News Round-Up: Monday Sep 12th, 2011

Today, I am trying out what I hope will become a new weekly feature. It consists of giving you a round up of news related to Entertainment, VFX, CG, Animation, 2D, 3D and Education - articles that I have stumbled upon and found of interest. 

It is something that I have been doing for our own staff at Escape Studios for some time, until someone pointed out that it would be equally useful to people who read this blog. So, here is my first Weekly News Round Up.

It's not meant to be exhaustive, and I welcome submissions of articles which have been of interest to you.

For similar news from the United Kingdom, check out our UK Blog.

Puss In Boots: Most Interesting Cat in the World?
from Animation Magazine
The folks at DreamWorks are going full steam ahead with their clever web spots for their upcoming feature Puss in Boots.

VES Preps for Production Summit
from Animation Magazine
The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced it will hold its third annual Production Summit for the entertainment industry on October 1 at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. 

'Game of Thrones' Title Sequence Gives Series Its First Emmy
from Hollywood Reporter
HBO's Game of Thrones won its first-ever Emmy for its title sequence. The opening, created by the company Elastic, bested fellow HBO projects Boardwalk Empire and Too Big to Fail, AMC's Rubicon, and PBS's Any Human Heart.

Fall VFX Movie Preview 2011
from VFX World Magazine
Rick DeMott breaks down the big vfx flicks coming at the end of 2011.

Alcon, Arc to Make 'Ormie' Movie
from Animation Magazine
Canadian animation studio Arc Prods (formerly known as Starz Animation Toronto) will be co-producing a new feature with Alcon Entertainment, based on the short Ormie, it was announced Thursday at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

California Legislature Extends Film Incentive Program for One Year
from Hollywood Reporter
Supporters vow they will revisit the full five-year extension they sought in January.

GKIDS Scores Ghibli Distribution Deal
from Animation Magazine
Distributor of award-winning animated films GKIDS has forged an agreement with Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli to handle U.S. and Canadian theatrical and non-theatrical distribution for Ghibli’s animated feature film library.

Laika to Animate Decemberists Frontman’s Fantasy Book
from Animation Magazine
Portland-based animation house Laika has optioned the rights to Wildwood, the new young adult fantasy by Colin Meloy, the frontman of alt music group The Decemberists.

Hollywood's Secret Spots Inside LAX
from Hollywood Reporter
HOLLYWOOD HIDEOUTS: Highfliers reveal the airport's ins and outs, including a hush-hush back passage and even ways to delay a plane if you're running late.

A Fin-de-Siecle Fantasy: A Monster in Paris
from Animation Magazine
DreamWorks veteran Bibo Bergeron goes back to his French roots with A Monster in Paris, an elegant CG-animated feature set in 1910.

What Is Steve Jobs' Hollywood Legacy?
from Hollywood Reporter
How his illness and exit as Apple CEO will impact Hollywood, from Disney's Iger and Lasseter to iTunes and UltraViolet.

Eddie Murphy to host Oscars and I'm not delirious about it
from LA Times
It’s hard to get excited about Tuesday’s news that Eddie Murphy will host the 2012 Academy Awards, because — how do I put this as respectfully as possible? — his last three live-action movies have been embarrassingly schlocky stinkers.

Hollywood shakes off box office blues this summer
from LA Times
Box office revenues in the U.S. and Canada hit $4.4 billion between May and Labor Day, up 4.5% from the same time a year ago.

Game sales slide 23% in August
from LA Times
Continued consumer reluctance to spend and a light release schedule sent video game retail sales tumbling in August for the fourth consecutive month and the ninth time in the last 12 months, according to the market research firm NPD Group Inc.

Initiative for 3D standard glasses gains steam
from Variety Technotainment
The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative – a joint effort by Samsung, Panasonic and Sony to adopt a new technology standard for active 3D glasses – continues to attract supporters.

State Senate OKs part of California Dream Act
from L.A. Times
The measure would allow college students who are illegal immigrants to receive public financial aid.

Where community colleges go wrong
from Washington Post
Susan Headden begins her eye-opening piece in the September/October issue of the Washington Monthly with the unsettling story of Monica Dekany, a California mom barred from taking courses at a local community college for no good reason.

Cheating on state tests found at two Los Angeles schools
from L.A. Times
Three teachers at Short Avenue Elementary in Del Rey and one teacher at Animo Leadership in Inglewood are implicated.

Judging schools by advanced scores
from Washington Post
Journalists like me get into ruts. We pick one way of describing data and stick with it. I tell myself that I would confuse readers if I made changes.

Is Obama's call to modernize schools really necessary?
from Washington Post
Is President Obama’s plan to modernize at least 35,000 public schools across the country as part of his proposed American Jobs Act really necessary?