Annecy, France — Five-time Emmy Award winner Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of “Samurai Jack” and “Primal,” is developing “Heist Safari,” a 10-episode comedic robbery that will have the feel of a musical, Tartakovsky said.
The robbers are three brother frogs, control freak James, neurotic Issac, and little George, who thinks he’s brilliant but is actually totally not. Estranged, they meet up at their father’s funeral, where they are informed that they will only inherit his fortune if they pull off a bank heist, stealing the contents of a bank’s vault numbered 88.
Trouble comes when all three cut side deals for help in the form of a Japanese yakuza tiger, a Russian mafia hippo and an Italian gorilla mobster. The police are wildebeests.
Every episode is executed as just one shot and they will not be told in chronological order. The whole has an Edm score, said Tartakovsky.
“This whole...
The robbers are three brother frogs, control freak James, neurotic Issac, and little George, who thinks he’s brilliant but is actually totally not. Estranged, they meet up at their father’s funeral, where they are informed that they will only inherit his fortune if they pull off a bank heist, stealing the contents of a bank’s vault numbered 88.
Trouble comes when all three cut side deals for help in the form of a Japanese yakuza tiger, a Russian mafia hippo and an Italian gorilla mobster. The police are wildebeests.
Every episode is executed as just one shot and they will not be told in chronological order. The whole has an Edm score, said Tartakovsky.
“This whole...
- 6/13/2024
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Woo Films, one of Mexico’s most successful indie companies behind such hit titles as Manolo Caro’s Netflix series “The House of Flowers” and lauded dramas “The Good Girls” (“Las Niñas Bien”) and “Los Adioses,” has teamed up with film collective Colectivo Colmena, to develop and produce three pics. Two of them are based on original ideas from Colmena and the third an adaptation of a Mexican novel.
Woo Films is taking “The Ballad of the Phoenix” (“La balada del fénix”), the first stop-motion animation feature by Cinema Fantasma (“Frankelda’s Book of Spooks”), to participate in the Guadalajara Film Festival’s co-production forum. This is one of three stop motion animation projects from Cinema Fantasma that Woo Films boarded last year.
“It is essential to support the growth of new voices in Mexican cinema to boost their visibility at a time when resources for independent film production and exhibition opportunities are scarce,...
Woo Films is taking “The Ballad of the Phoenix” (“La balada del fénix”), the first stop-motion animation feature by Cinema Fantasma (“Frankelda’s Book of Spooks”), to participate in the Guadalajara Film Festival’s co-production forum. This is one of three stop motion animation projects from Cinema Fantasma that Woo Films boarded last year.
“It is essential to support the growth of new voices in Mexican cinema to boost their visibility at a time when resources for independent film production and exhibition opportunities are scarce,...
- 6/8/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Max users now have a new way to find their favorite Halloween-themed titles, from hardcore horror to holiday-themed baking shows.
Halloween is officially more than a month away, but to its most devoted followers the holiday doesn’t have a season. For these people, Halloween is not just a holiday, it’s a state of mind. Max has a brand new content hub for Halloween lovers to devour, and more casual observers of the holiday will love it every bit as much.
Max is calling its new hub the “House of Halloween.” It’s one of the featured, rotating content tiles in the carousel at the top of the Max homepage, and it offers specially curated collections of shows and movies from the Warner Bros. Discovery vault that subscribers can start streaming immediately.
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com
Get 20% Off Your Next Year of Max When Pre-Paid Annually...
Halloween is officially more than a month away, but to its most devoted followers the holiday doesn’t have a season. For these people, Halloween is not just a holiday, it’s a state of mind. Max has a brand new content hub for Halloween lovers to devour, and more casual observers of the holiday will love it every bit as much.
Max is calling its new hub the “House of Halloween.” It’s one of the featured, rotating content tiles in the carousel at the top of the Max homepage, and it offers specially curated collections of shows and movies from the Warner Bros. Discovery vault that subscribers can start streaming immediately.
7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com
Get 20% Off Your Next Year of Max When Pre-Paid Annually...
- 9/29/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
Mexico’s foremost animation forum, Pixelatl, kicks off Sept. 5 in Guadalajara with an array of activities that includes screenings, conferences, panels, works-in-progress sessions, master classes and pitches amid a myriad of sections.
Now on its twelfth year, the event has grown from just 100 attendees during its early years to some 3,500 on average, attracting big guns from major networks, studios and platforms worldwide.
