• Visual Development/Design Artists
• Modelers
• Texture Artists/Look Development Artists
• Character  TDs (Rigging/Hair/Fur/Skin/Cloth)
• Animators
• EFX Artists/TDs
• Lighters/Compositors
• Pipeline Technical Directors
•Software Developers
• Shader Writers
• Production Management

…and many more, at all experience levels. Dates and locations for the recruiting events have not been revealed. Contact Digital Domain as directed on the recruiting pages for placement consideration and recruiting event details.

Open positions at the Digital Domain Vancouver studio include:

• ATD Assistant Technical Director
• Cloth/Hair Artist
• Cloth/Hair TD
• Compositor
• FX Artist Houdini
• FX TD Houdini
• Human Resources/Recruiting Coordinator
• Lighting Artist
• Lighting TD
• Look Development Artist
• Modeler
• Production Coordinator Visual Effects
• Rigger
• Shading TD
• Texture Artist

This year, the mentoring director for Hothouse is Theodore Ushev, whose 2010 film Lipsett Diaries received the Genie Award for Best Animated Short. He’ll be joined by associate producer Jelena Popovic and producer Michael Fukushima, who founded the Hothouse program in 2003 with former Animation Studio executive producer David Verrall.

Called “Sheep Dreams,” this eighth edition of Hothouse is designed for creators who are looking to use emerging tools and technologies, and take maximum advantage of new hardware, software or platforms in their projects. These projects can be anything from a traditionally animated story on an interactive mobile OS, to integrating sensing devices for spatial tracking and gesture/facial/voice recognition, to hacking a meaningful micro-narrative into existing game engines.

The goal is to help emerging artists create their own compelling 60-second experiences, driven by great animation storytelling and shaped by technology.

The Hothouse apprenticeship will take place in Montreal from March 5 to May 25, 2012. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 5 p.m. Submissions must be e-mailed to hothouse@nfb.ca. The six successful candidates will be notified by Friday, February 3, 2012.

Forty-four short films have been produced through Hothouse over its seven-year history. Hothouse alumni include Patrick Doyon, whose animated short Sunday is currently nominated for an Annie Award by ASIFA-Hollywood, and Howie Shia, whose 2006 film Flutter  received the Open Entries Grand Prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards.

Olive the Ostrich is a CGI animated series for kids about a young ostrich named Olive who goes on fun adventures to all sorts of amazing imaginary places. Animators bring to life real pictures drawn and submitted by children, which are then integrated into the TV show. Inquisitive and enthusiastic, Olive loves to solve problems and help people whenever she can. She’ll try anything once, which can get her into trouble, but always finds fun and inventive ways of getting herself out of it.

“Olive became an instant hit with preschoolers in the UK, and we’re excited to be working with our partners at Blue-Zoo to share this series with markets internationally,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Head of Sales, Distribution360. “We’re looking forward to delighting Australian and New Zealand audiences with Olive’s curiosity as she embarks on all sorts of fun adventures.”

“We’re thrilled to add Olive the Ostrich to our Nick Jr. programming line-up for 2012,” says Hugh Baldwin, Director of Television and Digital Content for Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand. “Rolf Harris is an Aussie icon, and there are parents out there who will have fond memories of his unique artwork and wobble-board music. Lending his distinct voice to narrate Olive adds a special dimension to the storytelling of this engaging series.  We’re sure it’s going to be very well-received by both Australian and New Zealand audiences on Nick Jr.”

1. The Joker (Batman: The Animated Series)
2. Skeletor (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe)
3. Megatron (Transformers)
4. The Joker (Batman: Live Action)
5. The Penguin (Batman: Live Action)

Between October 31 and December 1, over 100,000 votes were cast by TELETOON Retro fans on the station’s web site as well as on its Facebook page for their favourite villains from 33 nominees, including everyone from Lex Luthor to Pizzazz. To celebrate the newly inducted Top 5 Villains, TELETOON Retro will air a special programming marathon featuring all five winners as part of the “Retro Rewind” programming block on Sunday, December 11 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

The TELETOON Retro Hall of Fame Top 5 Villains campaign ran in English on TELETOON Retro and in French on TÉLÉTOON Rétro. The Top 5 Villains will join the TELETOON Retro Hall of Fame’s Top 5 Favourite Cartoon Characters of all Time, Sweethearts and Awesome Animals, as chosen by the fans over the last 12 months.

In Korea, KBS and Kids Talk Talk have acquired Pirates – Adventures in Art with the digital broadcaster also picking up animated eco-centric series dirtgirlworld which has also sold to Mediacorp in Singapore alongside Martha Speaks, Poppetstown, Pirates – Adventures in Art and Watership Down.

In Malaysia, broadcaster Astro has licensed preschool shows dirtgirlworld, Pirates – Adventures in Art, POKO and Monster Math Squad, while in Taiwan, YoYo (Eastern Broadcasting Co.) has bought the new season of Super Why!.

Finally, Nickelodeon India has acquired factual series The Adrenaline Project and True Visions in Thailand has taken all seasons of Kid vs Kat.

Craig McGillivray, Territory Manager for Asia within DHX Media’s distribution group, said: “Asia is a significant market for our shows with broadcasters picking up a diverse range of product from our library. One of our key properties for ATF will be Rastamouse, which is performing very well in the UK on CBeebies and the iPlayer and attracting significant interest from licensees with several key categories already signed. We believe it would perform very well in Asia and are keen to speak to prospective broadcast partners.”

Olive the Ostrich is a CGI animated series for kids about a young ostrich named Olive who goes on fun adventures to all sorts of amazing imaginary places. Animators bring to life real pictures drawn and submitted by children, which are then integrated into the TV show. Inquisitive and enthusiastic, Olive loves to solve problems and help people whenever she can. She’ll try anything once, which can get her into trouble, but always finds fun and inventive ways of getting herself out of it. Produced by Blue Zoo (U.K.).

This is Daniel Cook and This is Emily Yeung are educational live action series where children join six-year-old hosts Daniel Cook and Emily Yeung on all of their exciting adventures, whether that be learning with Olympic gold medalists and rocket scientists or creating with award-winning musicians and painters. Produced by marblemedia and Sinking Ship Entertainment.

“These entertaining series have all been well-received internationally, and we’re thrilled that audiences in Israel will now be able to enjoy them as well,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Head of Sales, Distribution360. “Hop! Channel’s mandate to air quality educational programming is a perfect fit for these properties that are designed to be enjoyed by preschoolers and their parents.”

Garfield’s Comic Boom is an inspiring software for creating comics and sharing them on YouTube and Facebook.

“We feel so privileged to have developed a product that received such eloquent recognition from the parent community. Knowing the NAPPA seal has come to symbolize innovation, usefulness and high quality that parents trust, we are grateful to be recognized” shared Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom.

The site’s movie-making tool is designed around elements of sentence structure and creative expression, which reinforces reading and writing skills. Over the years the site has animated countless ESL and elementary English lessons. With a wide assortment of characters, props, and settings, Zimmer Twins animations enhance almost any curriculum subject including media literacy, online safety and citizenship, history, social studies, and the environment.

Registration for Zimmer Twins at School costs nothing. A basic membership allows teachers to set up five student accounts, and create up to twelve movies. Zimmer Twins at School VIP memberships unlock the full potential of the site for $9.95 USD per month or $89.95 USD per year.

VIP memberships include:

•   Classrooms with 1 teacher and 40 student accounts.
•   Individual password protected accounts for each student.
•   Password administration by teachers, no need to rely on 3rd party customer support services
•   Gated communities – Movies published on Zimmer Twins at School are only visible to other members of the class group.
•   Unlimited movies for every user.
•   Edit and resave your movies.
•   Open comments and ratings for students and teachers.
•   Teachers can write blog posts, polls, and select featured movies.
•   Easy-to-use content moderation.

With its emphasis on media production skills, online citizenship and collaborative production Zimmer Twins at School prepares students to be digital citizens of the 21st century.

The Zimmer Twins is an Emmy award-winning site devoted to kids and creative storytelling. Since 2005, children have used the original Zimmer Twins to create and share more than one million animated movies.

Created by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza, and developed from the original books published by Little Roots, Rastamouse and his band was one of the highlights of this year’s Glastonbury, and the group’s celebrity fans include Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Alexandra Burke and Simon Pegg.

Following the launch of the TV series in January 2011 the show has risen to be one of CBeebies’s top animated programmes on the channel and the BBC iPlayer, while Youtube clips of the action are receiving hundreds of thousands of hits.

A Rastamouse Company Production for CBeebies, Rastamouse is produced by Greg Boardman and Eugenio Perez of Three Stones Media, in association with Dinamo Productions, Little Roots and DHX Media, which handles worldwide TV sales (excluding the UK) and worldwide licensing and merchandising. The production is supported by the Wales Creative IP Fund.

In making the announcement, Tim McElvaine, Chairman of the Board, stated: “On behalf of the Board, we wish Warren well in his future endeavors. We are confident in the continued success of Rainmaker Entertainment under the leadership of President and Executive Producer Catherine Winder who over the past two years has done a fantastic job in transforming the company into a creatively focused cost-effective studio.”

“Thanks to our dedicated executive management team and amazing crew of artists and story tellers, Rainmaker is well positioned to continue its’ growth as a leading CG animation studio,” said Catherine. “I look forward to the continuing opportunity to guide the company towards further creative expansion for all of our many projects in production and development.”

In addition to the production of the studio’s first feature film, Escape from Planet Earth for The Weinstein Company, Rainmaker is working on several Mattel based DVD’s and a slate of properties in development. The company recently released its’ original short animated film Luna which has been accepted for screening at many industry festivals and events.

International Animation Day is an annual celebration in over 40 countries, initiated by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) in 2002. Norman McLaren was the first president of ASIFA, and the NFB is proud to be bringing this global celebration to Canadian communities for the fifth consecutive year.

Get Animated! features the finest—and some of the funniest—new releases from the NFB’s Oscar-winning animation studios, a family program for all ages, master classes by renowned NFB animators, workshops on how to make your own animated films and meet-the-director sessions.

Get Animated! is coming to a location near you:

October 22–23 – Richmond
October 22, 26 & November 5 – Vancouver
October 22, 26 & 29 – Windsor
October 26–30 – Charlottetown
October 27 – 28: Halifax
October 27 – 30: Montreal
October 27–30 & November 2 – Toronto
October 28 – Stephenville
October 28–30 & November 5 – Winnipeg
October 29 – Edmonton
October 29 – Moncton
October 30 – Flin Flon
October 30 – Whitehorse
October 30 & November 4 – Prince George
November 1 – Abbotsford
November 1 – Saskatoon
November 2, 5, 6 – Regina
November 5 – Kitchener
November 5 – Yellowknife
November 6 – Calgary

Ten exciting new animated releases, as well as a kids’ program, are featured in Get Animated! this year, which includes Big Drive by Anita Lebeau, the story of a family road trip across the Canadian prairies set in the 1970s. An exuberant exploration of childhood imagination, Big Drive invites audiences of all ages to see the world as it appears from the back seat.

Other new releases in Get Animated! include:

• Wild Life, by Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby – the story of a dapper young Englishman sent to the wild west of Alberta to try his hand at ranching
• Juliette Loubières’ puppet animation film Pumpkins and Old Lace
• Patrick Doyon’s Sunday, recipient of a Special Mention at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival
• Marv Newland’s CMYK, a dizzying celebration of sound, colour and movement

Highlights also include acclaimed new shorts such as:

• I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors, director Ann Marie Fleming’s adaptation of Bernice Eisenstein’s celebrated illustrated memoir
• Koji Yamamura’s Muybridge’s Strings, a poetic exploration of the irrepressible human desire to freeze our fleeting moments of happiness

This year, Get Animated! offers a fun-filled selection of some of the NFB’s newest animation for kids of all ages:

• Anita Lebeau’s lively Big Drive
• Phyllis Grant’s Waseteg, the story of a young Mi’kmaq girl
• Nicola Lemay’s Private Eyes, about a visually impaired boy with great powers of observation
• Jo Meuris’s The Girl Who Hated Books

Get Animated! offers a unique opportunity to learn from animation masters and discover the techniques—and challenges—behind a variety of NFB animated films. Oscar-winning director Co Hoedeman (The Sand Castle) will lead animation master classes on the creative process, working collaboratively and making peace through animation. Composer Luigi Allemano offers interactive exercises and discussions demonstrating the process of creating music for animated film. Animator Marv Newland gives a master class revolving around the techniques he used to animate his new film, CMYK. Producer Marc Bertrand and director Nicola Lemay discuss the challenges of adapting the book Private Eyes into a hand-drawn 3D film.

Acclaimed animators will be available to take questions and to discuss the art of animation in Calgary (Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, Wild Life), Montreal (Patrick Doyon, Sunday), Vancouver (Marv Newland, CMYK, and Ann Marie Fleming, I Was a Child of Holocaust Survivors) and Winnipeg (Anita Lebeau, Big Drive).

Hands-on workshops will accompany the Family Program in Charlottetown, Montreal, Prince George, Richmond, Toronto, Vancouver, Whitehorse, Winnipeg and Yellowknife. These workshops demonstrate the basics of animation and give participants the chance to make their own short animated film.

Fresh TV has announced the start of production for a new animated musical comedy series, Grojband, a TELETOON Original Production. FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) will serve as the worldwide distributor for television, brand licensing, home entertainment rights and other ancillary rights (excluding Canada) for the series. Geared towards kids 6 to 11 years of age, Grojband is an in-your-face animated comedy that delivers huge laughs and catchy tunes. The rockin’ new series will feature 52 11-minute episodes.

“We are psyched that TELETOON Canada has greenlit Fresh TV’s newest series Grojband,” said Tom McGillis, Executive Producer at Fresh TV. “This series is classic, gag-driven animation aimed squarely at our audience’s funny bones.”

“This is our third new series, and our first animated series, in less than two years with Fresh TV,” said Bob Higgins, EVP of Kids & Family Entertainment at FME. “It’s a testament to the amazing creativity and production prowess of our partners at Fresh TV and a confirmation of our burgeoning relationship.”

The series follows cool-as-a-cucumber 12-year-old Corey and his three best friends – spunky base player Laney and UNidentical brothers Kin and Kon – as they struggle to rocket their garage band to international stardom. When they realize their lack of lyrical creativity (the only thing stopping them from making it big, they believe), Corey hits the jackpot when he stumbles upon the diary of his drama queen older sister, Trina.

Every episode, Corey and his band scheme to steal Trina’s diary in order to mine it for awesome new song lyrics. And to make sure they’re awesome, all Corey needs to do is ensure his sister’s life remains squarely seated on an emotional roller coaster, wait for her to write about it, pilfer her diary without her noticing and BINGO – another sweet hit is born!

“We look forward to working with Fresh TV and Fremantle on yet another successful show,” said Alan Gregg, Director, Original Content, TELETOON Canada. “Grojband’s eclectic characters, unique visual and narrative style as well as its fun and gritty music, sum up the unreal experience our viewers are looking for.”

Grojband was developed by Fresh TV, in association with TELETOON Canada Inc. and is distributed by FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME). The series is created by Todd Kauffman, and co-directed by Kauffman and Mark Thornton. Executive Producers are Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, Brian Irving and George Elliott, as well as FME’s Sander Schwartz and Bob Higgins. Associate Producer is Robin McLeod.

The Houdini First-Timer promo includes either a workstation or network license of Houdini Master and one year on the Annual Upgrade Plan. This promotion is for freelance artists and studios that have never owned Houdini before, is limited to 2 licenses per studio and must be purchased within the month of October.

“Right from the get go, Houdini became a valuable part of our production environment,” says Yanick Wilisky, Executive VFX Supervisor and Co-Founder of ModusFX. “It lets us achieve high-end VFX in film projects such as “Source Code” and “Immortals” and the workflow eases the creative approach to shots and assets. With Houdini as our primary VFX and Simulation package, we know that we can offer our customers top-of-the-line quality today while achieving even greater results in the future.”

Houdini Master applies a node-based procedural approach to creating high-end VFX, environment modeling, animation, lighting and rendering. The Annual Upgrade Plan lets studios maximize their investment in Houdini with production-level technical support, access to online daily builds and early access to our upcoming Houdini 12 release. Houdini Master is available for Mac OSX, Windows and Linux systems.

In October, Side Effects is holding free webinars for artists interested in using Houdini for the first-time. The “Going Procedural” webinar introduces animation and VFX studios to the possibilities of this new way of working while “Houdini in Games” introduces game studios to Houdini’s node-based approach. Join a webinar and learn how, even as a first-timer, you can be productive with Houdini.

Vedamani, 20, is a Vancouver native and is a student at Vancouver Film School. Gaudreau, 26, grew up in Brossard, Quebec and currently works as a 2D artist at a video game company in Montreal.

The TELETOON at Night Pilot Project is a user-generated contest calling on aspiring and professional animators and animation enthusiasts in general to submit original, funny and unique animation or animation-related short films for a chance to win the grand prize. From February 6 to July 15, contestants submitted their videos to the English and French contests and their work was featured in online video galleries at teletoon at night and teletoon la nuit, respectively. On July 31, a TELETOON jury selected the 10 finalists (five English-language films and five French-language films), then turned to the public to vote for their favourites over the next four weeks.

Over the course of the voting period, more than 11,600 votes were cast for the 10 finalists to determine the two winning submissions.

