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APC Kids, the children’s entertainment division of leading co-production and distribution company APC Studios, has signed a far-reaching international distribution agreement with CTC Media for its brand new animated series, Little Tiaras. The new deal follows a hugely successful collaboration between the companies on global hit series Kid-E-Cats.
APC Kids will launch the magical 52 x 7’ series Little Tiaras, aimed at girls aged 4-7, at MIPJunior and MIPCOM. APC holds global rights outside of Russia, CIS and mainland China to the show, which is produced by Melnitsa Animation Studio and owned by CTC Media and CTB Film Company.
Little Tiaras stars five Princesses – Rooney, The Rusty Haired Princess; Lisa, The Frog Princess; Daria, The Never-A-Laugh Princess; Helen, The Fair Princess; and Dorma, the Sleeping Princess. They arrive from faraway lands to study wizardry on a mysterious island of Wondermont. Adventures, secrets and dangers await them on their way to learning the wisdom of magic taught by a great wizard known only as The Immortal. Welcome to Wondermont School of Magic!
The first season of 26 episodes is available after premiering in Russia in Fall 2018 (CTC and Carousel). The second season is airing in Russia from Fall 2019 and will be available in 2020. APC is bringing on board U.K. story editors David Moore (Paddington, Thomas and Friends, Claude, Teletubbies) and Emma Hogan (Ollie, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, Peek Zoo) to work on the new episodes.
“APC Kids and CTC have developed a hugely successful relationship over the last few years, creating and rolling out the TV series and licensing program for Kid-E-Cats. We plan to emulate this model with Little Tiaras,” said Lionel Marty, Managing Director of APC Kids. “We are confident that the storylines of friendship, adventure and magic will resonate with young girls globally.”
Ksenia Gordienko, Director of Animation Department, CTC Media, added: “We are very happy to see our partnership with APC Kids growing. Together we will be working on the global roll-out strategy for this brand. The magical project will be presented for the global audience in the upcoming MIPJunior and MIPCOM in Cannes.”
Video on Demand 365 (VOD365), a leading provider of branded OTT TV channels via Freeview, YouView, Freesat, mobile and smart TV devices, has acquired exclusive AVoD rights to the brand new Beatrix Potter series’ The Brompton Tales for its kids’ channel, Ketchup. As part of the agreement, the VOD365 has also picked up exclusive worldwide YouTube rights to the program, which will see The Brompton Tales leading Ketchup’s kids and family programming line-up.
The Ketchup YouTube channel launches later this year.
Produced by Two Bad Mice, The Brompton Tales is a collection of 14 timeless stories beloved of generations of children that includes many of Potter’s most famous works, such as The Tale of Mrs. Tiggywinkle, Jemima Puddleduck, Mrs. Tittlemouse, Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes and, of course, Peter Rabbit.
Voiced by Perdita Avery (The Archers, Father Brown), each episode contains beautiful illustrations enhanced with subtle animation — overseen by animation director Tatiana Eikosidyou — to heighten the imagery and create movement. The delicate drawings come to life in stunning 4K as Peter Rabbit nibbles a carrot in Mr. McGregor’s garden with the sound of the wind in the trees, as Mr. McGregor’s footsteps draw ever closer…
“We are delighted to have acquired exclusive worldwide AVoD rights to The Brompton Tales,” commented Paul Coster, Founder & CEO of VOD365. “This series is a fantastic addition to our programming line-up and appeals to the whole family. It also serves as a fantastic launch pad for our Ketchup YouTube channel which will debut later this year.”
Producer Duncan Napier-Bell added, “We are confident the show will receive a great reception from Ketchup viewers and we are looking forward to expanding this audience as word gets out on Brompton Tales. We’ve had such fun with the series and are now looking forward to developing more shows aimed at the pre-school audience, some of which are already in pre-production.”
Oscar nominee Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Summer Camp Island) and six-time Emmy nominated TV Cheers star George Wendt will lead the English-language voice cast for Netflix’s upcoming streaming and theatrical release of Cannes Critics’ Week winning animated feature I Lost My Body. Andrew Bujalski is the Creative Lead for the dub, under the supervision of director Jérémy Clapin.
I Lost My Body will screen in U.S. theaters on November 15, followed by a worldwide rollout on Netflix to 184 countries on November 29 (http://netflix.com/ilostmybody).
Synopsis: In a Parisian laboratory, a severed hand escapes its unhappy fate and sets out to reconnect with its body. During a hair-raising escapade across the city, the extremity fends off pigeons and rats alike to reunite with pizza boy Naoufel. Its memories of Naoufel and his love for librarian Gabrielle may provide answers about what caused the hand’s separation, and a poetic backdrop for a possible reunion between the three. Based on the novel Happy Hand by Academy Award nominee Guillaume Laurant (Amelie).
The film is produced by Marc du Pontavice and Xilam Animation. Director Clapin wrote the screenplay with Laurent. Original music by Dan Levy.
I Lost My BodyI Lost My BodyI Lost My Body(L-R) Director Jeremy Clapin with stars Alia Shawket and Dev Patel
GKIDS has scored a million-dollar hit with Studio TRIGGER’s debut feature Promare, taking an estimated $1,068,806 after its second weekend in theaters. The film, directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill), debuted as a special premiere event in U.S. cinemas nationwide on September 17 and 19 in partnership with Fathom Events, and opened in 30 screens nationwide on Friday, September 20. Fathom Events and GKIDS then screened the film in Canada on September 22 and 23 through Cineplex Events.
The total box office for Promare now marks the second highest theatrical gross in GKIDS’ history, behind 2018’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower, as well as the highest gross for an original anime title in 2019. The film continues to play in select theaters nationwide.
“From the first time I saw Promare in a packed theater at the Annecy film festival, I knew this was a special film,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “It is an action spectacle that deserves to be seen on a big screen, with loud sound and a passionate audience. We are so grateful for the passion and love fans have shown the film so far, and we look forward to continuing Promare‘s theatrical release in the weeks ahead.”
Synopsis: Thirty years have passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves “Mad Burnish” appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish” begins. Featuring the voices of Billy Kametz, Johnny Yong Bosch, Crispin Freeman and Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld.
