TheWrap’s annual TheGrill media conference took place at the Montage Beverly Hills on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3. TheWrap’s CEO and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman greets attendees at the 8th annual TheGrill conference. Audience members listen to panels on the first day of TheGrill. Sky Moore, partner at Greenberg Glusker, Cindy Lin, CEO of Infotainment China, and President of Dmg Entertainment, Chris Fenton at TheWrap’s annual TheGrill conference. David Grinberg, partner at Sidley Austin Llp, speaks onstage at TheWrap’s 8th Annual TheGrill. Stanley Rosen, professor of political science at USC, speaks with Sharon Waxman on stage. Catherine Zhang of...
- 10/3/2017
- by Beatrice Verhoeven and Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
TheWrap business reporter Matt Pressberg spoke with CAA’s Colin Brady and Youku Tudou’s Catherine Zhang at TheGrill to discuss what’s next for China’s entertainment industry as streaming services and interest in premium content expand. Zhang, who works as Director of International Content Cooperation at Youku Tudou, discussed the company’s recent acquisition by Alibaba and its plan to invest $1.5 billion in content creation, both for premium TV shows and for user-generated content. Also Read: At TheGrill 2017, A Tipping Point: Tech Platforms Have Arrived on the Shores of Content “For the top content, the budget per...
- 10/2/2017
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
"The Adventures of Tintin" dominated the nominations but it was "Rango" that received the most trophies at the 10th Visual Effects Society (Ves) awards. Stan Lee received the the Lifetime Achievement Award and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received the George Melies Award. Patton Oswalt hosted the event held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Antonion Banderas, Lou Ferrigno, director Chris Miller, Marc Webb, and Jennifer Yuh Nelson presented awards. But the surprise appearance by Martin Scorsese was the highlight of the evening.
Here's the full list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 10th Annual Ves Awards, to visit our Awards Avenue coverage of other award-giving bodies, winners and nominees, click here:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Charlie Noble
Mark Soper
Christopher Townsend
Edson Williams
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Tim Burke
Emma Norton
John Richardson
David Vickery...
Here's the full list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 10th Annual Ves Awards, to visit our Awards Avenue coverage of other award-giving bodies, winners and nominees, click here:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Charlie Noble
Mark Soper
Christopher Townsend
Edson Williams
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Tim Burke
Emma Norton
John Richardson
David Vickery...
- 2/9/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Getty Comic book writer Stan Lee on November 16, 2011 in Hollywood, California.
There was less nerd-oriented humor than one might have expected at the Beverly Hilton Tuesday night where the best of Hollywood’s below-the-line creative types assembled for the Visual Effects Society’s 10th annual awards ceremony. Host Patton Oswalt even managed to avoid a “basement-dwelling geek” joke (although he called the evening their “night out of solitary confinement”) as he shepherded attendees through a long but surprisingly engaging ceremony...
There was less nerd-oriented humor than one might have expected at the Beverly Hilton Tuesday night where the best of Hollywood’s below-the-line creative types assembled for the Visual Effects Society’s 10th annual awards ceremony. Host Patton Oswalt even managed to avoid a “basement-dwelling geek” joke (although he called the evening their “night out of solitary confinement”) as he shepherded attendees through a long but surprisingly engaging ceremony...
- 2/8/2012
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Rango, the animated film starring Johnny Depp as a fibbing lizard charged with saving a wild West town, won four trophies at the 10th annual Visual Effects Society Awards last night in Beverly Hills. The CG adventure won for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, and Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.
Hugo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: Dark of the Moon all won two awards in the movies categories, while Boardwalk Empire...
Hugo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: Dark of the Moon all won two awards in the movies categories, while Boardwalk Empire...
- 2/8/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
The 10th annual Visual Effects Society Awards were handed out last night, with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hugo and Rango picking up the top awards in their respective feature categories. Unlike the broad award category at the Oscars, I always like how in-depth they are here. Below you will find awards for specific CG models, environments, compositing and more.
The biggest oversight comes with The Tree of Life, a film I thought blew away anything I’d seen all year in terms of cohesive, jaw-dropping effects. They did give Douglas Trumbull the Georges Méliès award, but Terrence Malick‘s film certainly deserved more. Nonetheless, if you are looking for the best in blockbusters, it is a good round-up. Check out all the winners below via THR.
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri,...