Vedamani’s zombie-inspired Great Minds Taste Alike and Gaudreau’s superhero story, La Justicière Rose, will be featured along with the eight other finalists’ videos at a late-night screening during the Ottawa International Animation Festival on Saturday, September 23 at 11 p.m. at the Arts Court Theatre.

Great Minds Taste Alike by Sheryl Vedamani
Two friends discuss their preparedness for a variety of potential zombie attack scenarios.

La Justicière Rose by Philippe Ramsay Gaudreau
An unconventional superhero thwarts an attempted robbery without breaking a sweat – or a nail.

The original TELETOON Pilot Project launched in fall 2007, exclusively inviting Canadian producers to submit proposals to produce a pilot in either English or French to be broadcast on TELETOON. Ten projects were selected as finalists from more than 200 submissions, straddling a wide range of topics, animation styles and comedy sensibilities. The first TELETOON Pilot Project winner, Fugget About It, has been officially greenlit for production into a 13-part series in English and French.

In the meantime, we have soft-launched our new project. Right now you can only look at our announcement, because there just aren’t enough hours in the day for the two of us to work on the new project, work on Village Gamer, get ready for SIGGRAPH and put in appearances at our paying day jobs. So, without further ado, please visit Canadian Creative and sign up for email notifications (we won’t be selling, renting or giving away your addresses) so that you know when the front door is unlocked and the coffee is on.

Canadian Companies on display at SIGGRAPH 2011:

3D3 Solutions – Booth: 879

Autodesk, Inc. – Booth: 429

British Columbia Film Commission – Booth: 889

Campbell River Creative Industries Council – Booth: 580

Capilano University – Booth: 807

Centre for Digital Media – Booth: 938

cebas Visual Technology Inc. – Booth 250

Digital Domain – Booth 343

Emily Carr University of Art + Design – Booth: 947

Eos Systems Inc. – Booth: 273

iDesign Solutions Booth: 609

MPC – Booth: 463

Measurand Inc. – Booth: 252

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment Booth: 890

Muuun Technologies Inc. – Booth: 690

NDI – Booth: 969

Nelvana Studio – Booth: 708

NorPix Inc. – Booth: 1017

PO-MO Inc. – Booth: 808

Peer 1 Hosting Booth: 283

Pixar Animation Studios Booth: 235

Point Grey Research Inc. Booth: 255

Rainmaker Entertainment Booth: 971

Sheridan College Booth: 813

Side Effects Software Inc. Booth: 712

Simon Fraser University School of Interactive Arts and Technology – Booth: 151

Southpaw Technology Inc. – Booth: 158

Think Tank Training Centre Booth: 944

Toon Boom Animation, Inc. – Booth: 710

Ubisoft World – Booth 955

VanArts – Vancouver Institute of Media Arts Ltd. Booth: 490

Vancouver Animation School Booth: 381

Vancouver Film School – Booth: 739

Vancouver Motion Capture: Animatrik and Alastair Macleod – Booth: 968

Waterloo Region – Canada’s Technology Triangle – Booth: 480

Note:  booth numbers are as of August 1st, hopefully they weren’t moved – let me know if I missed anyone

This is the first time the flagship conference for the ACM SIGGRAPH organization has been held in Canada, and is an incredible opportunity for the Canadian digital media and film industry sectors. There are, at my count, 37 Canadian companies – or international companies with a Canadian location – with exhibit booths on the conference floor, including ourselves in Booth 1018. This does not include the number of Canadian companies who may have a booth in the Job Fair area of the conference, nor those like Corel who will be working out of LightBox’s booth. Nor does it include the Canadian studios who will be represented in our booth with their trailers and games or those being highlighted through the DFAIT and provincial economic development booths. There is without a doubt going to be lots to see, lots to learn, and many people to meet at SIGGRAPH 2011.

SIGGRAPH 2011 highlights the full spectrum of the $67 billion annual computer graphics industry, showcasing the world’s finest technology exhibits, interactive displays, and the best in animation and visual effects. Numerous cutting-edge research and commercial products are shown to the public for the first time in interactive exhibit areas. Examples include:

• Displays: Watch attendees interacting with cutting-edge 3D displays that will change their home theaters and video game experiences.
• Robotics, Wearables, and Haptics: See people engaging with robots and stimulation devices such as a wearable pregnancy jacket that allows the user to feel a fetus’s temperature, movements, and heartbeat.
• Mobile Devices: Interact with the next wave of advancements in mobile technological devices such as a “watch” that turns your hand into a mini-keyboard.

You can get a look at the expo floor map (PDF) on the SIGGRAPH web site, it is current as of August 1st, and for those who are not aware, the expo hall is on the lower level of the new convention centre.

Pascal Langlois

While Motives in Movement still operates from a London base, the recent Dynamixyz POC and relocation of the company founder to Canada demonstrates that it is in countries like Canada and France that leading edge game tech and boundary pushing projects receive significant support. This support is still lacking in the UK games industry and while it is undoubtedly deserved, it is not a reality.

Pascal Langlois explains “The fact is, in France and in Canada, there is a climate of government-level faith in this young industry. It’s founded on a belief that it’s worth investing in, to guarantee being at the heart of its future.”

The Motives in Movement and Dynamixyz relationship started at Gamescom 2010, where the two companies discovered they shared a common and unique approach to animation source material. Instead of using fundamental expressions as a starting point, both companies believe that libraries and animation tools work better with fluid, live performances resulting in the final animation being considerably more believable and engaging than existing systems. The overall process is also radically faster and more efficient.

This collaborative and new wave thinking not only proves that Motives in Movement and Dynamixyz make a good team but also opens up exciting new prospects for both companies.

Dynamixyz is a french company working in the field of high quality 3D facial analysis/synthesis. Distinguished by the French Ministry of Research, Dynamixyz has developed a unique statistical modelling technology making possible to “clone” the expressions and dynamics of a subject. This model can then be used to produce high quality facial animations at low costs. Dynamixyz also develop marker-less performance capture for the entertainment industry.

Dynamixyz and MiM, besides sharing the same point of view on enhancing facial animation, have a really complimentary approach, one providing technology and one providing the necessary high quality content and expertise.

Motives in Movement (MIM) has expertise in both high level traditional media and AAA game development. We provide ‘convergent consultancy’ on performance based library creation, Direction and Acting, for all levels of Capture. Motive’s unique ability to draw on skill sets from both industries, offers developers and animation software providers the next generation of convergent solutions. Motives in Movement now operates from both London and Toronto and is actively engaged in business development in both locations.

Prior to its work on The Nut Job, Toonbox was using Excel to version, track and manage all of the production assets, and the tasks and notes related to those assets, on its various projects. Early on in the production of The Nut Job, Toonbox recognized that Excel simply could not keep up with the hundreds of tasks, the status of those tasks, or the location and version of the 100s of thousands of files being managed. It could not automate tasks or assist in the collaboration process with Toonbox’s Korean partner, Redrover Co., Ltd. Nor could the Production Assistants keep the Excel file updated fast enough to give management an accurate real-time understanding of how the project was going.

As the only solution capable of tying digital assets to production notes, status updates and tasks, TACTIC enables vast teams of digital artists and animators to efficiently store, track, find and move digital assets through the creation process. Whether production is spread between departments or around the globe, TACTIC’s unique web-based architecture simplifies real-time file management, task management and team collaboration during the creation process, and ensures that projects stay on track and on budget.

“We are enjoying phenomenal growth right now and are happy to be employing a solution like TACTIC to support that growth,” said Thom Chapman, director of business development and sales at Toonbox. “Having come out of the animation production environment, Southpaw Technology understands the needs of growing companies like ours, as well as the intricacies of production pipelines. Their technology and their expertise are designed to help companies manage productions today, and scale as productions grow. We now know that we have a solid production solution in place to handle all of our productions as we take on more work.”

“Toonbox Entertainment is really making waves in the animation industry and we’re happy to assist them with TACTIC,” said Gary Mundell, CEO of Southpaw Technology. “Their team is excellent, their work is superior, and now they have a solution like TACTIC to ensure that that talented team doesn’t get bogged down in finding or versioning files; but rather, can focus on creativity and quality. We really look forward to seeing what they produce with TACTIC supporting them.”

Southpaw Technology will be at SIGGRAPH 2011 in Vancouver, please visit them in Booth 158.

The face scanning process involves using a 3D scanner to capture an accurate 3D mesh and color texture directly from a human face. The output is especially useful in the video games, visual effects and medical imaging industry. 3D3 Solutions will feature the HDI 3D Scanner to demonstrate live face scanning at Siggraph. Their scanner uses white-light technology to capture high-resolution, color 3D scan in less than 1.4 seconds. Attendees will be provided with the 3D data of their face scans for personal use.

3D3 Solutions offers 3D scanning systems that are flexible in capturing human shapes, art sculptures, and mechanical parts for industrial inspection. 3D3 Solutions has also worked with a number of leading game companies and universities on developing custom high-speed 3D face scanners. In the latest development, the company’s custom face scanner is capable of performing a 3D scan every 0.2 seconds. “People have a tendency to move just by breathing alone and movement affects scan quality,” said Thomas Tong, President of 3D3 Solutions. “With the ability to generate 3D scans almost instantaneously, users will have cleaner, high quality scan data to work with.”

Please visit booth #879 at SIGGRAPH 2011 to learn more about 3D3 Solutions’ 3D scanning technology.

The StudioCAP process was developed in a real-world production environment by Mark Rocchio, CEO of Thinware Media, while creating thousands of hours of high-quality animation projects. StudioCAP eliminates and/or automates many expensive and time consuming manual processes, improves control of digital assets, and features built-in project planning and budgeting.  Once created, studios can search for assets, reuse them as production sees fit, or re-purpose them for marketing, merchandizing, and other revenue streams.

StudioCAP combines asset management with a number of project management and communication features to move assets more efficiently through the creative process. Studios can assign user roles and staffing levels, send messages about asset status, set tasks, automate tasks such as rendering, and define milestones, timelines and deliverables. StudioCAP can also manage project budgets and tie asset creation to asset costs with insightful reports. Collectively, these features simplify asset creation and the management of highly complex productions.

As a completely Web-based solution, StudioCAP is HTML 5 compliant, supports many mobile devices, and does not require studios to install software or procure, configure, and manage hardware. Unlike other asset management solutions on the market, StudioCAP is billed like a utility, so studios only pay for what they use—with introductory prices starting as low as $145.00 per-user, per month. This unique combination makes it easier and more flexible for studios to get started, and far more cost-effective to maintain.

“We developed StudioCAP because there was no other asset management system on the market capable of helping us produce animations faster and more cost effectively,” said Mark Rocchio, CEO of Thinware Media. “Most asset management systems are either too complicated, too lacking in features, or require some sort of costly infrastructure set-up. StudioCAP addresses all of those issues with a feature-rich system that is flexible, simple to set up and use, and more competitively priced to operate than other asset management products available now,” added Rocchio.

Toon Boom Harmony Highlights:

• Draw with pencil lines supporting textures and variable line thickness. • Deform images and drawings animated over time using advanced bone and curved deformers.
• Built-in particle effects and dozens more!
• 2D-3D import integration, 3 axes object transformation Toon Boom

Storyboard Pro 3D Highlights:

• Work with 3D space with Camera View, Top and Side Views to position your 2D drawing.
• Build your own 3D Library for reuse.
• Export project to 3D software using FBX format.
• Take advantage of Digital Storyboarding capabilities

“We have something exciting in store for viewers of any age with new series premiering on TELETOON, TELETOON at Night and TELETOON Retro this fall along with a whole host of returning favourites,” said Carole Bonneau, Vice President, Programming, TELETOON Canada inc. “Our lineup of original productions continues to grow with Crash Canyon and the popular Jimmy-Two Shoes and Johnny Test. Meanwhile we’ve bolstered our schedule with acquisitions such as The Looney Tunes Show, Hole in the Wall and season four of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, to name just a few.”

Some highlights of this Fall’s lineup include:

TELETOON

• The Looney Tunes Show – an all-new modern comedy series featuring all of your favourite Looney Tunes characters with fresh designs and a vivid, contemporary animation style.
• Hole in the Wall - one of the trickiest, fastest, funniest and wettest live-action game shows on the planet.
• My Life Me - follow Birch Small as she attempts to fit in as she and her friends fumble with teen angst and their identities as they navigate new social terrain at a cooperative high school in this animated series.
• Beyond Human (Working Title) - host Daniel Browning Smith scours the globe for people with unique genetic traits that translate into remarkable powers.
• Young Justice - Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis prove themselves worthy of their responsibilities as superheroes and future members of the Justice League.
• Best Ed - following the unlikely friendship between a good natured dog named Ed and a bumbling squirrel named Buddy.
• Meta Jets - an elite flying team made up of four young pilots protect the world from evil while competing for world racing supremacy on the Aerial Racing Circuit.

Returning favourites to TELETOON’s daytime lineup includes new seasons of TELETOON original productions Jimmy-Two Shoes and Johnny Test as well as new installments of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. In addition to the new series and new seasons, a five-episode sneak-peek of the new TELETOON original production, Detentionaire, will air during the week of September 12 to 16.

TELETOON at Night New and returning series this fall include:

• Crash Canyon – this new TELETOON original production developed by Joel Cohen (co-executive producer of The Simpsons) follows the Wendell family as they take a life-altering turn when they drive off a cliff and land at the bottom of a canyon in Alberta. With no way out, the Wendells are forced to build a life for themselves in their new home – Crash Canyon. 
• Futurama - this epic animated sci-fi comedy from Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) returns this fall with new episodes featuring Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew as they tackle life in New New York in the year 3000.
• Archer - returning for a second season, the series revolves around the spy agency known as the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Although their work is daunting and enigmatic, every covert operation doubles as an unmitigated occasion for the ISIS staff to undermine, sabotage and betray each other for personal gains.
• Robot Chicken – Old-school stop-motion animation and fast-paced satire are the hallmarks of this eclectic show created by Seth Green and Matt Senreich. Action figures find new life as players in frenetic sketch-comedy vignettes that skewer TV, movies, music and celebrity. Encore presentations of Robot Chicken continue to air as part of the TELETOON at Night fall lineup.

TELETOON Retro

• Jem – Jerrica Benton runs the Starlight Music Corporation and is also the lead singer of the sensational rock group Jem and the Holograms. The group romps through a series of exciting adventures while inhabiting an outrageous and glamorous world as fashion and music mix with mystery and thrills, all the while competing against the power-hungry Misfits.
• My Pet Monster – Max Smith’s best friend, Monster, happens to have blue fur and a set of fangs. Although he loves Monster dearly, Max is quick to discover that keeping his real live “pet monster” a secret is no easy task.
• Garfield and Friends - based on the comic strip characters created by Jim Davis, each episode features Garfield and his comic comrades Jon, Odie and Nermal as well as antics from Orson, Wade, Sheldon and the rest of the U.S. Acres gang.
• Batman - the classic ’60s live-action show starring Adam West and Burt Ward comes to TELETOON Retro, following the adventures of Batman and his ward, Robin, as they take on Gotham’s most fiendish villains.
• Tom & Jerry Kids - Tom & Jerry have enchanted kids for years; now see the kind of hilarious mischief they created as a playful kitten and a crafty little mouse before they grew up.
• Ned’s Newt - what happens when Ned overfeeds his four-inch-long, lethargic pet newt with Zippo Newt Food? That little, harmless newt turns into a five hundred-pound monster called Newton – the most mischievous, gluttonous, fun playmate ever.
• Looney Tunes - a collection of original theatrical cartoons featuring the hilarious antics of Warner Bros.’ classic animated characters.
• For Better or for Worse – based on the classic comic strip of the same name, the series is an anthology of animated stories featuring the instantly recognizable Patterson family drawn in Lynn Johnston’s signature style.
• King of the Hill - from the creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill follows the day-to-day activities of propane salesman Hank Hill, his family and their neighbours in a suburban Texas town.

Returning to the TELETOON Retro lineup with new episodes for the fall is the classic Casper & Friends cartoon, following the adventures of everybody’s favourite little ghost as he attempts to make friends with everyone he meets. In addition, The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers continue to fight the good fight this fall with new episodes airing each week as part of the TELETOON Retro schedule.

“Once again, the content in the Computer Animation Festival offers something of interest to just about everyone – from industry newbies to veterans,” said Joshua Grow, Computer Animation Festival Director from The Creative-Cartel. “The content ranges from commercials to gaming. It is truly the year’s unique opportunity to hear directly from the best in the business. It should prove to be educational and inspirational.”

Listed below are just a few of the learning opportunities during the Computer Animation Festival:

Production Sessions

Production Sessions are high-level discussions that showcase the computer animation and visual effects in some of the Computer Animation Festival’s most provocative works. SIGGRAPH 2011 featured Production Sessions include:

The Visual Effects of “Thor” and “Captain America”: So Different Yet So Marvel

Marvel Studios devotes great time and effort to deliver great storytelling, strong visuals, and compelling characters to movie audiences. This session compares the films “Thor” and “Captain America” and shows how visual effects are a critical aesthetic ingredient in their success. Visual effects supervisors Wesley Sewell and Christopher Townsend and their teams from Digital Domain, Double Negative, Whiskytree, Luma Pictures, and Lola VFX review how the films combine beauty and authenticity.