Universal has scored another No. 1 box-office opening with the release of DreamWorks Animation/Pearl Studio’s Abominable, which topped predictions with a $20.85 million domestic debut across 4,242 screens. The CG animated adventure helmed by Jill Culton (which you can read all about here) continues a strong streak for originals from Universal, which has released the only three to open at No. 1 this year — the other two being Jordan Peele’s horror triumph Us and adult coming-of-age comedy Good Boys.
Abominable scored a similar opening to September 2018 yeti toon, Smallfoot (Warner Animation Group), which opened with $23M and went on to gross $214M worldwide ($83.2M domestic). This new take with its mix of nature magic, music and modern Chinese culture is on track to do well with an 80% Rotten Tomatoes ranking and an “A” CinemaScore. However, two major family releases are on the horizon: MGM’s The Addams Family (Oct. 10) and Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Oct. 17).
Overseas, Abominable took in $10.2M from 30 territories. The pic is set to open in China on Tuesday through co-producer Pearl Studio, which also co-financed the film.
The buzzy Downton Abbey movie from Focus Features took second place in its second week with $14.5M (cume: $58.5M domestic, $107.1M worldwide), followed by STX’s Hustlers with $11.47M ($80M/$95M), and Fox’s space adventure Ad Astra with $10.1M ($35.5M/$89M) — which you can read about in the new November issue of Animation Magazine, as well as Addams Family.
Kenji Ebisawa’s acclaimed feature On Gaku: Our Sound and Thomas Renolder’s Don’t Know What were the winners of the Grand Prize for Feature Animation and the Nelvana Grand Prize for Independent Short this weekend at the Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival.The OIAF received a total of 2,424 entries from 93 countries and selected 117 for competition.
Here is the complete list of the winners of the 2019 edition of the popular festival:
• Canadian Film Institute (CFI) Award for Best Canadian Animation Physique De La Tristesse / The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenzK-QQoIk
Actress Nancy Cartwright, best known for playing Bart Simpsons on the record-setting run animated series The Simpsons, has been chosen to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and give the keynote speech at the upcoming Catalyst Content Festival (www.catalystcontent.org). Sponsored by Abrams Artists Agency, the event brings together content creators from around the world with Hollywood execs and agents to the Midwestern arts hub of Duluth, Minnesota from Oct. 9-13.
The event will also feature an animation panel to encourage creatives to enter this vibrant storytelling world. Moderator Mike Owens, the Emmy-winning co-creator and exec producer of Amazon’s Danger & Eggs, will spotlight local MN local studios Make Visual, Pixel Farm, Motion 504, Gasket, Foreign Fauna, S.W.I.M. Strong Women In Motion, WOMO Studio, and Flush Studios, as well as animated series with creative ties to the state: Danger & Eggs (Amazon), which was created and partially produced in MN and stars locally-based voice over actor Eric Knobel; and Twelve Forever (Netflix), created by Julia Vickerman — who started her career in MN as a graduate of Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) — and a design crew of all local artists based in MN.
The talk is sponsored by Nice Moves (nicemoves.org), an organization that aims to support, connect and grow the Minnesota community of media creators and storytellers, with a focus on animation, motion graphics and VFX. The outfit is likewise sponsoring an animation award at this year’s Catalyst.
Shadi Petosky, co-creator of Danger & Eggs and the owner of Puny Entertainment — which produced both Danger & Eggs and Twelve Forever — will be speaking at another Catalyst panel: Techniques for Creating a Narrative Series on Saturday, Oct, 12 from 2- 3 p.m.
Abrams Artists Agency has pledged to offer mentorship and representation to the winners of the Catalyst Content Festival, bridging the gap between collecting accolades and taking the next steps in a content creation career.
Nancy Cartwright: 2019 Catalyst Keynote Speaker
As an Emmy & Annie Award-winning actress, Nancy Cartwright is best-known as the spiky-headed underachiever Bart Simpson, but is also the unique voice behind The Simpsons characters Ralph Wiggum, Nelson Muntz, Rod Flanders, Kearney, Database and Maggie. In keeping with her history of playing popular characters on such animated series as Richie Rich, My Little Pony, Snorks, Pound Puppies, Animaniacs and Pinky and The Brain, Nancy also became a hit with the millennials as the voice of Chuckie in Rugrats and Rufus — the naked mole Rat — in Kim Possible.
In 2017, Nancy completed a life-long dream of writing and producing the film In Search of Fellini, based on an adventure she took in 1985 when she traveled to Italy to find the great Italian director, Federico Fellini. Impassioned by her creative journey on In Search of Fellini, Nancy decided to continue writing and recently wrote her first episode of The Simpsons, titled “Girl’s in the Band”.
Under her production company banner, Spotted Cow Entertainment, Nancy has produced several feature films, television series and digital series. She is currently in development on a rom-com titled The Wallet, a drama titled Purple Heart and will next be writing, producing and voicing a CGI animated TV series based on the social media sensation Rhea the Naked Birdie.
‘Arctic Dogs’ Official Trailer
Swifty the Arctic Fox (Jeremy Renner) works in the mailroom of the Arctic Blast Delivery Service but dreams of one day becoming a Top Dog (the Arctic’s star husky courier). To prove himself worthy, Swifty commandeers one of the sleds and delivers a mysterious package to a secret location. He stumbles upon a hidden fortress, where he comes face to face with Otto Von Walrus (John Cleese), a blubbery evil genius, who walks around on mechanical legs and commands a loyal army of oddly polite puffin henchmen. Swifty soon discovers Otto Von Walrus’ plan to drill beneath Arctic surface to unleash enough ancient gas to melt the Arctic, in order to reign as the world’s supreme leader. Now, Swifty has to enlist the help of his friends: PB (Alec Baldwin), an introverted polar bear, Lemmy (James Franco), a scatterbrained albatross, Jade Fox (Heidi Klum), a tough as nails mechanic, Leopold (Omar Sy) and Bertha (Heidi Klum), two conspiracy theorist otters and Magda (Anjelica Huston), the curmudgeonly boss. This ragtag group of Arctic misfits has to band together to stop Otto Von Walrus’ sinister plans and save the day. In theaters November 1.