The biggest oversight comes with The Tree of Life, a film I thought blew away anything I’d seen all year in terms of cohesive, jaw-dropping effects. They did give Douglas Trumbull the Georges Méliès award, but Terrence Malick‘s film certainly deserved more. Nonetheless, if you are looking for the best in blockbusters, it is a good round-up. Check out all the winners below via THR.
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri,...
- 2/8/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: The Ves announced the winners of the 10th Annual Ves Awards Tuesday evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Gore Verbinski’s Oscar-nominated “Rango” was the night’s biggest winner, collecting four awards including Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, and Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.
“Hugo,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” all took home two awards in the Feature Motion Picture categories. The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.
The complete list of winners of the 10th Annual Ves Awards is as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Rise of the Planet of the Apes...
hollywoodnews.com: The Ves announced the winners of the 10th Annual Ves Awards Tuesday evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Gore Verbinski’s Oscar-nominated “Rango” was the night’s biggest winner, collecting four awards including Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, and Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.
“Hugo,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” all took home two awards in the Feature Motion Picture categories. The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.
The complete list of winners of the 10th Annual Ves Awards is as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Rise of the Planet of the Apes...
- 2/8/2012
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Visual Effects Society (Ves) has weighed in with their 2012 awards and Paramount cleaned house beginning with their animated feature Rango which took home four awards followed by Hugo and Transformers: Dark of the Moon with two each. 20th Century Fox and their Oscar-frontrunner for the Visual Effects Award, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, also took home two. This is a nice bit of notoriety for Rango, which is largely considered the best seen animated movie from 2011, though not many have seen fellow animated Oscar nominees A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita, the latter of which I will actually be seeing this Friday. Rango, however, was not nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars while the other three films I mentioned above are along with fellow nominees Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Real Steel. Those two, however, can probably consider themselves on...
- 2/8/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Paramount’s Rango dominated this evening’s 10th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards with four wins in animated feature categories — Visual Effects, Animated Character, Created Environment and Virtual Cinematography. Hugo, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon took a pair of awards each in the feature categories. Boardwalk Empire and Game Of Thrones won two apiece in the TV categories. Stan Lee was honored with the Ves Lifetime Achievement Award and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received the Georges Méliès Award. Ceremonies recognizing visual effects wizardry in 23 categories took place at the Beverly Hilton. The awards presentation will air at 7Pm Pacific/10Pm Eastern on ReelzChannel Sunday, February 19th. Complete list of winners follows: Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Cyndi Ochs, Kurt Williams Supporting Visual Effects in a...
- 2/8/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Captain America: The First Avenger Charlie Noble Mark Soper Christopher Townsend Edson Williams Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Tim Burke Emma Norton John Richardson David Vickery Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Gary Brozenich David Conley Charlie Gibson Ben Snow Rise of the Planet of the Apes Dan Lemmon Joe Letteri Cyndi Ochs Kurt Williams Transformers: Dark of the Moon Scott Benza Wayne Billheimer Matthew Butler Scott Farrar Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture Anonymous Andre Cantarel Volker Engel Rony Soussan Marc Weigert Hugo Ben Grossmann Alex Henning Rob Legato Karen Murphy Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Laya Armian Chas Jarrett Seth Maury Sirio Quintavalle Source Code Annie Godin Louis Morin War Horse Duncan Burbidge Ben Morris Mike Mulholland Chris Zeh Outstanding Visual...
- 1/11/2012
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
The visual effects that we are seeing in movies these days are absolutely mind blowing. At this point it doesn't seem like there's any excuse for a film to have bad visual effects unless the people hired lack talent, or the studio is keeping the cash in their pockets.
There's a lot of good nomination this year such as Captain America, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Out of all of these I think that Planet of the Apes might take home the top prize, those apes were incredibly freaky looking. Weta did an amazing job with this movie, and out of all the other nominations this was the movie I was most impressed by. What are your thoughts? What movie did you think have the best visual effect in 2011?
Here's the full press release with all of the nominations:
Los Angeles,...
There's a lot of good nomination this year such as Captain America, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Out of all of these I think that Planet of the Apes might take home the top prize, those apes were incredibly freaky looking. Weta did an amazing job with this movie, and out of all the other nominations this was the movie I was most impressed by. What are your thoughts? What movie did you think have the best visual effect in 2011?
Here's the full press release with all of the nominations:
Los Angeles,...
