Music from “Arcane”, “Lady Nikuko” on disc, WIA ACE nominees and more

When it came time to record the season finale song of the award-winning animated series to Annie Arcane , composer Alexander Seaver and show co-creator Christian Linke wanted a "great voice" to sing it. “Someone like Sting,” Seaver explained at a Netflix “For Your Consideration” event at Hollywood's Raleigh Studios on Monday night. So the two tried to think of singers who might find they could sound like Sting, never expecting that the 17 Grammy winner would want to be involved in "a video game show".

But the epic and richly animated Arcane is no ordinary game-based cartoon. The show's creative team ultimately decided that "Sting loves music so much," the medium was less important than the quality of the composition. If only they could bring him a good song, they hoped, he would record it for them.

Not only Sting sang the show's powerful and haunting ballad, “What Could Have Been,” but performed the song before a few hundred people at Monday night's Netflix event. Accompanied by a solo pianist, Sting also sang heartwarming minimalist versions of two Police hits, "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take". Sting was highly praised by the series Arcane and its creators. Sting said he grew up watching shows like Scooby-Doo e The Flintstones and who initially did not expect much from the animated project. But like audiences around the world, he was struck by how deep, sophisticated and beautiful the show was.

- John Derevlany

A brand new one hour movie of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood  is ready to roar over the stations PBS KIDS across the country on June 20 (check local listings). Coast-to-coast families can ride as Daniel Tiger ventures out of the fictional neighborhood for the first time!

In Daniel Visits in New Neighborhood, Daniel and mom take a trip to visit mom's friend Tiger and her family, including her young son and Daniel's pen pal Juan Carlos. Daniel can take his first real train journey as he leaves the make-believe neighborhood for the first time and learns useful new strategies for traveling and staying away from home. He also finds out what makes Juan Carlos' family and neighborhood so special and even learns some great Spanish phrases.

Daniel visits a new neighborhood [courtesy of Fred Rogers Productions]

Just like the fascinating sequel to  Children of the Sea by Ayumu Watanabe, , is about to be released in select cinemas across the country, GKIDS and Shout! Factory has announced its Blu-ray + DVD combo for digital release on July 19th. Produced by STUDIO4 ° C, the film is a moving comedy-drama with touches of magical realism about an unconventional family and the bonds they share on their sleepy city beach.

Features bonus:

• Do
• Press conference at the end of the film
• Official preview event
• Sanma Akashiya's birthday event
• Guest Speaker Event
• Trailers

Preorder on gkids. com o shoutfactory. com . 

Happy Nest , a joint venture of Stampede Ventures and UTA, has closed a stake in GoKidGo , the children's audio imagination company launched by the children's bestselling author of the New York Times Patrick Carman, entrepreneur Jennifer Clary and film / TV executive and producer Maia Glikman. The move offers HappyNest proprietary development to adapt short and long form animated series from GoKidGo characters.

Investment properties include GoKidGo's interconnected narrative universe located in the fictional town of Pflugerville, which includes Bobby Wonder the Superhero, Lucy Wow the Inventor, Atlas and Zavia the Underwater Explorers, Ivy the President of RL Stine's Story Club and Waffle and Martha the Floozie Monsters living under Mr. Snood's candy factory.

HappyNest will also adapt a series from GoKidGo's Spine Chillers show collection that currently includes Story Club by RL Stine and Ivy's Chilling Tales. R. L. Stine has written over 300 books that have sold over 400 million copies worldwide in 32 languages. She is providing original untold stories for podcasts, which are available for adaptation into movies, TV, games, and more. Stine's movies Goosebumps grossed over $ 250 million worldwide, the 1995 television adaptation ran for four seasons on Fox Kids and Fear Street Trilogy was viewed by over 20 million Netflix subscribers in 2021. Disney + recently doubled down on just beyond released in 2021 and a reboot of Goose bumps announced earlier this year.

The Vancouver chapter of Women in Animation (WIA Vancouver), a nonprofit organization in the global animation industry, has announced its eight shortlisted candidates for the third iteration of the ACE program , with Netflix Canada as the main sponsor. The program is the WIA Vancouver training program Animation Career EXCELelerator for animation professionals who identify as female or non-binary, nurturing both authentic and diverse perspectives that advance our culture.

“I am so proud of the growth and impact of the ACE program. Our goal for ACE 3 was to reach authentic and diverse applicants from across Canada, and we did, with 64 applications that included a wide range of ethnicities, skills and talents. With the eight nominees now selected, we look forward to giving them the chance to tell their story and take their place as the creative and corporate leaders of the animation industry, ”said Rose-Ann Tisserand, WIA Vancouver consultant. and founder of the ACE / Executive Co-Producer program.

The candidates are:

• Producer: Stephanie Hodgson - Originally from Sydney, Australia, with over 15 years of professional experience in production, events, live arts and entertainment. Stephanie currently works in the animation industry in Vancouver.
• Writer: Sunita Balsara - Toronto-based designer, illustrator and concerned professional. She spends her free time eating pasta and daydreaming outlandish situations. She sometimes she writes them.
• Director: Sonia Furier - Sonia began her professional training path at the Animation Portfolio Workshop, which brought her into Sheridan's animation program. She is currently in Toronto and works at House of Cool as Story Revisions Supervisor.
• Artistic director: May-Yun Ong - A Malaysian artist with a passion for food, fruit-themed jewelry and comics. May-Yun is based in Vancouver and can't wait for the next adventure!
• Animation director: Molly Lacoursière - Native French speaker from Québec, he is currently Lead Animator at Atomic Cartoons in Ottawa.
• Storyboard Supervisor: Ana Bohac - A storyboard artist and comic creator. She is originally from the UK, she has been working in Vancouver since she arrived in 2019.
• Editor: Maria Isabel de Melo Ribeiro - A Brazilian video editor in Montreal who loves beaches, dogs and animation. Living the challenges in English and French, always striving to be successful and having fun at all stages of the process.
• Composer: Amanda Cawley - British-Canadian composer nominated for multi-award film and media awards. Recently completed works include the animated series Fireman Sam  and the documentary series Visionary Gardeners . Amanda's home base is in Kelowna.

RSP / UniSA training course

Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) has seen its fortunes grow spectacularly along with the growing demand for visual effects over the past couple of years. As well as working on high profile projects ranging from Elvis by Baz Luhrmann e Thor: Love and Thunder  from Marvel to hit series The Boys, Cowboy Bebop  e  Hawkeye , RSP added staff and resources to its main studio in Adelaide and launched a satellite operation in Brisbane.

RSP's highly regarded educational program is also growing. It is also expanding in Brisbane, starting with yours bachelor's degree in dynamic effects e  lighting program. Aspiring artists in Queensland can now develop their art under the guidance of artists working in a professional studio environment. RSP has trained artists for seven years in the program it runs in partnership with the University of South Australia (UniSA), providing over 150 students with the skills they need to enter junior artist roles.

The program has been hugely successful in providing RSPs and studios across Australia and overseas the talent they need and in providing young people with stimulating and creatively challenging work and promising career potential at long term. Learn more about rsp.com.au .