The #1 Network with Boys 6-11 Announces Slate of New and Returning Series

CartoonNetwork.com Ranks as #1 Domain in Kids Category

Celebrating its 20^th Anniversary, along with double-digit growth and its #1 status with boys 6-11 on all of television, Cartoon Network announced today several new and returning series to its programming line-up.

Having its best first quarter with kids in prime in five years (up 28% vs. 2011) and showing the most gains compared to the competition in the kids space, the network’s afternoon Upfront presentation held at New York’s Roseland Ballroom paid tribute to the past and present with a full orchestra playing classic Cartoon Network television theme songs and live performances from the creative talent behind the hit animated comedy series Adventure Time and Regular Show.

Announcements included a new sketch comedy show from entertainer Nick Cannon; the world premiere of DreamWorks Dragons: The Series, based on the critically-acclaimed feature film, How to Train Your Dragon; an original series based on Web sensation, Annoying Orange; a brand new animated series from the global franchise powerhouse, Ben 10: Omniverse; and a new CG-animated series from Warner Bros. Animation, Beware The Batman. Also, on the heels of the hugely successful Ninjago launch in 2011—currently the #1 show across 1^st Quarter 2012 with all boys—a new partnership with LEGO for a second series was announced by the network as it continues to build on its slate of diverse content.

“We are executing a brand vision and content strategy that is fueling tremendous results for Cartoon Network,” said Stuart Snyder, president and chief operating officer, Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media (AYAKM). “Today, with a re-invented and thriving prime time, along with overall double-digit growth in total day, we are building the kind of momentum that is making this a great 20^th anniversary.”

Ranking #1 in early evening prime time (7-9 p.m.) among boys 6-11 throughout 1^st Quarter this year, Cartoon Network also announced new upcoming seasons of its original hit animated comedy series Adventure Time, Regular Show, The Amazing World of Gumball, MAD and The Looney Tunes Show. A 2^nd season pick-up for the live-action comedy series Level Up, which debuted as the most watched live-action series in the network’s history, and a 5^th season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, also was announced.

Combined with top-performing acquisitions and specials, these programming anchors not only fueled 2011’s prime time performance as Cartoon Network’s most-watched in five years, they also set the stage for a record breaking first quarter in 2012. New seasons for more than a dozen additional series also will premiere across the 2012-13 programming timeframe.

“For 20 years, Cartoon Network has cultivated truly original voices from a diverse array of artists and producers, making us the great alternative to everything else out there,” said Rob Sorcher, chief content officer for Cartoon Network. “Cartoon Network Studios has grown to become the most supportive and creative environment for a new generation of creators.”

Cartoon Network also announced its ongoing commitment to its shorts program with ten original 7-minute shorts to be produced this year with a wholly dedicated production unit at Cartoon Network Studios. With production already underway on many of these projects, this continuing investment in diverse and unique talent has resulted in many of the network’s hit animated series.

Additionally, the network revealed that a third Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards special has been slated for early 2013. The second annual telecast (Feb. 20, 2012), hosted by Shaquille O’Neal, ranked as the #1 program of the day among all boy demos, and out-performed the inaugural Hall of Game special by double and triple-digits—between 64% and 103%—across all kid and boy demos. Online voting for the celebrity sports awards also nearly tripled in participation, from 37 million votes in 2011 to more than 100 million votes in 2012.

“Cartoon Network enters into the upfront season with strong momentum and a programming foundation that is resonating with our audience, as well as advertisers,” said John O’Hara, executive vice president and general sales manager, Cartoon Network. “The ad sales team is committed to developing ideas that extend the reach of an advertiser’s message and connects their brands across multiple screens with an engaged audience. As brands look to deliver measurable return on their investment, we believe it’s a good time to reassess plans and for advertisers to strategically increase their media budgets with Cartoon Network.”

Building off of the success of CartoonNetwork.com ranking as the #1 domain in the kids category among kids 6-11*, the network announced that its next big foray into on-line gaming would be the global roll-out of Formula Cartoon, a huge on-line racing game which will let players race against their friends or favorite Cartoon Network characters.