- 1/9/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
By Sean O’Connell
hollywoodnews.com: Over the weekend, the Visual Effects Society announced the nominees for its 10th Annual Ves Awards ceremony, recognizing summer tentpoles (“Harry Potter,” “Captain America”) and surprise hits (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Hugo”) for their outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.
“The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. “The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”
As previously announced, Stan Lee will be honored with the Ves 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and...
hollywoodnews.com: Over the weekend, the Visual Effects Society announced the nominees for its 10th Annual Ves Awards ceremony, recognizing summer tentpoles (“Harry Potter,” “Captain America”) and surprise hits (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Hugo”) for their outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.
“The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. “The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”
As previously announced, Stan Lee will be honored with the Ves 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and...
- 1/9/2012
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
It's been a while since Papa Smurf, Smurfette, or Gargamel have acted in front of a camera. Luckily, Columbia Pictures and Sony Animation have chosen a veteran live action/animation director for their big comeback.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Raja Gosnell, best known for directing Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, has signed on to direct the upcoming Smurfs movie. Like the 'Scooby-Doo' franchise, as well as Gosnell's recent Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Smurfs will feature live actors interacting with photorealistic, talking creatures (in this case, little blue men and women).
Given his pedigree, Gosnell seems like a natural fit to go with screenwriters J. David Stern and David N. Weiss (Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third), and Audrey Wells (whose screenplay for George of the Jungle, coincidentally, featured a talking ape named Ape). Previous reports linked special effects specialist Colin Brady to the film.
Producer Jordan Kerner spoke enthusiastically about Gosnell,...
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Raja Gosnell, best known for directing Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, has signed on to direct the upcoming Smurfs movie. Like the 'Scooby-Doo' franchise, as well as Gosnell's recent Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Smurfs will feature live actors interacting with photorealistic, talking creatures (in this case, little blue men and women).
Given his pedigree, Gosnell seems like a natural fit to go with screenwriters J. David Stern and David N. Weiss (Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third), and Audrey Wells (whose screenplay for George of the Jungle, coincidentally, featured a talking ape named Ape). Previous reports linked special effects specialist Colin Brady to the film.
Producer Jordan Kerner spoke enthusiastically about Gosnell,...
- 7/9/2009
- CinemaSpy
Looks like that Smurfs movie is finally going to see the light of day after all. There has been concept art [1] and a logo [2] floating around for a while now, but what the project didn't have was an actual director. At one point, Colin Brady (Everyone's Hero) was attached, but he later parted ways in favour of some movie called The Legend of Santa Claus. (Strange, considering he was also supposed to direct Astro Boy and left that for The Smurfs.) At any rate, it appears that Columbia has now finally found the appropriate helmsman in Raja Gosnell. Who is Raja Gosnell? Why, only the visionary director responsible for such films as Scooby-Doo, Big Momma's House and Beverly Hills Chihuahua! Hey, at least they're not misleading us with regards to the kind of movie we can expect from The Smurfs. It's going to be a combination of CG and live-action,...
- 7/9/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
There are a lot of things to be excited about today. The Michael Jackson media circus is winding down. A party at Comic Con will feature hilarious/awesome metal bands Gwar and 3 Inches of Blood. I'm eating some delicious homemade salsa. Oh, and the Smurfs movie has a director. Yeah, the last item doesn't really fit. According to THR, the lucky chap is Raja Gosnell, who previously helmed all of your favorites: Scooby Doo and its sequel, and more recently Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I guess there's more after the jump, if you care. Colin Brady had once been attached to direct, but that evidently fell by the wayside a couple months ago. Producer Jordan Kerner has been developing this project for seven years, which means he's had seven years to get the following statement ready to copy/paste a director's name in: With Raja coming aboard, we now have a...
- 7/9/2009
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a series of comic strips and now according to ComingSoon.com a 3-D CG/live-action film based on The Smurfs will hit the theaters on 17 December 2010. Columbia Pictures is behind the project and Colin Brady is going to helm the project based on J. David Stem and David N. Weiss screenplay.