Christina Aguilera – Haunted Heart (Lyric Video)
The second original song to debut for MGM’s upcoming The Addams Family has arrived! Don’t miss the upcoming November issue of Animation Magazine to read more about this creepy, kooky CG update on the iconic cartoon panel.
Dragons Rescue Riders | Fighting an Invisible Dragon??
DreamWorks Animation TV’s new preschool series has hatched on Netflix with 14 debut season episodes available worldwide. The new chapter in the hit Dragons franchise follows twins Dak and Leyla, who were raised by dragons and are able to communicate with them. They lead a team of five adorable young dragons — Winger, Summer, Cutter and Burple — on daily missions to rescue other dragons and help out in their adopted town of Huttsgalor.
Indivisible | Combat & Character Trailer
Lab Zero Games (Skullgirls) unveiled another eye-popping trailer for the upcoming RPG, featuring Ajna’s powerful Heruka form and combat gameplay spliced with awesome animated cutscenes from anime powerhouse Studio TRIGGER (Kill La Kill) and Titmouse, Inc. (Apex Legends, Rick and Morty) — all set to a new track from game composer Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana).
Spanning a fantastical world with dozens of playable characters, a rich storytelling experience and gameplay that’s easy to learn but difficult to master, Indivisible revolves around Ajna, a fearless young girl with a rebellious streak. Raised by her father on the outskirts of their rural town, her life is thrown into chaos when her home is attacked, and a mysterious power awakens within her. Available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on October 8.
Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham
The Spider-Verse-inspired animated short has made its digital premiere on Marvel HQ’s YouTube Channel. Directed by Miguel Jiron and produced by David Schulenburg, the short follows Spider-Ham in his chaotic, creative, cartoon universe! Will Spider-Ham get to eat his hot dog? Can he come up with a better name for his villain than Dr. Craw Daddy? Will Spider-Ham’s shenanigans enable his escape from his captor’s lair? Well … find out!
Zenith | Spellcast Teaser
Indie studio Ramen VR has hit over 1,000% of its crowdfunding goal for its VR/PC fantasy cyberpunk MMORPG, hitting $250K a full day before the end of the campaign. To celebrate, the team released this sneak peek at the magical combat at work in this original world. Zenith is the brainchild of Andy Tsen and Lauren Frazier, co-founders of Ramen VR with a decade of experience at Unity, Google, and building startup companies. In addition to the game’s Kickstarter, it has attracted investment from Y Combinator, the highly respected provider of seed funding for startups that has funded startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitch.
Christina Aguilera – Haunted HeartSpider-Ham: Caught in a HamArctic Dogs
Advance tickets are officially on sale for Funimation Films’ North American theatrical presentation of One Piece: Stampede on the movie event site. With the 20th anniversary One Piece movie set to debut, the distributor (part of Sony Pictures Television’s Funimation) has revealed the English-language dub cast.
One Piece: Stampede will screen in both English-subtitled and English dub versions during its theatrical run, kicking off October 24.
The English dub features the well-known actors and stars of the hit One Piece anime series: Colleen Clinkenbeard (Luffy), Christopher R. Sabat (Zoro), Luci Christian (Nami), Eric Vale (Sanji), Sonny Strait (Usopp), Brina Palencia (Chopper), Stephanie Young (Robin), Patrick Seitz (Franky) and Ian Sinclair (Brook). Co-stars also reprising their roles from the series include Mike McFarland (Buggy), Kyle Hebert (Bege), Matthew Mercer (Law), T. Axelrod (Hawkins), Jonathan Brooks (Foxy), Felecia Angelle (Perona), Brad Venable (Apoo) and DC Douglas (Drake).
Since One Piece: Stampede occurs outside the canon of the series, several non-regular characters appear in the film — including two brand new characters, Bullet and Buena Festa, who will be portrayed by actors Daman Mills and Mick Wingert, respectively. In addition, actor Chris Rager will voice Teach (Blackbeard), actor Anthony Bowling will voice Donald and Macy Anne Johnson will voice Ann.
Mike McFarland is ADR director and Clint Bickham is ADR scriptwriter for the dub.
One Piece: Stampede is a stand-alone film and celebration of the anime series’ 20th anniversary that takes place outside the current One Piece storyline – so the movie can be enjoyed equally by both long-standing fans and new anime lovers alike. Under the creative supervision of original creator Eiichiro Oda, One Piece: Stampede is directed by Takashi Otsuka and features character designs by Masayuki Sato.
Synopsis: Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat pirate crew are invited to a massive Pirate Festival that brings many of the most iconic characters from throughout the franchise to participate in competition with the Straw Hats to find Roger’s treasure. It also pits the Straw Hats against a new enemy named Bullet, a former member of Roger’s crew.
Superights recently acquired the distribution rights to the second animated opus of The Horn Quartet: “Up to the Mountain.” Both specials are produced by Vivement Lundi!, whose latest project was highly acclaimed at Cartoon Forum in Toulouse. The distributor has already secured sales to Canadian national broadcaster Télé-Québec, Irish channel TG4 and Chinese distributor WeKids.
“Up to the Mountain” follows the story of the four cows, Clarisse, Marguerite, Aglaé and Rosine, who set off on new and exciting adventures in the mountains after discovering the sea in The Horn Quartet: “Cow Trip to the Sea”. When they learn that their friend JB the ram has disappeared into a snow-covered peak, the heroines decide to go in search of him and save him from the terrifying Belêbelêê…
The first special, “Cow Trip to the Sea,” has been picked up by national broadcasters VRT (Belgium), TG4 (Ireland), RTS (Switzerland) and Télé-Québec (Canada) as well by the Thai pay TV channel TrueVisions and Chinese distributor WeKids.
The acquisition and subsequent deals for The Horn Quartet are in line with Superights’ strategy to expand its catalogue with premium specials acquired from the best European producers. New acquisitions are being finalized, and will be announced soon.
Netflix has unbridled a new spot for the highly anticipated return of Emmy-nominated animated black comedy BoJack Horseman. The genre redefining, critically acclaimed series will saddle up for a two-part, sixth and final season, beginning October 25 and dropping the last episodes January 31.