* Source: Data from comScore Media Metrix run on domain level for Unique Visitors age 6-11 in the Media – Entertainment – Kids category for the February 2012 reporting period

Further details of Cartoon Network’s programming announcements include the following:

CARTOON NETWORK NEW SERIES

• Nick Cannon Sketch Comedy Series: The series is a live-action, half-hour, sketch comedy show rooted in raw mischief, high energy and slapstick humor. You’ll never know what will happen next! Some of the silliest kids you know will make up this wild comedy troupe led by teen stars Jeremy Shada (Adventure Time), Brandon Soo Hoo (Enders Game, Tropic Thunder), Shameik Moore (Joyful Noise), Shauna Case (American Horror Story) and Chanelle Peloso (Level Up). Nick Cannon will bring the funny as creator and executive producer along with executive producers Michael Goldman and Scott Tomlinson. The series is being produced by Cartoon Network Studios in association with NCredible Entertainment.

• Annoying Orange: Boasting more than 1 billion YouTube online views to date, Annoying Orange is the Web sensation transformed into a new television series that follows Orange and his buddies as they go on a wide range of adventures that take them from the fruit stand to parts unknown and everything in between. The television series was developed and will be produced by The Collective. Dane Boedigheimer co-created the television series with Tom Sheppard (Emmy Award-winning writer for Pinky and the Brain). Conrad Vernon (director of Madagascar 3 and Monsters vs. Aliens) will serve as executive producer for the series along with Gary Binkow and Dan Weinstein of The Collective. The series will premiere on Cartoon Network this summer.

• DreamWorks Dragons: The Series: Picking up where the critically-acclaimed feature film, How to Train Your Dragon, left off, this weekly animated series follows the continuing adventures of Hiccup and his dragon Toothless on the island of Berk, along with the band of dragon trainers, all of whom now have dragons of their own! Through their training, the kids are finding out the cool things dragons can do. Not only will they learn more about their dragons, they’ll also discover new ones and battle against enemies as they explore worlds they never dreamed existed. In addition, the talented cast from the feature film—Jay Baruchel (Hiccup), America Ferrera (Astrid), Christopher Mitz-Plasse (Fishlegs) and T.J. Miller (Tuffnut)—will lend their voices to the series, which is produced by DreamWorks Animation and premieres this fall.

• New LEGO Project: Following the instant ratings success of the CG-animated Ninjago, LEGO and Cartoon Network plan to expand their partnership with an all-new series from LEGO for 2013.

• Ben 10: Omniverse: In the brand-new animated series, Ben 10: Omniverse, Ben will have a new character design that pays homage to his past, and he’ll have a whole new batch of aliens to battle. Beating the bad guys is just part of the superhero gig. With a little help from his new, by-the-book rookie partner, Ben explores the quirkier side of things in the alien underground and discovers enemies from his past looking for a re-match, all while a mysterious hunter is hot on his trail! With 10 new aliens at his disposal and a brand new lease on life, Ben 10 is back and more fun than ever! Matt Youngberg is supervising producer for the series, which will premiere on Cartoon Network this fall.
• Ben 10 is Cartoon Network’s most successful original global franchise. Since the premiere of the original Ben 10 series, created by Man of Action Studios, in 2006, the franchise has spawned four animated series, one animated movie, two live-action movies, a CG movie, a feature film currently in development, a widely-popular consumer products line and has captured the imaginations of viewers on a worldwide scale.

• Beware the Batman: A cool, new take on the classic Dark Knight franchise, Beware the Batman incorporates Batman’s core characters with a rogues gallery of new villains not previously seen in animated form. Along with backup from ex-secret agent Alfred and lethal swordstress Katana, the Dark Knight faces the twisted machinations of Gotham City’s criminal underworld led by the likes of Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Magpie. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this action-packed detective thriller deftly redefines what we have come to know as a “Batman show.” Featuring cutting-edge CGI visuals to match the intricate twists and turns of the narrative, Batman steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight for an entirely new generation of fans. With WBA’s Sam Register executive producing, and Batman Beyond’s Glen Murakami and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated’s Mitch Watson producing, Beware the Batman, based on characters from DC Comics, is coming soon to Cartoon Network!

• Total Drama: Revenge of the Island: It’s back to the island where Total Drama began with an all-new cast! Since the series’ host Chris took the show worldwide, Camp Wawanakwa has been abandoned and turned into a toxic nuclear waste dump—the perfect place for new and painful, cringe-inducing challenges! Fighting for the million dollar prize are thirteen wild new players. Total Drama: Revenge of the Island is produced by Fresh TV and will premiere on Cartoon Network this summer.

