Category: Announcements

Aces Weekly Online Magazine Launches

From Aces Weekly:

David Lloyd (V for Vendetta, Kickback) empowered the world with his iconoclastic Guy Fawkes mask  in V for Vendetta. Today, comic conspirator Lloyd is changing the world with his publishing launch of an ambitious new online magazine called Aces Weekly.  Acesweekly.co.uk is a sequential art magazine, available exclusively through on-line subscription which will be released as seven weekly issues which form a volume. Each issue will have at least 3 landscape pages from 6 contributors (18 pages per issue), plus many pages of extras such as artists sketches etc.  Readers subscribe to volumes which cost £6.99/$9.99 per seven issue volume. Aces Weekly will be available exclusively on-line and feature all new material. Stored online, readers now have access to their magazine wherever they have web access.  The website goes live September 30, 2012.   What makes Aces Weekly special? The creators have more control then ever before.

Lloyd explained the origin of the magazine, “Well, the aim was to create something very much like a traditional weekly English comic but without limiting the subject matter.  We asked a range of creators who we knew to be excellent – the reason for the ‘ aces ‘ of our name – to do whatever they liked within certain bounds of taste, and they just came up with a great mix of stories.  Creators in this business rarely get asked to do whatever they like, so that’s part of the pull of the project for them.  And they’re enthused by the newness of the project and its potential for growth.”

Bambos Georgiou is the managing editor; “Most comic companies use creators to make money for the company, this company has been set up to make money for the creators. This time readers will know their money is going direct to the creators.”  All strips are creator owned.

Lloyd, who along with writer Dave Jackson has created Valley Of Shadows for Acesweekly.co.uk, has gathered together some of the top names in the comic industry to appear in Aces Weekly, such as Kyle Baker, Steve Bissette, Colleen Doran, Bill Sienkiewicz, Billy Tucci and Herb Trimpe, including, alongside him in the first volume ; Phil Hester & John McCrea (Progenitor), JC Vaughn & Mark Wheatley (Return Of The Human) Alain Mauricet & Alexandre Tefenkgi (Shoot For The Moon) and David Hitchcock (Paradise Mechanism) who all contribute twenty-one page stories serialized over the first seven issue run.  Also included in the first volume are stand alone three page strips by Lew Stringer (Combat Colin), Carl Critchlow (Thrud The Barbarian), David Leach (Psycho Gran), Esteban Hernández(Harmony), Phil Elliott (Gimbley)Rory Walker (Chloroform) and Mychailo Kazybrid & Bambos (Dr Queer).

The Adventures of Retrobot Debuts on the App Store

Endeavor Bros and Monkube today announced the launch of The Adventures of Retrobot,  an intense tank shooter with epic boss battles featuring animated graphic novel style storytelling. Available now on the App Store for $0.99, The Adventures of Retrobot follows the story of a DIY robot built as a gaming buddy who’s out to save his maker from the evil robots who’ve taken over the world.  Go to  http://bit.ly/retrobot to check it out!
Throughout his adventure, Retrobot acquires new weapons and power-ups to fight off the never ending onslaught of robot overlords. Tactical use of shield and powerful EMP blasts are needed to complete the mission. The Adventures of Retrobot takes the player through numerous worlds, tackles challenging level bosses and tells a full comic book worth of story though animated story sequences. Having lived in a bubble of constant video-game playing and with no prior experience of the world outside, Retrobot and sidekick Toto’s journey is filled with slapstick humor that makes gaming logic and real world rules collide. More often than not, with a wink towards gaming’s biggest classics.

A game for everyone

In order to cater to both the occasional and experienced iOS gamers, The Adventures of Retrobot is geared with several gameplay modes. The Story Mode offers a balanced learning curve, varied enough to keep hardened players interested, without preventing occasional gamers from seeing the story through. Seeing the credits roll is just the beginning for experienced gamers. As a Challenge Mode, with one life, no retries and faster enemy spawning and a Boss Challenge await. In those game modes, the majority of the Game Center points are awarded. Completing one of these game modes – which is far from an easy feat – earns players a spot in the separate high score charts.
“The Adventures of Retrobot takes two of the greatest entertainment categories – comics and games – and fuses them together for a hugely addictive and fun experience,” said Adam Heat, Co-
screenshot Founder of Endeavor Bros. “We’ve spent countless hours bringing together what we believe could be a game changer in the mobile gaming space.”