In the trailer, framed as BoJack (Will Arnett) pens a letter from rehab about his own journey and post-Horsin’ Around legacy, we check in with overwhelmed working mom Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), adrift Diane (Alison Brie), Todd (Aaron Paul) getting a surprise visitor, and Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins) arriving at a startling epiphany.
BoJack Horseman was created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The series is executive produced by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Steven A. Cohen and Noel Bright. Will Arnett (Flaked, Arrested Development) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) also serve as executive producers. BoJack was designed by graphic artist Lisa Hanawalt (creator of Tuca & Bertie) and animated by L.A.-based ShadowMachine. The show is a Tornante Production, brought to life by Michael Eisner’s The Tornante Company.
APC Kids, the children’s entertainment division of leading co-production and distribution company APC Studios, has secured a key deal for its international hit series Kid-E-Cats with Sky Kids in the U.K. and Ireland. Sky has acquired non-exclusive SVOD rights for seasons 1 and 2 for these regions, with season 1 launching on Sky Kids from September 2019 and season 2 starting in March 2020.
“As Kid-E-Cats continues to build its presence and fan-base across Europe, we’re delighted that Sky has committed to both seasons of the show and will introduce the series to a whole new audience in the U.K. from this autumn,” commented Lionel Marty, MD of APC Kids.
Kid-E-Cats tells the story of three kittens — Cookie, Pudding and their kid sister, Candy — who are always ready to jump into action with endless enthusiasm and energy. Their imagination also knows no bounds, and these kitties are capable of the most absurdly funny problem-solving suggestions. Through life’s little lessons, they learn to look before they leap — well, sometimes!
The series is based on an original Russian toon produced by CTC Media and Studio Metrafilms, and is the second-best performing preschool series in Russia. The third season is currently in production following a commission from CTC last year, and series one and two are currently available on Nick Jr. internationally in over 170 territories following a far-reaching deal signed between APC Kids and Nickelodeon International.
The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional global honorary society, announced the launch of Ask Me Anything: VFX Pros Tell All, a dynamic new initiative created in partnership with Autodesk, worldwide leaders in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. The yearlong initiative will shine a light on diversity in visual effects with a lineup of talks with successful visual effects professionals from different backgrounds – and a new platform for inspired storytelling.
The initiative will feature six free and open to the public live webcasts – interactive forums with top pros offering career insights, words of wisdom and tales of triumph and adversity from their VFX journeys – and special content in our award-winning magazine VFX Voice. The first event of the series will take place on Tuesday, October 15 on Zoom and Facebook Live and features creative visionary Karen Dufilho, Academy- and Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer at Google Spotlight Stories.
The stellar line-up of VFX pros who will appear in the webcast series also includes: Sidney Kombo-Kintombo, award-winning Animation Supervisor at Weta Digital; Neishaw Ali, Executive Producer and President at SPINVFX; and Greg Anderson, Head of Studio-NY, Senior VFX Supervisor at FuseFX. More guests to be announced.
“For more than 20 years, the VES has worked to raise the profile of VFX artists and innovators at the core of filmed entertainment and foster the next generation of creative talent,” said Mike Chambers, VES Chair. “Autodesk has been an outstanding longtime partner in celebrating emerging international VFX artists with the VES-Autodesk Student Award. Now, we are excited to take our collaboration to the next level and launch this new program to encourage students and aspiring practitioners to explore the dynamic world of visual effects.”
“We are excited to join forces with VES to celebrate the journeys and successes of visual effects professionals from diverse backgrounds,” said Amy Bunszel, Autodesk Senior VP of Design and Creative Products. “Our hope with telling their stories is that it inspires the next generation of talented artists and filmmakers to pursue careers of their own in visual effects and continue to push boundaries.”
For more info and to register for the first Ask Me Anything: VFX Pros Tell All webact with Dufilho (Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. PST), visit www.visualeffectssociety.com/ama.
Karen Dufilho is an Academy- and Emmy Award-winning producer,who has been working in the intersection of story, animation and innovation for almost two decades. As Executive Producer at Google Spotlight Stories, she was instrumental in introducing immersive, narrative content at Google and is responsible for engaging and shepherding talent and content from development through production and multi-platform launch.
Dufilho and her Spotlight team produced Back to the Moon (the first immersive Google Doodle), Emmy Award winner Pearl (the first VR short to receive an Oscar nomination), multi Cannes Gold Lion-winner Help, and was recognized with a Peabody Futures of Media Award, several Annies, and the Ub Iwerks Award for Innovation. She is the producer of Academy and Annie Award-winning short films For the Birds and Geri’s Game for Pixar Animation Studios, where she helmed the Shorts Division, overseeing its original shorts slate and productions as well as A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters Inc. franchise production efforts.
Dufilho is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Short Films and Feature Animation Branch, where she contributes to A2020, the organization’s five-year initiative to bring new, diverse voices to the organization. She is the recipient of a Distinguished Leadership Award from Advanced Imaging Society and on the Executive Board for Women in Animation, Bay Area and on the VES Magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board.
Tilting Point, Nickelodeon and Nukebox Studios — the mobile game developer behind the hit cooking game Food Truck Chef — have announced SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, a brand-new mobile game where players get behind The Krusty Krab grill and serve orders to a cast of characters from the beloved animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants. Developed by Tilting Point and Nukebox Studios in partnership with Nickelodeon, the game will be available on iOS and Android devices this winter.
In SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, fans play as SpongeBob where they cook Krabby Patties in a competition against other players. Along the way, they explore Bikini Bottom, customize their underwater kitchens and interact with familiar faces from the SpongeBob SquarePants series. More details on the title, including release timing, will be revealed at a later date.
“SpongeBob has captivated audiences of all ages for 20 years now, and we are thrilled to have access to Nickelodeon’s huge cast of characters and a truly hilarious storyline, while the resources and expertise of Tilting Point have allowed us the freedom to make a fantastic SpongeBob game,” said Amit Hardi, CEO at Nukebox Studios. “We’re honored to bring SpongeBob’s colorful characters to life and are pleased to see how well they fit with our brand of gameplay.”
Nukebox Studios and Titling Point previously partnered on the hit cooking and food truck management game, Food Truck Chef, which has been downloaded over 16 million times, became the No.1 Android Casual Game in 40 countries (including the U.S.) and made it to the Top 100 Grossing Charts in more than 100 countries on the App Store and Google Play.
