion
TAG, like any good little labor organization, is interested in organizing new studios that haven't seen fit to sign our collective bargaining agreement. This isn't always easy, because studios working without benefit of contract often like to stay that way.
We are currently working to organize an animation facility that isn't keen to be part of our club. As we always do, we've phoned employees, written employees. Happily, it hasn't just been me sending the letters. One of our executive board members, K.C. Johnson, wrote an eloquent missive about what becoming part of the union has meant to her and what she hopes it will mean to others. We share a large part of it below:
... I’m writing today to ask you to vote “Yes” for The Animation Guild. No one’s asked me to write this letter. I am on the Guild’s Executive Board, and have thus heard about the current union drive. I’m writing because I know from my own experience that a unionized [cartoon studio] would greatly benefit you as a working artist and member of the wider animation community. ... I‘d like to share some information you may not know, and ask you to think about some serious questions.
Residuals
Although they don’t arrive in our mailboxes like the Writer’s Guild, we as artists do earn residuals. The studios pay them directly into our Health and Pension Plan, along with the residuals of all the other IATSE guilds (i.e. grips, art directors, etc.). Count how many times episodes of [your studio's shows] have aired in first run and reruns. You are paid for that … if you’re receiving Motion Picture benefits. If you’re not receiving these benefits, who gets the money? Not [your studio], and not you. You forfeit them completely.
Health Plan
Since most of you will soon be transitioning off of the Motion Picture health plan, I think you’re familiar with it. But my husband is a freelance comic book artist with no benefits. We had a baby in 2008 that cost us a total of $130 out of pocket -- for everything, including the delivery. Now, all three of us are covered for a premium of ... $0 a year. With $5 co-pays for doctor’s visits at the Motion Picture clinic.
Don’t forget about the portability. Will you be at [your current studio] forever? Imagine no loss of coverage through hiatus, between jobs, for even up to a year and a half! With that $0 annual premium. COBRA premiums can run from $400 to over $900 a month.
Pension
The Animation Guild has three pieces to its pension plan.
1. 401(k): Voluntary. Use it or don’t use it. It includes Vanguard funds, which are very good.
2. Pension: Requires ... zero effort on your part, and zero dollars out of your paycheck. Studios contribute for you for every hour you work. For me, as of December 2009, my 7 years at union shops have already guaranteed me over $450 a month when I retire. How does [your studio’s] pension compare? Additionally, when you reach the 15-year mark, you earn Motion Picture health plan benefits throughout retirement. I’ve been watching my 66-year-old (now retired) mom manage my 98-year-old grandmother’s care for quite some years. If you think having a good health plan now is important... just wait.
Here’s a very important detail: you are not vested until you’ve earned five years. If you stop working at union shops and have less than five years, you could lose the credit towards your vesting and have to start over. Do you know how many years you have vested now? [Call MPIPHP to find out the answer: (818) 769-0007, extension 627.] Having [your place of work] as a union studio would help to steer you towards vesting, not away from it.
3. Individual Account Plan (IAP): Requires ... zero effort on your part, and zero dollars out of your paycheck. It just accumulates, same as your pension. And unlike the pension, it vests after only one year! As of December 2009, with only 7 years, my IAP has over $27,000 in it. I get all of it when I retire, and it grows with every hour I work at a union shop. This is real money we’re talking about here (Twenty. Seven. Grand.), and it only costs the studios pennies per hour, per person. Like buying some cans of soda per artist per day. Is [your studio] helping you save for retirement, or are they just providing the soda? ...
Bento Box
I was at Film Roman when we went union (with some of you), and experienced the same fear and guilt you’re likely subject to now. Plenty of “We can’t afford it!” and “Why would you do that to us, we’re family!” and the like.
Our top brass at the time included John Hyde, Mike Wolf, and Scott Greenberg, all of whom fought hard against the guild. Now, two of them, John Hyde and Scott Greenberg, have started up a new production studio, which is now union. They came to us. If their experience with The Animation Guild was so awful, the purported enforced accountability and loss of control so terrible, why would they voluntarily knock on our door and say “sign us up”?
A Union is Only as Strong as Its Members
I’ve heard it said “We have the weakest effing union.” And it’s true that our union is a quiet one. You won’t see our dramas and arguments splashed across the front page of Variety. But we are only as strong as our members. And quite honestly, most animators don’t want to create trouble and they don’t want to strike. They’re content when they can come in, do their work, get the job done well, and go home. That’s what the Guild helps to facilitate.