Pixar: “La Luna”

Enrico Casarosa, Pixar Animation Studios

“La Luna” is the timeless fable of a young boy who is coming of age in the most peculiar of circumstances. Tonight is the very first time his Papa and Grandpa are taking him to work. In an old wooden boat, they row far out to sea, and with no land in sight, they stop and wait. A big surprise awaits the little boy as he discovers his family’s most unusual line of work. Should he follow the example of his Papa or his Grandpa? Will he be able to find his own way in the midst of their conflicting opinions and timeworn traditions? Following the Canadian premiere screening of “La Luna,” its director, Enrico Casarosa, discusses the journey that led him to create this very personal short and demonstrates the singularly artistic style by which the film was crafted.

DreamWorks Animation: The Yin and Yang of Creating the Final Battle in “Kung Fu Panda 2”

The climax of the CG-animated movie “Kung Fu Panda 2” is an epic battle featuring a flotilla of boats, an ancient Chinese-styled city, thousands of wolves armed for battle, action featuring hundreds of characters in a single shot, stylized graphic lighting, fantastical cannon fire and explosions, and a set of effects-supported Kung Fu moves. This talk provides a unique insight into the making of a CG-animated movie that goes beyond the traditional idealized concept of the pipeline.

Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Getting Dirty: Bringing the Digital Feature “Rango” to Life

This in-depth discussion focuses on the production of Industrial Light & Magic’s first animated feature “Rango.” ILM’s unique approach to the genre brings a new dimension to the animated feature, giving “Rango” the visceral quality that the company is best known for in its visual effects work. The presenters review all aspects of the work from initial asset development through animation, simulation, lighting, and compositing.

Imageworks: The Smurf-alution: A Half-Century of Character Development

Sony Pictures Imageworks animation supervisor Troy Saliba and leading members of their Vancouver animation team take the Smurfs from the most primitive pencil sketch to a contemporary 3D stereo rendering.

Industrial Light & Magic: New Solutions for New Challenges

The Industrial Light & Magic team delves into the effects created for three of 2011’s largest summer films, dissecting the challenges and revealing their solutions. The panel breaks down the visual effects challenges presented on this year’s slate of films including: “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

Guerrilla: The Creation of Killzone 3 – Game Production Session

This talk details various aspects of designing and developing videogames at Guerrilla. It highlights methods that are very similar to methods used in the CGI industry, and it illuminates some of the most important differences. And it covers the complete breadth of videogame development from artistic design to production pipelines and tool and engine development.

Real-Time Live!

This program showcases the latest trends and best techniques for pushing the boundaries of interactive visuals in video games and real-time simulations. To help emphasize the difference between these works and pre-rendered works, real-time pieces are demonstrated live on their actual platforms without any post-production. Each live presentation lasts less than five minutes in a fast-paced, 45-minute show of diverse and aesthetically stimulating work. SIGGRAPH 2011 Real-Time Live! highlights include:

Chrysaora: WebGL Jellyfish Simulation

Savannah College of Art and Design

Chrysaora is a real-time jellyfish simulation created entirely with web technologies such as JavaScript, WebGL, WebSockets, and CSS. It uses realistic rendering and simulation techniques similar to those used in modern 3D video games, but it can run in an internet browser on any operating system.

Enlighten Real-Time Radiosity

Geomerics Ltd.

Using Geomerics Enlighten technology, this demo shows how dynamic real-time lighting enhances game play and visual quality in computer games. Enlighten is a cross-platform, real-time radiosity solution that can generate bounce lighting for a game level in a fraction of a frame.

Samaritan Real-Time Demo

Epic Games Inc.

Samaritan is a real-time demonstration of the latest Unreal Engine 3 technology that shows off DirectX 11 support and DirectX features such as tessellation and displacement mapping, geometry shaders, multi-sampled textures, and Shader Model 5. High-end rendering enhancements include image-based reflections, Bokeh depth of field, subsurface scattering, anti-aliased masked materials, deferred rendering with MSAA support, and high-quality dynamic shadows.

iMedic: Immersive Medical Environment for Distributed Interactive Consultation

Digital Artforms, Inc.

This interactive medical visualization system is based on two hand-held tracked controllers that directly control the position and orientation of two 3D cursors. Button presses enable direct manipulation of space with either or both hands, resulting in intuitive manipulation of the viewpoint. You can place yourself anywhere at any orientation and at any scale with just a few simple gestures.

RealD Presents 3D Day

The Computer Animation Festival also features an entire day highlighting the enormously popular growth of 3D in movies, including an introduction to 3D by 3ality and an excerpt from Disney’s “Lion King” in 3D. SIGGRAPH 2011 3D highlights include:

JURY AWARD

Paths of Hate

Platige Image

Two pilots, driven by blind hate, chase each other in their airplanes and thereby write cryptic messages of madness into the firmament. On their way into the abyss they transform into inhuman and distorted creatures that finally become part of the history of hate.

BEST STUDENT PROJECT PRIZE

Flamingo Pride

The Konrad Wolf Potsdam-Babelsberg Film and Television University

Frustrated being the only straight flamingo in a gay flock, our hero falls in love with a lady stork that flies by. Unable to convince her of his serious intentions he isolates himself and goes through an identity crisis. An intensive encounter inspires him to make a bold move.

IMAX Hubble 3D Visualization Excerpt: Journey Into the Orion Nebula

Space Telescope Science Institute

An excerpt from IMAX “Hubble 3D” takes viewers inside the Orion Nebula to witness the birth of stars and planets. This cinematic scientific visualization, based on data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories, is the result of close collaboration between research astronomers, computer programmers, and visualization artists.

“Green Lantern”

Sony Pictures Imageworks

In a vast universe a small powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice: the Green Lantern Corps. A new enemy, Parallax, threatens to destroy the balance of power. Their fate and that of Earth lie in the hands of the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

Make It Home – Join Us In Vancouver This August For SIGGRAPH 2011

Each episode follows the mischievous marsupial Little Wombat and his friends Mouse and Koala as they adventure within the Hollow where they live. Although their adventures don’t always go smoothly, Little Wombat and his friends use teamwork to solve problems and complete their adventures successfully.

The adventures of Little Wombat continue online and on mobile devices. Kids are immersed in the world of Little Wombat through interactive digital books, bonus animated content, age-appropriate games, puzzles, and sing alongs.

“We’re pleased to be developing this series, and look forward to telling Little Wombat’s timeless stories through charming animation,” says Jordy Randall, Executive Producer, SEVEN24 Films. “The show really captures the fun and adventure of being a 4 year-old, where every day is filled with optimism and curiosity.”

“This is a great opportunity to expand the adventures of Little Wombat across multiple platforms,” says Matt Hornburg, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia. “Having already gained phenomenal success as a book series, the doors are open to bring these stories to life in other unique and exciting ways, including the TV series we’re currently developing.”

International distribution and format sales will be handled by marblemedia and SEVEN24 Films’ distribution arm, Distribution360.

TELETOON Retro has narrowed the field to 30 classic animated animals and is inviting fans to make their picks for the Top 5 Awesome Animals of all-time. The list of nominees is made up of the following classic cartoon characters:

• Alvin (Alvin & The Chipmunks)
• Astro (The Jetsons)
• Azrael (The Smurfs)
• Boo Boo (The Yogi Bear Show)
• Brain (Inspector Gadget)
• Bugs Bunny (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Bullwinkle (The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle)
• Cheetara (Thundercats)
• The Chicken Hawk (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Daffy Duck (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Dino (The Flintstones)
• Foghorn Leghorn (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Huckleberry Hound (The Huckleberry Hound Show)
• Jerry (The Tom & Jerry Show)
• Lion-O (Thundercats)
• Pepe Le Pew (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• The Pink Panther (The Pink Panther Show)
• Porky Pig (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Road Runner (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Rocky (The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle)
• Scooby-Doo! (Scooby-Doo!)
• Simon (Alvin & The Chipmunks)
• Sylvester (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• The Tasmanian Devil (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Theodore (Alvin & The Chipmunks)
• Tom (The Tom & Jerry Show)
• Tweety (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Wile E Coyote (The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show)
• Woody Woodpecker (Woody Woodpecker)
• Yogi Bear (The Yogi Bear Show)

To help kick off the Top 5 Awesome Animals campaign, TELETOON Retro is holding themed weekend events at the Granby Zoo in Granby, QC, July 1-3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at the Toronto Zoo, July 9-10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event weekends will give TELETOON Retro fans the chance to meet Bugs Bunny and Scooby-Doo and to have their photos taken with them.

The TELETOON Retro Hall of Fame Top 5 Awesome Animals campaign runs in English on TELETOON Retro and in French on TÉLÉTOON Rétro. While the third campaign of its kind for the English-language service, the Top 5 Awesome Animals marks the launch of the TELETOON Retro Hall of Fame for the French-language service, featuring a separate list of TÉLÉTOON Rétro cartoon animal nominees.

The Top 5 Awesome Animals will join the TELETOON Retro Hall of Fame alongside the Top 5 favourite cartoon characters of all time and the Top 5 Sweethearts as chosen by the fans in December 2010 and February 2011, respectively. The Top 5 favourite characters of all time were Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, Optimus Prime, Batman and Spider-man, while the Top 5 Sweethearts include Fred and Daphne (Scooby-Doo!), Batman and Catwoman, Alvin and Britney (Alvin & The Chipmunks), Scooby-Doo and Shaggy and Optimus Prime and Elita One.

Coinciding with the Top 5 Awesome Animals campaign, TELETOON Retro will be available in free preview to Rogers, Shaw Cable, Shaw Direct, TELUS and Videotron digital television subscribers throughout the month of July. During this period, TELETOON Retro will also have a dedicated page through Rogers On Demand Online featuring episodes of Casper & Friends, Real Ghostbusters, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra, Princess of Power.

A Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI #2011-09: Waterfront Cultural and Animation Strategy) was recently issued to solicit submissions to animate the wide range of opportunity for office and gallery uses, museums, public art, performing arts centres, cultural centres and festivals on Toronto’s waterfront.

Culture, the arts and tourism play key roles in the transformation of Toronto’s waterfront. With revitalization efforts well underway and private sector partners on board in the East Bayfront and West Don Lands, Waterfront Toronto is in a position to implement its cultural, tourism and animation strategy in the new waterfront communities.

In 2006, Waterfront Toronto commissioned a Cultural and Animation Strategy for the East Bayfront with a series of recommendations for cultural and animation uses for the revitalized waterfront.  The REOI is the next step towards waterfront animation.

Waterfront Toronto would like to hear from interested groups who have the experience, vision and financial capacity to animate cultural and tourism spaces on Toronto’s waterfront.

“Part of our mandate has always been to animate Toronto’s waterfront and create a premier destination for residents and visitors alike,” said John Campbell, Waterfront Toronto President and CEO. “We are now looking for inspiration, great creativity and purposeful action to implement this key revitalization objective.”

East Bayfront and West Don Lands will offer unprecedented cultural and commercial animation opportunities across a variety of spaces including ground floor retail, mezzanine, multi-floor and stand-alone spaces.

East Bayfront will be defined by its architectural design excellence, its direct access to Lake Ontario and signature parks and public spaces. The area is already home to the new headquarters of Corus Entertainment, the popular Canada’s Sugar Beach, Sherbourne Common and future home to mixed-use projects by The Great Gulf Group of Companies and Hines.

The West Don Lands will be one of Toronto’s next great neighbourhoods; a people focused community, environmentally sustainable and beautifully designed for urban living. First phase development is underway with Urban Capital’s River City project while the build-out of the entire area is being accelerated by the delivery of the Athletes’ Village for the 2015 Toronto Pan/Parapan American Games.  Following the Games, the Athletes’ Village will become the heart of this new community.

“Our goal is to create a ‘quality of place’ for Toronto’s waterfront that will rival anywhere in the world,” said Campbell. “We are creating a legacy of beautiful, vibrant, sustainable neighbourhoods that reconnect Toronto with its waterfront.”

Interested firms are invited to submit their proposals by Friday, July 29^th before 4:00 p.m. ET. Proposals should include concept and vision, experience and qualifications, target audience and expected visitors, and space requirements and location. A supporting business plan for capital and operating costs must also be submitted since Waterfront Toronto is not in a position to provide capital or operating subsidies.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization.

“The level of quality and technical expertise exemplified by this year’s submissions continues to raise the bar for the extreme innovation and leading technology the Computer Animation Festival delivers year after year,” said Joshua Grow, Computer Animation Festival Director and 3D Stereo Coordinator for The Creative-Cartel. “The submissions selected to be featured at SIGGRAPH 2011 are a true testament to the leaps and bounds the Computer Animation Industry has achieved since the Computer Animation Festival first debut at SIGGRAPH and promises a very exciting road ahead.”

The Computer Animation Festival is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival. Since 1999, several works originally presented in the Computer Animation Festival have been nominated for or have received a “Best Animated Short” Academy Award. This year’s selections will be featured during the Computer Animation Festival through a series of daily Festival Screenings and the iconic Electronic Theater allowing attendees to get a glimpse behind the making of computer generated effects, visualizations, and animations.

Best In Show Award

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, Moonbot Studios

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and Technicolor musicals.

Jury Award

Paths of Hate

Directed by Damian Nenow, Platige Image

Two pilots, driven by blind hate, chase each other in their airplanes and thereby write cryptic messages of madness into the firmament. On their way into the abyss they transform into inhuman and distorted creatures that finally become part of the history of hate.

Best Student Project Prize

Flamingo Pride

Directed by Tomer Eshed, The Konrad Wolf Potsdam-Babelsberg Film and Television University

Frustrated being the only straight flamingo in a gay flock, our hero falls in love with a lady stork that flies by. Unable to convince her of his serious intentions he isolates himself and goes through an identity crisis. An intensive encounter inspires him to make a bold move.

Jury Award Runners-Up

Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!

Directed by Tod Polson, The Monk Studios

A young storyteller challenges the old master in a pub on the Irish west coast. The “Escape of the Gingerbread Man” is a mad romp through the Irish countryside. As well as a subtle commentary on the changes in traditions, and culture that is happening throughout the “emerald isle.”

The Experience of Fliehkraft

Directed by Till Nowak, frameboX

Humans mount themselves onto gigantic robots and try to get centrifuged through space. Sounds like science fiction, but it is what happens in theme parks. Machines with the power of tanks offer five minutes of anti-gravity therapy. An attempt to escape this world … driven by 10,000 horsepower.

Best Student Project Prize Runners-Up

DreamGiver

Directed by Tyler Carter, Brigham Young University

A regular night of dream delivering turns into a literal nightmare when an orphan’s book of Ancient Aztec Mythology comes alive. The Dreamgiver must save the orphan from his own nightmare!

Sweater Dog

Directed by Gina Moffit, Ringling College of Art and Design

A normally happy go lucky dog is put into a restricting sweater by his owner but tries to go on with his normal every day activities.

* If you haven’t yet registered for SIGGRAPH 2011, you should do so now, because ticket prices go up at midnight on June 18th.  Having the conference in Vancouver this year is a huge opportunity for our many-faceted digital media industry, and I hope that you all take advantage of it. We’ll be at the show, and we really hope to see you there, too.

* The Full Indie Game Jam that is happening this weekend at the Centre for Digital Media is sold out, but there is a waiting list. Registration is also now open for the June 23rd Full Indie meetup event, and with limited space available, I suggest signing up now. Games from the jam will be featured at the meetup.

* SIGGRAPH Vancouver Chapter presents The Art of Lighting and Rendering Rio next week at District 319. Jim Gettinger, Lighting Supervisor, will discuss lighting and lighting design as it pertains to the overall aesthetic of Blue Sky Studios’ latest animated hit, RIO. This talk will explore the developmental work pursued by Jim and his team taking the listener through many stages of the production process at Blue Sky. Lighting and lighting techniques will be presented from concept art, through pre-visualization, master lighting, and compositing.

* The next Women In Games Vancouver Martini Night is June 23rd at Guilt & Company. Ladies, come out for a relaxing evening of socializing with other women from the interactive media industry. RSVP on the event’s Facebook page.

* Annex Pro is hosting three (and free) software events in Vancouver; please click the event links for more information and to register. The first is happening tomorrow – Test-Drive Native Performance with new Avid Pro Tools|HD Native will be held at Annex Pro. Don’t Just Edit. Finish. Autodesk Smoke for Mac OS X takes place at Vancouver Film School on June 22. On June 28th, you can spend An Evening with The Foundry: Nuke 6.3, NukeX 6.3, Mari at Rainmaker Entertainment.

* New Media Manitoba presents iPad User Interface Design on June 21st. Chris, Olga, and Lee of Velocity Branding will guide you through their methodology for project management and designing for Tablets. This is a free event, and will take place at the NMM offices from 5-7pm.

* Interactive Ontario presents Interact Networking Mixer: Special Documentary Edition on June 29th at The Annex Live from 6 – 8pm. This event is free for DOC & IO Members or $10.00 for Non-Members. You are invited to come out and mingle with professionals in the interactive and documentary media industries, with the opportunity to uncover new possibilities for creative and business partnerships. This event is co-presented by docSHIFT (an initiative of the DOC Toronto) and Interactive Ontario.

* Tech Cocktail is coming to Vancouver on July 9th. The event will be very much focused on the future as we partner with Futurists:BetaLaunch as part of the World Future Conference by the World Future Society, a 45-year old non-profit organization dedicated to advancing ideas of the future. We’re also looking to engage with the local Vancouver tech community, inviting them to participate in this exciting event.