SPECIALS AND MOVIES

• Cartoon Network Hall of Game Awards: Hall of Game is Cartoon Network’s signature venture into the broadcast awards arena, created and produced in association with IMG Media, the production arm of global sports, entertainment and media company, IMG. This high-energy, multi-platform experience lets viewers decide who’s got game, by honoring their favorite sports stars and sports moments of the year. From the red carpet, to the never-before-seen stunts and surprises on stage, this unconventional celebration in 2013 will be led by a celebrity host and feature icons from television, film, music and sports, as kids experience an evening of humor and fun at the most raucous and biggest sports awards show ever presented on television.

RETURNING SERIES

• Adventure Time
• Regular Show
• MAD
• The Amazing World of Gumball
• The Looney Tunes Show
• Ninjago
• Level Up
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• Young Justice
• Johnny Test
• Pokémon
• Green Lantern: The Animated Series
• Almost Naked Animals
• Casper’s Scare School
• Hero 108
• Scaredy Squirrel
• Sidekick

HOLLYWOOD, CA – The Jim Henson Company is in development on a new animated children’s series, Imaginocean, based on the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway musical, John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean. The musical underwater adventure series (52 x 11’) will be brought to life using the Emmy Award-winning Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology that allows digital characters to be puppeteered in real time.

Set amidst a vibrant underwater world of boisterous characters and bottomless adventure, Imaginocean is told from the point-of-view of an eccentric and charming young fish named Dorsel, performed by the Tony and Emmy-nominated Tartaglia (Disney Channel’s Johnny and The Sprites). The character driven and story-based series is full of comedy,  friendship and music; and features a social-emotional curriculum that engages viewers as Dorsel and his pals learn how one small ripple can create a wave throughout an entire deep blue sea.

“John’s imagination and creativity have brought Imaginocean’s incredible and engaging undersea characters to life in a fun and adventure-filled environment,” said Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company. “John’s humor and music-filled story is a perfect fit for us.  It has been amazing to work with John on translating this stage production into a captivating television series for young viewers.”

The Imaginocean television series will be executive produced by Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford for The Jim Henson Company, with John Tartaglia, Jill Shinderman and Michael Shawn Lewis executive producing for Jellyfish Jive Productions, LLC. The Jim Henson Company will be meeting with potential co-production partners at the upcoming MIP-TV.

OTTAWA (March 28, 2012) – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) is announcing its most crowd-pleasing lineup ever for the 2012 edition of North America’s premier animation festival.

Running from September 19th-23rd, Ottawa 2012 will pay tribute to the work of animation legend Ralph Bakshi, who ignited the imagination of future animators and became a hero to generations of fans and filmmakers by infusing adult themes such as sex, drugs and racism into the family-friendly animation world of the 1970s.

The United Kingdom will also be in the spotlight, as the Festival will examine British artists Barry Purves, one of the world’s finest puppet animators, and the groundbreaking Unconventional Ad Men: Smith and Foulkes.

Purves’ work has been internationally acclaimed for decades while Smith & Foulkes’ art has been featured in advertising campaigns for some of the world’s most iconic brands including Coca Cola, Honda and Motorola.

YouTubular: Animation in the Age of the Meme will examine the role of YouTube in today’s animation industry and showcase some of the strangest and most contagious viral videos to grace your computer screen.

Other programming announced to date includes: Make ‘Em Laugh: Comedians and Animation, which will retrace the historical relationship between animators and comedians; the life and career of Ward Kimball will be examined and the innovative films of the late Karen Aqua will be celebrated.

“In past years, our event has been criticized for being too avant-garde or too dark,” says Festival artistic director Chris Robinson. “This year we wanted to provide some really fun and entertaining programming but don’t worry, there’s sure to also be the usual array of delightfully bizarre and thought provoking work that many other members of our audience love.”

SAN RAFAEL, CA — Autodesk announced the 2013 versions of its Digital Entertainment Creation (DEC) software and suites, used by leading artists working in film, game development, television and advertising. The new releases improve consistency and interoperability between applications, making it even easier for artists to take advantage of powerful new and enhanced creative features.