Did you hear that [Studio X] last year seriously considered eliminating sick days? Our union sure helped to make that idea disappear fast. Our guild doesn't brag about its successes, and maybe that's a mistake. But, what you need to ask yourself is, will allowing [your studio] to remain non-union help to make your guild any stronger?
Your Peers Need You
This current drive to unionize [your studio] started from within. Your colleagues are behind this push. The Animation Guild cannot represent a studio unless the artists choose to let it.
And perhaps this is not a big deal for you. Maybe your spouse has good medical benefits and/or you already have ample retirement savings. Maybe you can stand to benefit, but it’s not a big deal.
…What about your colleague one or two cubicles down? This matters to them. It matters enough for them to fight hard for this. You may be on the fence, but for some of your peers these are major, major issues, and they need you to be on their side.
Vote “YES”
I hope you’re still with me, reading, this far. It’s just hard to convey how important it is that we have a union, and how much sweat and passion the artists before us put into creating it. You are in the unique position to help push the boundaries, and secure some really vital benefits and protections for yourself.
When Film Roman went union in something like season 16 of “The Simpsons”, I saw the faces of the longtime crew turn ashen when they realized, “If we had been union this whole time, we’d have 16 years in and have secured health benefits through retirement. We’d be there, and now, we have to start from scratch.”
Making [your studio] into a union shop is not a betrayal of your employment there. Nor is it a nail in the coffin. A unionized Film Roman is doing just fine. So is Nickelodeon… Cartoon Network… Warner Brothers… Disney… Adelaide… DreamWorks… Fox Animation… you get the idea. The animation business is ebb and flow. If a studio’s going to go under, it will be due to poor management, not unionized artists.
At the end of the day, if you remember anything, remember that [your studio] is a business. That fact motivates all of their actions. [They'll] look out for themselves ...
The Animation Guild’s sole purpose is to look out for you. No one else is doing that.
Please vote “YES” in the upcoming election. You don’t need to say anything at the studio, stick your head out, wave a union flag, nothing. Do your work, and when it comes time, vote “yes”.
If you’d like my help or assistance in any way, I’m there. My biggest motivation for being on the Executive Board is to help improve the Guild’s service to its members. I invite you to call me with any questions or concerns you‘d like to discuss.
Thanks for your time, and I hope you‘ll decide to let the Guild support you by representing your interests.
I'll add my two cents to what Ms. Johnson says above: Over the last seventy years entertainment companies -- and many of their employees -- have thrived under unionization. Motion pictures and television shows are one of the United States' more profitable exports, narrowing the trade gap and providing thousands of jobs. I've seen a number of animation studios fade out of existence in the course of my career; I've yet to see any disappear because they were unionized. Bad management was always the culprit.
Unions, as I've said before, are not the end-all and be-all. But they help spread a little of the money around to people who need it a bit more than the fifty-million-dollar-a-year chieftans who sit at the top of the Hollywood pyramid. And that, to my mind, is a good thing.
(Thanks Animation Guild Blog)
Political Animation
This animated attack ad had me doubled up laughing. (It doesn't take much at 8:30 in the morning ...)
Animation in politics is hardly new. One of the more famous is "Hell Bent For Election," produced in 1944 on behalf of President Franklin Roosevelt by various horrid Hollywood lefties.
It was directed by Chuck Jones and was the start of what became UPA (and then called Industrial Films). Steve Bosustow was the executive producer.
Animated Pelosis and Obamas, animated locomotives with FDR's face. We've kind of come full circle, haven't we?
(Thanks Animation Guild Blog)
Cambon Delivers Uncensored Animation at Gobelins
L’Anastasie is Charlotte Cambon’s latest project to emerge from her studies at Gobelins in France. She and her fellow classmates were given the topic of “censorship and freedom of expression,” and they had only 5 weeks to complete their work. I believe the final titles translate to “freedom of the press is going really well.”