* Amazon invites you to come out and meet the Amazon Vancouver team, where you can learn about all the job opportunities at one of Amazon’s newest Software Development Centers in Canada. Meet and mingle with all the different teams that are growing and hiring at the new office. This will be a great opportunity to meet our engineers, learn about our culture, and find out about the exciting opportunities Amazon Vancouver has to offer. Have a drink and appetizers on us, but don’t forget to bring your resume. RSVP through LinkedIn required.

* The nationwide DEMO Innovation tour is back – it will be in Vancouver on June 23rd, Toronto on June 26th, and Montreal on July 15th.  Matt Marshall, DEMO Executive Producer and the DEMO team will travel around the country to connect with the DEMO community in search of the best innovation to showcase at DEMO Fall 2011, and they invite you to submit an application for a 30 minute private meeting with the DEMO team and leading Venture capitals in a city near you. There are ten spots available per tour stop. Each company selected will also have the opportunity to address a larger audience at the DEMO Tour party in the evening open to the entire DEMO community of VCs, investors, media and PR professionals.

Remember this is just a very small sampling of upcoming events – visit our Events Page for more listings.

Focusing on educational excellence for both teaching and learning, AEP, a national, nonprofit organization serving the educational resource community, runs this annual awards program that defines the industry standard for quality educational products and excellence in education marketing.

The DAAs, the largest branch of the program, recognize the year’s best products according to subject area and grade level in the categories of Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development and Technology. The awards highlight the standard of excellence other developers can measure their products against.

In the Curriculum/Arts category, the Flip Boom Classic Art Curriculum competed with the Disney English Winter Camp Music Program from Disney Publishing Worldwide for K-5 while the Flip Boom All-Star Art Curriculum competed with Connections Education for Grades 6-8.

“We feel truly honored by this prestigious recognition which testifies to our commitment to education. We’ll make sure to let all our customers know about this wonderful accomplishment,” states Joan Vogelesang, President and Chief Executive Officer at Toon Boom Animation Inc.

In the four months since its launch, Rastamouse has quickly developed into one of the most popular children’s shows in the UK where it airs on CBeebies and BBC2. Based on the successful range of books by Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster, the critically acclaimed TV series follows the adventures of cool, music-making, skateboarding, crime-fighting Rastamouse & Da Easy Crew as they share their philosophy of ‘Makin’ a Bad Ting Good’. The official YouTube channel for Rastamouse has received over 750,000 views.

Music is a crucial element of the TV series, with Reggae, rap and hip-hop featured prominently, and most of the stories have strong musical themes. The brilliant new album features extended versions of super cool reggae tunes from the smash hit TV children’s animation series.  Rastamouse is voiced by actor / presenter / DJ Reggie Yates, who appears on the first single ‘Ice Popp’ and other tracks.

The album release will be preceded by the fantastic, fun, summer reggae sound of Rastamouse single ‘Hot Hot Hot’, to be released on 26^th June, following Rastamouse & Crew’s live appearances at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival. The single comes with accompanying promo video and features hot new vocals from Scratchy. Rastamouse is also on the bill for the Lollibop Festival, Regent’s Park (5^th-7^th August) with other appearances to be announced shortly.

Stadium 16 in Corpus Christi will be the first of the two to feature the motion technology, debuting 25 D-BOX MFX Seats in time for the May 20 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

“This initial agreement with Starplex Cinemas generates new opportunity for growth within the U.S. as this chain currently has a presence in California, Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio, just to name a few U.S. states,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master.

“We are very much looking forward to introducing the D-BOX experience,” said Director of Marketing for Starplex Cinemas, Traci Hoey. “It’s a means of differentiating our theatres from others in the market while maintaining our commitment to provide a high-quality, state-of-the-art entertainment experience for our guests.”

The HSBC International Business Awards are an important, new awards program that will honour Canadian firms that have made a real difference in taking their products and services to the world. The Awards were bestowed in the following categories: the HSBC International Business of the Year Award, Small and Medium Enterprise, the HSBC International Business of the Year Award, Large Enterprise, the Leadership in International Trade in Asia-Pacific, and the Leadership in International Trade in Latin America. The program was created in conjunction with Business without Borders, Canada’s newest and best source of news, analysis and practical information for companies reaching beyond this nation’s borders.

Of interest to us are the 2011 Award Winners in the Enterprise categories, because they are both from the Technology sector:

Small Medium Enterprise: ToonBoom Animation
Large Enterprise: Forensic Technology

GuestLogix, Inc., a global provider of onboard store technology to airlines and the passenger travel industry, today announced that Tom Douramakos, President and Chief Executive Officer was invited to present at the 12^th Annual B. Riley & Co. Investor Conference at the Lowes Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

Mr. Douramakos will discuss the benefits of GuestLogix’ onboard retailing technology and merchandising platform and highlight the Company’s success in penetrating the global airline industry. He will also outline the Company’s strategy to drive continued growth. The GuestLogix presentation will take place on Tuesday, May 24^th, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time in Palisades D.

The film begins with a cluttered office desk plastered with to-do lists scribbled on Post-it Notes. One brave Post-it Note escapes on an incredible journey of self-discovery to find his father, which brings him to St. Paul, Minnesota where he tracks down Art Fry, the inventor of Post-it Notes.

“The Webby Awards honour the very best of the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of the Webby Awards. “Jeff Chiba Stearns’ achievement for Ode To A Post-it Note is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators.”

Producer Jeff Chiba Stearns, of Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., and executive producer Sherry Browne, of 3M Canada, are honoured to be among the winners of the annual Webby Awards which will presented in New York City on Monday, June 13, 2011.

The Webby Awards are infamous online and around the world. They’re considered the Internet’s highest honour and winners are chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (which includes such members as David Bowie, Beck, Arianna Huffington, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, and Richard Branson). The 15th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries.

“3M Canada is very honoured that Jeff Chiba Stearns is receiving this award for his work on Ode To A Post-it Note,” commented Sherry Browne, Marketing Manager at 3M Canada. “This animated film has touched the hearts of people around the world, especially those who are fans of Post-it products”.

Coming Soon: VI Technologies has announced that the company will be releasing VI Racing 964 3.3 Turbo: AI First Drive on April 30th.

Digital Leisure Inc. has launched Word Searcher Deluxe exclusively on WiiWare for 500 Nintendo Points. In this follow up to last years ‘Word Searcher’, gamers will need a sharp eye and a quick mind to complete these 100 themed word search puzzles. Word Searcher Deluxe contains fun words from multiple categories including palindromes, pirates and painting. Packed with a huge assortment of subjects to choose from, there’s sure to be a puzzle anyone will enjoy.

Word Searcher Deluxe will help improve your vocabulary, memory and problem-solving skills with its addictive puzzles. Keep track of your progress and try to beat your own play through times again and again as words are scrambled every time you play. Get your thinking cap on and conquer all 100 today, or take on the whole family and your friends with the full cooperative and competitive multi-player modes. You will also be able to download and enjoy additional puzzles via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play

Toronto’s Mobile Game Studio will be releasing Web Swinger, the studio’s newest arcade game  in just a few weeks’ time. This new fun packed game will put you in the role of a tiny creature who despite his size, is determined to rule world, reaching incredible heights while defeating enemies in a life and death battle for barn supremacy. Arcade-styled Web Swinger will take you into the world of insects, casting you as a spider and pitting you against numerous insect enemies as you battle against time in your quest to the bottom of the barn.

Click on the down or up arrow to move the spider down or up the web and drag your finger on the screen to swing the spider. Web Swinger features 20 different levels of unbelievable fun, but it is up to you to make your mark and defeat your enemies. You will lose the game if your spider loses all of its lives or is crushed by time.  Stay tuned for the official release of Web Swinger in the Apple Store.

Parksville’s Pixton has been selected as an Official Honoree in the Youth category of the 15th Annual Webby Awards, one of the Internet’s most respected symbol of success.  This year’s Webby Awards received 10,000 entries from 60 countries and 50 U.S. states. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 10 percent of all work entered. Fellow Honorees in the Youth category include such powerhouses as Disney, Lego, Teen.com, and Nickelodeon.

“We’re incredibly honored that Pixton has been selected. It reinforces Pixton as one of the best websites for youth, and that wouldn’t be possible without our active, vibrant community”, says Clive Goodinson, Creator and Founder of Pixton Comics.

Pixton pushes the limits of creativity on the web by giving anyone the power to create comics, full of original characters with life-like expression and movement. Every element of a comic is controlled with an intuitive click-and-drag motion. Comics can be shared in print as well as across the social web, in browsers, mobile devices, tablets, and interactive whiteboards.

“Kids today want not only to get inside their favorite characters’ worlds, they want to actively shape those worlds, in an online social environment,” says Clive, “Pixton is that place. Kids can carve out their own niche while being part of a shared world of digital stories and comic conversations.”

Already available in 9 languages, the website is continually growing as Pixton expands its reach to homes, schools, and businesses around the world.

Vancouver based interactive digital agency Appnovation Technologies has become an official systems integration partner with San Francisco based Strobe Inc., a company founded by SproutCore creator Charles Jolley, enables the delivery of cross platform mobile solutions using HTML5 and SproutCore technologies.

Appnovation’s expertise lies in designing, building and deploying content rich web and mobile applications using open source technology platforms such as Drupal and Alfresco. By adding SproutCore and Strobe technologies to their services arsenal, Appnovation will now be able to blend the robust content and document management capabilities of Alfresco and Drupal with ability to deploy applications across multiple mobile platforms. Appnovation is already working with Strobe to bring the value of this partnership to market and continue to drive open source solutions for its customers.

Vircom, an award-winning e-mail messaging security software company in Montreal has released directQuarantine™, an Outlook add-on module for its modusGate™ email security software that provides end-user control of quarantine emails directly from Outlook. Vircom’s directQuarantine software is compatible with modusGate 4.7 or 5.0, runs on Windows platforms (2003/2008/2008R2 for the server and XP/Vista/7 for the client) and is available to order today.

directQuarantine provides a Spam folder in Outlook that allows end-users to search for quarantined emails in real-time using the Outlook search toolbar or the blazingly fast native Windows search – no more waiting for nightly quarantine reports, logging in to a Web portal, or depending upon IT to check for and release blocked emails. The directQuarantine folder contains all emails caught and filtered by modusGate and any false positives can be quickly and easily released directly from the Outlook toolbar. Any attachments, viruses, phishing links and all other electronic threats remain safely on the modusGate server and are not downloaded to Outlook, ensuring the highest level of security.

Toronto’s AVIX Technologies, Inc. has announced that its its proposed wholly owned subsidiary, Florida-based Actus Interactive Software, LLC has developed a suite of cutting edge graphical multi-touch capable interactive kiosk and active digital signage products that are intended for broad market and vertical appeal.

Divided between active digital signage and interactive kiosks, these solutions feature self service content management in an easy to use, dynamic way, deploying to countless end point devices in a real time or scheduled manner. ACTUS’ kiosk and digital signage owners can also dynamically brand or “skin” end point devices uniquely or in groups.

Cornelia Volino, President of AVIX stated that, “As the Company moves closer to completing the acquisition of ACTUS, our focus is shifting towards integrating vertical and horizontal industry segments and those that will be capable of supporting the development efforts of ACTUS, which include multi-touch capability and gesture based technologies built on the NUI.”

This suite of kiosk and interactive digital signage products has the potential to significantly affect competition in the kiosk and interactive digital signage spaces across multiple vertical industries. ACTUS kiosk solutions are multi-touch (and eventually gesture) capable based on the latest advances in Natural User Interface (NUI) providing for high levels of usability beyond what is normally seen in today’s web based kiosk software. ACTUS kiosk and digital signage solutions deploy to multiple form factors on multiple platforms including large HD screens, computers, slates, and mobile devices and all leverage a common web & cloud capable back end architecture.

The first video dev diary for Space Marine has been posted to YouTube – check out the action and hear from the devs as they talk about Relic Entertainment’s next title. Set in the rich Warhammer 40,000 universe created by Games Workshop®, Space Marine is scheduled to be released worldwide for the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and Windows PC in August 2011.

You are a Space Marine, one of humanity’s elite warriors, the last line of defence between mankind and its enemies. Through extensive genetic modification, psycho-chemical conditioning and years of rigorous training that would kill a normal man a Space Marine becomes superhuman. When one of the industrial ‘Forge World’ planets where humanity creates its greatest weapons, comes under attack and the thousands of imperial soldiers stationed there are overwhelmed the only thing standing between this planet and its total destruction is your Space Marine.

Paradox Interactive has released the first trailer of Supreme Ruler: Cold War. Developed by BattleGoat Studios, which also created the successful Supreme Ruler 2010 and 2020, their most recent title invites you to relive the tension and uncertainty of the Cold War.  Supreme Ruler: Cold War is the next installment in the Supreme Ruler series and gives players control over a 1950’s United States or Soviet Union as they try to lead their country to glory.

As leader of the United States or the Soviet Union, you must make the correct Economic, Diplomatic, Domestic and Military decisions to successfully navigate your country through this dangerous historical era and increase your nation’s Sphere of Influence on the world stage.

Casey Hudson of BioWare, executive producer of the Mass Effect series, will serve as executive producer on the film, along with FUNimation President and CEO Gen Fukunaga and Director of Original Entertainment Chris Moujaes and T.O Entertainment’s CEO Takeichi Honda and Yui Shibata.

“Over the last few years, we have revealed different pieces of the Mass Effect world through different media. Extending the story through an anime medium is another amazing opportunity for us,” said Casey Hudson, Executive Producer for the Mass Effect series. “Partnering with FUNimation ensures that we will bring this rich universe to life with the utmost quality and the same attention to detail that the Mass Effect games are known for.”

“It is thanks to the enormous and passionate Mass Effect fan base that this movie is made possible,” said Gen Fukunaga, President & CEO of FUNimation. “With production underway on the Dragon Age video, we are excited to team up with another BioWare team to add an exciting new chapter to this vast sci-fi world.”

Production of the Mass Effect anime movie has already begun. Digital and home video releases are scheduled for the summer of 2012. The original Mass Effect game and its sequel Mass Effect 2 have received over 250 awards and 100 perfect ‘10’ scores from critics worldwide. Mass Effect 2 is available now for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. Stay tuned for more news about the continuation of Commander Shepard’s adventure as BioWare will release more information about Mass Effect 3 soon.

In another deal, EA and Hasbro, Inc. have proclaimed that today, April 7th, is Global Monopoly Day on Facebook. Monopoly fans around the world are invited to play Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook to win more than $20,000 in prizes (no purchase necessary, void in Quebec) and participate in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Records® title. The attempt will be measured by the greatest number of people worldwide simultaneously playing Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook. Official adjudicators will be monitoring the game over a 24-hour period from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. PST on April 7. Players can take part during that time frame through Monopoly Millionaires on Facebook and can RSVP to participate at the Global Monopoly Day event page on Facebook any time prior to 11:59 p.m. PST on April 7. As of right now, there are over 74 000 people “attending” the event.

“With Monopoly Millionaires, EA and Hasbro have brought the beloved family board game to a growing audience of tens of millions of people on Facebook,” said Katie Mitic, Director of Platform and Mobile Marketing, Facebook. “We’re excitedly anticipating the record to be set on Facebook as people share the whole experience with their friends.”

In addition to the record attempt, participants in global Monopoly Day on Facebook can get a chance to win a wealth of fun rewards. A total of $20,580 in prizes – the same amount of Monopoly money in Hasbro’s globally popular Monopoly board game – are available, including $5,000 in cash prizes, $5,000 in Visa® gift cards, various Apple® products, and many other great prizes. For a chance to win prizes, participants can enter the Monopoly Millionaires Sweepstakes through the Monopoly Millionaires Facebook app on April 7. No purchase necessary to participate. In addition, EA Mobile™ will host a sale on April 8th of Monopoly games for iPad™, Kindle™ and most mobile devices for all Global Monopoly Day participants to thank them for their involvement in the Guinness World Records attempt.

“Since its launch in February, Monopoly Millionaires has quickly become one of the most popular games on Facebook, delighting millions of enthusiastic players from around the world,” said Chip Lange, Senior Vice President of EA’s Hasbro Division. “We are reminded every day of the power of the passionate Monopoly community and can’t wait to see all the fans come out to help us set the Guinness World Record for the most people playing Monopoly Millionaires simultaneously on Facebook. With their support, we’re looking forward to Global Monopoly Day being an overwhelming success.”

Monopoly Millionaires is the first free-to-play social gaming version of the world’s favorite family game brand. Released by EA in February 2011, the title was the fastest growing Facebook game during the weeks of March 7 and March 14, and had a 472% increase in players from March 1 to April 1, 2011, according to AppData.

“The popularity of Monopoly Millionaires underscores the massive appeal and connection that the brand holds with consumers worldwide,” said Jane Ritson-Parsons, Global Brand Leader for Monopoly at Hasbro. “Social gaming platforms such as Facebook have significantly broadened the Monopoly playing universe and events such as Global Monopoly Day celebrate the rich heritage and exciting future of a branded play experience that has been entertaining families for nearly eight decades.”

To celebrate Global Monopoly Day on Facebook, EA is promoting local meet ups around the globe through Meetup.com – the world’s largest network of local groups – in which fans can gather to play Monopoly Millionaires in the attempt to set the Guinness World Records title. For more information about how to organize and take part in a Global Monopoly Day meet-up, visit http://www.meetup.com/Global-Monopoly-Day.

