Monthly Archives: May 2014

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News: GENIUS BRANDS INTERNATIONAL REDESIGNS SIGNATURE BABY GENIUS® BRAND CHARACTERS AS PART OF OVERALL BRAND RELAUNCH IN 2014

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BabyGenius_NewCharacters

GENIUS BRANDS INTERNATIONAL REDESIGNS SIGNATURE BABY GENIUS® BRAND CHARACTERS AS PART OF OVERALL BRAND RELAUNCH IN 2014

 

Character Illustrations Created By Celebrated “David & Goliath” Founder and Artist, Todd Goldman

 

Beverly Hills, CA (May 27, 2014) — Genius Brands International, Inc. (“GBI”) (OTCQB:GNUS), a global brand management company dedicated to providing entertaining and enriching ‘content with a purpose’ for toddlers to tweens, continues to announce new initiatives for its Baby Genius® brand as part of the 2014 brand re-launch, with the unveiling today of new fun and fresh redesigns of the Baby Genius® signature characters from celebrated artist and self-described professional doodler Todd Goldman. The announcement was made today by Amy Moynihan Heyward, President of GBI.

 

“We are thrilled with all of the new initiatives we have in place for Baby Genius this year and are continuing to develop new avenues for expanding the brand,” commented Moynihan Heyward. “Todd’s designs and illustrations evoke a sense of fun and spirit that we wanted to incorporate into the Baby Genius characters while maintaining its timeless appeal.  We believe the fresh and more stylized characters will engage and endear children and parents alike around the world.”

 

The debut of the new character designs follows recent Baby Genius brand re-launch initiatives, including new distribution platforms for the brand.  In April, GBI announced the introduction of a new online streaming service at http://babygenius.com, which features the entire Baby Genius content library, giving parents and children the opportunity to create their own playlists and more. The library offers thousands of songs, including classic nursery rhymes, learning songs, seasonal classics and more. Other Baby Genius products, including books, toys and videos are also available for purchase.

 

Additionally the company also recently extended its agreement with Xfinity TV by Comcast.  Baby Genius, the #1 Xfinity On Demand property on the Baby Boost Channel, is available to Xfinity TV customers and has amassed over 50 million downloads over the past seven years. Xfinity TV allows customers to stream and download exclusive Baby Genius content across platforms, providing unlimited content combination and continuous play.   And currently, select Baby Genius home entertainment titles are available via Netflix.

 

Self-proclaimed professional doodler, cartoon-type illustrator Todd Goldman has, in a very short time, managed to establish himself as a provocative force within the contemporary art market carving for himself a niche forever known as post-pop art. Goldman’s simply drawn, colorful characters are oozing with cutting-edge humor. His art and irreverence captured the attention and imagination of the S2 Art Group, Goldman’s exclusive art publisher. Shortly after signing on with S2 in 2004, he had his first exhibition of paintings (acrylics on canvas signed simply “TODD”) in the Entertainment Gallery in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, where Goldman showed 96 paintings, of which 87 were sold. Goldman’s

 

 

Genius Brands Re-Design Of Baby Genius® Characters Press Release

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first exhibition quickly established a pattern of success for subsequent exhibitions, 10 of which were held during his first year as an artist. Some celebrity collectors of Goldman’s art have been known to acquire as many as five or six at a time.

 

About Baby Genius®:

Baby Genius® creates musical baby toys and music-based products with a library featuring 500 songs and 125 music videos.  Currently, Baby Genius® products are available in more than 8,000 retail locations in the U.S. and have international exposure in over 40 countries. In 2013, over 1M DVDs/CDs sold on Groupon alone, and Baby Genius® is the #1 children’s on-demand property on Comcast’s Baby Boost channel, earning 60M+ downloads and over 500,000 VOD users/month.   The Baby Genius® YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/babygenius) boasts over 15 million cumulative views with increases of over 600,000 views per month; plus over 500,000 downloads on iTunes. The Baby Genius® interactive website, http://babygenius.com/ provides additional opportunities for consumers to engage with their favorite Baby Genius® characters through games, online coloring sheets, music, video streaming and more.