The Latest Thing From Boxhead and Roundhead
Has it been 2 years since the last Boxhead and Roundhead short? Indeed it has. It’s ‘cuz they’ve been on tour, along with their creator Elliot Cowan, at a variety of festivals around the world. But now they’ve landed back online, and you can see The Thing In the Distance, a moody, obsessive short that should allow you to project your own fears and worries onto:
Q&A Seeks Answers Through An Animated Interview
You may have already watched this over at CartoonBrew, but if not – take 5 minutes to enjoy this powerful film about a boy with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. In Q&A, a film produced by StoryCorps and directed by the Rauch Brothers, Joshua interviews his mother, in a way that I suspect he does even when the microphones aren’t on. The result is a challenging, heartbreaking and rather beautiful look at the challenges of autism.
Kettles, Wolves and Fruit – Three More CalArts Films
We’ve already highlighted CalArts final films 3 times in the last three weeks, but strong work just keeps pouring onto the video sharing sites. Here’s three more that I think deserve your attention:
Valencia, California by Dylan Forman
Red by Hyunjoo Song
Eat! by Jeff Liu
Negative film cutter Donah Bassett dead at 83
Donah Bassett, a negative cutter in Hollywood studios for 42 years, died May 4 at a Phoenix retirement community. She was 83.
She worked on over 200 films, including Don Bluth's animated features The Secret Of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988).
Born Donah June Polk in Shawnee, Oklahoma in 1927, Bassett moved to California with her family as a girl. She studied art through high school and Santa Monica College.
In 1954, Bassett was hired as a film technician at Technicolor Film Laboratory. She founded her own Donah Bassett and Associates in 1976.
She was involved in such classic movies as Raging Bull (1980), Reds (1981), The Natural and Amadeus (both 1984), Blue Velvet (1986), Wall Street (1987), A League of Their Own (1992) and Legends of the Fall (1994). Other films included The Swarm, Milagro Beanfield War and Grumpy Old Men.
Her career brought her to work with such A-list film directors and cinematographers as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, Caleb Deschnel, Vittorio Storaro and Steven Spielberg.
Her last film was Chain Reaction, released in 1996. That year, she retired.
Moving to Arizona in 1998, she returned to her first love of art and painting. She studied oil painting at local workshops and the Scottsdale Art School. Her work was displayed in numerous exhibitions and galleries in California and Arizona.
Survivors include brother Charles Taft; children Chris Scudder, Cathy Bassett Goldman and Craig Bassett; six grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
Moonscoop Shakes Up L.A. Offices
Code Lyoko producer Moonscoop is reorganizing its Los Angeles offices in a bid to step up its presence in the animation-for-hire business, World Screen reports.
Co-CEO Bill Schultz will step down from day-to-day activities but retain a non-exclusive tie to Moonscoop by continuing to executive produce Hero:108, Rob Dyrdek’s Wild Grinders and The DaVincibles. Liz Young will continue to lead U.S. production as president, and the company will continue to expand its Kabillion platform.
The reorganization comes after last year's relocation of executive chairman Nicolas Atlan from Paris to L.A. to head up the U.S. business.
Why 'Iron Man 2' Wasn't Filmed In 3-D... And Why 'Captain America' Might Be!
Prior to its release, industry experts projected that "Iron Man 2" had the potential to break the $158.4 million opening weekend record which is currently held by "The Dark Knight." And while its $133.6 million was still hugely successful, some observers have wondered if it could have opened even higher if it had also been released in 3-D.However, during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that "Iron Man 2" had been under consideration for a 3-D conversion, before the production team decided that there simply wasn't enough time to handle the conversion and finish the film by its release date.
"We couldn't have turned over a version of the movie 10 or 20 weeks earlier for 3-D conversion without undermining the quality," said Feige. "We used all the time we had for mixing and editing and discovering the right tone."
However, Feige also conceded that Marvel will make the leap to 3-D in one of their future films.
"The team has been doing a lot of research into 3-D processes," related Feige. "And we're looking at it on future films when we have the time. We will be doing it at some point."
As the LA Times points out, director Kenneth Branagh's "Thor" is already well into principle photography and would have to be converted into 3-D in post. However, director Joe Johnston's "The First Avenger: Captain America" won't start filming until June, which could make it a candidate to be Marvel Studios' first feature filmed in 3-D.
Earlier this year, Sony revealed that the "Spider-Man" reboot will also be filmed in 3-D.
'Kick-Ass' Screenwriter On 'X-Men: First Class'?