Sven Van de Perre, Creative Director at Monkube remarks, “For us, game development has always been about finding a game genre that is under-used in today’s tidal wave of mobile games. And then trying to create a game that raises the bar. Ever since being hooked on Popcap’s tank shooter Heavy Weapon, I wanted to have a go at this. With The Adventures of Retrobot, we bring amazing frantic shooter action, while also adding like-able characters, great story telling and – which is up to the consumer to judge – some funny video game related humor.”

To go beyond the call of duty, Endeavor Bros and Monkube brought together an all-star support cast, including:

* Comic book publisher Ape Entertainment, developers of the massively popular Pocket God Comics featuring work from artist Carlos Valenti and Cut the Rope Comics apps.
* Maurits ‘Mo’ Goossens, part of Monkube’s in-house music team, composed the massive classical score that drives both game and story. As 1st violin and former conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic orchestra, he worked on several motion pictures scores, including Golden Globe-winning picture “The Aviator” (Martin Scorcese) and 2012 Oscar winner “The Artist” (Michel Hazanavicius).

About Endeavor Bros

Endeavor Bros is an Entertainment Media company based in Canada that develops and publishes games for mobile devices. Our central platform is the iPhone and all iOS related devices. We also support other mobile platforms such as Android, the 3DS and the PSP as well as online platforms such as the Xbox and PSN networks. For more information, please visitwww.EndeavorBros.com.

About Monkube

Monkube is a mobile game developer with offices in Belgium, Romania and Hong Kong. Founded by ex gaming journalists, Monkube intentionally steers clear of over-used game concepts, instead fusing its games with complete comic book stories and über polished gameplay. For more information, visit www.monkube.com.

Official War of the Worlds: Goliath US Premiere at the Los Angeles 3D Film Festival

Tripod Entertainment announced today that their 3D animated steampunk feature War of the Worlds: Goliath will ave its official US premiere at the 3D Film Festival in Los Angeles.  The festival is the premiere showcase for 3D media in North America and takes place from September 20-22, 2012.

War of the Worlds: Goliath will be one of the headliners closing the Festival.  Screening is on September 22 from 4:30-6pm at Regal Cinema #5, LA Live Stadium 14 (1000 West Olympic Blvd).

The premiere is open to the public and ticket details can be found here: http://3dfilmfest.eventbrite.com/.  The screening will be followed by a Closing Gala hosted and performed by Quincy Jones.

“Being part of the LA 3D Film Festival is HUGE,” explained Director-Producer Joe Pearson.  “The Festival brings together thousands of people from all over the globe – from filmmakers to manufacturers – the people who not only understand the cutting edge nature of 3D today, but its future.  This is THE place to introduce your 3D movie to the world.”

“It was an extraordinary challenge to build a compelling story about a Martian invasion set in an imagined history, featuring real characters like Teddy Roosevelt, Nikola Tesla and the Red Baron,” said Producer Leon Tan. “The real kicker however was the 3D – our movie is a hybrid of 2D cel character animation and CG vehicles, and we had to make both elements work together technically and aesthetically to create a cohesive and powerful cinematic stereoscopic experience.  I think the audience is going to be pleasantly surprised.”

Pearson and Tan will be representing Tripod, accompanied by writer-producer David Abramowitz, at the screening and Q&A session, and will be available for further enquiries.

The Story of War of the Worlds: Goliath

“War of the Worlds: Goliath” is a sci-fi steampunk action-adventure animated movie about a Martian invasion of Earth set in an alternate-history 1914.  At the heart of the story is the young multinational crew of the Goliath, a giant battle walker which forms the crucial vanguard of the human resistance fighting the Martians.

Directed by animation veteran Joe Pearson (Epoch Ink Animation), written by accomplished wordsmith, David Abramowitz (Highlander), and executive produced by Heavy Metal CEO Kevin Eastman.  Featuring the voice talents of Adrian Paul (Highlander), Peter Wingfield (Highlander, X-Men 2), Adam Baldwin (Serenity, Firefly, Chuck), Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural), Elizabeth Gracen (Highlander), Jim Byrnes (Highlander), Beau Billingslea (Cowboy Bebop) and many others.

(ART ACTUAL STILL FROM MOVIE) 

For more information visit http://www.wotw-goliath.com/
YouTube HD Trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STnf9qPr97I
Production blog at http://wotw-goliath.com/productionblog/

Join us on Facebook at:
Page: http://www.facebook.com/WarOfTheWorldsGoliath
Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wotwgoliath/
Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WotWGoliath

About Tripod Group

Tripod Entertainment creates, owns and manages animation and live-action titles for audiences worldwide, in multiple formats including theatrical, television and new media.