“Nukebox Studios is one of our most trusted partners, which is why it only made sense to move into co-development with them, and there was no other choice for a cooking game after the runaway success we achieved together on Food Truck Chef,” said Samir El-Agili, president of Tilting Point. “Given their deep understanding of fun and fast-paced gameplay experiences, we know they will create a rich and complete cooking game, all while perfectly capturing the joy and spirit of SpongeBob.”
Joel Kuwahara, co-founder and principal at Bento Box, and Ollie Green, VP of production at Adult Swim, discussed the fast-evolving, challenging and interesting world of adult animation during an insightful panel held at The Animation Conference section of the popular Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival this week.
Kuwahara, who has worked critically acclaimed shows such as The Simpsons, The Critic and Bob’s Burgers, told the audience that although Bento Box was bought by Fox Animation in August, the studio still pitches new projects to other entities such as Netflix, Amazon and other outlets. “We are always looking for new partners here in Canada and internationally. We are trying to grow our industry, and everyone’s trying to keep up with the pace and the growing demand of high-quality and fresh creative voices,” he noted.
Green, whose producing credits include popular shows such as as Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, SuperJail!, The Shivering Truth and the recent Tigtone, added, “We are constantly seeking things that we haven’t seen before. Shows with a strong point of view that are not chasing a trend or imitating what is popular. Some of our most unique and successful projects have been driven by a great creative artist or talent that has had a really strong career in comics or pop culture. Being funny always helps!”
Both producers noted that animated content can be a potent force in pushing the envelope politically and socially. “We can explore different areas beyond the family sitcom, thanks to the growth in streaming appetite,” said Kuwahara. “We can use animation to tell different types of stories. At Bento Box, we have a number of projects in the pipeline that are completely different from what we have been doing in the past. Everyone wants to work with creators that see the world differently.”
Keep ’em Wanting More
When asked about pitching animated shows, Kuwahara said it’s always the best strategy to leave the execs in the room wanting more. “The best pitches leave them wanting to see more,” he noted. “After your finish you pitch, you want them to call you back for a second meeting or a follow-up. Also, I feel the days of showing a pitch bible are over. You want to put together as much of a visual presentation as possible. We work on the performance, how to make it more fun and making it the best visual representation of the show.”
Green brought up Adult Swim’s shorts anthology program called Smalls, which serves as a way for the studio to find fresh talent through social media and digital networks. “We have been releasing these little packages through this program, and we have this opportunity to use that as our talent incubator, which will lead to longer projects. Everyone is looking for good adult animated content, so we don’t want to leave any stone unturned,” she said.
Kuwahara said he is always finding great animation talent on Instagram and enjoys getting lost in the social media rabbit-hole in search of good work. “I do it because I love it, and it reminds of the 1980s, when I used to go to used record stores and look for artists, and one album would lead me to another and another. I love finding these talented animators and sharing them with everyone.”
Commenting on the tough comedy climate and what animation can get away with in the adult field, both Kuwahara and Green pointed out that their writers have found clever ways to tackle hot, timely topics. “We want to tell stories that shake things up, and sometimes you can go bigger and harder because animation inherently softens jokes. Also, we have many executives that act as our checks and balances along the way,” said Kuwhara. “But we always try to push the envelope and get fresh points of view out there.”
Green admitted that Adult Swim was traditionally been known for telling the male side of things, but in recent years, the studio has tried to open its doors to more female voices as well. “Historically, we were just working with the people we had in our building, and as we expanded, we weren’t getting pitches from women,” said Green. “We acknowledged that and know that we should be doing better in that area. But our development people are now bringing in more diverse stories. I think our industry as a whole is improving in that regard.”
Kuwahara said he’s thrilled that most of the producers at Bento Box are women. “It was nice to see that on a management level, most of our shows were being produced by women. The directing ratio is still 65 to 70 percent male, but we are seeing a lot of new female and diverse talent rising. It has been encouraging to see more fresh, diverse talent coming out of the schools.”
In closing, both animation professionals advised the creative talent and producers in the audience to keep drawing and creating. “You have to go back and create more shows when you get a rejection,” said Kuwahara. “You have to go to the shows, the festivals, and meet people, because this industry is about being proactive, knowing your goals and evolving. Just keep working. I have worked on every type of animated show in my career, some have been very difficult, and some have not been that great. But if doesn’t matter if you’ve worked on the worst show, because you can even learn from that! You learn what not to do again.”
The Ottawa Intl. Animation Festival continues through Sunday. Friday’s lineup includes a presentation of Nickelodeon’s new series The Casagrandes (featuring the show’s producer Karen Malach, art director Miguel Gonzalez and supervising producer Alan Foreman) and a screening of Steven Universe The Movie, followed by a Q&A with creator Rebecca Sugar, as well as screenings of numerous acclaimed indie shorts from around the world and features such as Gints Zilbalodis’ Away and Jeremy Clapin’s I Lost My Body.
DreamWorks Animation’s new Himalayan adventure Abominable is expected to kick off with an avalanche of ticket sales this weekend. According to box office experts, the pic is aiming for a domestic opening of $17-$20 million. Directed and written by Jill Culton with Todd Wilderman as co-director, the 3D CG flick is DWA’s first co-production with Pearl Studios in China, where Abominable will open on Tuesday.
The family-friendly yeti escapade is up against the Downton Abbey movie, which had a better-than-expected debut last weekend with $31 million. Both these top contenders are released by Universal Pictures.
Synopsis: When teenager Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home.
October is going to get terrifyingly tooned-up on Cartoon Network, with new seasonally appropriate episodes bowing throughout the month. Things kick off with the hilarious crossover episode “Cartoon Feud” on Friday, October 4 (6 p.m. ET/PT), in which Control Freak forces the Titans and the Scooby Gang to compete on Family Feud — followed by new themed episodes of Teen Titans Go!
New Halloween-y installments of Victor & Valentino, Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart, Ben 10, Craig of the Creek and more will also offer plenty of tricks ‘n’ treeats for fans.
Teen Titans Go!