Earlier this month, director Matthew Vaughn officially signed on to helm "X-Men: First Class," which will be developed at an accelerated pace in order to make a 2011 release date. And it now appears that Vaughn will be working with one of his frequent collaborators on the script.During a recent post on Twitter (via Superhero Hype), British television host Jonathan Ross wrote that his wife Jane Goldman "is away writing 'X Men 4' so I am off to bed with little Sweeney alone." Ross later clarified what he meant to say: "Also, for those who need to know, my wife IS currently writing 'X-Men: First Class.' It's just referred to as 'X-Men 4' around the house..."
"I am afraid I better not answer any more queries re 'X-Men: First Class' for fear of spoilers and also possible divorce," added Ross.
Goldman has previously collaborated with Vaughn on "Stardust," "Kick-Ass" and on an upcoming remake of the Israeli thriller "The Debt."
During a recent interview, current "X-Men: First Class" screenwriters Zack Stentz and Ashley Edward Miller said that they had yet to meet with Vaughn regarding the project. However, Goldman's potential involvement doesn't necessarily mean that Stentz and Miller are no longer working on the film.
"Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz and Jamie Moss (“Ghost in The Shell”) have both previously been attached to write "X-Men: First Class" before moving on to other projects.
"X-Men: First Class" will graduate into theaters on June 3, 2011.
'Judge Dredd' Going 3-D To Lay Down The Law
After 15 years, "Judge Dredd" is finally rolling back into theaters.A new "Judge Dredd" feature film is being shopped around at the Cannes Film festival, according to Deadline. DNA Films has reportedly reached a deal with Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global to finance the film with a budget in the $50 million range. The film will be released in 3-D with a script by Alex Garland and it will be directed by Pete Travis.
Garland is perhaps best known for his novel "The Beach," which was adapted into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. He has also written the screenplays for "Sunshine" and "28 Days Later." Travis has previously directed the feature films "Vantage Point" and "Endgame."
"Judge Dredd" was created in 1977 by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra in the pages of "2000 AD." The original comic follows the exploits of the title character, who is essentially the "judge, jury and executioner" of criminals in a futuristic city called Mega-City One.
In 1995, "Judge Dredd" was adapted into a film starring Sylvester Stallone as the lead character, which did not meet the expectations of fans or achieve box office success.
Back in January, Wagner stated that the new "Judge Dredd" film is much truer to the spirit of the original comics.
DNA Films is currently looking for a studio to distribute "Judge Dredd."
Does Last Airbender discriminate? YES
Noah Ringer plays Aang in The Last Airbender
(This is the first of two posts dealing with the question of whether The Last Airbender is discriminatory.)
Amidst a pop culture milieu of Camelots and Middle-earths, Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender was an award-winning animated series showcasing a Pacific Rim fantasy world. Many fans hoped the series' authentic and respectful depictions of Asian and Inuit characters and cultures would carry over to M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming film adaptation of the series, called simply The Last Airbender. These hopes were dashed when the production opted to cast white actors to play the show's lead characters of color. Fan intrigue about how the film would handle "airbending" quickly turned into critiques of the film's "racebending."
Two summers ago, the production of The Last Airbender released casting calls reading "Wanted: Caucasian or any other ethnicity" in all of the major professional listings and on the film's official casting site. In December 2008, the production cast white actors to play the film's lead characters—erasing the characters' East Asian and Inuit ethnicities.
Fans, industry professionals and Asian-American advocacy groups mobilized in winter 2009 and repeatedly contacted the production with concerns, to no avail. More than a year later, the production still has not acknowledged the full impact of its actions. If not in a franchise like The Last Airbender, then what other opportunities do actors of Asian and Inuit descent currently have to star in Hollywood blockbusters? Are there even other media franchises featuring Asian or Inuit characters in starring roles?
(Never mind, don't answer that. Dragonball Z, King of Fighters and 30 Days of Night had Asian and Inuit lead characters—and they all got the racebending treatment, too.)
Shyamalan has been trumpeting his film as a paragon of diversity, ignoring the wide gulf between diversity and equal representation. In March he told fan sites that The Last Airbender could be "one of the most diverse movies of all times." Hardly. Yes, eventually, the production did make room in The Last Airbender for Shyamalan's brand of "diversity"—but casting people of color in villain and background roles is hardly revolutionary.