Tripod Entertainment is part of the Tripod Group of companies, a diversified media group based in Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles, with interests in animation and live-action production, audio post-production and 3D stereoscopic services, and intellectual property development and management.

Tripod’s stereoscopic 3D animated movie, “War of the Worlds: Goliath”, will be released worldwide in 2012-2013.  The Group is currently developing a slate of projects planned for production from 2013 onwards.

Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith to be Theatrically Released in 3D back-to-back in September and October, 2013

Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox have announced the official release dates for the 3D theatrical launch of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Attendees at the closing ceremony for Star Wars Celebration VI, the franchise’s massive fan event, learned that the epic movies that chronicle the rise of the Galactic Empire will be released back-to-back, with Episode II hitting theaters on September 20, 2013 and Episode III arriving soon after on October 11, 2013.

With its deeply detailed worlds and engulfing action, Star Wars is perfectly suited for the immersive 3D theatrical experience. Episode II and III deliver such captivating locales as the gleaming clone hatcheries of rain-swept Kamino, and the fiery lava planet of Mustafar as well as spectacular action sequences like Yoda’s unforgettable debut as a lightsaber duelist, the explosive space and ground battles of the Clone Wars, and the dramatic showdown between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous 3D conversion was undertaken by Prime Focus, the global visual entertainment services company. With their proprietary View-D(tm) process, Prime Focus transformed Episode II and III into 3D with the utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological consideration and artistic intentions.

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Lucasfilm, STAR WARS(tm) and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & (c) Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

About Fox Filmed Entertainment

One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Twentieth  Century Fox Animation and Fox International Productions. Twentieth Century Fox International is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a segment of Fox Entertainment Group.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season Five

This September, the Critically Acclaimed Series from Lucasfilm Animation Returns for Season Five, while Seasons One and Two Enter Syndication Across the Nation.

Following an impressive fourth season full of surprises, the spectacular action and riveting story of Star Wars: The Clone Wars intensifies in Season Five on Cartoon Network at a new day and time. Starting September 29, 2012 at 9:30 am, the classic heroes and villains of the world famous Star Wars Saga continue their adventures as The Clone Wars moves to Cartoon Network’s action series Saturday mornings.

The shadow of the dark side falls upon Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Five as the series moves closer to the grim events of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The big-screen action, unforgettable characters, and rousing adventure of the Star Wars Saga continue, as Jedi heroes face a galaxy of foes. With unparalleled visuals, sound, action and adventure, Star Wars: The Clone Wars continues the cinematic saga with the equivalent of a short  animated Star Wars movie each week. Season Five is filled with explosive action, exotic worlds, intriguing characters and shocking turns as several major players face their destinies as the galaxy plunges into darkness.

In addition to its bold new episodes, the celebrated stories of the series’ first two seasons will premiere in domestic syndication, marking its first appearance ever on U.S. broadcast television. Now, Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be available to a whole new audience, as well as provide an additional destination for its already loyal viewers to relive the amazing saga from its beginning. For a listing of participating stations, visit www.starwars.com as the September launch approaches.

 

The VIZ Manga digital platform expands on Android!

In addition to smart phones running Android 2.2 and higher, the VIZ Manga app is now available for 7″ Android tablets and smaller, including the recently released Google Nexus 7!

The VIZ Manga App is available for free from the Google Play store, and offers fans access to over 80 series and 700+ volumes not just on their Android 7″ or smaller tablet and smart phone, but on their iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, and on the VIZManga.com website – one account synchronizes across the entire VIZ Manga platform!

New volumes are available weekly, with periodic promotions, including the *End of Summer* sale going on now through August 20th – *ALL* volumes are 20% off their regular price (generally $4.99 per volume)! New titles available today include:

– KEKKAISHI Vol. 33 – a day & date release with print edition!
– a wealth of shojo, including JIU JIU Vol. 1, KIMI NI TODOKE Vol. 11, ORESAMA TEACHER Vols. 5-6, and more!
– getting ready for the November release of the latest volume, NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Vol. 4
– and more!

Shuteye: Six Tales of Dreams and Dreamers

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Shuteye: Six Tales of Dreams and Dreamers is a collection of six eerie little tales about dreams, and how easy it can be to get lost in them.

The first tale, Vea, is about a soldier in the days of exploration who deserts his company and finds himself adopted by a native tribe in the Banda Oriental. His new friends, however, harbor a mysterious secret. Why does the landscape appear different each morning? How does the village reorder itself every night? And why can’t he seem to find anyone he recognizes from one day to the next?