- 6/30/2009
- Films N Movies
Some months ago I wrote about the up coming Smurf movie. At the time I felt the concept of a live action CGI enhanced movie based on some of the weirdest characters in Toonland was frightening. Apparently it’s scarier than I thought. As you may know, the Columbia pictures Smurf movie isn’t merely a live action CGI hybrid, but it’s Smurfs in all their 3D glory. Titled Smurfs 3D, those funky blue Smurfs will be right in your face should you choose to venture into a theater near you when the film opens December 17, 2010. The opening date does leave time to mark your calendar in one of two ways. If you’re a Smurf fan you can mark down the days until opening day. Maybe there will be a midnight show to accommodate the huge crowds of Smurf fans. If you’re not a fan and I count myself in that group, you...
- 6/29/2009
- by Robin Ruinsky
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
ComingSoon.net has received word that Columbia Pictures' CG/live-action hybrid film based on "The Smurfs" will hit theaters in 3D. Smurfs 3D is scheduled for a December 17, 2010 release. The film will be based on the characters created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, known throughout the world as Peyo. "The Smurfs" were created for a Belgian series of comic books, first as minor characters. The villagers, known for their blue skin and small statures, spawned a line of statuettes, games, toys, theme parks and a hit TV series. The Colin Brady-directed film was written by David Stem and David Weiss.
- 6/29/2009
- Comingsoon.net
The Smurfs may soon be heading to a theater near you, and bigger and better than ever before...at least visually.
ComingSoon.net reports that Columbia Pictures will be making a 3-D Smurf movie for a December 17, 2010 release. For the few uninitiated, the Smurfs are small, blue-skinned men and women with highly-appropriate names like "Brainy Smurf" and "Grouchy Smurf", who were constantly evading capture by an evil sorcerer named Gargamel in their hit TV show.
Created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. Peyo, Smurfs became a pop culture phenomenon stateside, broadcast on Saturday morning television from 1981-90, and cross-marketed in games, toys, theme parks and countless other licensed items.
Along with being in 3-D, The Smurfs movie will be a hybrid of live-action and CGI.
The script is to be written by David Stern and David Weiss, and directed by Colin Brady, the visual effects artist for...
ComingSoon.net reports that Columbia Pictures will be making a 3-D Smurf movie for a December 17, 2010 release. For the few uninitiated, the Smurfs are small, blue-skinned men and women with highly-appropriate names like "Brainy Smurf" and "Grouchy Smurf", who were constantly evading capture by an evil sorcerer named Gargamel in their hit TV show.
Created in 1958 by Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. Peyo, Smurfs became a pop culture phenomenon stateside, broadcast on Saturday morning television from 1981-90, and cross-marketed in games, toys, theme parks and countless other licensed items.
Along with being in 3-D, The Smurfs movie will be a hybrid of live-action and CGI.
The script is to be written by David Stern and David Weiss, and directed by Colin Brady, the visual effects artist for...
- 6/29/2009
- CinemaSpy
Columbia Pictures will be presenting "The Smurfs Movie" at the Licensing International Expo 2009 next week in Las Vegas, and ComingSoon got an early look at the logo from the film. Click on the image below to enlarge. The 3-D CG-animated movie is directed by Colin Brady (Everyone's Hero) and is written by David Stem and David Weiss (Shrek 2). It is scheduled to hit theaters on December 17, 2010. "The Smurfs" originated in 1958 as a Belgian comic strip from Peyo (Pierre) Culliford. NBC launched "The Smurfs" in 1981, spawning 256 episodes and multiple Emmy awards. Logo: (click to enlarge) Click here to read more about "The Smurfs."...
- 5/31/2009
- WorstPreviews.com
Last November, it was announced that L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was to be adapted into a “CG based” feature, to be directed by Tom Tataranowicz, Rich Arons and Dick Sebast. The selling point was that Baum’s Santa was the hero of a huge, epic fantasy battle story, not just a chuckling, portly old codger that judged our kids and let his reindeer traipse all over our private property. I’m thinking Gandalf after a few hundred thousand mine pies.
Variety told us that production on that film was to get underway last November at an animation studio in India.
Of course, these things always come in little clusters, so when I read today that another Santa epic was on the way, I was hardly surprised. Variety tell us The Legend of Santa Claus will be directed by Colin Brady from a script by Tab Murphy,...
Variety told us that production on that film was to get underway last November at an animation studio in India.
Of course, these things always come in little clusters, so when I read today that another Santa epic was on the way, I was hardly surprised. Variety tell us The Legend of Santa Claus will be directed by Colin Brady from a script by Tab Murphy,...