In February 2009, pop star Jesse McCartney was abruptly swapped out for Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionare) as the lead antagonist. The production began stacking—in the words of the filmmakers—"Near Eastern, Middle Eastern, Far Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean & Latino" actors to play the rest of the movie's genocidal Fire Nation. Where was the casting call for actors from these communities when Airbender was casting for the three lead heroes?
Dev Patel is Zuko
Hollywood will take anyone's cash—regardless of your ethnicity—but the casting of lead actors hardly reflects this egalitarianism. Fewer than 2 percent of lead roles go to Asian and Native American actors combined. Contrast that to the 70 percent of speaking roles in Hollywood that go to male actors and the 82 percent of lead roles in Hollywood that go to actors who are white.
This discrepancy is not because films cast for "the best actor for the role" and that best actor always happens to be white or male. Something more insidious is at work, a Hollywood hierarchy of expectations and discriminatory bias. Hollywood continues to privilege actors who are male and white with more work opportunities. As a result, equally talented women and actors of color are denied voice and the opportunity to represent their communities.
The silver-screen practice of casting white actors to play people of color is certainly retread ground for fans of science fiction and fantasy, who have seen franchises such as Earthsea—and this summer's The Prince of Persia—also get the "racebending" treatment.
In these situations, a bastardized adaptation marked a favorite franchise with Hollywood's legacy of racial discrimination, incensing and alienating loyal fans. Moviegoers are tired of being pandered to with the assumption that they are so prejudiced they cannot enjoy a film with an "ethnic" lead protagonist. Fans of The Last Airbender are choosing to speak out against the movie's decisions, boycotting so as not to financially reward the production for its decisions.
A summer blockbuster film with a young Asian American and Inuit American lead cast, coming soon to theaters near you? Such a film doesn't exist, but the opportunity did—until the production of The Last Airbender decided to squander it. Audiences will have to choose between supporting a favorite franchise and taking a stand against discrimination. Pick your poison.
Marissa Lee is one of the co-founders of Racebending.com, an online community and grassroots organization of Avatar: The Last Airbender fans dedicated to encouraging fair casting practices and equal opportunities in Hollywood. She lives in Los Angeles with one boyfriend, two guinea pigs and too many Star Wars books.
Does Last Airbender discriminate? NO
M. Night Shyamalan
(This is the second of two posts dealing with the question of whether The Last Airbender is discriminatory.)
M. Night Shyamalan no doubt neither wanted nor needed yet another headache, but the director—who could use a hit and/or a critically embraced move—stepped in it again with The Last Airbender. The upcoming film could be a box-office behemoth, and if the trailer is fully representative of the whole it just may earn Shyamalan reviews on a par with his best work, The Sixth Sense. Unfortunately, the stormclouds that formed early on in preproduction now threaten to rain on the director's parade.
The problem? Shyamalan chose Caucasian actors to play all the major characters, characters presented as Asian or Inuit in previous iterations of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There were accusations of whitewashing and "racebending," calls for boycotts and the like. Even when Jesse McCartney fell out of the project, people protested that his replacement—Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel—hardly solved the matter, as he was playing Zuko, a villain, an antagonist, meaning there were still no Asian or Inuit actors involved as protagonists.
To some observers, this is all old news. Other projects—Dragonball Z, 30 Days of Night and even the Broadway production of Miss Saigon quickly come to mind—have ignored or downplayed the ethnicity of the characters as depicted in their source materials. But could it be that Shyamalan is merely a whipping boy here? It might be the case for several reasons: in part for not casting Asian and Inuit actors; in part because The Last Airbender is such a well-known and commercial property and thus an important—and missed—opportunity; and in part because so many people dislike Shyamalan and A) hope to see him fail and B) are thrilled to see him embroiled in controversy.
The problem? Shyamalan chose Caucasian actors to play all the major characters, characters presented as Asian or Inuit in previous iterations of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There were accusations of whitewashing and "racebending," calls for boycotts and the like. Even when Jesse McCartney fell out of the project, people protested that his replacement—Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel—hardly solved the matter, as he was playing Zuko, a villain, an antagonist, meaning there were still no Asian or Inuit actors involved as protagonists.
To some observers, this is all old news. Other projects—Dragonball Z, 30 Days of Night and even the Broadway production of Miss Saigon quickly come to mind—have ignored or downplayed the ethnicity of the characters as depicted in their source materials. But could it be that Shyamalan is merely a whipping boy here? It might be the case for several reasons: in part for not casting Asian and Inuit actors; in part because The Last Airbender is such a well-known and commercial property and thus an important—and missed—opportunity; and in part because so many people dislike Shyamalan and A) hope to see him fail and B) are thrilled to see him embroiled in controversy.
