I’m a fan of all five of the films up for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Academy Awards. There’s no question that Kubo and The Two Strings pushed the medium of stop motion to new levels. This new featurette details the film’s five-year journey to the big screen. “Kubo,” which was an underdog Best […]
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New “Kubo” Featurette Details The Film’s Five Year Journey To The Screen
February 16th, 2017 
Jerry Beck 
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Grindstone Picks Up “El Americano”
February 12th, 2017 Jerry Beck Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Group has acquired North American rights to the Mexican animated feature El Americano, the Movie 3D. Written by Richard Pursel (SpongeBob Squarpants, Ren & Stimpy) and veteran animator Phil Roman (Garfield), the film is voiced by Lisa Kudrow, Cheech Marin, Rico Rodriguez (Manny on Modern Family) and Edward James Olmos (who also […]
Directors Q&A: Behind the Oscar-Nominated “Borrowed Time”
February 8th, 2017 Jackson Murphy Former college buddies and current Pixar animators Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj worked for five years, on nights and weekends, making an animated short that is completely different from anything Pixar or any other major animated studio would ever produce. And their efforts have now garnered them an Oscar nomination. Borrowed Time is a cowboy […]
Q & A with Patrick Osborne of Oscar and Annie Nominated Short “Pearl”
February 1st, 2017 Jackson Murphy Former Disney animator Patrick Osborne won an Oscar in the Best Animated Short category for his 2014 film Feast. Now, just two years later, he’s heading back to the Academy Awards thanks to his groundbreaking Google short Pearl. Jackson Murphy: First of all, congratulations on the Academy Award and Annie Award nominations. Patrick Osborne: Thank […]
TRAILER: “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature”
January 18th, 2017 Jerry Beck Surly Squirrel (Will Arnett) and his ragtag group of animal friends band together to save their home and take back their park in The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. This American-Canadian-Korean 3D computer-animated feature is directed by Cal Brunker and written by Brunker, Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley. It is a sequel to 2014’s […]
Director Henry Yu Talks “Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania”
January 12th, 2017 Jackson Murphy The animated sequel to Sony Pictures Animation’s Surf’s Up, the 2007 Oscar animated comedy about surfing penguins, will be released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment next Tuesday. Genndy Tartakovsky’s protégé Henry Yu (story artist on Sym-Bionic Titan and both Hotel Transylvania feature films) makes his directorial debut with this project, which is produced by Michelle […]
New York Doubles-Up for an Annie-approved Commercial
January 9th, 2017 Jake S. Friedman Yo! New York is representing at the 2017 Annie Awards with two stalwarts of the east-coast community, J. J. Sedelmaier and Bill Plympton – united for a viral commercial, The Importance Of Paying Attention: Teeth. It is one in a series of three animated spots for the Ford Motor Company, each a gag-themed short about […]
FIRST LOOK TRAILER: The Weinstein Company’s “Leap!”
December 31st, 2016 Jerry Beck The Weinstein Company is releasing the French-Candian co-production, Leap! on March 3rd – and here is the first trailer. The film stars the voice of starring Elle Fanning as an orphan girl dreaming of becoming a ballerina, making her way to Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil […]
MOBILE TEASER: Sony’s “The Emoji Movie”
December 20th, 2016 Jerry Beck Sony Pictures Animation has launched the world’s first-ever vertical movie trailer designed especially for mobile users supporting the forthcoming animated The Emoji Movie – a computer animated adventure that “unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone”. For the first 24 hours, the trailer will be optimized for mobile users and best viewed on the […]
Production Starts on “Street Gang” – A Feature Documentary on “Sesame Street”
December 20th, 2016 Jackson Murphy Production is just underway on Street Gang, a documentary on the origin of one of the most iconic shows in the history of television Sesame Street. Macrocosm Entertainment and Citizen Skull Productions are producing the feature based, in-part, on the 2008 New York Times best-selling book of the same name by Michael Davis profiling the […]
OFFICIAL TRAILER: Reel FX “Rock Dog”
December 19th, 2016 Jerry Beck With Sing coming out out on Wednesday, and Summit Releasing’s La-La Land in theaters – both films reviving musicals – Summit is in good shape with its plans to put the animated Rock Dog in theaters this coming February. Today the studio dropped its latest trailer (below). Opening theatrically on February 24th via Summit Premiere […]
Lyft Debuts Animated “June” – Directed by John Kahrs and Designed By Kevin Dart
December 14th, 2016 Jerry Beck Today, the ride-sharing service Lyft is recognizing its drivers with a commemorative ‘Lyft Driver Appreciation Day’. The company will host drivers to various “pink carpet” events in Los Angeles and Chicago. There, the company will screen June, an original short animated film inspired by real-life Lyft driver stories. Imagined by Lyft’s creative director, Ricardo Viramontes, […]
Gkids Aquires North American Rights To Dash Shaw’s “My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea”
December 8th, 2016 Jerry Beck GKIDS, the producer and distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for the forthcoming animated feature My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea. The 2016 American independent comedy was written and directed by Dash Shaw, celebrated author of such graphic novels […]
TEASER TRAILER: Universal’s Brazilian Live Action/Animation “Woody Woodpecker”
December 3rd, 2016 Jerry Beck Universal has released the first teaser trailer for its live action/animation hybrid Pica-Pau (aka “Woody Woodpecker”), set to be released next year in Brazil. The teaser dropped during Comic Con Experience, a pop-culture event being held this weekend in São Paulo. Filmed in Vancouver, Canada and directed by Alex Zamm (Inspector Gadget 2), the movie […]
Late Night Work Club Debuts New Anthology, “Strangers”
November 27th, 2016 Jerry Beck The Late Night Work Club collective debuts its the second anthology today, the 42-minute compilation “Strangers” – online now (embed below) – which includes new films from Loup Blaster, Jeanette Bonds, Sean Buckelew, Alex Grigg, Kirsten Lepore, Nicolas Ménard & Caleb Wood with interstitial animation by Charles Huettner and original music by Skillbard, David Kamp, […]