“Skatoony has proven to be a very successful franchise both in English and French Canada, and we’re excited to be starting production on its second season in association with our long-time partner TELETOON,” says Mark Bishop, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia. “The great thing about Skatoony is that it encourages education and learning through fun and engaging trivia games,” adds Bishop. “There is a high-level of interactivity both on-air and online that resonates well with kids.”

Production of the second season has begun in Toronto on the animated/live-action comedy series that pits tweens and toons against each other in competition through frantic, trivia-based rounds – but only one will be named Skatoony Quiz Champ. The live-action portion of Skatoony is being filmed in front of a green screen with contestants chosen through an audition process, which took place in Toronto and Montreal over the past two months. In addition, teletoon.com held a wildly successful contest and a winner from both English and French Canada will appear on the show. To add to the excitement of the second season, there will be special “celebrity” toon appearances by popular characters from other TELETOON hit series, such as Total Drama Revenge of the Island (Fresh TV) and Jimmy Two-Shoes (Breakthrough Entertainment).

“TELETOON is incredibly excited to bring Skatoony on board for a second season – a series that has become a beloved part of our programming lineup,” says Alan Gregg, Director, Original Content, TELETOON Canada inc. “We’re delighted to have more celebrity appearances from TELETOON’s other original productions that will enhance the new season and the overall game-show experience that Skatoony brings to our viewers.”

This year, teletoon.com launched its first-ever multi-player online game, the marblemedia-produced Skatoony Home Game (available at Skatoony.ca), which has been played over 85,000 times with over one million trivia questions asked to date. Kids play against other real kids in real time as well as computer-generated characters, and compete in the same trivia rounds featured on the television series, such as Bang On or Bogus and Hoo Flung Dung. The more kids play, the more Skatoony Bucks they collect, which can be used in-game to purchase accessories to customize both their avatar and their quiz show block.

Distributed internationally by Distribution360, Skatoony TV and Skatoony Interactive were produced with the financial participation of TELETOON Canada inc.; Canada Media Fund; Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund; Ontario Film & Television Tax Credit; Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit; Canadian Television Fund – Digital Media Program; OMDC Interactive Digital Media Fund.

Toronto’s Max the Mutt Animation School and Daemen College in Amherst, New York have signed an articulation agreement that may provide some Max the Mutt graduates with the opportunity to obtain advanced standing in Daemen College’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program subject to meeting Daemen College’s requirements.

“This is exciting news for Max the Mutt diploma holders who apply and are accepted as they can earn a BFA degree in one academic year!” explains Maxine Schacker, the Founder and Director of Max the Mutt.  “They will have the ability to round out their education with academic studies, and attain credentials that may be necessary for some job opportunities abroad.”

Max the Mutt and Daemen first entered into a partnership in May, 2010. Max the Mutt was able to assist Daemen in founding their new animation degree program. In the future, both schools will support and enhance each other’s programs and plan to cooperate in developing innovative educational strategies that will enhance the development of students at both schools.

Max the Mutt and Daemen are well matched as both stress small class size, foster skills and creativity, and seek to develop knowledge and skills that will make their graduates  a positive addition to their fields and to the world. Max the Mutt and Daemen will also offer relevant workshops to each other’s students.

“We were amazed and delighted to find a school that has the same basic philosophy as Max the Mutt,” says Schacker.  “We believe our graduates who apply for this and are accepted will have an easy transition into Daemen’s environment.”

Max the Mutt Animation School is devoted to the study of drawing, classical and computer animation, illustration for sequential arts and concept art for animation and video games.

“We’re bringing an array of exciting properties to MIPTV this year that are sure to appeal to many audiences,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Head of Sales, Distribution360. “In less than a year, D360 has built an impressive slate of over 200 hours of content, and we’re thrilled to have built partnerships with many internationally-renowned producers.”

New additions to Distribution360?s slate of offerings include:

Kids & Youth
Skatoony (39 x 30′ / 13 x 30′ live-action/animation, web games, online videos) An animated/live-action comedy series that pits tweens and „toons against each other in competition through four frantic, trivia-based rounds – but only one will be named Skatoony Quiz Champ. Set in a fantastical television studio in the fictional town of Showtown, the series is anchored by the hilarious cartoon duo of host Chudd Chudders and his lounge-singing sidekick, The Earl. Each week they attempt to put together another show while all manner of mad happenings occur around them… but the show must go on! North American versions produced by marblemedia; UK and German versions produced by Cartoon Network UK.

Splatalot (26 x 30’ action reality series, format rights, web games, online videos) A hilarious medieval-themed action reality show geared to the tween audience, featuring an extreme obstacle course with more wipe outs and spills than ever imaginable. Each episode features a different group of 12 thrill-seeking teen contestants, dubbed Attackers, competing in three cringe-inducing rounds. The Defenders of Splatalot, an international squad of nine medieval-themed gladiators, will do their best to protect the castle from the Attackers – only leaving one to be crowned King or Queen. Splatalot was commissioned by YTV, the BBC, and ABC (Australia). Produced by marblemedia.

Lifestyle
Ghostly Encounters (83 x 30’ episodes) Start a conversation about things that go bump in the night, and pretty soon everybody in the room has a story to tell. Paranormal experiences aren?t just the domain of psychics and tarot card readers – in fact, many ordinary people believe they have had supernatural encounters. Ghostly Encounters looks into those incidents and the regular folks-next-door who had them, and takes the viewer on a chilling ride through a fascinating, highly personal ghost story. Produced by Logan Hill Productions.

Comedy
TAC.tv (181 x 3’ animated shorts & 23 x 30’ animated episodes and online videos) The series features a cast of hilarious characters such as The Googoos, The Secretary, and The Pilot, to name a few. These off-the-wall characters are sculpted from modeling clay by the creator himself, Michel Beaudet. In post production, he superimposes his own moving eyes, mouth, and nose, creating unique characters with over-the-top personalities. Produced by Salambo Productions.

Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town (8 x 30’ episodes) When Death gets off the Greyhound bus in small town Shuckton, Ontario, everyone in town is implicated when one of its most distinguished citizens is found murdered. As a suspect is arrested and the trial plays out, the entire town is affected and its dark secrets are unraveled and exposed. Famous around the world for their sketch comedy, Death Comes to Town features the original five Kids in the Hall, Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, in an all-new narrative format. The Kids still play all the characters – men and women – all distinctively quirky, gender-bending, boundary-pushing and definitively Kids in the Hall. Produced by Axis Entertainment.

On Sale: Tickets for HackWaterloo, taking place on April 9th at the Post Rank office in Waterloo.

Panel Event: BCTIA TechForum Series presents Accelerator Programs…Do they really work? on April 19th at the Sutton Place Hotel, featuring speakers Jim Maynard, Wavefront President, Tim Jackson, Waterloo Accelerator Centre CEO, and Iain Klugman, Communitech Hub President and CEO.

Election 41: The Polaris Institute has re-launched TarNation, a popular political video game aimed at highlighting Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff’s unwillingness to take action on the environmentally destructive tar sands. Players spray oil at Conservative and Liberal party leaders to get them out of the tar sands.

Last evening the EA Canada Campus in Burnaby played host to the relaunch of IGDA Vancouver, with pizza supplied by Slant Six Games and beer provided by Granville Island Brewery. There was a pretty good turnout of people from the local development community, which to me says that there is interest in breathing new life into our long-dormant local chapter. IGDA Executive Director Gordon Bellamy and IGDA Community Manager Ryan Arndt were on-hand to answer questions and bring everyone up to speed on what’s been going on with the global association, and it looks like there are some very good initiatives on the horizon.

Work Life Balance, Outsourcing and Collaboration were but some of the topics pursued throughout the course of the meeting, and I hope that as our local industry revamps itself and moves forward, the discussions will continue. As one who is unable to attend events such as GDC San Francisco or the Leadership Forum, due travel and ticket costs being rather prohibitive, I look forward to more localized and affordable events as outlined in Gordon’s preamble to the meeting. What stood out the most for me was the willingness of the IGDA to work with other groups and events, including the BC Interactive Task Force, Women In Games Vancouver, ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver, the Canadian Games Conference and Full Indie for the betterment of all aspects of the digital media industry – not just those who are artists and coders – because not all of us are talented enough to create outstanding artwork or code more than a Hello World function. I hope that the next iteration of DigiBC will also see the opportunity for collaboration, thereby adding even more strength to our local community.

For those unable to attend, Scott videotaped the information and open mic session that took place in the EA theatre, and we’ll be posting that to our YouTube channel as soon as he has a chance to process it. If you would like to find out more about our local IGDA chapter and (hopefully) get involved, please visit the IGDA Vancouver Facebook page and jump into the conversation. There are future events being planned, two of which will be hosted by Next Level Games and Radical Entertainment – I believe there was also mention of Relic Entertainment hosting an event as well.

Vancouver’s Decapod Studios has updated its Slash Effect WP7 app, which is a news reader for  the Slash Dot website. The studio has also released Photo Search Free to the WP7 marketplace. With fully customizable search parametres, you will be able to search the internet from your phone to find anything from regular photos to clip art and design elements to new wallpaper backgrounds and even faces. Search results can be shared with your friends as well as saved to your phone’s Photo Library.

The final chapter of Mass Effect 2 has now landed on my Xbox 360 – and it can land on yours too, as it’s available in the XBL Marketplace today for 560 MS Points. The DLC is also available for PC (560 Bioware Points) and for the PS3 (approx. $9-10) and gives gamers the opportunity to earn three new achievements (or trophies, whichever applies to your chosen platform).  In this new game add-on, Commander Shepard is sent to the edge of the galaxy to rescue an undercover operative who may have evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion that has been looming since the very beginning of the series. Returning and playing a prominent role in Mass Effect: Arrival is fan favorite Admiral Hackett, who is voiced by legendary science-fiction actor Lance Henriksen of Alien and Terminator fame.

So ends the current adventures of Commander Shepard. Now I can go back and try to earn 100% on the first two titles while awaiting news bits about Mass Effect 3, which Bioware will start releasing in the near future – perhaps in May.

Netflix Canada has begun offering three different viewing options to its Canadian subscribers, which is very timely for those who are concerned about User Based Billing and data transfer caps. Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer for Netflix, announced on the company’s blog today that the new options are designed to enable a 2/3 reduction in transfer usage. In short, these new options are:

DHX Media has signed a deal with Discovery Communication’s The Hub for the second season of its hit preschool series Animal Mechanicals. Originally commissioned by CBC in Canada, where it is one of the highest-rating preschool shows, Animal Mechanicals is produced and distributed by DHX Media. It airs around the globe on channels including the Disney Channels in the UK, Italy and Asia; Radio-Canada, Discovery Latin America, Romania’s HOP, EBS in Korea; Al-Jazeera Children Channel and Prava I Prevodi, which acquired the title for Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Josh Scherba, SVP Distribution at DHX Media, said: “Animal Mechanicals has really engaged with young audiences on The Hub since its launch last Fall; success underscored by this commitment to the second season. We continue to build the licensing programme for the show including the launch of the Animal Mechanicals app which offers a new interactive element for children and their parents.”

DHX Media has also recently launched a new iOS app based on the show. Animal Mechanicals: Beetle Buggy Race, is priced at $1.99, and available on all iTunes stores worldwide. In licensing deals, Producciones Publiexpress have been signed up for colouring and activity books in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

D-BOX Technologies Inc. has really been on the move this week (pun intended) – the company has just announced two more Motion Seating agreements with American movie theatres.  Emagine Entertainment will equip two screens at its new Royal Oak, Michigan theatre with a total of 29 D-BOX MFX Seats when the theatre opens in May. D-Box has also signed its first agreement with RC Theatres to equip two of that company’s Pennsylvania complexes. The Hanover Movies 16 will feature 18 D-Box MFX Seats and the Wilkes Barre Movies 14 will feature 22 D-Box MFX seats. These two RC locations will soon be the first in the state to feature the immersive motion technology that completely transforms the movie viewing experience with seats that move in perfect sync with the onscreen action.

Reminder: Round 2 of Battle of The Apps is open for submissions until April 15th 2011.
Reminder: Microsoft Blue Sky Innovation Excellence Awards are open for submissions until April 25th 2011.

Game Production Studios has a new title on the WP7 Marketplace. Crescer is a unique Windows Phone 7 game challenges you to become the best gardener in the mobile world. Use your green thumb skills to grow the perfect plant across eight different environments while purchasing tools, upgrading your plants, earning money and expanding your bounty with new plants. Bloom supremacy is not as simple as tossing a seed in the ground and hoping for the best though, because Mother Nature is not feeling overly co-operative. You must use an assortment of tools and gardening secrets to protect your plant from all manner of environmental hazards which range from weather fronts and bug infestations to volcanic eruptions.

If you manage to make your blooms flourish, and unlock all of the game’s regular achievements, you will unlock an arcade style bonus level, where you play as Sunny “The Sunflower” and defend The Moon against evil bug invaders.

Bar Star HD time management game from Ottawa dev studio Glitchsoft has expanded to the Mac App Store. Released last summer to iTunes for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Bar Star HD puts players in the action packed role of a new bar owner, mixing high fashion drinks, serving celebrity guests, and stylizing their bar with upgrades and improvements.

Bar Star HD is a true pick-up and play game that features stunning full screen graphics, intuitive controls, and super addictive gameplay featuring dynamic player characters, Chase and Artie, a brother and sister who need your help transforming their run down bar into the best upscale lounge. They earn valuable tips as they mix, serve, and upgrade their way through 50 exciting levels. Tips are then used to hire new staff including bouncers and DJs, as well as to improve the style of their bar including drink selection, the dance floor, and decor. Players will experience up to 16 different customers plus 4 celebrity guests who will visit their bar, and like any entertainment and service venue, players need to impress the clientele in order to earn the maximum amount of tips.

Bar Star HD for the Mac features:

* 50 exciting levels including a Zombie Takeover
* 16 unique customers and 4 guest stars
* Mix and pour all types of delicious drinks
* Upgrades for you’re bar including a dance floor, disco ball, plants, and drinks
* Grow your staff
* Serve customers different types of draft beer, wines and mixed cocktails
* Earn points to enhance your bartending skills
* True HD graphics
* Multiple player profiles, time attack Mode and replayable missions

Netflix, Inc. and Paramount Pictures (Viacom Inc.) have reached a new multi-year licensing agreement, adding hundreds of new movie titles, including the exclusive subscription television rights to all first-run films, for Canadian Netflix members to watch instantly on their computers and TVs.

Netflix members in Canada can enjoy theatrical hits from Paramount in the coming months starting with “The Last Airbender” and Marvel’s “Iron Man 2.” The five year agreement will add over 350 new movies available to watch instantly from Netflix in Canada, including epics like “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Titanic,” and “Defiance,” great comedies like “Zoolander” and “Wayne’s World,” and beloved classics like “The African Queen,” “Sabrina” (1954) and “Terms of Endearment.”

Monster Math Squad, a new CG animated series for kids has been announced by DHX Media Ltd. The series will star loveable monsters who help children develop formative math-related skills. The preschool show has been commissioned by CBC and SRC in Canada and will be produced by DHX Media’s Halifax-based studio, further boosting DHX’s library of standout preschool properties.

“We all know that preschoolers love to learn,” says Kim Wilson, Creative Head for Children’s and Youth Programming at CBC, “so taking a concept like early numeracy and pairing it with a fantastic monster world of fun is a winning combination. DHX has a history of creating wonderful user-focused programs of the highest quality so we are thrilled. ”

D-BOX Technologies Inc. will be expanding its presence in Chicago, Florida and Utah with the addition of four more theatre locations installing D-BOX motion technology seating. In Utah, the newly expanded Megaplex 17 at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and the brand new Megaplex 14 at Legacy Crossing in Centerville will each be equipped with 30 D-BOX MFX Seats that offer moviegoers access to a completely immersive movie experience. Meanwhile, over in the Chicago area, the Rosemont 18 theatre will soon feature 36 D-BOX MFX Seats while the Parisian 20 theatre in West Palm Beach FL will install a total of 30 seats, both scheduled to be unveiled in the coming months. Additionally, Muvico Entertainment’s Thousand Oaks movie theatre in California, which introduced D-BOX in February, is preparing to install an additional 12 D-BOX MFX Seats to keep up with the demand.

Intertainment Media Inc.’s social media translation interface Ortsbo has seen a 47% growth in User Engagement Minutes since the end of February, growing from 82.3 Million minutes to 121.3 Million minutes of total engagement. Other key indicators have also grown substantially with active monthly unique users, month over month, now at 8.6 Million, a 37% increase since the end of February. In the past week, Ortsbo has generated over 10.8 Million minutes of User Engagement, 6.4 Million Page Views, 3.1 Million Online Sessions and 2.2 Million Unique Users. Ortsbo, at just over 9 months since launch is at the same levels achieved by Facebook in its first 29 months.

With over 79% of Ortsbo users coming direct to www.ortsbo.com and www.ortsboqq.com, Ortsbo continues to experience strong viral growth as the vast majority of users are coming direct to the web sites, not using search engines or third party referrals. If you’ve never heard of Ortsbo, it supports global communications with instant translation capability, real time multi- lingual social media chat and instant Twitter translation allowing users to communicate with family, friends and colleagues around the world. Ortsbo provides users with the ability to break down language and cultural barriers through its easy to use, language centric interface. User demographics have continued to favor the BRIC countries with China remaining the number 1 usage country for Ortsbo followed by Brazil, the US, South Korea, Canada, Taiwan, Germany, Argentina, Russia and India. Ortsbo’s Top 10 user countries have a combined population of over 3.4 Billion people.