- 2/4/2009
- by Brendon Connelly
- Slash Film
A new movie about Santa and the North Pole pops up TV just about every year at this point, and none of them hold up to the old stop-motion animated Rankin-Bass cartoons. But Lumenas Animation Studios, which has done shorts and commercials in the past, is planning a hugely ambitious take on St. Nicholas that will either erase the memories of those old cartoons, or make us beg for their return. The studio has set Colin Brady, who directed the little-seen 2006 animated movie Everyone's Hero, to direct The Legend of Santa Claus, the first in a trilogy of films about the origins of St. Nick. Variety says the movies will be set in the 18th-century, when the figure originated, and will toss in "greedy elves, vain snowfairies and other fantastical creatures" for good measure. A few Christmases ago I saw a really horrible animated TV movie about the battle between...
- 2/4/2009
- cinemablend.com
Lumenas Animation Studios, an indie film production/distribution company, has begun pre-production on its original family-aimed animated movie The Legend of Santa Claus. The first in a planned movie trilogy, The Legend of Santa Clause is set for theatrical release in fall 2010. Directed by Colin Brady (animation supervisor-Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Hulk, E.T.; animator-Toy Story, A Bugs Life etc.), and featuring a screenplay by Tab Murphy (story-Gorillas in the Mist, and screenplay-Disney's Brother Bear, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tarzan), The Legend of Santa Claus revolves around Nicholas, a young boy living in an 18th Century fishing village who finds himself in a struggle between good and evil, eventually becoming a hero. Mike Belzer (Bolt, James and the Giant Peach, Nightmare Before Christmas) will serve as animation director. The film is being produced with the help of strategic partners Dlp Cinema and Technicolor. Lumenas...
- 2/4/2009
- by gwen@cynopsis.com
Salt Lake City-based Lumenas Animation Studios has begun preproduction on "The Legend of Santa Claus," scheduled for a fall 2010 release.
The feature, directed by Colin Brady, will tell the story of Nicholas, a young boy in a remote 19th century fishing village, and is designed as the first film in a trilogy about Santa Claus.
"After scouring archives and vaults throughout the world, we've uncovered some all-but-forgotten history while piecing together our hero's adventurous journey," Lumenas president and CEO Darin McDaniel, said of the project, the first feature from Lumenas, which has a full range of services for visual effects, feature animation and commercial work.
Brady has worked on such Pixar features as "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life," as well as on visual effects for "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events," "Hulk" and the special edition of "E.T." Tab Murphy, who received an Oscar nomination for "Gorillas in the Mist,...
The feature, directed by Colin Brady, will tell the story of Nicholas, a young boy in a remote 19th century fishing village, and is designed as the first film in a trilogy about Santa Claus.
"After scouring archives and vaults throughout the world, we've uncovered some all-but-forgotten history while piecing together our hero's adventurous journey," Lumenas president and CEO Darin McDaniel, said of the project, the first feature from Lumenas, which has a full range of services for visual effects, feature animation and commercial work.
Brady has worked on such Pixar features as "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life," as well as on visual effects for "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events," "Hulk" and the special edition of "E.T." Tab Murphy, who received an Oscar nomination for "Gorillas in the Mist,...
- 2/3/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In baseball, a "tweener" is a good thing for the batter -- a ball that finds the gap between fielders for a hit. The children's baseball cartoon "Everyone's Hero" is a tweener but not necessarily a good one. It falls into the gap between good intentions and faulty storytelling.
One problem is that its makers cannot decide on a tone. The story takes place in Depression-era America, which is realistically drawn to include unemployed people and blacks unable to play major league baseball because of racism. Yet a talking baseball and bat and catastrophic accidents suffered by one character with little harm other than bruised feelings belong more to the cartoon world of Chuck Jones and Wile E. Coyote.
Another problem is preachiness. This story of a young boy who perseveres against all odds and obstacles says it all; you don't need to continually remind young viewers that they need to persevere to achieve goals. Kids are much brighter than the movie gives them credit.
Because family fare is scant in mid-September, "Everybody's Hero" should perform acceptably for 20th Century Fox at the boxoffice and even better on home video. The cartoon is amiable enough and has bright comic moments. The voice actors appear to be having fun with their characters. The computer animation while somewhat simple -- presumably because of time and budgetary constraints -- has an eye-pleasing color palette and a solid sense of 1930s details.