The problem? Shyamalan chose Caucasian actors to play all the major characters, characters presented as Asian or Inuit in previous iterations of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There were accusations of whitewashing and "racebending," calls for boycotts and the like. Even when Jesse McCartney fell out of the project, people protested that his replacement—Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel—hardly solved the matter, as he was playing Zuko, a villain, an antagonist, meaning there were still no Asian or Inuit actors involved as protagonists.
To some observers, this is all old news. Other projects—Dragonball Z, 30 Days of Night and even the Broadway production of Miss Saigon quickly come to mind—have ignored or downplayed the ethnicity of the characters as depicted in their source materials. But could it be that Shyamalan is merely a whipping boy here? It might be the case for several reasons: in part for not casting Asian and Inuit actors; in part because The Last Airbender is such a well-known and commercial property and thus an important—and missed—opportunity; and in part because so many people dislike Shyamalan and A) hope to see him fail and B) are thrilled to see him embroiled in controversy.
For his part, Shyamalan told io9 that the casting fell into place organically, with one piece of casting affecting the next and the one after that. He talked at length about the subject, but the core of his thinking boiled down to his opening statement on the issue: "Here's the thing," he said. "The great thing about anime is that it's ambiguous. The features of the characters are an intentional mix of all features. It's intended to be ambiguous. That is completely its point. So when we watch Katara, my oldest daughter is literally a photo double of Katara in the cartoon. So that means that Katara is Indian, correct? No that's just in our house. And her friends who watch it, they see themselves in it. And that's what's so beautiful about anime. When we were casting, I was like, 'I don't care who walks through my door, whoever is best for the part. I'm going to figure it out like a chess game.'"
Shaun Toub, an Iranian-born actor who plays Zuko's uncle, told the Los Angeles Times that Shyamalan was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. "If they would have put all Asians in a certain nation, I think then there would be people who come out and said, 'Well, now you're stereotyping, saying that anything that has to do with martial arts has to do with Asians and chop suey and all that," Toub said. "So it's nice to mix it up and just do the unexpected."
So was it Shyamalan's responsibility to cast Asian and Inuit actors in The Last Airbender? It would have been nice. It might have been potentially groundbreaking. The Asian and Inuit communities would have been eternally grateful. But was it truly Shyamalan's duty to do what no one else has been willing or able to do?
He says no.
What do you think?
Sad News: The Racist Robots Twins Will Not Be Back For 'Transformers 3'
Also, an unrelated tweet tells us that the film is reportedly now shooting in Sherman Oaks, CA with a new cast member.But first, over on some sort of Michael Bay forum, the director himself confirmed the following:
The Twins are not back in T3.
I know, this is sad news for all of us. Those characters certainly weren't distracting, insulting, poorly conceived, or just another indication of the inferior quality of those movies at all.
Also, we have this:
Judging by two tweets, it appears that Transformers 3 production is now underway in Sherman Oaks, California and with a new cast member, Kym Whitley.
Kym Whitley tweeted:
Working on Transformers 3 today, a little nervous...always when starting a new project. I have said the Lords prayer 12 times.
Meanwhile Melody Mooney tweets:
Transformers 3 begins shooting on our street today. Info sheet lists: simulated gun fire and an assassination of humans by. Two Robots.
Mooney's twitter account lists her location as Sherman Oaks, CA which is why the assumption that is the area TF3 production is working.
Kym Whitley is a long time character actress who has done guest parts on many television shows over the years (and a few movies) including Til Death, The Boondocks, The Parkers and more. I assume her role is likely a brief appearance and not as a main cast member. Melody Mooney is known from "Who Wants to Be a Superhero" reality show and unlikely cast in the movie. She is just at the right place at the right time.
I'm sure Kym Whitley's appearance will be just as beneficial as Bernie Mac and Anthony Anderson's appearances were to the overall storyline of the first film. Bringing in comedians for some reason to fill up supporting roles and spew out dialogue that belongs in a "Friday" movie always makes a fantasy action movie about giant robots better. It totally fits.
And this Mooney person says that some humans will be assassinated by robots? How does she know this information? At any rate, if true, we can only hope that the Witwicky parents will get iced. But that's just wishful thinking, seeing as they both had more screen time than Optimus Prime did in either film.