Execs are expected from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Pixar, BBC, Netflix, Disney TV, Sony Pictures Television, YouTube, Fox – Bentobox and Paka Paka, among others, says Pixelatl founder-CEO Jose Iñesta, who works with a barebones team of seven people – with only three full-timers among them – to run the five-day event.
Pixelatl also organized Mexico’s extraordinarily large presence at the world’s preeminent animation festival, Annecy, where the June event paid tribute to Mexican animation. The nine Mexico in Annecy programs, comprising 88 short films, will also be presented at Pixelatl.
Now on its twelfth year, the event has grown from just 100 attendees during its early years to some 3,500 on average, attracting big guns from major networks, studios and platforms worldwide.
Execs are expected from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Pixar, BBC, Netflix, Disney TV, Sony Pictures Television, YouTube, Fox – Bentobox and Paka Paka, among others, says Pixelatl founder-CEO Jose Iñesta, who works with a barebones team of seven people – with only three full-timers among them – to run the five-day event.
Pixelatl also organized Mexico’s extraordinarily large presence at the world’s preeminent animation festival, Annecy, where the June event paid tribute to Mexican animation. The nine Mexico in Annecy programs, comprising 88 short films, will also be presented at Pixelatl.
- 9/1/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Mexico’s Woo Films is venturing into the kids/younger audience content biz for the first time, boarding three stop-motion animated features by Mexico City-based Cinema Fantasma, led by brothers Roy and Arturo Ambriz.
Producer Andrea Toca who brought the projects to Woo Films, said: “We’ve always wanted to make content for children and younger audiences.”
“I went to University with the Ambriz brothers so that’s where we first connected. We were very impressed by the working techniques they have developed in their workshop aside from their stories,” she added.
The initial pact is for Woo Films to co-produce Cinema Fantasma’s “Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks,” being presented at Annecy’s work in progress (Wip) section as well as two other stop-motion pics in development, “The Ballad of the Phoenix,” pitched last year at Annecy, and “The Bee Revolution.”
“Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks” is...
Producer Andrea Toca who brought the projects to Woo Films, said: “We’ve always wanted to make content for children and younger audiences.”
“I went to University with the Ambriz brothers so that’s where we first connected. We were very impressed by the working techniques they have developed in their workshop aside from their stories,” she added.
The initial pact is for Woo Films to co-produce Cinema Fantasma’s “Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks,” being presented at Annecy’s work in progress (Wip) section as well as two other stop-motion pics in development, “The Ballad of the Phoenix,” pitched last year at Annecy, and “The Bee Revolution.”
“Frankelda and The Prince of Spooks” is...
- 6/14/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Mexico’s massive presence as the country of honor at Annecy is no mean feat, taking organizer Pixelatl at least a year to put together the programs and secure the classic and recent short films to showcase.
“We had to speak to the widows of some of these animation artists and get their works restored,” says Pixelatl founder-ceo Jose Iñesta. Mexican film institute, Imcine, helped in the recovery of at least 11 shorts, some dating back from the 1930s.
For Annecy’s tribute to Mexico, Iñesta teamed up with seven renowned Mexican animation pros: Sofía Carrillo, Ana Cruz, Lucía Cavalchini, Tania de León Young, Lourdes Villagómez, Christian Bermejo and Jordi Iñesta, to curate and organize the nine programs comprising 88 short films, 39 of which are directed by women and 29 produced by Imcine.
While Imcine’s incentives program allots some funds to animation, they are small sums divvied up among live action, animation and other formats.
“We had to speak to the widows of some of these animation artists and get their works restored,” says Pixelatl founder-ceo Jose Iñesta. Mexican film institute, Imcine, helped in the recovery of at least 11 shorts, some dating back from the 1930s.
For Annecy’s tribute to Mexico, Iñesta teamed up with seven renowned Mexican animation pros: Sofía Carrillo, Ana Cruz, Lucía Cavalchini, Tania de León Young, Lourdes Villagómez, Christian Bermejo and Jordi Iñesta, to curate and organize the nine programs comprising 88 short films, 39 of which are directed by women and 29 produced by Imcine.
While Imcine’s incentives program allots some funds to animation, they are small sums divvied up among live action, animation and other formats.
