Kill It and Leave This Town is one of the 27 animated features that has qualified for this year’s Oscar category. It’s the culmination of a 14-year passion project for director Mariusz Wilczyński, who shares fascinating details about the inspirations and making of, as he declares, “the first feature animated art film in the history […]
Archive for the ‘Independent’ Category
INTERVIEW: Mariusz Wilczyński on Oscar Qualified “Kill It and Leave This Town”
February 10th, 2021 
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Rainshine Entertainment and Animasia Studio to adapt ‘Young Captain Nemo”
February 4th, 2021 Jerry Beck Rainshine Entertainment, a global entertainment company that nurtures, creates and develops content studios that create fabulous content aimed at audiences worldwide, and Malaysia-based Animasia Studio, an award-winning animation and digital content production house, have teamed up to co-produce a trilogy of animated feature films based on the Young Captain Nemo books, an Amazon.com chart-topping fiction […]
CROWD FUNDING: Let’s Support Bill Plympton’s “Slide”
December 16th, 2020 Jerry Beck The king of the independent animators – Bill Plympton – has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for his next ani aged feature-in-progress: Slide. It looks great to me – but I’ll let Bill tell you himself in the video below and his letter to me below that: Plympton’s New Feature SLIDE is running […]
Baobab Studios Announces Erick Oh’s “Namoo”
December 14th, 2020 Jerry Beck Baobab Studios, the independent interactive animation production company, announced today its latest project, Namoo, a virtual reality experience written and directed by acclaimed Korean filmmaker, Erick Oh. The now-completed film was created entirely in Facebook’s VR animation tool, Quill, with all of the props, characters, and environments hand-painted directly in VR. Baobab will release Namoo […]
3DAR/Baobab Studios/Oculus Announce Release Date for “Paper Birds”
December 8th, 2020 Jerry Beck Acclaimed Latin American animation studio 3DAR, leading interactive animation house Baobab Studios, and Facebook’s Oculus, are pleased to announce the wide release of the original virtual reality production, Paper Birds: Part 1, exclusively on the Oculus Quest on December 10th. The animated VR film, which had a successful world premiere run at Venice Film Festival […]
INTERVIEW: Bill Schultz on New Comedy-Adventure “100% Wolf”
December 3rd, 2020 Jackson Murphy Viva Kids’ 100% Wolf is now available on VOD and digital platforms. It’s adapted from a book with quite a hook: a young man is expected to turn into a werewolf like his dad and relatives, but instead… he becomes a poodle. Four-time Emmy winner Bill Schultz (The Simpsons) serves as Executive Producer. (This interview […]
LAAF Launches New Distribution Label with Two International Animation Features, THE LAST FICTION and SHe
November 18th, 2020 Jerry Beck L.A-based distribution label LAAF (an off-shoot of the Los Angeles Animation Festival and FilmFest Distribution) drops festival feature film favorites The Last Fiction and SHe just in time for the holidays. Many wonderful international animated features still find it hard to acquire US distribution – and that’s where the newly launched LAAF label comes in. […]
Baobab Studios announces “The Art of Baobab: The Beginning”
November 18th, 2020 Jerry Beck To celebrate their five-year anniversary, Baobab Studios are proud to announce that for the first time, they are publishing a compilation of over 230 pieces of never-before-seen art that went into the making of their award-winning projects. Entitled The Art of Baobab: The Beginning and written by Jacob Johnston with a foreword by Baobab co-founder […]
INTERVIEW: “Wolfwalkers” Directors On Their New Film in the 2020 Pack
November 11th, 2020 Jackson Murphy The latest feature from Cartoon Saloon, Wolfwalkers, is opening in select theaters this Friday November 13th and will be available on AppleTV+ December 11th. It’s the magical, powerful story of two girls destined to share in each other’s lives. Two-time Oscar nominated director Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) and co-director […]
TRAILER: Bron Animation’s “Henchmen”
September 16th, 2020 Jerry Beck Bron Animation (The Willoughbys) has announced it will release its latest animated feature Henchmen in October. Directed by Pixar veteran Adam Wood and starring the voices of Thomas Middleditch, James Marsden, Rosario Dawson, Alfred Molina, Will Sasso, Nathan Fillion, Rob Riggle, Jane Krakowski, Craig Robinson and Bobcat Goldthwait – the film comes out October 9th […]
Baobab Studios Unveils First Look at “Baba Yaga” on Annecy 2020 Online
June 4th, 2020 Jerry Beck Multiple Emmy Award-winning studio, Baobab Studios, is proud to announce that they will unveil a first look at their newest immersive experience, Baba Yaga, with a special “Work in Progress” presentation at the Annecy International Animation Festival’s 2020 Online edition. The presentation will debut on Monday, June 15th and be available to accredited festival viewers […]
TRAILER: “Norm of the North: Family Vacation”
January 31st, 2020 Jerry Beck Embark on an e-NORM-ous family adventure when Norm of the North: Family Vacation arrives on DVD and On Demand Feburary 25th from Lionsgate. From writers Alec Sokolow (Toy Story, Cheaper by the Dozen, Garfield: The Movie), Elie Choufany (TV’s “Arabs in Space”), and director Anthony Bell (Alpha and Omega, The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!), the […]
A Christmas Miracle: Blue Zoo Animation & Scouting for Girls on ”Let’s Not Go Away”
December 10th, 2019 Jerry Beck Every year Blue Zoo, the multi BAFTA award winning London based Animation studio behind hit kid’s shows like Tree Fu Tom, Digby Dinosaur, Number Blocks and the upcoming Paddington Series, they run an in-house competition for an unconventional Christmas promo. Says Blue Zoo CEO, Oli Hyatt MBE, “It’s a chance for everyone to blow off […]
INTERVIEW: Animator Gints Zilbalodis on “Away”
November 30th, 2019 Jackson Murphy Gints Zilbalodis made an animated feature by himself. Away, now playing in select theaters, is one of this year’s Oscar qualified animated films. It’s about a boy who ends-up on an island and has to try to get back home. Zilbalodis discusses the efforts it took to bring Away to life. Jackson Murphy: It is […]
INTERVIEW with Floor Adams on “Mind My Mind”
November 25th, 2019 Jackson Murphy Mind My Mind, directed by Floor Adams, is an excellent animated short film vying for top prizes this awards season. It first grabbed my attention in the spring as part of the Tribeca Film Festival animated shorts showcase, curated by Whoopi Goldberg. Floor Adams: It was amazing. She’s an amazing lady. It was very exciting. […]