 

Baby Genius products have earned numerous awards from parent groups and organizations, including the Mom’s Choice Award, The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, Creative Child Preferred Choice Award, iParenting Media Award, Kids First! Quality Children’s Media Endorsement and many others.  The company recently debuted Little Genius® Jukebox, the first in a series of all-new interactive 3D animated apps for iPad, iPad Mini and iPhone which was released in the App Store™.  Genius Brands International is currently developing new products and new forms of distribution to continue to grow the Baby Genius® brand globally.

About Genius Brands International:

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Genius Brands International (OTCQB: GNUS) is a publicly traded multimedia content and brand management company.

 

Led by industry veterans, Andy Heyward and Amy Moynihan Heyward, Genius Brands International includes award-winning Baby Genius, Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club, Gisele Bundchen’s Gisele & the Green Team, Martha Stewart’s Martha & Friends, Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab and Stan Lee Comics, featuring its first movie, Stan Lee’s Mighty 7. The Company provides “content with a purpose” for kids of all ages, meaning interactive content that is as entertaining as it is enriching.

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News: Sneak Peek – Flipbook in the all-new SketchBook Pro coming this summer

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO3BBFaVo1A

I’ve been part of the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro beta team since about 2006 and have bugged them forever about putting in a timeline to animate with. They finally listened late last year and we’ve been testing it ever since but of course I couldnt talk about it even though I wanted to. About four months ago they approached me to demo that very thing and show what it can do! Well today they put up a preview of that tutorial. This marks a new chapter for Sketchbook and I am very proud to say I helped bring it to fruition! This is BIG news for those who LOVE Sketchbook Pro’s ability to have great pencil tools right out of the box unlike Photoshop. Having used it I can say that’s it’s pretty damn cool and if you dabble in animation at ALL you will love this new feature!

Check it out on Sketchbook.com!

 

 

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Jobs: Dreamworks Storyboard Artist, TV

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Dreamworks
Storyboard Artist, TV

Responsible for ensuring that the storyboards align with the outline / script and the Director’s vision and feedback.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with creative department heads to review goals and vision for the storyboards and discuss concerns, timelines and complexity given parameters of the schedule.
  • Ensure storyboards align with the creative goals of the leadership team and encompass storytelling objectives.
  • Work closely with creative department heads to discuss issues, address questions and ensure optimum collaboration.
  • Pitch thumbnails or roughs to director and creative department heads
  • Work in conjunction with animatic editor to ensure that the rough animatic includes all appropriate poses prior to the animatic pitch.
  • Ensure that production staff and creative department heads are aware of status of assignments and any concerns about meeting deadlines or shifts in schedule. Responsible for completing all deliverables on time and according to production schedule.
  • Responsible for ensuring that the vision and style of the show is consistent and adhered to across all episodes in the storyboards.
  • Submit work that appropriately aligns with production requirements and workflow guidelines requirements (i.e., naming conventions and storage).

Qualifications

  • Ability to align with style of show.
  • Strong knowledge of staging and composition skills. Ability to draw characters on model.
  • Knowledge of software and hardware, including Cintiq and Photoshop or other applicable storyboarding software
  • Able to write clear and specific direction on storyboards
  • Solid and consistent time-management skills
  • Work well under pressure
  • Minimum of 2 – 3 years storyboard experience and/or training on a similar show; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • BA/BS preferred

How to Apply

Include a resume and cover letter. We require both for all submissions.

To submit your information, send your resume and cover letter to: jobs@dreamworks.com

Please put the position name (or code if applicable) in the subject line

We apologize that due to the volume of submissions we’re unable to personally respond to each applicant or inquiry. If your qualifications meet our needs, we will contact you.

 
Please submit to jobs@dreamworks.com
TO APPLY CLICK  HERE!
TO
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Jobs: DreamWorksMatte Painter, GLN

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Dreamworks

Matte Painter, GLN
Creates foreground, mid-ground and background 2d, 2 1/2D, & 3D paintings that match the style of the film.
Assist in troubleshooting both technically and artistically with regards to Matte Painting.
Work closely with Production Designer, VFX Supervisor, and Matte Painting Supervisor to ensure the look of the film and in a timely manner.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Knowledge of all artistic basics including: perspective, value and color.
Intermediate understanding of camera lens and that translates to composition.
Basic 35mm or Digital photography.
Ability to establish priorities, and work within a group, and proceed with objectives with supervision.
Strong communication skills.
Qualifications