Cartoon Network October programming highlights:
Monday, Oct. 4
6 p.m. Teen Titans Go! “Cartoon Feud” Control Freak forces the Titans and the Scooby Gang to compete on Family Feud.
“Curse of the Booty Scooty” When Robin “Booty Scooty’s” his booty off, the Titans must go on an adventure to recover it.
“Collect Them All” After the other Titans are turned into collectibles and disappear, Robin must search yard sales and stores to find them.
“Butt Atoms” Despite Robin’s warning, the Titans mess around with atomic toots and end up causing a worldwide plague.
Transformers: Cyberverse
Saturday, Oct. 5
6:30 a.m. Transformers Cyberverse “Trials” Optimus and Megatron finally discover the Allspark.
9 a.m. Victor and Valentino “The Great Bongo Heist” The boys forget to get Chata a gift for Abuela Day and in a panicked move, they pretend that the bongo drums they borrowed from Xochi are for her. Knowing they have to return the drums, Victor & Valentino pretend to be burglars to steal the bongos back.
“Escape from Bebe Bay” When Vic & Val accidentally turn themselves and Don into babies, they must escape a daycare center in order to change back to their normal ages.
“Band for Life” When Vic and Val tag along with Xochi to a punk concert, they want to prove that they’re cool enough to hang out with her. But in a desperate attempt to be cool, they wind up destroying the concert.
“Tez Says” Vic & Val are in awe of the new magician in town, but things go awry when they agree to help him out with a new trick – despite Chata’s wishes.
10 a.m. Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart “Flyaway” When Adorabat’s spirit transcends her body during a meditation exercise, Mao Mao and Badgerclops have to figure out a way to return her to the real world.
“Baost in Show” When Bao Bao returns, and the King makes him his pet, Mao Mao must rescue his ex-partner.
12 p.m. Ben 10 “The Bentathlon” After stuffing their faces with gyros, Team Tennyson makes their way to the real Greece in the Omni-Copter, but when they are suddenly captured by the Forever Knight mid-flight, Ben ends up in a coliseum, where he is pit against old foes: Iron Kyle, Queen Bee, and the Ground Hawgs!
“Prey Or Play” After receiving a super-exclusive ticket to Adrenaland, Ben leaves behind Grandpa Max and Gwen to enjoy the perks of being the parks only attendant, but when he learns he’s not alone, our hero must now contend with the only kid who could afford the price of admission: Billy Billions!
12:30 p.m. Power Players “Access Denied” When Axel and the team try to figure out what Sarge Charge’s secret weapon is, they get ejected from the house by his newly upgraded security system and must fight their way back inside before Madcap does.
“Swing Set Jet Set” Axel and the team battle Princess SugarSalt for possession of Bearbarian’s hammer, traded to her by one of their own – Galileo!
Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart
Sunday, Oct. 6
7 a.m. Bakugan: Battle Planet “Bakugan Breakers/ The Awful Ones” Magnus’s new team of Bakugan Brawlers overhear Lightning’s warnings of a sick Core Cell and decide to capture the dog to find its location. Then, Magnus heads into the Labyrinth to claim the Fortus Core Cell for his own.
Friday, Oct. 11
8 p.m. DC Super Hero Girls“Frenemies” Batgirl’s worlds collide when her best friend from Gotham City moves to Metropolis. Meanwhile, Catwoman is making some new friends of her own.
DC Super Hero Girls
Saturday, Oct. 12
6:30 a.m. Transformers Cyberverse “Dark Birth” While Starscream acquires new power through the Allspark, the Autobots mistakenly assume Starscream is still under Megatron’s command.
9 a.m. Victor and Valentino “Forever Ever” When Vic and Val do a sloppy job cleaning up in Maria Theresa’s attic, they accidentally set off a time loop, trapping them in an endless series of chores forever! They must figure out how to stop the loop and return time back to normal.
“Dance Reynaldo Dance” Vic is desperate to win the cash prize for the dance contest in Monte Macabre and is frustrated that his partner Val won’t let him call all the shots. Instead he chooses a different partner: Reynaldo. But Vic pushes Reynaldo too hard to execute his artistic vision. Eventually, he learns that in order to be a success, you have to be equal partners.
10 a.m. Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart “Fright Wig” When the King cannot overcome his fears, he abuses having the Sheriff’s Dept. on call.
“Sleeper Sofia” When the Sky Pirates infiltrate Sheriff HQ, they put our heroes in danger!
12 p.m. Ben 10 “Beware of the Scare-Crow” During a visit to the farm of Penny Bennyson’s grandfather, Team Tennyson is constantly haunted by a Scare-Crow that’s come to life, but when Ben discovers that Aristocrow is behind it all, our hero must defeat Aristocrow’s master, the steam-powered Steam Smythe, if he is to save his cousin’s farm!
“The Night Ben Tennyson Came to Town” Team Tennyson travels to Wheeler, “the liveliest mining town on Route 66”, but when Ben becomes paranoid that the Forever Knight is out to get him, he must try to convince his fam while also stopping his new foe from destroying the town.
12:30 p.m. Power Players “Side Kicked” Zoe builds her own battle suit in hopes of joining Axel’s team. The only problem? She can’t shrink! Hijinks ensue as a full-sized Zoe tries to assist Axel & co. in a battle against Pyrant and his army of mind-control drones.
“Porcupunk Rock” Madcap turns to Axel and his team for help after a sonic upgrade to Porcupunk threatens to bring down the house.
Ben 10
Sunday, Oct. 13
7 a.m. Bakugan: Battle Planet “Mask of Pride/The Graveyard of Courage” Driven by revenge, Magnus decides to go back into the labyrinth, face the AO and claim the Fortus Core Cell energy for himself. Then, super charged by the Fortus Core Cell, Magnus wages war on the AO.
Monday, Oct. 15
6 p.m. Teen Titans Go!“TV Knight 5” Batman pretends to be sick to avoid work so he and Commissioner Gordon can run around town watching their favorite shows.
Victor and Valentino
Saturday, Oct. 19
6:30 a.m. Transformers Cyberverse “Parley” The Autobots and Decepticons attempt to forge an alliance in the face of the threat posed by Starscream.