The movie, made by IDT Entertainment for Fox, credits the late Christopher Reeve as a director and exec producer, but it is unclear the extent of his involvement because the film went into production after his death. Co-directors Daniel St. Pierre, an alum of Walt Disney Co. and DreamWorks animation, and Colin Brady, an ILM and Pixar veteran, were the ones who oversaw production.
"Everybody's Hero", written by Robert Kurtz and Jeff Hand, is a tall tale with a touch of Damon Runyon. A kid in 1932 New York loves the local team so much he goes by the name of Yankee Irving (Jake T. Austin). Unfortunately, in sandlot games he strikes out and endures the taunts of neighborhood boys. Dejected, he thinks about quitting the game. Then he finds an old baseball, which begins to talk to him in a voice (Rob Reiner)'s that no one else hears.
That night, he takes dinner to his dad (Mandy Patinkin), who works in Yankee Stadium. His dad lets him visit the Yankees' locker room, but he gets chased out by a security guard. When Babe Ruth's bat goes missing, his dad gets fired and Yankee realizes the security guard was in fact a shifty pitcher for the Chicago Cubs named Lefty Maginnis (Willam H. Macy). Seems that the owner of the Cubs (Robert Wagner), who are in the World Series against the mighty Yanks, thinks this theft will somehow jinx the Babe.
So, egged on by the talking baseball, whom Yankee names Screwie, the kid lights out for Penn Station, where Lefty will board a train for Chicago. Yankee manages to steal the bat, named Darlin', and wouldn't you know, the bat also talks to him in the sassy voice of Whoopi Goldberg. The adventures of the boy, bat and ball on the road to Chi-town, where the Series will resume, include jumps on and off trains, a ball-stealing dog, local bullies, train-riding hobos and many attempts by a desperate Lefty to get back the bat.
In one fine sequence, a little black girl (Raven-Symone) rescues the trio and then gets her dad, who plays in the Negro Leagues, to take Yankee on his team's bus to Chicago. En route, Yankee receives tips and encouragement about his batting stance. The final sequence in Chicago descends so much into slapstick and fantasy that it feels out of sync with the rest of the movie.
Much of the comedy comes in bickering between Screwie and Darlin', which finds Reiner and Goldberg in fine form. Macy is his usual marvelous self as the clumsy villain. Brian Dennehy manages to sound an awfully lot like Babe Ruth, Walker is a tad hammy as the Cubs' owner, and none other than current Yankee manager Joe Torre gives voice to the Yankee manager of 1932.
EVERYONE'S HERO
20th Century Fox
IDT Entertainment
Credits:
Directors: Christopher Reeve, Daniel St. Pierre, Colin Brady
Screenwriters: Robert Kurtz, Jeff Hand
Based on a story by: Howard Jonas
Producers: Ron Tippe, Igor Khait
Executive producers: Christopher Reeve, Dana Reeve, Stephen R. Brown, Morris Berger, Janet Healy, Jerry Davis
Director of photography: Jan Carlee
Production designer: Daniel St. Pierre
Music: John Debney
Editor: John Bryant. Voices: Screwie: Rob Reiner
Darlin': Whoopi Goldberg
Yankee: Jake T. Austin
Lefty: Willam H. Macy
Yankee's Dad: Mandy Patinkin
Marti: Raven-Symone
MPAA rating G
Running time -- 89 minutes...
One problem is that its makers cannot decide on a tone. The story takes place in Depression-era America, which is realistically drawn to include unemployed people and blacks unable to play major league baseball because of racism. Yet a talking baseball and bat and catastrophic accidents suffered by one character with little harm other than bruised feelings belong more to the cartoon world of Chuck Jones and Wile E. Coyote.
Another problem is preachiness. This story of a young boy who perseveres against all odds and obstacles says it all; you don't need to continually remind young viewers that they need to persevere to achieve goals. Kids are much brighter than the movie gives them credit.
Because family fare is scant in mid-September, "Everybody's Hero" should perform acceptably for 20th Century Fox at the boxoffice and even better on home video. The cartoon is amiable enough and has bright comic moments. The voice actors appear to be having fun with their characters. The computer animation while somewhat simple -- presumably because of time and budgetary constraints -- has an eye-pleasing color palette and a solid sense of 1930s details.