“In-Touch Insight Systems” instead of “In-Touch Survey Systems” better reflects the scope and breadth of our technology and our future direction. The company continues to expand its managed mobile software technology into markets far broader that the survey industry”, said Michael Gaffney CEO.

Newmarket company LassoSoft Inc. launched a new website today, offering the latest product versions of its web programming language, Lasso 8.6 and Lasso 9. It also united the various websites previously supported by the company, fusing its marketing message, developer support documentation, and client communication channels into a single source.

LassoSoft Inc. CEO Sean Stephens says the new website is about more that presenting a new version of the company and its products following a change of ownership in December 2010. His goal is to improve service to the international Lasso developer community from one central online venue. He emphasizes that he and his team have worked to create a resurgence of dialogue and enthusiasm in their clients and colleagues, encouraging input, feedback and constructive criticism to facilitate product development. They call this the LassoSoft “Ecosystem”.

“The Lasso community has shown incredible loyalty and support through the challenging times we have faced in recent years, and they have remained self-sustaining through all of the ups and downs,” says Stephens. “These talented developers are our lifeblood, so we intend to work with them to make Lasso more viable and innovative than ever before. They believe in the strengths of this product as much as we do, and we want them to know that their input is important to us as we move the company in new directions.”

The LassoSoft Inc. suite of products serves as an application server and scripting language to web developers internationally. It has been used on various platforms for diverse purposes, by many types of users, from individual developers to government and large-scale corporate initiatives. The three advantages it consistently asserts over other programming languages are: speed, security, and the “elegance” or simplicity of its code. The company now also cites improved communication and service as its latest offering to its developers.

US-based Global Experience Specialists (GES) today announced that its new operation in Vancouver, British Columbia is open for business. GES Vancouver offers a comprehensive suite of services, including decorating, material handling, graphics, and customs and logistics services to Vancouver and other areas of British Columbia, including Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta, Fort Langley and Surrey.

“GES’ full service operation in Vancouver allows us to continue to work with our existing national, international and U.S. clients in Vancouver and to grow our position in the active Vancouver marketplace,” said Executive Vice President, Mike Lecour. “Vancouver is an extraordinary destination, and we are excited to produce multiple events during the first and second quarters of 2011.”

GES’ Vancouver operation is already working on a considerable number of events for the first half of 2011. These include, but are not limited to, BioPartnering North America, Esthetique Spa International, Helicopter Association of Canada’s 15th Annual Convention and Trade Show, World Congress of Nephrology, Canadian Health Food Association Expo West and the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

“We congratulate GES on its new operations in Vancouver. We see this as yet another indication of the positive growth of the exhibition industry in the city,” said General Manager of the Vancouver Convention Centre Ken Cretney.

GES provides full service operations across Canada with offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Banff, and Regina with Canadian headquarters in Toronto. The new Vancouver office is located at Unit #4, 7978 North Fraser Way in Burnaby.

Taking a page from family fun nights, Clinton Beck from Beck Gold and Diamond Brokers in Edmonton recently attended a business fun night to increase the bottom line in his business. He had fun and learned a great deal from a night of the board game Leverage with other business owners in the area.

“It was a very interesting game that actually had a lot of strategy.” Says Beck “not only was it a lot of fun, but it gave me some great insight on how fine tuning minor things in my business can lead to big changes in my bottom line. As a business owner often I find myself so busy working in my business that the real running of my business is overlooked. As I was playing the game it made me ask myself some hard questions about areas in my business that could use some fine tuning.”

“Not everything has to be an app and downloadable. Human contact and conversation is a vital component to learning about your business and your competition. This kind of business fun night lets you talk to other people in similar situations and will ultimately help my business out.”

Clinton and several other business owners in the Edmonton area took part in a Leverage business board game night run by Laurie McNaughton and Brad Prince, two business coaches with ActionCOACH. The game of Leverage was developed by US-based ActionCOACH founder Brad Sugars, and is played all around the world.

Star Wars fans, it is time to channel your inner Wookiee for the special two-part season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on TELETOON featuring the highly anticipated debut of Chewbacca! Part one of the season finale premieres on Friday, March 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be preceded by a marathon of the previous three episodes beginning at 7 p.m. ET/PT. One week later, part two will premiere on Friday, April 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT with an encore presentation of part one at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

In order to make Chewbacca’s animated character as authentic as possible for the season finale, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars creative team enlisted the help of Peter Mayhew, the actor who donned the furry costume in the original Star Wars trilogy, to advise animators on the Wookiee’s movements and also helped to recreate his trademark growl.

“Bringing Chewie to The Clone Wars is very special for us, and it wouldn’t be right without Peter’s involvement and blessing,” said Dave Filoni, Supervising Director, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “Peter and Chewie are one and the same; he brings so much of himself to the character and it was important for us to capture that. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t feel right. Having his input was great; he was able to add all the little mannerisms and details that he knew from living with Chewie for more than three decades.”

The third season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has delved deep into the characters, conflicts and the Force itself, taking viewers behind the front lines of battle. In a season wrought by fragile allegiances and questionable loyalties, viewers have seen Star Wars in a whole new way through the exposure of stunning secrets and detailed insights into the prophecy and fate of the Chosen One.

The four episodes included in the March 25 marathon will be available on-demand on Monday, March 28. TELETOON is the exclusive Canadian home to Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Catching up with Big Blue Bubble this morning, the studio has released Geeks Unleashed to the Mac App Store for $3.99 USD. This game is a strategic puzzle game that pits the player against some of the smartest, yet geekiest opponents on the planet. The storyline, which for some reason makes me think of Big Bang Theory, follows the player as they enter a collecting convention, attempting to accumulate collectibles from different categories such as Sci-Fi, Fashion, Comics, Plush Toys and Role Playing Games.

Another popular Big Blue Bubble game also made its debut on the Mac App Store this week. Home Sweet Home, available now for $4.99 USD, is a game that invites you to play Interior Designer. You choose the furniture, patterns, and colors to create a masterpiece that will blow your client away. You can email photos of your newly designed rooms to yourself or your friends, and you can also replay levels or your designs.  With simple controls, a fun graphical style, and an easy to use interface, Home Sweet Home allows you to nurture your creative side.

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney has launched a fun and educational Facebook application that tests your knowledge of Canada’s history, values, symbols and political institutions. The quiz can also be downloaded to mobile devices like iPhone, Blackberry and Android. The 20 questions are randomly selected from a bank of 122 questions, allowing the quiz to be played more than once.

“Download the app, take the quiz, and share it with your friends,” Kenney said. “You might be surprised to find out just how Canadian you are!”

The initiative is part of an on-line resource called “A Fun Path to Learning” that was launched in April 2010 by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for students and teachers. The educational tool draws from material in the popular new citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship and aims to help students from grades five to 12 learn about Canada’s history and political institutions through games and activities. There are a number of learning resources on the Youth page, making learning about Canada’s history fun.

The “How Canadian Are You, Eh?” application is a cross platform application that can be found within Facebook, at the iTunes app store, in the Blackberry app world, and in the Android marketplace.

Radian6 has announced Radian6 for Salesforce, bringing new social capabilities to the Salesforce Service Cloud experience. Monitoring the overwhelming volume of social conversations that matter to enterprises, and connecting them to existing sales, service and marketing processes is a major challenge for companies today. To address this challenge, the Radian6 integration will connect the social capabilities within both the Salesforce Service Cloud and the Radian6 platform, enabling enhanced social customer service.

The Radian6 platform monitors social media, including blogs, forums, comments, photo and video sharing sites, Twitter, public content within Facebook and more. Radian6 leads the industry with its ability to surface social metrics on everything it gathers, enabling valuable time savings through sorting and prioritization. With its pending arrival on the AppExchange, Radian6 for Salesforce will let agents work entirely within the Service Cloud, with fully automated case creation that adds social media content to Salesforce based on the customizable Radian6 workflow rules engine.

In addition to the recently added feature that allows users to interact with Salesforce Chatter directly within Radian6 Engagement Console™ additional capabilities that leverage the Service Cloud will include the ability to create new or view existing cases, leads and contacts from within the Radian6 Engagement Console™. Radian6 for Salesforce is currently scheduled to be available to early adopters in April 2011 while a full public release is currently scheduled for Q3 of calendar year 2011.

zipzoom is a brand new patent-pending anonymous communication technology changing the way consumers and businesses find each other. The service was officially launched today in Simcoe County, choosing Barrie because it is one of the fastest growing cities in North America.

“A dynamic, friendly and booming community like Barrie is the perfect place to launch this revolutionary service,” said Reg DesRosiers, the founder of zipzoom.com. “We offer residents the ability to make quick, informed decisions about any products or services they need, while also providing new streams of customers to Barrie’s local businesses and salespeople.”

zipzoom.com recently launched a beta version of its site, which acts like a personal shopper for overwhelmed consumers. zipzoom.com-registered consumers just make an anonymous personal inquiry and zipzoom immediately, through its exclusive communication platform, sends the inquiry to all relevant contacts and businesses using a brilliantly designed product keyword search association, saving time, money and effort. Businesses and salespeople also benefit by having direct access to “ready-to-buy” customers 24/7 without increasing their advertising costs. zipzoom is free of charge to register for consumers, businesses, service providers and salespeople. zipzoom finally answers the question consumers ask themselves every day: “How can I find the best deal, person or business to work with?” On the vendor side: “How do I consistently find ‘ready-to-buy’ customers?”

In addition, zipzoom is offering weekly giveaways via their social media networks on Twitter and Facebook, where randomly chosen registered vendors will receive a no-charge lifetime membership subscription.

Staying true to its friendly, down-to-earth and down the street philosophy, Original Joe’s has announced that, starting today, it will be providing a free pound of wings to each individual who ‘likes‘ them on Facebook.

“Each person who decides to participate by liking Original Joe’s on Facebook will be able to print off a coupon which they can redeem at any of our 37 locations for a pound of wings on us,” says Derek Doke, President of Original Joe’s. “We appreciate the support and loyalty of our existing customers and this is one way to express our gratitude to our regulars while encouraging newcomers to find out for themselves why so many people choose Joe’s as their preferred neighbourhood pub.”

Joe’s is expecting thousands of individuals to take advantage of this promotion, and are prepared to give away up to $100,000 worth of wings (estimated Canadian dollar amount based on 10,000 pounds of wings and gift cards). With more than a dozen wing flavours available ranging from dill pickle, Caribbean jerk and industrial strength, to the more traditional honey garlic or salt and pepper, Joe’s has something for everyone.

The SIGGRAPH committee will consider any and all content that is interactively controlled and rendered in real-time. Submissions must be able to be demonstrated in front of a live audience.

Based on the examples of accepted real-time simulations and graphics submissions sent out with this press release, I know that there are artists and animators across this country who can – and have – produce materials for any of these areas – some people may not even realize the work was done in Canada, now is the chance to step up and shine the spotlight on your work:

* Military or industrial simulations
* Interactive animation and graphics
* Research projects
* Computer games
* Real-time art explorations
* Scientific visualizations: medical, astrophysics, astronomy
* Interactive data visualization and information graphics

“Since its debut in 2009, Real-Time Live! has featured some of the most innovative and cutting-edge work presented at SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival,” said Jason Smith, SIGGRAPH 2011 Real-Time Live! Chair. “Each year the quality and diversity in real-time submissions showcases the best work going on in the industry. This year’s program will continue this trend of dynamic innovation.”

The Real-Time Live! submission deadline is 15 April 2011. All real-time work will be reviewed by a professional jury of industry experts from traditional computer graphics, video games, and research organizations. Entries will be judged on creativity, innovation, performance, and most importantly, the ability to render in real time in front of a live audience as part of the Computer Animation Festival. The top selections will be played and demonstrated live on their respective platform (PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii).

April 15 is also the deadline for submissions to the Computer Animation Festival at SIGGRAPH 2011. The four-day, international event is celebrating its 38th year, and presents an eclectic array of computer animation genres and styles ranging from narrative character animation to scientific visualization.There is an open competition as well as an in Invited section for works created after January 2010.

Here are the categories, only finished works will be considered for inclusion, and all submissions must be uploaded at final resolution:

* Computer Animation Shorts
* Music Videos
* TV and Web Commercials
* Visualizations and Simulations
* Student Projects
* Animated Feature Films
* Visual Effects for Short Films and TV Programs
* Visual Effects for Live-Action Feature Films
* Real-Time Animation
* Miscellaneous
* Traditional and Stop Motion

Please see the Computer Animation Festival Submissions Page for complete details and guidelines.

Come on Canada – SIGGRAPH 2011 – Make It Home!

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed in today’s conference call to investors that there will be a new Assassin’s Creed game this year, however we will all have to wait until May for more details.

Winnipeg studio Infinite Ammo, the co-developer of Aquaria, has posted a dev diary update for Marian and the Fantastic World of Dreams, and the game thus far looks great. In this very detailed dev diary you read about the process of meshing 2D with 3D and the trials the team has experienced thus far as the game unfolds. You can also hear a sampling of the game’s soundtrack as you read the diary post.

If you are unfamiliar with Infinite Ammo’s project, the game’s main character is Marian, a beautifully carved marionette who rips her strings from the grasp of ‘The Narrator’ and to become her own master. She becomes caught in the dream world between life and death, learning to her own puppet strings as a tool in her quest to discover her true identity, and in fitting with today’s universal Valentine’s Day theme, she may even find true love.

Rocket5 Studios has released the first teaser trailer for that studio’s upcoming iOS game XS Force, which the creators will be demoing at GDC 2011. XS Force is an explosive arcade shooter starring characters inspired by some of the biggest action movie stars of the 1980?s, and this trailer lets you get a glimpse of one of the XS Force heroes.

Rocket5′s previous titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch include Giant Moto and Holeshot Drag Racing as well as amusement apps Alien Booth and iSpoof Walken.

Source Studio has announced new DLC for the recently updated Proto Galaxy. Proto Defense, the first DLC release for Proto Galaxy, will soon be available for free via the game’s Steam page. Check out what’s coming in this expansion:

Released in October 2010, Proto Galaxy is a turrent defense game that allows up to four players to team up and save the galaxy from an alien force determined to enslave humanity. As Earth’s last line of defense, you must put an end to the attacks and rebuild a home for the survivors.

Distribution360 has acquired rights to distribute the Cartoon Network U.K. version of Skatoony to French and German-speaking Europe as well as Spain. The company will also distribute the North American version of Skatoony—produced by marblemedia—to the same territories. Skatoony (U.K.) airs on Cartoon Network U.K.; Skatoony (North America) was commissioned by TELETOON, and premiered on the Canadian kids network in English and French this past October. Skatoony is the first animated/live-action quiz show adventure that pits tweens and ‘toons against each other in four frantic, trivia-based rounds. Set in a fantastical television studio in the fictional town of Showtown, the series is anchored by the cartoon duo of host Chudd Chudders and his lounge-singing sidekick, The Earl. Each week, they attempt to put together another show, while all manner of mad happenings occur around them. Skatoony Interactive features the “Skatoony Home Game,” a multi-player game where kids play Skatoony in real-time against other kids online.

“We’re excited to be distributing both versions of Skatoony to international markets,” says Stéphanie Röckmann-Portier, Managing Director/Head of Sales, Distribution360. “We’re looking forward to offering broadcasters a library of versioned episodes in order to identify content that best suits their needs.”

“Working with Distribution360 gives us the opportunity to exploit new territories for Skatoony,” says Michael Carrington, Chief Content Officer, Turner Broadcasting. “It’s a fantastic fast-paced game show which is sure to delight new audiences across Europe.”

In addition to Skatoony, D360’s kids slate also includes Splatalot, Ambition Skatecamp, This is Daniel Cook, and This is Emily Yeung for distribution to international markets.

Communitech’s annual Tech Leadership Conference on March 2, 2011 is the place to be for anyone in high-tech — to hear keynote speakers author Geoffrey Moore and futurist Watts Wacker, share views with journalist and author Scott Berkun, and gain insights from a high-tech power panel moderated by former Global national news anchor Kevin Newman. More than 500 people are expected to attend the largest such one-day event in Southwestern Ontario.

“It’s an action-packed day that will focus on the new fundamentals of business in an era where the power of the crowd shapes everything from marketing practices to purchase consideration, and leading-edge innovation continues to drive rapid change,” said Iain Klugman, president and CEO of Communitech.

The Tech Leadership Conference will feature a ‘BIG Conversation’ between Canadian industry leaders — MKS CEO Philip Deck, Sr. VP OSI John Ruffolo, and CTO OpenText Eugene Roman with Geoffrey Moore and moderated by Kevin Newman — addressing the major shifts occurring in the tech industry. Startup companies will also pull back the curtain on latest innovations moving from stealth mode to commercialization in the annual Tech Expo staged at the conference.

Geoffrey Moore is best known as the author of the ground-breaking book “Crossing the Chasm” and is a managing director at TCG Advisors and a venture partner at MDV. Tech leadership attendees will hear from Moore how disruptive innovation can have a positive impact on their business plans. Lecturer, best-selling author, political commentator and social critic Watts Wacker will bring a futurist’s perspective to the Tech Leadership Conference, focusing on navigating the sea of change in business.