“Creative artists want to work at the speed of thought,” said Marc Petit, Autodesk senior vice president, Media & Entertainment. “They need software that enables them to explore new concepts, iterate and refine their ideas. The 2013 releases of our Entertainment Creation Suites provide rich visual feedback earlier in the creative process and allow artists to work in their favorite tools by making it easier to move between multiple applications. Autodesk is also removing technical barriers to the creation of believable characters by providing new simulation tools for realistic cloth, hair and crowds.”

“Entertainment companies are seeking out new ways to standardize and optimize their workflows, better manage increasing project complexity, and take full advantage of globally distributed production resources,” added Petit. “Autodesk is working closely with the leading studios in the film and games industries to develop and package workflows that address these challenges into our Entertainment Creation Suites.”

Expanded Suites Deliver More Powerful Toolsets
Autodesk extended its suites offering with the new Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Ultimate edition. This suite contains both Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 and Autodesk Maya 2013 animation software, together with Autodesk Softimage 2013 3D animation and visual effects software, Autodesk Mudbox 2013 3D sculpting and painting software and Autodesk MotionBuilder 2013 real-time virtual production and motion capture editing software.

All editions of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites now also include Autodesk SketchBook Designer 2013 concept art software. This product enables artists to explore and present new ideas for characters, props and environments using an intuitive hybrid paint and vector toolset.

For more information about the three editions of the Entertainment Creation Suites, visit http://www.autodesk.com/entertainmentcreationsuites

Enhanced Interoperability Provides Greater Flexibility
Building on the existing data exchange workflows, the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites 2013 offer a variety of new features to further enhance interoperability between products:

· Live character streaming between MotionBuilder and Maya provides an efficient way to previsualize a retargeting result in the final Maya scene before transferring the data between applications.

· More consistent hotkeys make it easier for Maya artists to navigate viewports in the 3D suite applications, and help artists familiar with 3ds Max to get up to speed with Softimage faster.

· The enhanced, consistent F-Curve Editor within 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage and MotionBuilder now offers consistent functionality, helping animators transition between these applications more smoothly.

· Autodesk HumanIK Interoperability with CAT (Character Animation Toolkit) provides a single-step, round-trip workflow to transfer 3ds Max CAT bipedal characters between 3ds Max, Maya and MotionBuilder.

· Enhanced interoperability between Maya and 3ds Max enables artists to move 3D data between the applications in a single step.

Autodesk 2013 Software Helps Power Creativity, Enable Collaboration and Manage Data Complexity
Products contained within the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites 2013 have also been updated to offer new creative toolsets, more interactive viewports and workflow enhancements that help artists collaborate, manage complexity and move data through their pipeline more efficiently:

· Autodesk Maya 2013 software delivers powerful new toolsets for dynamic simulation, animation and rendering that offer new levels of creativity, while everyday productivity enhancements help artists work faster. In addition, the Open Data initiative introduced in Maya 2013 offers tools to help facilitate parallel workflows and better complexity handling.

· Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 software delivers ActiveShade support in the NVIDIA iray renderer; a new render pass system; and enhanced interoperability with Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop software. The 2013 version also offers new tools for motion graphics, 3D animation, and simulation.

· Autodesk Softimage 2013 software delivers a new high-fidelity interactive environment and powerful new creative toolsets that include a new CrowdFX simulation feature set, along with enhanced modeling, animation, physics, and selection tools.

· Autodesk MotionBuilder 2013 software helps production teams more reliably acquire, aggregate and refine data, and offers a new nonlinear editing paradigm for Virtual Production. Highlights are the option to record live motion capture data directly to disk, a flexible new HUD (heads-up display), a floating viewer and support for broadcast WAVE files.

· Autodesk Mudbox 2013 software helps artists create complex production-ready scenes with greater ease, with the Gigatexel engine and the ability to work efficiently with significantly more objects. In addition, Mudbox 2013 offers new multipurpose curves, support for edge sharpness data and enhanced interoperability with Adobe Photoshop software.