- 6/9/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
“Ahahayy!! Viva Mexico, cabrones!” With that battle cry, Academy Award-winner Guillermo del Toro announced Mexico as the Country of Honor at this year’s Annecy, France’s preeminent animation film festival.
According to organizer Pixelatl, an association dedicated to the creation and promotion of Mexico’s multimedia content, more than 250 Mexican animators and producers will descend on Annecy with nine programs scheduled.
“The Book of Life” director Jorge R. Gutiérrez, whose Netflix series “Maya and the Three” won four Emmys and an Annie, created the poster and title cards of the festival and will also be hosting a Master Class and screening of “The Book of Life.”
Del Toro’s best animated feature Oscar for his “Pinocchio” this year could not be more fortuitous and timelier for the festival, Gutiérrez observes. Aside from a special screening of “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” the maestro will also be presiding over a master class.
According to organizer Pixelatl, an association dedicated to the creation and promotion of Mexico’s multimedia content, more than 250 Mexican animators and producers will descend on Annecy with nine programs scheduled.
“The Book of Life” director Jorge R. Gutiérrez, whose Netflix series “Maya and the Three” won four Emmys and an Annie, created the poster and title cards of the festival and will also be hosting a Master Class and screening of “The Book of Life.”
Del Toro’s best animated feature Oscar for his “Pinocchio” this year could not be more fortuitous and timelier for the festival, Gutiérrez observes. Aside from a special screening of “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” the maestro will also be presiding over a master class.
- 6/9/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The Annecy Festival’s tribute to Mexico as its 2023 guest county of honor brings over 250 artists and executives to the world’s biggest animation event. Here are 10 Talents to Track emerging directors and artists among an exploding animation scene. Variety could easily have chosen another 20 more.
Sofia Alexander
Celebrated as the executive producer and creator of Crunchyroll’s first original series “Onyx Equinox,” the tale of a young Meso-American slave who becomes the last hope of saving humanity from invading gods of the underworld. On TV “I never saw Meso-American Indigenous Mexico without Spanish influence, and I wanted to connect with my roots,” says Alexander. The series is anime influenced, not just in its aesthetics – the painterly fields of Meso-America and the frenzied gory combat – but also in its being serialization, pacing and broad audience target, including adults, she argues. A freelancer for Cartoon Network, Hasbro and Nickelodeon, but “Onyx Equinox” is her major achievement.
Sofia Alexander
Celebrated as the executive producer and creator of Crunchyroll’s first original series “Onyx Equinox,” the tale of a young Meso-American slave who becomes the last hope of saving humanity from invading gods of the underworld. On TV “I never saw Meso-American Indigenous Mexico without Spanish influence, and I wanted to connect with my roots,” says Alexander. The series is anime influenced, not just in its aesthetics – the painterly fields of Meso-America and the frenzied gory combat – but also in its being serialization, pacing and broad audience target, including adults, she argues. A freelancer for Cartoon Network, Hasbro and Nickelodeon, but “Onyx Equinox” is her major achievement.
- 6/9/2023
- by John Hopewell, Holly Jones and Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Cesar Cabral’s “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People,” Roy Ambriz and Arturo Ambriz’s “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks,” and “Beast” topped the 5th Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards, which took place May 14 at San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the Canary Island of Tenerife.
It’s no coincidence that the three main prizes have gone to stop-motion works. The plaudits offer further proof of a growing mastery of this technique in Latin America, as well as then high level and extraordinary artistic diversity of animation titles coming to of Latin America, which is increasingly acknowledged on international markets.
Produced by Coala Filmes and Cup Films in Brazil, “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People” was also nominated for the recent Platino Awards and took the 2021 Contrechamp Award at the Annecy Int’l Film Festival. Outsider Pictures handles worldwide distribution rights of the animated feauture.
Also nabbing awards for sound design and original music,...
It’s no coincidence that the three main prizes have gone to stop-motion works. The plaudits offer further proof of a growing mastery of this technique in Latin America, as well as then high level and extraordinary artistic diversity of animation titles coming to of Latin America, which is increasingly acknowledged on international markets.
Produced by Coala Filmes and Cup Films in Brazil, “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People” was also nominated for the recent Platino Awards and took the 2021 Contrechamp Award at the Annecy Int’l Film Festival. Outsider Pictures handles worldwide distribution rights of the animated feauture.
Also nabbing awards for sound design and original music,...
- 5/15/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
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