a blog of links related to computer animation and production technology Sponsored by ReelMatters.com
variety.com/2021/biz/news/amazon-buys-mgm-studio-behind-james-bond-for-8-45-billion-1234980526/
For Amazon, snapping up MGM — which has more than 4,000 movies and 17,000 TV shows in its catalog — is a way to supercharge its Prime Video service with a slew of well-known entertainment titles.
In addition, Amazon is anticipating being able to mine Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer properties like the Pink Panther, Rocky and, the 007 franchises for new originals.
www.awn.com/animationworld/your-career-animation-how-survive-and-thrive-now-available
“The new edition of his book is filled with insight and advice from over 150 animation industry professionals, a wide-ranging tome of suggestions, reality checks, and inspiration on how to set your sights and blaze your own career trail. He shares practical tips on building a reel, portfolio, and resume; pitching and selling shows; and taking to heart and learning from on-the-job criticism.”
“Everyone seems to agree, and I certainly do, and it’s my POV in the book, that self-development is everything. You shouldn’t wait for anyone to make you anything, to give you opportunities you haven’t earned yet.”
The Rookies is working on an ambitious task to create a free online resource that will standardize the skills and knowledge for digital artists on a global stage. The resource will outline essential creative and technical skills required by all artists before applying for industry positions in VFX, video games and animation.
To get involved, give back and help others as they start their career pathing, click on links below and give your insights! Everyone has value to add!
3D Animation: https://lnkd.in/gSJPdFS
Visual Effects: https://lnkd.in/gk2-gNM
Games: https://lnkd.in/ghdGVbN
www.broadcastnow.co.uk/tech/the-farm-to-acquire-technicolor-post-and-vfx/5159141.article
The companies involved are the businesses operated under the ‘Technicolor Post’ and ‘Technicolor VFX’ brands, and not Technicolor-owned facilities such as The Mill and MPC.
www.awn.com/news/fusefx-acquires-rising-sun-pictures
FuseFX, a full-service, award-winning visual effects company with studios in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Vancouver, Montréal, Toronto, and Bogotá, is pleased to announce its acquisition of Rising Sun Pictures, a world-renowned, high-end visual effects studio headquartered in Adelaide, Australia
netflixtechblog.com/remote-workstations-for-the-discerning-artists-8155a8fbd190
Netflix is poised to become the world’s most prolific producer of visual effects and original animated content. To meet that demand, we need to attract the world’s best artistic talent. Artists like to work at places where they can create groundbreaking entertainment instead of worrying about getting access to the software or source files they need. To meet this need, the Studio Infrastructure team has created Netflix Workstations.
Netflix Workstations are remote workstations that allow content creators to get to work wherever they are.
www.cnn.com/2021/01/28/media/china-box-office-coronavirus/index.html
“In 2020, China overtook the United States to become the top movie market in the world. The country, perennially the second-largest movie market, brought in $3.1 billion at the box office in 2020, according to Comscore (SCOR) — nearly $1 billion more than the United States did last year.
“If China doesn’t need US movies, Hollywood studios will have to dramatically reduce their spending on big budget blockbusters,” Aynne Kokas, the author of “Hollywood Made in China,” told CNN Business. “The current budgets are unsustainable without access to the China market. That could fundamentally change the model of the US film industry.”
“Regardless of what happens with Covid, we have at a minimum entered a world where the Chinese and US box offices are equally important,”
So where do Hollywood and China go from here? That question, like so many in the film industry right now, has no easy answer. Yet whatever the future of the film industry is, it’s likely to be one where Hollywood and China remain the two major pillars holding up the global box office.
deadline.com/2021/02/blue-sky-studios-closing-disney-ice-age-franchise-animation-1234690310/
Blue Sky’s top grossing animation features at the worldwide box office were Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (’09, $886M), Ice Age: Continental Drift (’12, $877M), Icen Age: Meltdown (’06, $660M), Rio 2 (’14, $500M), Rio (’11, $484M), Ice Age: Collusion Course (’16, $408M), Ice Age (02, $383M), Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (’08, $297M), Ferdinand (’17, $296M), Epic (’13, $268M), Robots (’05, $260M), and The Peanuts Movie (’15, $246M) and Spies in Disguise (’19, $171M).
www.awn.com/news/20-new-series-coming-disney-next-few-years
“In yesterday’s big Disney investor meeting, Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy revealed plans for 10 Star Wars and 10 Marvel series to stream on Disney+ in the next few years. PHEW! That’s 20 series in less than five years, which is ambitious to say the least.”
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55232418
Fiona Bevan, who has written songs for One Direction, Steps and Lewis Capaldi, said many writers were struggling because of the way streaming services pay royalties.
Bevan revealed she had earned just £100 for co-writing a track on Kylie Minogue’s number one album, Disco.
“The most successful songwriters in the world can’t pay their rent,” she added.
www.blender.org/press/facebook-joins-the-blender-development-fund/
Facebook will join the Blender Foundation’s Development Fund as a Corporate Patron as of Q4, 2020.