Autodesk also announced the 2013 version of its Autodesk Flame Premium software, which combines high-end visual effects and finishing tools with real-time color grading in a single solution. The 2013 version features:

· More creative and technical tools for advanced compositing and 3D relighting

· Interactivity enhancements in Action for an even more fluid creative experience

· Improved 3D tracking workflow for greater flexibility and control when positioning compositing elements in a scene

· Enhanced grading capabilities including new color grading presets to get started on look development, new media export workflow and Tangent Element modular control panel support

Availability
Product availability varies by country. Details and license purchasing options are available at http://www.autodesk.com/purchaseoptions

PRESENTED MARCH 25, 2012 AT DGA THEATER

NYICFF 2012 JURY: UMA THURMAN, MATTHEW MODINE, GUS VAN SANT, CHRISTINE VACHON, JEFFREY WRIGHT, SUSAN SARANDON, JAMES SCHAMUS, JOHN CANEMAKER, MICHEL OCELOT, TOMM MOORE, LYNNE MCVEIGH, DANA POINTS, ADAM GOPNIK, TAIKA WAITITI, EVAN SHAPIRO

JURY PRIZE WINNING SHORT FILMS QUALIFY FOR THE 85th ACADEMY AWARDS®

NYICFF 2012 WINNERS:
Grand Prize Feature – A Letter to Momo, Hiroyuki Okiura, Japan
Grand Prize Short Film – Capturing Santa, Peter Cattaneo, Ireland
Special Jury Award, Best Animated Short – The Storyteller, Nandita Jain, India/UK
Special Jury Award, Best Live Action Short – Child’s Play, Lars Kornhoff, Germany
Parents Award – The Storyteller, Nandita Jain, India/UK
Audience Award, Ages 3-6 – The Gruffalo’s Child, Uwe Heidschötter/Johannes Weiland, UK
Audience Award, Ages 5-10 – Extinction of the Sabertooth House Cat, Damon Wong, USA
Audience Award, Ages 8-14 – Capturing Santa, Peter Cattaneo, Ireland
Audience Award, Ages 12-18 – I Am a Girl!, Susan Koenen, Netherlands

New York, NY, March 27, 2012 – The 2012 New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) concluded another sold-out year on Sunday, March 25 with the NYICFF “Best of the Fest” Awards Ceremony and Closing Night Gala. The winners were determined by the NYICFF Jury and audience voting throughout the festival. Executive producer and CEO of Production I.G. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa accepted the Grand Prize Feature Award for his film, A Letter to Momo. Director Nandita Jain attended to accept both the Jury Award and the Parents Award for her film The Storyteller. Filmmaker Susan Koenen was also in attendance to
accept an Audience Award for her documentary I Am a Girl!, along with the film’s subject, Joppe Pelzer. Jury members actors Jeffrey Wright and Matthew Modine, Academy Award®-winning animator John Canemaker and editor-in-chief of Parents magazine Dana Points were all on hand to present awards to winning
filmmakers.

NYICFF 2012 HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED:
• 100% sold out screenings with a total audience of over 25,000

• 100 films from 25 countries including the best new animated, live action and experimental features and shorts for ages 3-18. Films were presented March 2 through March 25 at the Director’s Guild of America Theater, Peter Norton Symphony Space, IFC Center, Scholastic Theater, NYU’s Cantor Film Center, Asia Society and Walter Reade Theater at Film Society of Lincoln Center.

• Feature Films – US Premiere of Cinderella Moon (China/USA, ages 7+) with Q&A by director Richard Bowen; North American Premiere of Le Tableau (France, ages 7+) with Q&A by director Jean-François Laguionie and screenwriter Anik Le Ray; North American Premiere of The Monkey King, Uproar in Heaven 3D (China, ages 8+) with Q&A by co-directors Su Da and Chen Zhihong. Special event screenings included First Position (USA, ages 8+) with Q&A by director Bess Kargman; Tales of the Night 3D (France, ages 7+) with Q&A by director, animator and NYICFF jury member Michel Ocelot; a special sneak preview of Salaam Dunk (Iraq/USA, ages 9+) with a live Q&A session from Iraq (via Skype) with one of the film’s subjects, Laylan Amir; as well as the US Premiere of A Monster in Paris 3D (France, ages 5+) for NYICFF’s Opening Night Gala.

• Special Events – Preview screenings of DisneyNature’s Chimpanzee (USA, all ages), Sony Pictures’ The Pirates! Band of Misfits 3D (UK, ages 6+); the first US screening in over 10 years of the Beatles animated classic Yellow Submarine (UK, all ages) and a special screening of A Hard Day’s Night (UK, ages 6+); US Premiere of Magic Piano, a 3D animated film program set to Chopin’s famous etudes, accompanied live by student prodigies from the Lang Lang International Foundation and followed by a Q&A with Academy Award®-winning producer Hugh Welchman and Little Postman Director Dorota Kobiela.

