Morning News Bulletin

Good morning all.

The Morning News Bulletin is a daily roundup of film news that happened over the last couple of hours while we were fast asleep here in SA. Check the news headlines after the jump.


This year's film awards season keeps gathering momentum and today we have the official nominations for the 2011 International Animated Film Society which are better known as The Annie's. This year's nominations include films from the usual suspects at Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks as well as various other animated films from the smaller animation studios which haven't been released yet in South Africa. Here's the full list of nominees from SlashFilm:

Best Animated Feature

* Despicable Me – Illumination Entertainment
* How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
* Tangled – Disney
* The Illusionist – Django Films
* Toy Story 3 – Disney/Pixar

Best Animated Short Subject

* Coyote Falls – Warner Bros. Animation
* Day & Night – Pixar
* Enrique Wrecks the World – House of Chai
* The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger – Plymptoons Studio
* The Renter – Jason Carpenter

Best Animated Television Commercial

* Children’s Medical Center – DUCK Studios
* Frito Lay Dips “And Then There Was Salsa” – LAIKA/house
* ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Winter Olympic Interstitial “Speed Skating” – DreamWorks Animation
* McDonald’s “Spaceman Stu” – DUCK Studios
* Pop Secret “When Harry Met Sally” – Nathan Love

Best Animated Television Production

* Futurama – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
* Kung Fu Panda Holiday – DreamWorks Animation
* Scared Shrekless – DreamWorks Animation
* Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Arc Troopers” – Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
* The Simpsons – Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children

* Adventure Time – Cartoon Network Studios
* Cloudbread – GIMC
* Fanboy & Chum Chum – Nickelodeon, Frederator
* Regular Show – Cartoon Network Studios
* SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game

* Heavy Rain – Quantic Dream
* Kirby’s Epic Yarn – Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory
* Limbo – Playdead
* Shank – Klei Entertainment Inc.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

* Andrew Young Kim “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
* Jason Mayer “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Brett Miller “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Sebastian Quessy “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
* Kryzstof Rost “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Television Production

* Nicolas A. Chauvelot “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
* Savelon Forrest “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
* Elizabeth Havetine “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
* David Pate “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
* Nideep Varghese “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production

* Mark Donald “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
* Anthony Hodgson “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
* Gabe Hordos “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Jakob Hjort Jensen “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* David Torres “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production

* Quentin Miles – Clash of the Titans
* Ryan Page – Alice in Wonderland

Character Design in a Television Production

* Andy Bialk “The Ricky Gervais Show” – W!LDBRAIN Entertainment
* Stephan DeStefano “Sym-Bionic Titan” – Cartoon Network
* Ernie Gilbert “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
* Gordon Hammond “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
* Steve Lam “Fanboy & Chum Chum” – Nickelodeon, Frederator

Character Design in a Feature Production

* Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
* Carter Goodrich “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
* Timothy Lamb “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation
* Nico Marlet “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Television Production

* Bob Anderson “The Simpsons” – Gracie Films
* Peter Chung “Firebreather” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Duke Johnson “Frankenhole: Humanitas” – ShadowMachine
* Tim Johnson “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
* Gary Trousdale “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Feature Production

* Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
* Pierre Coffin “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
* Mamoru Hosoda “Summer Wars” – Madhouse/Funimation
* Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Lee Unkrich “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar

Music in a Television Production

* J. Walter Hawkes “The Wonder Pets!” – Nickelodeon Production & Little Airplane Productions
* Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer and John Powell “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
* Tim Long, Alf Clausen, Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement “The Simpsons: Elementary School Musical” – Gracie Films
* Shawn Patterson “Robot Chicken’s DP Christmas Special” – ShadowMachine
* Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker “SpongeBob SquarePants” – Nickelodeon

Music in a Feature Production

* Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
* David Hirschfelder “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
* John Powell “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Harry Gregson Williams “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
* Pharrell Williams, Heitor Pereira “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment

Production Design in a Television Production

* Alan Bodner “Neighbors From Hell” – 20th Century Fox Television
* Barry Jackson “Firebreather” – Cartoon Network Studios
* Pete Oswald “Doubtsourcing” – Badmash Animation Studios
* Richie Sacilioc “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
* Scott Wills “Sym-Bionic Titan” – Cartoon Network Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production

* Yarrow Cheney “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
* Eric Guillon “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
* Dan Hee Ryu “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures
* Pierre Olivier Vincent “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Peter Zaslav “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in a Television Production

* Sean Bishop “Scared Shrekless” – DreamWorks Animation
* Fred Gonzales “T.U.F.F. Puppy” – Nickelodeon
* Tom Owens “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation
* Dave Thomas “Fairly OddParents” – Nickelodeon

Storyboarding in a Feature Production

* Alessandro Carloni “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Paul Fisher “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
* Tom Owens “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Catherine Yuh Rader “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Television Production

* Jeff Bennett as The Necronomicon “Fanboy & Chum Chum” – Nickelodeon & Frederator
* Corey Burton as Baron Papanoida “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Cartoon Network
* Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Cartoon Network
* Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown “The Cleveland Show” – Fox Television Animation
* James Hong as Mr. Ping “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production

* Jay Baruchel as Hiccup “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Gerard Butler as Stoick “How To Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Steve Carrell as Gru “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment
* Cameron Diaz as Fiona “Shrek Forever After” – DreamWorks Animation
* Geoffrey Rush as Ezylryb “Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” – Warner Bros. Pictures

Writing in a Television Production

* Daniel Arkin “Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes on Both Sides” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
* Jon Colton Barry & Piero Piluso “Phineas & Ferb: Nerds of a Feather” – Disney Channel
* Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson “Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III” – ShadowMachine
* Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham “The Simpsons: Stealing First Base” – Gracie Films
* Michael Rowe “Futurama” – The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television

Writing in a Feature Production

* Michael Arndt “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar
* Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films
* William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders “How to Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation
* Dan Fogelman “Tangled” – Disney
* Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award — Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening

June Foray — Ross Iwamoto

Ub Iwerks Award — Autodesk

Special Achievement — “Waking Sleeping Beauty

Next up we have a report from The New York Post that filmstar Johnny Depp had such a good time filming "The Tourist" with co-star Angelina Jolie, that he has become interested in teaming up with her partner, Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt according to Entertainment Tonight. Depp said Pitt should be considered for the role in the remake of the film: "The Lone Ranger" set for release in 2012. The film would be essentially a remake of a TV series about a cowboy; The Lone Ranger and his native American sidekick, Tonto. I'm quite excited that Depp has expressed an interest to work with Brad Pitt. The two actors have not worked together before, despite being two of the film world's biggest actors. What is also nice to hear is that Gore Verbinski has been hired to direct the film. He did a rather good job with Pirates of the Caribbean -  at least the first film. "There's so many interesting possibilities out there," Depp, told Entertainment Tonight. "Brad [Pitt] would be great. [George] Clooney would be great. Don't know who it's going to be just yet." Depp, whose real grandfather is a Cherokee Indian, said he was committed to the way Native Americans are portrayed. "Native Americans in cinema, over the past however many decades, have been treated somewhat shabbily," he said. "This one has plans to rectify that," he said.

Deadline Hollywood reports that South African born filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9)  has begun pitching his next film to various Hollywood studios in the hopes of getting a distributor. After the commercial and critical success of District 9 it's no surprise to hear that all the major studios are all falling over themselves to get involved in this new project. The new film, called Elysium, is also a sci-fi film but unlike D9 it will be set in far away alien planet and will feature many "sociopolitical ideas wrapped up inside a Hollywood action film". The only person to have been cast in the project so far is South African actor Sharlto Copley who played Wikus Van Der Merwe in District 9. Expect more news on this as details emerge.

Speaking of South African filmmakers, today we will leave you with the new teaser trailer for the upcoming film by South African born and AFDA educated director Jonathan Liebesman. It's called Battle: Los Angeles and has been described as District 9 meets Black Hawk Down. Judge for yourself from the trailer:



That is all for today's news bulletin. See you again tomorrow for more leading stories from the world of film.