The second story, The Liar, concerns a drifter who stops in a provincial neighborhood bar and starts spinning lies for the bartender – lies which end up having surprising consequences.

Night and Day is something of a love story. It’s about a young couple on an extended hiking trip through the northern Midwest who happen upon a strange, abandoned house in the middle of the forest, and find themselves inextricably drawn to it.

In Carrefour, an isolated man who ?nds himself drifting uncontrollably in and out of a chilling recurring nightmare, haunted by a menacing figure who traverses both his dreams and his waking life.

Castling is about a college student and her estranged, unreliable father, and their tenuous reconnection after they swap dreams one night.

In The Fetch, an overworked and overextended young man is being pulled in all directions. Then one day, his doppelganger mysteriously arrives, offering a much-needed helping hand.

Each tale in Shuteye ends with a character falling asleep, only to wake up as the protagonist of the following story, remembering the previous one as nothing more than a dream.

About Sarah Becan: 

Becan is the author and artist behind the longrunning Ignatz-nominated webcomic “I Think You’re Sauceome.” (link to www.sauceome.com) Shuteye is Becan’s second graphic novel, and was published in 2012 with the help of a Kickstarter campaign. Her first graphic novel, The Complete Ouija Interviews, won a Xeric Award and a Stumptown Trophy for Outstanding Debut.

Book is available NOW. You can order via www.shortpantspress.com for a print copy. They also offer epub and pdf format digital copies at http://www.shortpantspress.com/?page_id=40

Praise for Shuteye:

“Each eerie story seems to wake up from the last, giving readers a glimpse of the fuzziness experienced right after a deep sleep filled with vivid dreams.” -Noelene Clark, LA Times

“Sarah Becan’s ‘Shuteye’ is straight up fantastic. Individually, the six stories are beautiful and eerie, but read together in the new softcover collection the full impact of what she’s created hits you.” -Chicago Comics

The Barbary-an Invasions: Nerdist at Outside Lands

from Nerdist:

Saturday the 11th is Nerdist Day at San Francsisco’s festival of music, food, art and comedy.

For four years, the Outside Lands festival has brought Golden Gate Park the best in bands, food, art and more, but this year, Aug. 10-12, they top themselves with an entire day of Nerdist. In the Barbary, a tent with mirrored walls and a stained-glass ceiling, three days of comedy and variety include a Saturday presented by us.

Nerdist Day, August 11th (which we’d call “Sat-Nerd-Day” if BBC America hadn’t beaten us to it.) kicks off at noon with a session of soft rock and sweet ‘staches from Mustache Harbor.  Then things really get into gear at 1 p.m. with a Nerdist stand-up cluster hosted by Jonah Ray, featuring Pete Holmes, David Koechner, Michelle Buteau, Jesse Elias and Caitlin Gill. If your weekend isn’t sufficiently magical after that, stick around at 2:10 p.m. for Justin Willman and his masterful Magic Meltdown.The Dork Forest‘s Jackie Kashian hosts a second stand-up cluster at 5 p.m. with Reggie Watts, Ron Funches, Michelle Buteau, Cory Loykasek and Mike Drucker, and then between 5 and 8 p.m. there’ll be back-to-back Nerdist variety shows featuring Chris Hardwick, Neil Patrick Harris, David Koechner, Justin Willman, Marcus Monroe, Jonah Ray, Pete Holmes, Ron Funches and Jackie Kashian. Holmes will also be hosting a live edition of You Made It Weird Sunday at noon with stars from Adult Swim.

So come and step “Outside” next weekend. In addition to our all-star line-up, some of the finest in food, beer and wine will be available, plus there’s an art show and of course some heavy-hitting bands like Metallica. But to quote one of their more famous tunes, when you’re hanging with the Nerdist gang at the Barbary, “Nothing Else Matters.”

The Game Station Presents Zelda-Western Mash-up in A Fist Full of Rupees

On August 7th, The Game Station will premier a 3 part miniseries mash-up of the classic video game Zelda and old spaghetti westerns, A Fistful of Rupees. Intentionally hokey, I am hoping it will be an entertaining if not hilarious parody of the game.

Check out the trailer and let me know what you think.

Retrofit Films Hires Ryan Copple as VP of Digital Development

Halo and Riese Webseries producer appointed by Retrofit to lead original content team.