9 a.m. Victor and Valentino “Tree Buds” Vic and Val build a treehouse and Val dismisses Vic with a frivolous task so he can build the treehouse exactly how he wants. But when Vic returns unknowingly with a branch from El Arbol Vampiro, Val’s perfect treehouse turns into a nightmare!
12 p.m. Ben 10 “And Xingo Was His Name-O” When a new Xingo app mysteriously appears on Gwen’s tablet, Ben can’t help himself and activates it despite his cousin’s disapproval, springing a trap that transports Ben in the animated world and Xingo back in the real world. It’s the ol’ switcheroo!
“Fear in the Family” Ben and Gwen can’t wait for the Omni-Copter to arrive at the Great Pyramids, but when bad weather disrupts their flight, they soon come face-to-face with The Fogg and its spawn: The Fogg Family!
12:30 p.m. Power Players“All Trick No Treat” On Halloween, Axel gets too caught up in the scares and loses track of the fun – just in time for an infiltration by the worst trick ‘r’ treater of all, Madcap!
“Iced Out” Madcap’s latest creation, the Ice Crusher, puts the whole city in a deep freeze, forcing Axel and the team to face him in a game of high-stakes hockey or risk slip-sliding into another ice age!
Power Players
Sunday, Oct. 20
7 a.m. Bakugan: Battle Planet “Vestroia” Part 1: The AO discover the only way to stop Magnus, and possibly save him, involves shutting down the infected Fortus Core Cell. Part 2: The AO must decide whether or not to help Benton Dusk destroy the infected Fortus Core Cell, risking the destruction of their own Bakugan.
Friday, Oct. 25
6 p.m. Teen Titans Go! “Witches Brew” The Titans throw a Halloween party and invite the Justice League but the witches brew Robin creates has side effects.
7:30 p.m. DC Super Hero Girls“Soul Sisters” The girls must track down Katana, a mysterious warrior who’s stealing the souls of Metropolis’s villains. Meanwhile, Diana’s new friend Tatsu is a perfect match for her in every way, but may have a connection to Katana.
Craig of the Creek
Saturday, Oct. 26
6:30 a.m. Transformers Cyberverse “Starscream’s Children” Optimus Prime leads a rescue mission onto the Nemesis, saving the Decepticons from Starscream.
9 a.m. Victor and Valentino “Lonely Haunts Club 2: Doll Island” In order to prove their bravery, V&V head to a haunted island to retrieve a special doll, but Charlene and Pineapple are intent on getting it first.
“Cat-Pocalypse” When Vic gets sick and is stuck in his room, he spies on Pineapple and becomes convinced that Pineapple is creating an army of zombie cats. Val agrees and the two become obsessed with stopping Pineapple before it’s too late!
“El Silbon” Victor sets up a haunted corn maze, but the town kids think it’s lame. Vic decides to make the maze scarier by enlisting the help of El Silbon (The Whistler) to really scare the kids, but El Silbon has plans of his own.
“On Nagual Hill” Vic & Val take over a forest hill and build an epic waterslide, disturbing the plants and animals that normally inhabit it. But when a Nagual (a human with the power to transform into animals) transforms Vic into a chicken and Val into a donkey, they learn to sympathize with the animals and understand the world a bit more.
10 a.m. Craig of the Creek “The Haunted Dollhouse” Craig and his friends find themselves being followed by a creepy doll and its haunted dollhouse.
12 p.m. Ben 10 “Xingo Nation” Kevin 11 gives Xingo a power up – setting him loose to wreak havoc on other TV shows – and it is up to Ben to stop them both.
“Heads of the Family” Team Tennyson stops in at a fringe family reunion, and Ben encounters a whole lot more than kooky cousins— namely, Kevin 11 and the Bugg Brothers, whose latest crackpot invention sparks a series of hilarious head-swaps between all parties.
12:30 p.m. Power Players “Gathering Dark” Axel must help Bearbarian overcome his secret fear of the dark to stop Dynamo from stealing his ride.
“Bobbie Not Blobby” Axel discovers that the culprit behind Bobbie Blobby’s missing mech-suit is Masko, who only wanted to clean out its clogged clay cannons, but lets the suit fall into the hands (or tentacles) of Dr. Nautilus – intent on flooding the sewers!
Sunday, Oct. 20
7 a.m. Bakugan: Battle Planet “Too Much/Who Are You?” The Hide Matrix goes crazy and a simple AO training mission turns into a complicated rampage. Then, after the loss of their HQ, the AO is a little off, but in talking to Benton Dusk, they learn a new sense of purpose for their team.
Canadian media company Portfolio Entertainment is bringing the summer to a close by announcing a raft of new sales that bring its content to platforms all around the world.
TVB (Hong Kong, Macau) has picked up season three of preschool animated series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That! (20 x 22’), originally produced by Portfolio in association with PBS KIDS with the support of CMF and Shaw Rocket Fund.
Addison (50 x 11’), the preschool animated series about a precocious young detective and aspiring inventor, was snatched up by educational broadcaster EBS (South Korea) and streamer Azoomee (U.S., U.K., South Africa, the Netherlands, Sweden). Addison was produced for Canada’s CBC by Six Eleven Media.
Meanwhile, Cyberchase is heading to CJ ENM, which acquired seasons 10, 11 and the upcoming season 12 (27 x 22’) for South Korea. The long-running animated series, produced by WNET for PBS Kids, follows a group of kids who use their knowledge of the STEM sciences to prevent an evil computer virus from taking over the digital world they live in
Portfolio Entertainment’s own Freaktown (26 x 22’), produced for YTV in Canada with support from CMF and the Shaw Rocket Fund, has been licensed to SIC in Portugal. Freaktown is a place where ghouls, mutants, misfits and oddities of every sort are welcome.
High-energy live-action pre-k series Do You Know? (75 x 15’) has also been snapped up by Azoomee (S1-3; U.S., South Africa, Netherlands, Sweden), NOGA (S3; Israel and TVB (S3; Hong Kong, Macau) — produced by WonderTV for CBeebies (U.K.) and starring YouTube star Maddie Moate, who answers kids’ pressing scientific questions.
And finally, Car Stories (40 x 22’), the Joe Media-produced unscripted series about classic cars and the passionate owners who love them, is heading to the U.S. with broadcaster AWE TV.