Three plus years as a matte painter.
Full understanding of how to fully integrate photography and traditional skills using a PC or Mac.
Traditional landscape painting skills a plus.
Professional skills using Photoshop a must.
Experience with software tools to create 3D environments.
TO APPLY CLICK THIS LINK

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Promote Yourself: Spotify and Talenthouse invite animators to express what they’re #nowfeeling

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Spotify and Talenthouse invite animators to express what they’re #nowfeeling
Spotify is teaming up with Talenthouse, the world’s creative network, to invite animators to create artwork that shows how music can express a thousand words and emotions.

The new brief comes as the latest phase of Spotify’s #nowfeeling brand campaign, which launches today in the UK and takes a look at how music can inspire emotions, memories and relationships, and how a song can express how you’re #nowfeeling better than words.

Spotify and Talenthouse are issuing an open brief to all animators to design a vision that expresses how music connects us all, which links to an emotion or experience or an important person in their life and conveys how it makes them feel. It could be based upon real moments from their own past or something shared with a friend or loved one. The creative solution should engage 18-24 year-olds for whom music plays an important role in developing their identity, navigating life, and connecting with people around them.

Animators are encouraged to create their own original 15 second – 30 second film inspired by #NowFeeling and the 90 second films that Spotify has already created.

The winning artist will receive part of a prize pool of £5,000 and the opportunity to power-up their career as their design will be promoted across Spotify social channels, feature in a Spotify paid media campaign and have future work commissioned by Spotify.

The partnership, brokered by MediaVest, leverages Talenthouse and Spotify’s combined platforms and will offer an exceptional opportunity for the winning creative to have their work showcased and seen by a global audience.

The deadline for entries is 16 June 2014. For more details and to upload entries, filmmakers and animators click here [http://po.st/H6ROwM] and artists and designers click here [http://po.st/ZrU4eM].The judging panel which includes Jackie Jantos, VP, Creative and Brand Strategy, Spotify and Andrew Duff, co-founder of creative content marketing agency Stereo, will consider the entries between 16 June and 23 June 2014 and the winner will be announced on 27 June 2014. All phases close at 10am PST.

Nikki Lambert, Marketing Director, Europe, Spotify, said: “We’re thrilled to be teaming up with Talenthouse to connect with thousands of fantastic creatives around the world. We are really excited to see how the creative community responds to the brief, and we look forward to seeing some inspiring stories about the power of music in connecting us all.”

Talenthouse’s VP Global Partnerships Emma Trant said: “The #NowFeeling creative collaboration with Spotify represents a great opportunity for creatives to engage with a global brand and have their work showcased globally. This partnership is a really nice example of how global brands are using the Talenthouse network to discover and connect with emerging creatives, drive mass social interest and attract the right calibre of creatives.”

#NowFeeling

Media enquiries
Hayley Hayes
Hot Cherry PR
hayley@hotcherry.co.uk
+44(0) 7973 820 729

About Talenthouse www.talenthouse.com
Talenthouse is a global creative community that empowers artists of all types to earn money and recognition for their work. Artists can showcase their creative work and find opportunities to partner with major brands and celebrated artists. Brands can tap into the global creative community and their networks of friends and fans to discover new talent and be part of relevant conversations that transcend traditional interruptive marketing. Talenthouse was founded in 2009 with a mission to liberate all artists and since then has provided thousands of opportunities to millions of artists worldwide.

@talenthouse
www.facebook.com/talenthousefans

About Spotify:
Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you on-demand access to over 20 million tracks.  Our dream is to make all the world’s music available instantly to everyone, wherever and whenever you want it.  Spotify makes it easier than ever to discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making sure that artists get a fair deal.
Spotify is now available in 56 markets globally with more than 24 million active users, and over 6 million paying subscribers.
Since its launch in Sweden in 2008, Spotify has driven more than US$1bn to rights holders. Spotify is now the second biggest source of digital music revenue for labels in Europe, and the biggest and most successful music streaming service of its kind globally.
* Number of tracks licensed globally. Catalogue size varies per market and can also change over time.

www.spotify.com