Monday, March 30, 2009

TO ALL THE FATKATS - FROM AC



Hi Gene,

Larry, Amy would like to extend a note to your amazing crew at Fatkat for all their hard work, please pass this along.

Dear Fatkats,



Now that animation has just wrapped at the Fatkat studio we wanted to take the opportunity to send out a big thank you to the entire FK crew for all their hard work on Three Delivery! It has been a long and challenging road, but in the end we have created an amazing show that we should all be extremely proud of.



It is no small feat to have completed two seasons worth of a traditional style show in flash considering the limited amount of time and people that we had on board. It is truly a testament to the hard working production staff and artists at Fatkat that we were able to make such a great-looking show that is now set to air on more than 6 international broadcast channels from the UK to Australia.



So thank you all for all the late nights, working weekends, and trudging through the cold Miramichi snow (which hasn’t stopped yet, I hear!). The show absolutely couldn’t have done without your hard work, enthusiasm and dedication to this project.

I know that I speak for everyone at AC when I say that we are proud of the show and we hope that you are proud too. We believe that it will be on the air for years and years to come around the world.



Thanks for all your time and talent,



Your friends at AC

THE SIMPLE THINGS


The Simple Things-1 from Behzad Farahat on Vimeo.

From Fatkat's friend Behzad Farahat.


the Simple Thing-2 from Behzad Farahat on Vimeo.



The Simple Things-3 from Behzad Farahat on Vimeo.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

$310 million fund to replace CTF


by: Etan Vlessing, Playback.com

Federal heritage minister James Moore, on the Toronto set of Flashpoint to announce the scrapping of the Canadian Television Fund, joked that cast member Enrico Colantoni promised not to lob a grenade in his direction if he said something disagreeable.

Turns out the minister lobbed a few grenades of his own on Monday, as he outlined Ottawa's fix for TV financing: to support more ratings-driven Canadian content on more digital platforms with a new $310 million Canada Media Fund.

Moore said the CTF and the digital-oriented Canadian New Media Fund will be collapsed into the CMF by April 2010.

Ottawa will contribute no new money to the replacement fund, putting in $134.7 million with the rest coming from domestic cable and satellite TV providers.

Moore said he wants to see content funded by the CMF streaming on the internet and mobile platforms.

"The future is digital," said the 32 year-old minister, himself an avid iPod watcher.

Applicants to the CMF will need to offer at least two distribution platforms, including TV, for projects to receive subsidies. Acceptable platforms include webisodes, interactive games and podcasts.

The CMF's early focus will be on funding dramas, comedy and kids programming.

"We want to foster the development of cutting-edge applications and content," Moore said, calling for an end to vested interests and primetime TV dominance in Canadian production financing.

Moore also said he wanted to see more Flashpoints -- domestic dramas that air on both sides of the border and which stream online.

The heritage minister urged that CMF-funded shows use "predominantly Canadian talent" including writers, directors and performers -- vague wording that portends a possible greater use of foreign talent in future productions.

Other surprises: the CBC will no longer receive a guaranteed envelope from the revamped fund. The pubcaster will be forced to compete with rival broadcasters for CMF financing. Broadcasters will also be able to produce their own series in-house.

The CMF will have a smaller, seven-member board: two government appointees and five representing the largest private funders in order to address earlier concerns about accountability and alleged conflicts of interest on the CTF board.

"The realigned fund will favor projects that have achieved and demonstrated the most potential to achieve success, in terms of audience and return on investment," Moore said of the new ratings-driven investment criteria.

Judging by the wide smiles on Rogers Communications' Phil Lind and Quebecor's Pierre Karl Peladeau at the press conference, the cable and satellite providers liked what they heard. Moore's fix promises them far more say over which homegrown shows receive CMF subsidies.

"It's pretty good news," Peladeau said Monday. "The industry will be more efficient."

It was threats in December 2006 by Quebecor-owner Videotron and rival cablecaster Shaw Communications to end their required CTF payments that first prompted Ottawa's review of the industry fund.

Stephen Waddell, national executive director of ACTRA, said giving cable and satellite operators control of five board seats is "like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, especially if the board maintains the power to make funding decisions."

Moore said the CMF will be subject to guidelines -- funding decisions will be based on ratings as well as the seven-member board.

In opting for the CMF, Moore ignored a June 2008 CRTC recommendation that the CTF be split into dual funding streams, one for private networks and another for non-profit broadcasters.

The CTF and the Canada New Media Fund will remain in place until the CMF is up and running in April 2010.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

A BIT FROM ZE NEXT GIG

More delish from our BG team. Wait till you see the animation.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

FEBRUARY 2009 | KREW PICTURE

Missing from this photo: Geri Donahue, Dallas Daigle, Rory O'Neil, Paul Dupuis, Jason McArthur, Brian Tucker, Alberto Tarantino, Dave Rigley, Robert Powers, Eric Weise, Jeric Acayen, Anthony Holden, Stephen Hinds, Daniel Mitchell, Jerry Fuchs, Dave McCullough and a whole whack of awesome animators around the country working on Three Delivery.

Keep rockin!

Gene.