As you can tell, I am not a fan of either of the "Transformers" films by any stretch of the imagination. I have little hope that things will suddenly be turned around in part three, and the movie will suddenly be awesome. Why would Michael Bay change anything he's done so far, when apparently people have always wanted "Transformers" movies that had irritating, constantly shouting human characters, very little robot time, and out of place humor?
(Thanks Latino Review)
'Gaiking' movie update
It's been over a month and a half since the world learned that Gaiking, a movie about giant robots, was in the works.
The project is based on a 1970s Japanese anime series but was better known in North America as a toy line and Marvel Comics series called “Shogun Warriors.”
Jules Urbach is the man spearheading the project, which is using a technology called Lightstage, a next generation of scanning technology that already won an Academy Award for its use in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” (That movie's director, David Fincher, is big proponent of it.)
Heat Vision decided to check in with Urbach to see what the latest is.
But first, let’s see the trailer that caused the sensation:
Heat Vision: What can you tell us about the genesis of the "Gaiking" movie?
Jules Urbach: It came out of our work with Fincher. We were talking about doing something for "Heavy Metal."
At the time, it was Kevin Eastman and a few other guys that were going to do a bunch of shorts for him, and he said to me, "I can give you seven minutes if you come up with something cool." And being such a huge fan of these properties, I had been touch with Toei for years. Going back to 2002, I've been asking them to the rights of "Captain Harlock." And it turned out that the rights to "Gaiking" were more or less available.
So when Fincher's project came up, I said I want to do a super robot short. And he said sure, but you got to pick two "Heavy Metal" songs. So I picked Nightwish's "Dark Chest of Wonders" and "Planet Hell," and went ahead planning out a seven-minute "Gaiking" short with Toei's blessing.
But "Heavy Metal," it was at Paramount at one point, it was at another studio, then Cameron got involved, and it lost its home. We ended up taking "Gaiking" and just worked on it and worked on it, and it kept building and building.
And at some point, Toei said, "Wait a minute, you guys can do a whole movie now at this quality." They backed us and then other people came on board and we were able to turn this into a pretty big film.
Urbach: "Voltron" really took off because of the great cartoon. "Gaiking" never had that and neither did "Shogun Warriors" as a whole. The only thing we had was "Four Spies" here in the U.S. And that was only shown on the East coast for a little bit. I can only imagine how this property would have been perceived if we had a normal cartoon.
In France or Italy, this is bigger than Spider-Man. Toei understands this will do very well in Europe, where the cartoon is well-known. They approached us because they wanted somebody outside Japan to take a crack at this.
Our goal was to figure out a way that would be appealing to an American audience. And while there's a lot of people who played with the toys, we are not counting on any of that. For most people, this will be completely new.
And I think we did a good job introducing it, even from that little teaser. It's just been exciting to be introducing it to a lot of people and seeing their reaction.
HV: Are you worried about the title being a little inaccessible? Why not go with "Shogun Warriors"?
Urbach: We wanted to introduce one robot and thought it should be the focus of the film. It's like you want to introduce Superman before you introduce the Justice League, right?
The title is something that we're still looking at. It's in the mix. We are very aware of the possible limitations. I can't speak for Toei, so I can't speak how it will be used in the marketing of that film. We just want to use it wisely.
HV: There was a time when there were a lot of giant robot cartoons. And now with special effects technology being where it is, we're poised for a movement in movies. What do you think is the appeal of giant robots?
Urbach: Gaiking and those kinds of robots, you're talking about giant robots that are piloted by humans. You're not talking about Transformers, where they are their own characters. These robots are the extension of the pilots; they are really like giant suits of armor. So it's really the people inside them that are the characters. That is a huge differentiator. Gaiking is one pilot. It's really the pilot expressing himself through this giant mecha.
HV: So what's the status of “Gaiking” now?
Urbach: I guess you can say we're in preproduction. The reason we released the teaser when we did is we're done designing the robot. And even a lot of the costumes and the characters. We basically put as much as was ready to be shown in the teaser. And the next step is get a writer -- we have a treatment for the movie -- and get a full-blown script. That should be done in the next three months.
And we're looking at 2012 as a potential release date, but it's not set. It could be 2013.
(Thanks Heat Vision)
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