Scott Berkun — author of three best-selling books, contributor to publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, and a blogger for Harvard Business and BusinessWeek — will investigate the myths of innovation.

Breakout sessions at the Tech Leadership Conference include the following topics and leaders:

* Myths of Innovation: Scott Berkun
* Developing Your Digital Roadmap: Dan Christian, DanoDigital
* Recruiting Trends: Sharon Rudy, SpencerStuart
* Under Construction: The Sales and Marketing Organization of the Future: John Neeson, Sirius Decisions
* Life After Exit Leadership Panel: Steve Woods, Google; Yvan Couture, Primal; Ron Neumann, Dejero Labs; moderated by Greg Barratt, Communitech.

Congratulations to Toronto-based SecureKey Technologies Inc., who has received an investment from Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment organization. SecureKey designs hardware and software solutions to enable the strong cryptographic capabilities of debit, credit and identity smartcards including those within NFC based phones to be used for online authentication and online purchases. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Canon Canada is launching a national print and broadcast campaign, developed with JWT Canada that is uniquely Canadian – for Canadians by Canadians. The campaign, with additional online elements to be incorporated in the next several months, aims to deepen Canon Canada’s emotional connection with its consumers through the telling of important shared moments in life.

JWT Canada undertook strategic sessions with the various business units, which resulted in the notion that people need and want Canon imaging products when the output really counts; be that a photo of your child’s graduation, a retina camera that can detect early warning signs of diabetes or print-outs for an important client presentation. The campaign takes the focus off the product attributes and shines a light on the people who use Canon products.

Di-O-Matic heard your call animators. Spending hours to create lip sync animations for CG characters is tiring, and manually generating every lip movement is a long and tedious task. That’s why Voice-O-Matic was designed! Combining a user friendly interface with a highly efficient and time saving system. Some of the most admired CG characters including Batman, Spider-man and Superman carry Voice-O-Matic at the heart of their facial animations.

Designed for animators by animators, Voice-O-Matic v1.61 for Maya only requires an audio file to automatically produce an accurate lip sync animation. Afterwards, the results can be easily tweaked to perfectly match any style of animation. Voice-O-Matic v1.61 for Maya works with any type of character setup and with every language. Voice-O-Matic has also already earned its stripes with its use in leading feature films, popular television shows, commercials and award winning video games.

Oscar Marquez, coordinator of the 3D department at Cromosoma reveals “Not only did we manage to increase our productivity with Voice-O-Matic v1.61 for Maya, but it allowed us to focus on other aspects of our animated series. What we liked most about Voice-O-Matic is that it can be set up easily, the lip sync of several characters can be done at the same time and we barely need to modify the animation curves. If you make a good setup and integrate it properly you can have very good results. Thanks to Voice-O-Matic, we could do all the lip sync we needed in the series with just 10 mouth shapes and only one control for the most extreme poses.”

No matter which type of character setup you wish to use: from blend shapes to complex bone-based rigs, and no matter the language for which you wish to create lip synchronization, Voice-O-Matic v1.61 for Maya delivers, and can save up to 80% of the time it takes to manually animate lip synchronization. 3D animation artists can benefit by using both the automatic phoneme matching features and the manual tools to fine-tune the animated character to achieve highly customized results.

Interactive entertainment company Ludia today announced its ‘The Bachelor: The Videogame’ App is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPod touch for $2.99 USD and iPad for $4.99 USD. Based on the hit franchise created by Mike Fleiss, hosted by Chris Harrison and airing Mondays 8:00–10:00 ET/PT on ABC, the app features characters inspired by the actual Bachelors and Bachelorettes from the top rated series’ “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” including current Bachelor Brad Womack and the most recent Bachelorette, Ali Fedotowsky.

Fans of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” can now live their own show experience anywhere, anytime, as they compete in a collection of exciting mini-games and challenges to win the attention and, ultimately, the heart of the Bachelor or Bachelorette. Players vie for the final rose, playing as either a female or male contestant.

“The Bachelor is one of the most successful dating competitions in the reality genre, and we are pleased to bring the romance and heated competition that are the hallmarks of the TV show to iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users,” said Alex Thabet, Founder and CEO of Ludia Inc. “This release reinforces Ludia’s strategy of delivering highly entertaining games, based on the most popular television brands.”

Features of The Bachelor: The Videogame App include:

* Play to earn the love of the Bachelor or the Bachelorette, guided by Chris Harrison.
* Characters based on favorite Bachelors and Bachelorettes, including Brad Womack, Jake Pavelka, Jason Mesnick and more!
* 23 mini-game challenges to play in one-on-one or group date scenarios.
* 3 levels of difficulty to chose from.
* Humorous “Fantasy Suite” videos where your performance in the game determines the outcome; will you share an embrace in the hot tub or be hung out to dry?

For those looking for employment, Ludia currently has several positions that need to be filled.

The S-3D Gaming Alliance has just released the 2011 edition of the U-Decide Initiative. U-Decide is credited as the only S-3D gaming report shaped by consumer opinion, industry analysis, and hands-on experience. The initiative gives readers a candid outlook of what needs to happen to make stereoscopic 3D gaming successful in the long term.

“DDD is a leading provider of 3D game conversion software for the PC market, and our success is dependent on delivering what gamers want. The U-Decide report provides this helpful insight and more, and we recommend it to anyone that also markets to the growing S-3D gaming community,” said Chris Yewdall, CEO of Dynamic Digital Depth.

The U-Decide Initiative was sponsored and co-developed by Panasonic, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Blitz Games Studios, Steelseries, Zalman, Meant to be Seen, Computer Power User, and the S-3D Gaming Alliance. At the conclusion of the study, Dynamic Digital Depth and Magix provided additional drawing prizes for participating gamers.

“U-Decide encouraged us to rethink what it means to have a good 3D gaming experience and demonstrated that 3D film and games have little in common. Developers releasing titles based on modest 3D movie experiences should throw the rulebook out and keep their options open,” said Neil Schneider, Executive Director of the S-3D Gaming Alliance.

Consisting of 100 percent original content and nearly 125 pages in length, U-Decide 2011 features almost 1,200 gamer respondents, and is the only study that surveyed traditional 2D and experienced stereoscopic 3D gamers as separate, unique groups. U-Decide also includes a diverse Consumer Electronics Show 2011 summary and analysis based on first-hand show interviews and 3D product try-outs. The full report is available to new and existing S-3D Gaming Alliance corporate members at deeply discounted rates or for free depending on current tier level.

Core topics include:

* Demographics of 2D and stereoscopic 3D gamers.
* 3D glasses, consumer willingness to use them, and leading objections.
* Purchase plans for 3D HDTVs, notebooks, PC displays, mobile devices, projectors, HMDs, and more.
* Obstacles preventing 3D purchases.
* 3D content analysis, purchase plans, and the relationship of S-3D compliance and video game sales.
* Product satisfaction (3D HDTVs, displays, notebooks, projectors, video games, and more).
* Demand and best pricing for alternative 3D movie theater content (sports, opera, video games, and more).
* Detailed Consumer Electronics Show 2011 3D summary and analysis: announcements, hidden gems, missed opportunities.

“U-Decide results demonstrate a growing consumer demand for stereoscopic 3D gaming experiences. To meet the needs and expectations of customers, formalizing quality standards needs discussion and ratification by game developers and technology enablers alike. There are clear benefits for developers to participate and engage in that discussion,” said Alan Price, S3DGA’s quality expectations steering team lead. In addition to being an interactive media entrepreneur, Mr. Price served as CTO of Electronic Arts Canada for five years.

Earlier this week I told you about Vancouver-based dating service Tingle, today here’s an introduction to Montreal-based Koopa, who says it is  the first online dating site that integrates Facebook for social media. Koopa combines features that you know and love from your favorite sites such as eharmony.com, Twitter, Okcupid.com, Facebook, Myspace, Match, plentyoffish.com and more. There are plenty of free online dating sites and free social networking sites and it is not our goal to be like them. However, it is our goal to give you the ultimate networking experience at one place as our site adapts to your online dating habits, wants and needs.

Koopa gives you plenty of room to post what you want at your profile and on your account. Many sites limit your networking needs. Online dating sites and social networking websites usually do not encourage you to use social networking for business purposes so there is not much room for business information and marketing. Business networking sites such as LinkedIn do not give you much flexibility to upload photos and videos and to use socialize. We strive to give you the best of all worlds so that you can have many options to connect and socialize the way that you want. We don’t want you to change your habits. We want to adapt our online dating site with deep social media integration to adapt to yours.

Features include:

o Webcam chat and random chat
o Star Rating system
o Thousands of ‘active’ members
o Taking users’ feedback seriously
o The addition of popular requested functions and features
o Intuitive GUI pleasing design and navigation
o Not just another matchmaking service
o No lengthy signup process
o Completely commitment free with no hassle
o Buy or Earn coins and spend them to
• Send gifts
• Priority message delivery
• Rank at the top of search listing results on Koopa
• Message delivery confirmation

Online Dating with Koopa.com is a safe and fun online dating site for millions of singles to interact and search for their matches. As the fastest growing social dating network, Koopa seamlessly integrates with the most popular social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and Hi5. Koopa’s no-hassle sign up and free-to-join membership grants you an amazing networking experience. Membership is always free. Members may choose the paid membership and get in the search listing ranking, priority mail and message delivery, and other benefits.

Points International Ltd., owner and operator of the world’s leading loyalty reward program management platform Points.com and PayPal have teamed up to create one of the most unique loyalty redemption offers available. Points.com users can now move their miles and points from participating programs into their PayPal account to gain access to millions of online merchants.

“As the world leader in loyalty currency management, it was a natural fit for Points.com to develop this relationship with PayPal,” said Christopher Barnard, President of Points International. “Integrating the PayPal Platform into our own establishes a new way for program operators to interact with their members and devise compelling redemption opportunities, resulting in greater member engagement. Users now have even more ways to get the most out of their points and miles.”

Charlie Sultan, Vice President of AAdvantage Partner Marketing, said, “We strive to find additional ways to make AAdvantage miles valuable to our members. This new and innovative partnership with Points.com and PayPal offers our members another redemption option in addition to free air travel, hotel stays and car rentals. This added flexibility continues to enhance the AAdvantage loyalty program which was the world’s first frequent flyer program when it was launched 30 years ago.”

Points.com partners participating at launch include American Airlines AAdvantage Miles® and US Airways® Dividend Miles® with additional partners added on a rolling basis.

“We are very excited to be teaming up with Points.com to deliver innovative redemption options that leverage the PayPal Platform,” said Dan Schatt, GM of Financial Innovations for PayPal. “This will empower millions of loyalty program members to quickly use their miles and points wherever PayPal is accepted worldwide. Users can also redeem their loyalty points and then send the rewards to any email address where PayPal accepts payments, making the redemption experience truly unique.”

In Crash Canyon Adventure, players create a unique character and join the residents of Crash Canyon. As fledgling members of this sometimes chaotic, sometimes absurd, but always funny community, they are sent on quests, play mini-games, craft an escape vehicle or build a home — and buy, collect and trade a huge array of items. All the while, players interact and socialize with the other new Crash residents as well as the many characters from the series.

A few of the game’s main features include:

• The Crashbook: Players will have available a wide range of social networking tools in the game.
• Full Character Creation: The player can fully customize the look of their character, their clothes, their accessories and even their personality.
• Two Game Goals For Players To Choose: The player can choose between attempting to escape the canyon or settle into their cozy corner and decorate and customize their home in the canyon.
• Quest Driven Game Play: A hugely popular game play mechanic where the colorful characters of the canyon will send the player on funny and exciting adventures, challenge them to mini games and trade or gift items to them.

Breakthrough Entertainment’s digital media division secured funding for Crash Canyon Adventure from three sources: the game is made possible through the generous support of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, the Ontario Media Development Corporation (Interactive Digital Media Fund) and the Shaw Rocket Fund’s Digital Media Stream.

“We are delighted to be producing this game for TELETOON. The show’s gregarious characters and wildly hilarious story lines lend well for an online social game: Crash Canyon Adventure perfectly captures the humor of the television series,” said Dorothy Vreeker, Director, Digital Media at Breakthrough Entertainment.

Crash Canyon (Television Series Synopsis) — The Wendell family doesn’t usually do too much together; the parents work a lot and the kids have developed their own lives. This year however, Norm, the Wendell patriarch, has decided to schedule a family vacation. He rents a van and a camper trailer, forces everyone inside and the family sets off on a week of heavily-scheduled fun.

With all four Wendells in a confined space, motoring between tourist attractions, scenic vistas and the occasional point of interest, the trip turns out to be a disaster – in fact, an actual disaster – Norm accidentally drives the van over a cliff!The van plummets two miles straight down into a canyon. When the Wendells stumble out, they realize that not only are they alive, but also that they are not alone. The same fate has befallen several others before them and the Wendells are just the newest residents of a community of everyone else that has driven, cycled, sky-dived or even crashed their NASA landing capsule there.

So, the Wendells live in their camper trailer in the heart of a shanty town of all the other crashed vehicles, scattered wherever gravity set them down. Their neighbors include an astronaut and his chimp companion, a wealthy family (who live in the summer house they were transporting), a has-been British punk rocker and many more. All these characters hope to escape, but until one of their plans actually work, they make up this impromptu community known only as “Crash Canyon”.

TELETOON Canada Inc. is taking the original TELETOON Pilot Project concept and turning it into an online, user-generated contest called the TELETOON At Night Pilot Project, which began yesterday, February 6th. This initiative calls on aspiring and professional animators to put their creative skills to use for a chance to win $10,000 CDN and the opportunity to attend North America’s largest animation conference and festival, the Television Animation Conference and Ottawa International Animation Festival.

“The TELETOON at Night Pilot Project is an important initiative which offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for animation enthusiasts,” said Russell Ward, Vice President, Marketing, TELETOON Canada inc. “As an active player in the animation industry, this project gives TELETOON the opportunity to recognize and open a door of possibility to raw and undiscovered creative talent.”

From Sunday, February 6 to Friday, July 15, 2011, contestants are invited to submit original, funny and unique animation or animation-related short films. Eligible submissions must be no more than five minutes in length and can either be entered through the English-language contest on teletoonatnight.com or the French-language contest on teletoonlanuit.com. The winner of each English and French contest will be awarded:

* $10,000 CDN
* Two roundtrip airline tickets from the closest Canadian commercial airport to the winner’s residence to Ottawa
* Four nights accommodation in Ottawa
* Two delegate passes to the Television Animation Conference and Ottawa International Animation Festival

All eligible submissions will be featured in a video gallery on teletoonatnight.com and teletoonlanuit.com, where the public can select their “Fave of the Week” each week. The five final contenders selected by a TELETOON jury for each of the English and French contests will be revealed on Sunday, July 31. The public can then vote for their favourite video until Saturday, August 28. The video that receives the most votes by the end of the voting phase will be crowned the winner and revealed on-air and online on Sunday, September 18.

The original TELETOON Pilot Project launched in fall 2007, exclusively inviting Canadian producers to submit proposals to produce a pilot in either English or French to be broadcast on TELETOON. Ten projects were selected as finalists from over 200 submissions, straddling a wide range of topics, animation styles and comedy sensibilities. TELETOON recently announced that the first TELETOON Pilot Project winner, Fugget About It, has been officially greenlit for production into a 13-part series in English and French.

And just to add to the bandwidth cap angst, Sony of Canada has launched “Video On Demand powered by Qriocity™”in Canada with titles such as “A-Team,” “Get Him to the Greek,” “Inception,” “The Last Airbender,” “Salt,” and Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.”

“Video On Demand powered by Qriocity™” is a premium streaming video service that allows film fans to rent from a growing library of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters from NBC Universal Television Distribution, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, The Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, as well as films from local studios, straight to their Sony 2010 and 2011 network-enabled BRAVIA® TV, Blu-ray Disc™ player, or Blu-ray Disc Home Theatre system.

Rental prices for High-Definition content will range from CA$4.99-5.99 while those for Standard-Definition content will range from CA$3.99-4.99. After renting a film, consumers have up to 30 days to start watching their movie, and once playback is started, they have up to 24 or 48 hours to watch the film as many times as they like.

“Video On Demand powered by Qriocity” started in Japan on January 26 and is already available in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. and is an entertainment network service platform that connects many of Sony’s network-enabled devices and allows consumers to enjoy high quality entertainment across multiple devices. Via Qriocity, Sony will deliver a variety of digital entertainment content and services that are “powered by Qriocity”, including video, music, game applications, and e-books over time. Through these services, and in combination with its networked devices, Sony aims to bring new and exciting entertainment experiences to customers.

“We’re really looking forward to developing Chugga Chugga Wow with the creators of Skatoony,” says Mark Bishop, Executive Producer/Partner, marblemedia. “Through our combined experience with children’s cross-platform properties, we feel this is a great opportunity for both companies to create something entertaining and educational for pre-schoolers.”

Chugga Chugga Wow is an educational adventure, where real kids board an animated train and embark on a journey through a cartoon world. At each stop, they interact with characters, and help them solve problems through fun, learning-based activities.