• FilmEd Field Trip Program – For the second year, NYICFF expanded its FilmEd Field Trip program, providing over 1,200 students and teachers from Title 1 public schools with the complete festival experience at either the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens or the Sony Wonder Technology Lab in Manhattan. Student groups were treated to a special program of short films from NYICFF 2012 complete with voting ballots, filmmaker Q&As and a tour of the museum where the program took place.

CALGARY, ALBERTA– March 28, 2012 - Two-time University of Calgary alumnus Andrew Pearce, director of research and development at DreamWorks Animation takes the stage at MacEwan Hall tomorrow to inspire the Class of 2012. Having worked on full-length animated films like Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, Pearce’s keynote is sure to mix fun with practical advice as he shares his thoughts on life after university.

This event is part of the Graduating This Year program, a yearly program run by the University of Calgary Alumni Association to help students make a successful transition to life after university.

Pearce’s keynote will be followed by a celebration and reception for all guests-students, staff, faculty and alumni-and media are welcome to attend. Pearce will be available for interviews on March 30, by appointment.

Date: Keynote – Thursday, March 29, 2012, 4:30 p.m.

Interview opportunities by appointment – Friday, March 30, 2012

Location: University of Calgary, Mac Hall A/B

Located on main campus (See map)

Los Angeles, CA – March 28, 2012 – The 6th annual Digital Kids Conference is pleased to present Bart Decrem, SVP and General Manager of Disney Mobile, as its day-two keynote speaker. Decrem, who leads the business unit behind the wildly successful Where’s My Water? mobile gaming phenomenon, takes the floor of the Expo Hall at the Pasadena Convention Center in Los Angeles at 9:30 a.m., April 26 to discuss Growing Up Mobile – Developing a Global Franchise for the Mobile Generation.

Decrem will address how content producers are changing their ways to reach a generation growing up with mobile and tablet devices as their screens of choice. He will also delve into how entertainment companies like Disney are changing their character development and consumer experiences to serve their next generation of guests. Digital Kids is the largest gathering of professionals engaged in building online and mobile products and services for kids. The show features 70+ speakers in 5 conference tracks including: Safety, Content, Operations, Business and Market Research.

Speakers include industry leaders such as Disney, Wizard101/KingsIsle, Rovio/Angry Birds, Spin Master, National Football League, Cartoon Network, Ubisoft, Cookie Jar, Sony Online, KIDZBOP, Mind Candy, Peanuts, Google, Yahoo! Kids, The NPD Group, Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General and many more.

Decrem rounds out two days of compelling keynotes. The Digital Kids Conference day-one keynote features Todd Coleman and Josef Hall, co-creators of KingsIsle Entertainment’s popular online game Wizard101, discussing how they moved from hardcore gaming in the world of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) and achieved runaway critical and commercial success with the #1 AAA family-friendly online social game in North America.

A seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneur and product visionary, Bart founded Tapulous in 2008. The company quickly became a leading app developer, with more than one billion games played among all Tapulous apps to-date. In July, 2010, Tapulous became a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, becoming part of Disney Interactive Media Group.

Before founding Tapulous, Bart headed marketing and business affairs for the Firefox 1.0 launch. He was also a co-founder of desktop Linux startup Eazel and the founding chief executive officer of Flock, the social web browser company.

Bart has been an Entrepreneur In Residence at Doll Capital Management and worked on a number of community projects. He was born and raised in Belgium, holds a JD from Stanford Law School.

Online registration for Digital Kids ends April 20th. Digital Kids offers both a 1 Day Pass (good for either day you choose) and a 2 Day, All Access Pass.

Grids Interactive today announced the release of the Flip: Interactive Storybook App into the iTunes App Store. Made for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, Flip: Interactive Storybook is a groundbreaking fully digital children’s app featuring world-class motion picture quality 3D animation, state-of-the-art audio and a fully original musical score.

The Flip: Interactive Storybook has taken the traditional “flip-book” into the digital age and really brings something new and fresh to the app world,” stated Sam Berman, CEO of Grids Interactive. “It is a truly captivating, engaging and immersive experience, that we think children are absolutely going to love. There is just nothing else out there like it right now. We hope Flip will encourage reading by engaging children of all ages with it’s distinctive style and unique interactivity.”