The movie, made by IDT Entertainment for Fox, credits the late Christopher Reeve as a director and exec producer, but it is unclear the extent of his involvement because the film went into production after his death. Co-directors Daniel St. Pierre, an alum of Walt Disney Co. and DreamWorks animation, and Colin Brady, an ILM and Pixar veteran, were the ones who oversaw production.
"Everybody's Hero", written by Robert Kurtz and Jeff Hand, is a tall tale with a touch of Damon Runyon. A kid in 1932 New York loves the local team so much he goes by the name of Yankee Irving (Jake T. Austin). Unfortunately, in sandlot games he strikes out and endures the taunts of neighborhood boys. Dejected, he thinks about quitting the game. Then he finds an old baseball, which begins to talk to him in a voice (Rob Reiner)'s that no one else hears.
That night, he takes dinner to his dad (Mandy Patinkin), who works in Yankee Stadium. His dad lets him visit the Yankees' locker room, but he gets chased out by a security guard. When Babe Ruth's bat goes missing, his dad gets fired and Yankee realizes the security guard was in fact a shifty pitcher for the Chicago Cubs named Lefty Maginnis (Willam H. Macy). Seems that the owner of the Cubs (Robert Wagner), who are in the World Series against the mighty Yanks, thinks this theft will somehow jinx the Babe.
So, egged on by the talking baseball, whom Yankee names Screwie, the kid lights out for Penn Station, where Lefty will board a train for Chicago. Yankee manages to steal the bat, named Darlin', and wouldn't you know, the bat also talks to him in the sassy voice of Whoopi Goldberg. The adventures of the boy, bat and ball on the road to Chi-town, where the Series will resume, include jumps on and off trains, a ball-stealing dog, local bullies, train-riding hobos and many attempts by a desperate Lefty to get back the bat.
In one fine sequence, a little black girl (Raven-Symone) rescues the trio and then gets her dad, who plays in the Negro Leagues, to take Yankee on his team's bus to Chicago. En route, Yankee receives tips and encouragement about his batting stance. The final sequence in Chicago descends so much into slapstick and fantasy that it feels out of sync with the rest of the movie.
Much of the comedy comes in bickering between Screwie and Darlin', which finds Reiner and Goldberg in fine form. Macy is his usual marvelous self as the clumsy villain. Brian Dennehy manages to sound an awfully lot like Babe Ruth, Walker is a tad hammy as the Cubs' owner, and none other than current Yankee manager Joe Torre gives voice to the Yankee manager of 1932.
EVERYONE'S HERO
20th Century Fox
IDT Entertainment
Credits:
Directors: Christopher Reeve, Daniel St. Pierre, Colin Brady
Screenwriters: Robert Kurtz, Jeff Hand
Based on a story by: Howard Jonas
Producers: Ron Tippe, Igor Khait
Executive producers: Christopher Reeve, Dana Reeve, Stephen R. Brown, Morris Berger, Janet Healy, Jerry Davis
Director of photography: Jan Carlee
Production designer: Daniel St. Pierre
Music: John Debney
Editor: John Bryant. Voices: Screwie: Rob Reiner
Darlin': Whoopi Goldberg
Yankee: Jake T. Austin
Lefty: Willam H. Macy
Yankee's Dad: Mandy Patinkin
Marti: Raven-Symone
MPAA rating G
Running time -- 89 minutes...
- 9/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IDT Entertainment announced a new title for its first CG-animated feature that will be distributed through 20th Century Fox. Previously known as Yankee Irving, the family comedy has been retitled Everyone's Hero, and its release date was pushed back from Aug. 25 to Sept. 15. The film originally was directed by Christopher Reeve; after his death, Colin Brady and Dan St. Pierre took over. The voice cast is led by Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Brian Dennehy, Raven-Symone, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, Jake T. Austin and the late Dana Reeve, who also serves as an executive producer.
- 3/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IDT Entertainment Sales has sold Yankee Irving, a family-oriented, CG-animated feature, to more than 25 territories, including the bulk of the Eastern European market, Portugal and Thailand. In a separate development, IDT also said that it has licensed all animation rights to the Hellboy property from Revolution Studios. Yankee Irving, originally to have been directed by the late Christopher Reeve, is being co-directed by Colin Brady and Daniel St. Pierre and features a voice cast headed by Rob Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Brian Dennehy, William H. Macy, Mandy Patinkin, Dana Reeve, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, Raven-Symone and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre. Jake T. Austin (Go Diego Go!) voices the title character.
- 11/8/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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