“Chugga Chugga Wow is a hugely exciting concept,” says James Fox, Co-Founder, Whole Hog Creations. “It’s the perfect mix of live-action kids and magical cartoon characters, plus it’s as funny as it is educational. We have developed a strong creative relationship with marblemedia; they are fantastically imaginative and great fun to work with. Chugga Chugga Wow is the perfect project on which to blend our expertise and enthusiasm.”

The Chugga Chugga Wow experience transitions seamlessly online, where kids get to take the journey themselves. marblemedia is developing an interactive world where kids can meet and interact with their favourite characters as well as sing songs and play games from the television show.

Kim Wilson, Creative Head for Children’s & Youth Programming at CBC says, “We’re really excited to be working on this project. The idea of doing an age-appropriate game show for preschoolers is extremely appealing.”

International distribution and format sales for Chugga Chugga Wow will be handled by marblemedia’s distribution arm, Distribution360.

The 2011 Canada 3.0 conference has opened registration for this year’s event, which will take place in Stratford on May 2nd through 5th. The Early Bird rate of $495.00 + taxes and service charge will be available until midnight on March 3th, when ticket prices will go up to $695.00 + taxes and processing charge. There is a StartUp/Small Business/Non-Profit price available for $225.00 + taxes and service charge as well as ticketing options for students. If you register before February 18th you will automatically be entered for a draw to win a copy of MacroWikinomics, personally addressed and signed by author Anthony D. Williams. Please see the Canada 3.0 web site for this year’s confirmed speakers.

Monde Media and Bug Tracker have made two personnel announcements this morning – Jean-Robert Michel, Monde Media’s former General Manager has moved into the dual role of Production Director for both Bug-Tracker and Monde Media, while Monde Media’s former COO has become the new Client Relationship Director for both entities.

In other comings and goings, the BC Technology Industry Association announced today that its President, Pascal Spothelfer will leave the organization June 30^th to return to the corporate sector. Spothelfer was appointed President & CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association in November of 2007, and since that time has successfully raised the level of recognition of the organization and BC’s technology industry through his leadership, commitment to collaboration, and tireless advocacy efforts.

“My past three years at the BCTIA have allowed me to get to know our technology community on a very different level. It has been most rewarding both personally and professionally,” said Spothelfer. “I have met and worked with incredibly smart, engaged and inspiring people – experiences that will fuel my passion to assist in the further growth of BC’s technology industry not just until my departure from the BCTIA, but in whatever role I pursue in the future. “

Paul Gorton, Chair of the BCTIA commented, “We will greatly miss having Pascal’s passion and vision. On behalf of the Board, I thank Pascal for his commitment to the BCTIA, and we wish him the utmost success in the future.”

Pascal will continue to lead the BCTIA and work with the board on the leadership transition until his departure at the end of June. A formal search has been initiated by the BCTIA and will be facilitated by Odgers Berndtson. Please contact Caroline Jellinck at 604 602 2556 for more information.

Canadian developers seem to have a thing for hippos – here is some info from three Canadian enterprises which contain “hippo” in their names.

Rock Hippo Productions Ltd has launched the second closed beta for its cartoon-style third person action shooter, MicroVolts. This second phase of testing will continue for approximately two weeks in preparation for the official release day. In addition, the company has released all-new screen shots of the game and is holding a special “Free-for-All” tournament which will kick off Saturday, February 5th. Winning players will be awarded their choice of any weapon they want to use with the launch of the Open Beta. Players who visit the game’s website will be able to learn more about the game and the events as well as register for a beta key.

MicroVolts features fast paced, third person shooter action and pits players against each other in a secret battle that has been waged and going unnoticed right in our own backyard for years. No one knows for sure when or where the first toy declared war but rumor has it that the uprising began with four original limited edition figures, code named MicroVolts. Battle lines were drawn when Naomi, Knox, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.-the prototypes a-were soon joined by an endless number of modified versions. Now, toy figures around the world are engaged in an all-out war for valuable battery resources and supremacy of the Micro World. All we can do now is stay out of their way and wait for a champion to be declared!

With a ton of weapons, inventive character designs, and a huge list of customization features, MicroVolts is destined to invigorate and re-energize the Free2play space. Intuitive controls and a third person view make the game easy to play and fun for both newcomers and veterans of shooter games. Game modes include Free for All, Team Deathmatch, Item Match, Capture the Battery, and many more featuring various maps designed by toy concept.

Tiny Hippos, a start-up based in Waterloo, has a product which will be of interest to all of you mobile developers out there. According to its site, this product, which is named Ripple Emulator, is a multi-platform mobile environment emulator that runs in a web browser and is custom-tailored to HTML5 mobile application testing. Ripple aims to reduce the challenges being faced by mobile developers caused by today’s platform fragmentation in the marketplace.

Ripple is built as a Chrome extension, running as part of the Chrome browser and takes advantage of our back-end services to perform some of the more complex operations. It offers the ability to look under the hood of your mobile applications, gaining full visibility into what your it is doing. It also allows for the use of existing tools to perform JavaScript debugging, HTML DOM inspection, automated testing, as well as multiple device and screen resolution emulation in real-time without having to redeploy the mobile application or restart the emulator.

Meanwhile, just down the highway a bit from Tiny Hippos is Mercury Grove, an Ottawa-based developer who has an enterprise called Network Hippo, which according to Mercury Grove’s site connects to users’ email, address books, and social networks to consolidate all of their professional contacts, remind them to stay in touch with important people, and makes it easy to connect online or through email. Mercury Grove also offers a service called Web Collaboration, which is an online workspaces for internal teams, partners, and clients. Unlike other team sharing services, Web Collaboration can be setup in minutes and requires no download, installation or administration.

Another collaboration-style service I stumbled across is Vancouver-developed Jostle. I found this site because the person behind Jostle’s Twitter account retweeted one of my Game Design Expo live tweets. According to the Jostle web site, a People Engagement Platform™ that glues enterprises together. This platform enables innovative companies to clarify their organization, reveal hidden expertise and engage their employees. Jostle is enterprise software that is accessible from any web-enabled device and works like a website, without the need to install software.

Toronto’s Blue74 Labs has released a statement announcing that IIA, the studio’s critically acclaimed real-life massively multiplayer “outdoor” role-playing game sold tens of thousands of memberships in the first 48 hours of its release, making it the fastest-selling ARG game of all time. The IIA Spy Game is being compared to blockbuster hits “The Game”, “Spy Game”, and “Halting State”, a book by Charles Stross.

The IIA (International Intelligence Agency) is a real life multi-player game that gives players a real life, real feel, “off computer” role-playing game. Players don’t know about the actual game play until they are engaged in the game, which was made globally available on January 24th via a small posting on the popular “Ycombinator: Hacker News”, a web site for Internet start-ups. Expectations were less than 100 memberships to be sold the first day, Mike Curry noticed a very heavy load on his web server – realizing the game had gone viral. Registration for the game is $5.00, which interested players send via PayPal.

The company does have an official site for the game, however they are not releasing the information until its members exercise a critical classified mission. It’s believed that the mission entails a Remote Controlled UAV helicopter taking aerial photographs of the building that houses their website. It’s believed they are doing this to ensure the security of the building.

In an article released yesterday on Gamasutra, Nexon America VP of Business Development Won Il Sue spoke with reporter Chris Nutt about the million dollar Nexon iNitiative, during which the publisher asked for game dev submissions from studios around the world. Coming out at the top of heap with signed deals: One2Tribe from Poland, and Ontario studio Antic Entertainment. Nexon did not reveal exactly what type of game the London, ON Antic team is working on, other than to say one of the studios is working on a Facebook game and that both games, while somewhat of an unusual nature for Nexon, will be of the social media genre. In the meantime, check out Antic’s free to play Junk Battles, a browser-based free-to-play fast-paced vehicle combat game.

All’s fair in love and war in cartoon-land as TeleToon Retro couples pursue the love of fans and a spot in TeleToon Retro’s Hall of Fame as the Top 5 Sweethearts in honour of Valentine’s Day. Starting today and running until Sunday, February 6, viewers can vote online for their top 5 favourite cartoon love matches, for a place in TeleToon Retro history.

TeleToon Retro has narrowed the field to 18 classic animated admirers and is inviting fans to select which couples are the Top 5 Sweethearts of all-time. The list of nominees for the Top 5 Sweethearts is made up of the following cartoon couples:

Following the voting period, the Top 5 Sweethearts will be announced on Friday, February 11 and a special programming marathon featuring all five couples will air as part of the “Retro Rewind” programming block on Sunday, February 13 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. These winners will be inducted into the TeleToon Retro Hall of Fame, joining the Top 5 favourite cartoon characters of all-time as chosen by the fans in December 2010.

QuickPlay Media Inc. has joined the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC, a cross-industry consortium dedicated to creating a consumer-friendly open market for digital content distribution. With DECE’s UltraViolet™, consumers will have an easy and consistent way to collect and watch movie and television content across multiple branded platforms, such as computers, connected TVs, game consoles, smartphones and tablets.

According to research by Nielsen, consumer demand to watch TV and movies anywhere, at any time is growing, and DECE will help accelerate this trend by providing those who purchase UltraViolet-branded media and services with a high-quality and convenient entertainment experience. Through the UltraViolet Account system, each household will be able to create an account for up to six members who can access their household’s UltraViolet movies, TV and other entertainment via participating retailers, streaming providers and devices. Consumers will also be able to register up to 12 UltraViolet devices and then easily download or share content among them. In addition, UltraViolet streaming access will enable consumers to access their collections via set-top boxes and most places where they can access the web.

QuickPlay Media’s experience includes powering premium mobile video services for live TV, video on demand (VOD) and radio services for many of the world’s largest communications providers. The company’s offerings include PrimeTime2GoTM, an award-winning premium TV service, and a complete suite of solutions for the delivery of high-quality video across multiple platforms. QuickPlay’s Multi-Screen Movie Solution provides seamless switching of movie viewing between devices, and includes a feature-rich storefront with options for customization of branding, merchandising, navigation and billing integration. Its Multi-Screen TV Solution delivers a fully-integrated entertainment experience with unified delivery of download and streaming DVR capabilities for live TV and VOD.

TVO has launched of a number of new and innovative connected TV apps for Boxee and Yahoo! TV that bring the Internet to the traditional TV screen. Boxee is the newly released set top box which allows the user to connect their TV to the internet, while the Yahoo! TV widget engine is built into several new TVs at the point of manufacturing and allows for web content to be viewed on the TV screen. TVO has released three apps for Yahoo! and Boxee, including:

* Gisèle’s Big Backyard for ages 2-5,
* The Space for ages 6-11, and
* TVO.org video content including Allan Gregg In Conversation, Big Ideas, Think Again and The Agenda with Steve Paikin.

In addition to the three new apps, the Boxee TV Show Library also features episodes of The Agenda with Steve Paikin.

Based on the Ontario school curriculum, all TVOKids content, including Gisèle’s Big Backyard and The Space, is teacher tested and developed in conjunction with TVO’s in-house educational specialist.

These advancements come out of the “IdeaShaker” digital innovation lab, which is TVO’s incubator for new talent, ideas and products. Students from Sheridan College’s Interactive Multimedia post-graduate program have worked alongside TVO staff on both connected TV projects from conception to launch.

Based on this success, TVO is excited to partner with Sheridan’s post-graduate program to nurture and develop new talent who will contribute to cutting-edge technology advances in public educational media. As part of the partnership, students gain employment experience through TVO and help develop new media applications from the ground up.

Your grandmother’s or mother’s life could be saved by a new smartphone application developed by a joint venture in Ottawa. Taynaxa Software and Flare Consulting have created “Rescue Me!“, an emergency application that will automatically send a distress message if your loved one is incapacitated and doesn’t cancel it at a certain time.

The phone can be configured with a pre-set “Rescue Me!” message to be sent at a specific date and time (and repeated daily or weekly, for example). At the pre-arranged time, the phone prompts the user to cancel the message. If it is not canceled it will be sent to two contact numbers.

The benefit of “Rescue Me!” over monitored “panic buttons” with high charges is that it requires intervention NOT to send a message. As a result, if the user is incapacitated through a fall or other mishap, the distress message can still be sent at the appointed time.

Monitoring systems can cost over $100 every month, and still rely on an elderly person pressing a button to summon help. Version 1 of “Rescue Me!” is currently for sale online in the Android Marketplace store for just $1.99. The application will be equally as useful to outdoor enthusiasts such as hikers, climbers, and skiers or even to people going on a blind date or setting out on a drive in potentially bad conditions. All the user has to do is estimate when they expect to be back safe and sound and, if they don’t confirm that all is well at that particular time, “Rescue Me!” will alert their key contacts to the potential problem.

Mood Media Corporation has announced that its retail point of sale division, Somerset Entertainment, has partnered with Encore, Inc. (Encore), a wholly owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation, to launch Sony Online Entertainment’s multi-million selling Wheel of Fortune® games to its increasingly popular casual games retail program. Under the agreement with Encore, Wheel of Fortune®, Hoyle® and other well-known Encore games will be sold through Mood’s interactive displays at retail, which allow customers to sample the games via interactive video before purchasing.

Antarctica Digital has launched Future Flow Media, a new division of the North Vancouver digital marketing service provider that will offer multi-channel list rental email and mobile services that advance digital marketing campaigns. Future Flow Media will focus exclusively on email marketing campaigns and specialized, integrated marketing support. The company’s target market includes media agencies, advertising agencies and corporate marketing professionals across all verticals.

“Antarctica Digital has years of proven experience in providing list-growth techniques such as contests, sweepstakes, and coupons,” said Chris O’Neill, director of business development for Antarctica Digital. “Due to the success we’ve had with email marketing campaigns, we saw the need to create a separate entity that’s focused solely on providing a service offering that helps clients acquire new email opt-ins and expand their subscriber bases through permission-based directories.”

Future Flow Media is not just a data aggregator — the division is a full-service marketing provider. If needed, Future Flow Media can provide best practice recommendations to enable clients to integrate mobile and email marketing campaigns with custom microsites, online contests, coupons, and social media programs. The company’s consultants will help clients boost the overall quality of email campaigns in efforts to acquire new customers, expand their marketing databases and increase brand loyalty.

The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) as part of their $170 million dollar regional broadband project, has awarded a contract to Barrett Xplore Inc., through its Xplornet brand, to provide immediate and more affordable broadband access via satellite to residents across eastern Ontario.

For many people and businesses that today cannot access high-speed Internet this new arrangement makes access to the possibilities of broadband a reality. Starting on January 24, 2011 Barrett Xplore Inc. will begin offering residents an up to 1.5 Mbps package for $69.99 per month with an upfront one-time cost as low as $99 depending on contract length.

EOWC residents will benefit from new technologies as the Barrett network evolves. Starting in 2012, Barrett’s new 4G network will be available in the EOWC region. This network will use High-Throughput Satellites that will be capable of speeds up to 25 Mbps, and will offer even better value for end-consumers. Xplornet satellite customers who sign up for this new offer will have the option in 2012 to upgrade to the new 4G network. At the same time, EOWC’s work on an ultra high-speed, fibre optic telecommunications grid for Eastern Ontario is continuing on schedule.

Shaw Media and Global Television have announced that its original drama series Combat Hospital has been picked up by ABC. The 13 episode series, the second Global series to be picked up by the US network, will air in simulcast with ABC this summer.

Set in a hospital inspired by the Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit (MMU) at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, Combat Hospital charts the frantic lives of the hospital’s resident doctors and nurses from Canada, America, the UK and other allied countries. This candid, entertaining and sometimes brutal series follows Canadian trauma surgeon Rebecca Kincaid as she experiences relentless life and death battles on the surgeon’s table that transcend politically-charged stereotypes and is confronted with making the tough decisions that come with the realities of frontline medicine

Combat Hospital is a joint production of Canada’s Sienna Films and the UK’s Artists Studio with Carrie Stein at 3 Arts Entertainment and Simon Vaughan at Lookout Point heading up international sales. Executive Producers are Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny for Sienna Films (The Cry of the Owl—with BBC Films, MACT Productions, Diamonds—CBC/ABC, with Buffalo Gal Pictures, Alchemy Television and Philo Films, How She Move—Paramount Vantage/MTV Films/Mongrel Media), Gub Neal, Justin Thompson-Glover and Patrick Irwin for Artists Studio; Executive Producer/ Showrunner Dan Petrie Jr. will head up the writing room on the show originally created by Jinder Chalmers and Douglas Steinberg.

Meanwhile, CTV announced today its international hit series FLASHPOINT will conclude its third season with a shocking season finale immediately following SUPER BOWL XLV (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers) in all markets on Sunday, Feb. 6. In the gripping cliff-hanger episode, Canada’s favourite TV cop unit is threatened like never before as the fate of Team One and the life of one their own hangs in the balance. The season finale guest stars renowned actor Victor Garber (ALIAS, ELI STONE) as an elite military psychologist who sets his sights on destroying Team One.

The scheduling comes following a remarkable mid-season run on Tuesday nights this Winter, where FLASHPOINT has won the 10 p.m. timeslot on CTV against new simulcasts of THE GOOD WIFE (Global/CBS) for two weeks in a row. Premiering with 1.7 million viewers on Jan. 4, the series has seen impressive double digit growth (15-24%) in the three, key adult demos compared to last season, and series’ high audiences among A18-34.

Last year’s SUPER BOWL broadcast was watched by more than 6 million viewers on CTV. CTV’s SUPER BOWL coverage kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 6 with the pre-game, followed by SUPER BOWL XLV at 6 p.m. ET.