Retrofit Films, an award-winning digital production company, announces that Ryan Copple has joined the executive management team as VP of Digital Development. Copple brings to the company an expertise in digital series development, strategy and production with partnerships at BBC Worldwide, Syfy, E One, Muse Entertainment and Content Media, among others.

“Ryan’s breadth of experience in interactive content development and monetization launches Retrofit Films into our next stage of growth,” says Retrofit’s co-founder Chris Hanada. “We’re very excited to expand our own stories by building on our experience creating digital, cross platform, branded entertainment for existing franchises with the studios and networks.”

Ryan’s background includes co-creating and executive-producing the critically acclaimed sci-fi webseries “Riese: Kingdom Falling” whose rights were picked up and licensed worldwide by the Syfy Network’s digital arm before the project crossed media boundaries with a spin-off iPhone game and prequel novel published by Simon & Schuster.

Most recently Ryan completed co-producing Microsoft’s highly-anticipated webseries “Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn” for Machinima before relocating from Vancouver to Los Angeles. “Innovative content coupled with equally innovative strategy is the future of traditional and new media companies,” say Copple. “A company with Retrofit’s pedigree is primed to bridge the gap between traditional and new media, and I’m thrilled to be a part of that evolution.”

“Ryan is here to really light the fire under our own intellectual properties,” says Retrofit co-founder Tanner Kling. “We’ve produced two original series in the past year, but bringing him into the fold signals a full-throttle dive into our development slate of original projects and our company’s continuing emphasis on creating strong strategic partnerships in the digital landscape.”

 

About Retrofit Films
Retrofit Films is an award-winning digital production company founded in 2004 by Chris Hanada and Tanner Kling. The company has a history of producing multi-platform stories and experiences for global brands, television networks and Hollywood studios with franchises such as FRINGE, HOUSE MD, HEROES, and THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.

For more information, please visit us at http://www.retrofitfilms.com

The Guild: Five Years and Counting

From WatchTheGuild:

 

Five years ago today – on July 27, 2007 – the very first episode of The Guild was uploaded to YouTube.  It’s hard to believe how far the show has come, and as always, on behalf of the show we want to thank the fans for the incredible support which has made the show the success it is today.  Today the show is widely available on many platforms for free (YouTube, Xbox, MSN/Bing, Hulu, Blip, Zune) and for purchase/with subscription (Netflix, iTunes, Amazon DVD or VOD).

All next week we’ll be celebrating the past five years – and looking ahead to more with the recently announced sixth season, which will come to Geek and Sundry (subscribe now) this fall .  Connect with us via social media as we have some some cool stuff planned including giveaways (LOOT!).  Check out the post on Geek and Sundry for details on the giveaways, which start at 1pm today!

Here’s THE GUILD’S Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Tumblr, and here’s GEEK AND SUNDRY’S Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Tumblr.  And please join us for more discussion on Geek and Sundry’s new discussion forums.

We asked the producers and cast to give us their thoughts on those early episodes, and the growth of the show over the last five years.

What do you remember about the first episode?

FELICIA DAY: I remember emailing 12 hours a day to blogs I read about gaming and geek stuff, introducing myself as an “actress from Buffy” and please spread word about my show.  Most of them ignored me, but a few picked it up. Some of the first fans we had were Veronica Belmont and Alice Taylor withWonderland blog. Without their spreading word of the show we wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much traction as fast with the online community.   But I remember refreshing the video and seeing people actually comment about our work, and realizing that THAT was what I wanted to do with me life, make things for people to react to immediately.  It was a whole new life when we uploaded that episode.

VINCENT CASO: When that first episode went up, I didn’t think a whole lot of it. I mean, it was cool, and a lot of fun to see myself in this production, but who had any idea it would turn into this?

AMY OKUDA: The Guild was my first acting job, and my first day of shooting was me and the webcam so I was talking and acting to a blank computer screen and I remember thinking, “wow this is a lot harder and less fun than I thought” but the day we all shot together for the first time at Cheesybeards changed everything for me. It was the “aahhh, this is what acting is, it IS fun” moment for me.

ROBIN THORSEN:  I have to be honest and say that when I auditioned for The Guild, I really had never heard of World of Warcraft…during my audition I actually said something like “AKFing,” like it was a real word instead of A-F-K-ing.  I remember  Felicia said  after I finished, “That was good!  Let’s try it again and it’s A-F-King” I was like oooooooh! Now, I think that after five seasons I have become a little more seasoned with all the game lingo.

 

There’s lots more where that came from so go check out The Guild’s website to read the rest of the interview and check out some great photos.