Grids Interactive has pledged to donate 10% of the net proceeds from the app to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation for cancer research at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) in Salt Lake City. HCI is part of the University of Utah’s Health Care System and serves thousands of cancer patients throughout the Intermountain West each year.

Grids Interactive is committed to creating products that entertain, enlighten and engage young readers. Using characters, words and stories along with interactive illustrations and music, Grids Interactive seeks to inspire the new generation with a passion for reading and learning. Flip: Interactive Storybook is Grids Interactive’s third children’s app. Other apps include The Truly Great Noodle that benefits Kids Against Hunger and Surf Angel benefiting The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Gnomon School of Visual Effects, a world-class entertainment art school nestled in the heart of Hollywood, has revealed the reels for two of its 2011 top graduates, Joao Rosa and Daniele Volpe.

Daniele Volpe

Daniele Volpe is from Marsala, Italy. After over a decade of experience in network administration and web development in Milan, he moved to Los Angeles to join the web team at The Gnomon Workshop.

Daniele’s background is very technical but he has always had a passion for photography, design, music and the arts. A few years later he decided to enroll at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in their two-year, full-time Digital Production for Entertainment program. He soon realized that he had just opened Pandora’s box.

These became the most creative years of Daniele’s life as he was surrounded by talented students and amazing teachers, many of them he sees as “rock stars” in the entertainment industry. After a year in the program he won the BoT (Best of Term) Spring 2011 award for Animation and Visual Effects with a 3D animated scene called Techs Mechs. During that period he had the opportunity to assist Alex Alvarez and Neville Page with creature animation for major motion pictures. A few months later he was selected alongside other students by Benjamin Grayson (assistant director of Thor) to work on visual effects shots for his sci-fi short Prodigal at the Gnomon Studios. Here he had the amazing opportunity to work with Rob Nederhorst, visual effects supervisor of Thor and Captain America. His latest project is Room 237, a documentary by Rodney Ascher about Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining, which was presented this year at the Sundance Film Festival.

Joao Rosa

Joao Rosa was born in Brazil in a very artist friendly family and where he has always been encouraged to develop his biggest interests: photography, film and animation. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in photography, Joao moved to Los Angeles to study animation at Gnomon School in 2010.

During Joao’s education at Gnomon, he was picked up very early to participate in the effects side of Gnomon Studios projects. That gave him the opportunity to be part of projects like Plus Minus, directed by Shane Acker and Meni Tsirbas, and Prodigal, directed by Ben Grayson and featuring Kenneth Branagh. At Gnomon School, Joao was awarded twice with the BoT (Best of Term) award in the Hardsurface Modeling and Visual Effects Animation categories.

Joao finished his Gnomon training just a few weeks ago and has been working in a commercial production company called Wolf & Crow, as well as finishing post production on a short film that he directed during his last term at Gnomon and supervising the visual effects of a thesis short film based on Peter Pan called East of Kensington, directed by Kellen Moore.

The projects in Joao’s reel are an attempt to dedicate his self mostly to group projects because it is where he believes the best results can be achieved. His main focus has always been to do effects because his interest is working with live action films, and he sees visual effects as the area of CGI closest to that.

The Danish Animation Society (ANIS), host of the Danish Animation Awards every year in conjunction with Odense International Film Festival (OFF), announced that its main award will be called “The Borge Ring Award.” With the award comes a cash prize of EUR 2,000 plus a bronze statuette designed by the Italian resident British sculptor Joanna Mallin-Davies. The statuette will be inspired from characters from Borge Ring’s Oscar winning short animation Anna & Belle, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 1985.

“Borge is well-respected in the entire global animation community for his outstanding animations,” says Soren Fleng, Chairman of The Danish Animation Society. “We think this is the right time for the Danish animation scene to show Borge our respect. He has inspired so many filmmakers, and now it’s our time to give him something back.”

Borge Ring, who was recently awarded the Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award by ASIFA at the 2012 Annie Awards in February, was, according to his daughter Anne, “dancing on the table of joy” after receiving the news.

The Borge Ring Award will be the main prize at The Danish Animation Awards and will be handed out for the first time on August 24, 2012 at the Odense Intl’ Film Festival Award Galla.