“We couldn’t be happier to be announcing these partnerships as we head into the fall season,” said Donnie MacIntyre, Portfolio Entertainment’s VP of Sales and Business Development. “MIP Junior and MIPCOM will be the launchpad for some of our most exciting content ever, and with these new sales under our wings we’ll be heading into the markets with great momentum. The assortment of industry-leading partners we’re announcing today is a testament to the quality and reputation of Portfolio Entertainment’s diverse catalogue.”
Creative Director Aneta Ozorek and the Kaboom Animation Festival team have revealed the official selections for the inaugural Dutch combo event. The first competition was selected out of 1,711 entries from 80 countries — led by the Netherlands (220 submissions), U.S. (203), U.K (197), France (157) and Germany (101), but also representing lands from Macau to Sudan.
Kaboom Animation Festival 2019 will be held November 9-17 in Utrecht & Amsterdam.
The official Shorts competition will present more than 70 films, including international festival favorites such as Tomek Popakul’s Acid Rain, Daria Kashcheeva’s Daughter, Sophie Koko Gate’s Slug Life, Osman Cerfon’s I’m going out for cigarettes, Patar & Aubier’s A Town Called Panic: The County Fair and Chintis Lundgren’s Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wolves.
Vying in the Features competition are Gints Zilbalodis’ Away (Latvia), Kaspar Jancis’ Captain Morten and the Spider Queen (Estonia/Ireland/Belgium/U.K.), Denis Do’s Funan (France/Belgium/Luxembourg), Edmunds Jansons’ Jacob, Mimmi and the Talking Dogs (Latvia/Poland), Mamoru Hosoda’s Mirai (Japan), Zabou & Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec’s The Swallows of Kabul (France), Joost van den Bosch & Erik Verkerk’s The Test of Time (Netherlands), Albert Birney’s Tux and Fanny (U.S.) and Christobal Leon & Joaquin Cociña’s The Wolf House (Chile).
Kaboom will also feature dozens of Kids Shorts, as well as Dutch Shorts, Documentary, Commissioned Shorts, Music Video, Experimental Shorts and VR competition tracks.
Members of the 2019 international shorts competition jury include Renata Gąsiorowska (film director), Michael Frei (film director, game designer) and Karin Vandenrydt (Anima – The Brussels Animation Film Festival).
Other confirmed guests include the Canadian film animator and pioneer of drawn-on-film animation Steven Woloshen; British illustrator, animator and director Greg McLeod; distributor and CEO at Miyu Distribution Luce Grosjean; animation director of TV series Candide, Zsuzsanna Kreif; Findie-AniFest festival director and distributor at AniSeed Choi Yu-jin; and director of Elsa and the Night, Jons Mellgren.
Kaboom has also officially launched its new website, where you can find festival information, news and tickets sales: kaboomfestival.nl
The Test of TimeI Have a Little CactusGloomy EyesAnd Then the BearA Town Called Panic: The County Fair
The Harvey Awards Steering Committee has announced the 2019 inductees into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame, ahead of the annual event held at New York Comic Con. With seven recipients being honored, this group represents the largest of all Hall of Fame induction classes in the 31-year history of the Harvey Awards. It includes two of the most respected contemporary creators in their field, Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and Alison Bechdel (Fun Home), and five of Harvey Kurtzman’s core 1950s MAD collaborators, who will be posthumously inducted: Will Elder, Jack Davis, John Severin, Marie Severin and Ben Oda.
Additionally, the Comics Industry Pioneer honor will be presented to Maggie Thompson for the work she and her late husband, Don Thompson, did as longtime editors of the Comics Buyer’s Guide.
“My very first comic industry award was the 1994 Harvey Award for Best Artist on Hellboy. I never expected that award, but I took it as a sign that I might actually be on to something,” said Mignola. “It is a great honor to be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame — something I certainly never could have imagined. And I’ll take it as proof that I haven’t embarrassed myself too badly over the last 25 years.”
“As someone who existed for so long on the crumbling newsprint margins, it’s surprising and a bit unsettling to receive this recognition from the corridors of comics power. Where did I go wrong?” Bechdel quipped. “No, just kidding. If you had told me when I was reading Kurtzman parodies in my playpen that I would one day be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame, I would have plotzed. I cannot imagine a greater, nor a more furshlugginer, honor.”
Paul Levitz, longtime DC Comics executive, including 17 years as the publisher of MAD magazine, who will induct Elder, Davis, the Severins and Oda during the ceremony, added: “Inducting these five contributors to the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame is both redundant and obvious. As collaborators with Harvey on so much of the great work he did at E.C. Comics, they are already enshrined in every comics scholar and fan’s hall of fame as legends, so they are certainly deserving of the honor of formal induction here. I had the honor of working and being friends with three of the five (Jack, Marie, and the inimitable Ben), and loved the work of the other two (Will and John). I can confidently say that they’d be amazed and ever so pleased.”
The inductees will be recognized at the 31st annual Harvey Awards ceremony on Friday, October 4 at 8:30 p.m. at Hudson Mercantile. See harveyawards.org for more information.
Mike Mignola began working as a comic-book artist in 1982, working for both Marvel and DC Comics before creating Hellboy, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. What began as a single comic book series would eventually expand to a “Hellboy Universe” of related graphic novels, prose novels, short-story anthologies, and animated and live-action films. He also wrote and drew The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects. He has co-written novels with Christopher Golden (Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire) and Thomas Sniegoski (Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal); worked with Francis Ford Coppola on Bram Stoker’s Dracula; was a production designer on Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire; and was visual consultant to Guillermo Del Toro on Blade II, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. A new Hellboy film, directed by Neil Marshall, was recently released. Mignola’s comics and graphic novels have earned numerous awards and are published in a great many countries. He lives in Southern California with his wife and a very demanding cat.
Alison Bechdel is known in the cartooning industry for her pioneering work on the strip Dykes to Watch Out For, which ran from 1983 to 2008. She is the author of two acclaimed graphic memoirs, Fun Home and Are You My Mother? A stage-musical adaptation of Fun Home opened on Broadway in 2015 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Bechdel is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. She is currently working on a graphic memoir called The Secret to Superhuman Strength.