Submissions for the Danish Animation Awards at Odense International Film Festival is APRIL 1, 2012. Submission is free and can be made from the website: http://filmfestival.dk/en/submission/

Los Angeles, CA — Pixomondo joined forces with Chinese advertising agency Interone Beijing (a BBDO agency) to create the latest viral spot, “Faster Than Disaster,” for MINI China. The quirky 1:51 viral features a mostly hand drawn, 2D animated stage environment that irreverently displays scenes illustrating how a MINI is ideally suited to outrunning an impending apocalypse. Asteroids, ancient Mayans, a giant shark, a dinosaur and aliens and are just a few of the colorful characters that appear on screen.

Pixomondo, along with Interone’s Executive Creative Director Georg Warga, reimagined the initial client briefing, developing the playful and wacky aesthetic of the story that still aligned with what the client and agency were looking for creatively and within budget. With a production timeline of approximately six weeks, Pixomondo produced the entire piece from beginning to end, including animation and visual effects. The spot marks the third collaboration between Interone Beijing and Pixomondo under the Art Direction of Aslan Malik.

“I’ve done several jobs for MINI over the last few years and they are great to work with because they are a fearlessly creative brand unafraid of exploring new ideas,” said Malik. “Working with Pixomondo has been fantastic as well. The last MINI spot we did together was the most fun I have had on a job so naturally I wanted to work with them again on this project. We have great chemistry and a high level of trust which makes my job much easier – especially when juggling time zones to keep the project running smoothly.”

Artists in four of Pixomondo’s 12 worldwide facilities worked on the project. Pixomondo Beijing served as the lead facility and shared the motion graphics and final animation work with the Los Angeles and Berlin offices. Pixomondo Shanghai created the photo-real CG cars.

“This project is indicative of how the Pixomondo business model is unique,” explained Thilo Kuther, founder, Pixomondo. “Pixomondo offices around the world are designed to work with local clients, not only on Hollywood studio films. Our global teams collaborate to create visual effects and CG content for commercials, television, motion graphics and films that can come from clients in China, Europe, the US or anywhere else in the world.”

The old school comic style illustrations were first sketched by hand on wooden board and paper. Once approval was received, the drawings – about 100 different elements – were inked by hand, then scanned, and finally colored in Adobe Photoshop. Adobe After Effects was used on much of the spot to composite elements, with some scenes having over 200 layers. Autodesk 3D Studio Max was used to generate the 3D cars and each model was placed on a turntable so that stills could be taken from any angle.

The spot went live online February 23, 2012 and has been viewed more than four million times since launch.

Shine Group today announced the formation of a new children’s venture to be headed by Andrew Davenport creator of In the Night Garden and co-creator of Teletubbies.

Davenport commences his role as CEO of the as-yet-unnamed company next month focusing on creating both traditional and interactive content for children, initially for the pre-school market.

Shine Group’s first company dedicated to the children’s genre, the properties created will be distributed through group sales and distribution arm Shine International, and commercialised by Shine 360° the division responsible for the management of non-broadcast rights at Shine Group worldwide. In the latter, Davenport will be reunited with Frances Adams, Shine 360°s Creative Director, with whom he worked in her former role at BBC Worldwide on the international and commercial development of the Teletubbies and In the Night Garden brands.

Originally joining Ragdoll Productions in 1991 as puppeteer and co-writer on Tots TV, Davenport went on to play a lead role in the transformation of Ragdoll into a globally recognized, specialist pre-school producer. He is the award-winning creator, writer and composer of In the Night Garden and co-creator/writer of all 365 episodes of Teletubbies. Teletubbies pioneered programming for pre-school children winning in total 17 industry awards, has been seen in over 120 countries and translated into 45 languages. In the Night Garden won two BAFTA’s (2007 and 2008) and a Broadcast Award in 2010. He departed Ragdoll as Creative Director in 2010.

Shine CEO and Chairman Elisabeth Murdoch said: “Shine Group always strives to work with world class creative talent, and as a visionary behind two of the world’s most innovative and successful pre-school properties, Andy is exactly that. Partnering with him brings opportunities to create truly multi-platform children’s brands whose full ambitions can be realized by working closely with our ancillary and distribution teams.”

Andrew Davenport said: “I am thrilled at this opportunity to join forces with the talent, expertise and innovative energy of Shine Group.  We share a vision for the incredible imaginative potential of a specialist children’s production company with traditional values in a multi-platform and digital world.”