Netflix and Jeff Smith's Bone Feature

This bad buzz turned up on my Facebook feed a couple days ago. It sounds like it's the end for Jeff Smith's "Bone" Feature. Jeff Smith created a cleverly written and beautifully designed comic that was geared to be just right for animation. No dice. "Bone" seemed to be cursed ever since I visited their old Character Builders Studio back in Columbus Ohio. Hey, it's not my fault. Maybe management had something to do with it...

https://www.thewrap.com/netflix-animation-shakeup-executives-fired-shows-canceled-staged-data/

 More here-

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/never-again-jeff-smith-posts-215000073.html

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/netflix-animation-erased-executives-fired-220251819.html?guccounter=1

 

("Bone" original copyright Jeff Smith)

And because, the Bone comic dealt with some mature issues, such as smoking and drinking alcohol, the censorship battle sprung up some years ago. There seems to be a rigid view of what an animated feature should be, and what "ingredients" it should contain. Heaven help up us if we get something refreshing, nutritious and imaginative besides the usual fast food.

http://cbldf.org/banned-challenged-comics/case-study-bone/ 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/19/jeff-smith-bone-us-banned-books-week

It's been a long time since I read the comics, but I remember Bone's story beginning to approach an epic that borrowed a bit from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jeff Smith's influences from classic animation, and Walt Kelly' "Pogo Possum" also added to a lively mix of comedy, action and great characters interacting. Plus, some mysteries and drama that arise with the female leads, and their connection to the Dragons. It would be quite a story to squeeze all that material into one feature, along with all the desperately needed pop culture and music to "help make it a hit".

Get back to the basics here.

https://www.boneville.com/

Discovery Aquires Warner Media From AT&T

Hello group, I'm grateful to the readers who still follow this blog. Health and work issues have kept me away again, but I felt this article deserved some attention. The course of the old Time-Warner corporation has always has always held my interest, mainly due to its animation history. And the old WB was me bread 'n' butter back in the 1990's.

But now, Bugs Bunny, Batman and the whole Warner media empire will go to work for the Discovery Channel. This group includes the Food Network, Animal Planet and TLC. Do they know they will be inheriting skeletons in the closet like Pepe Le Pew? Will they actually see the real ingredients of a Scooby-Snack? Maybe Superman will show how he bakes one of his giant super cakes? 

I'm just bellyachin' here folks, bear with me.

 (original copyright Warner Brothers)

At first, I was surprised that AT&T would sell off a library like Warner's when they still have all these digital arteries to fill. But now I'm wondering if the ol' "Ma Bell" isn't doing well with streaming. It looks like they have some big bills to pay off. And it's not like Discovery is a young, agile, cutting-edge new media entity like Amazon or Netflix either. This purchase looks more like another incident of buying up competitors, selling off the new surplus resources, and cutting jobs. 

Meanwhile, the remnants of the old Hollywood studios only seem to be flashy accessories that get passed around, like old antiques.

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-close-warner-bros-discovery-1235200983/?fbclid=IwAR1e3zcxH9IizjuSMSb9MNMs82yKCRYSb0Tz4w4A_YoAloP4q3IvfJw28uw

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/discovery-warnermedia-merger-shareholders-approve-1235097326/

Animation Studios Use Game Engines for Production

 This relatively new area of using game engines to render is uncharted territory for me. I experimented with Unity and Maya a couple of years ago, but now Unreal Engine seems to be the leader in game engine technology. I'm not sure if, or how a game engine station will take the place of a render farm. I'm trying to study this procedure, but it has been tough after over a year of lockdown with no clear signs of life returning back to normal.

All I have is the links to the articles down below. I'm still trying to learn about what output settings the studios are using to get finished footage on the air. Or onto streaming, as the case may be.

I'll try to update this asap.

https://kidscreen.com/2020/08/10/why-animation-is-leaning-into-real-time-tech/

 https://postpace.io/blog/using-game-engines-for-cinematography-and-film-production/ 

https://usv.edu/blog/using-gaming-engines-to-make-feature-films/

48th Annie Awards Winners: Soul & Wolfwalkers, Hilda

 https://www.cartoonbrew.com/awards/soul-and-wolfwalkers-dominate-48th-annie-awards-204408.html

48th Annual Annie Awards

Annie Awards Live
Watch it LIVE! April 16th, 7:00pm PST

 

https://annieawards.org/watch-it-live

Entertainment in the Pandemic Age

From LinkedIn contact Jay Francis: It looks like Disney is able to look ahead, and Disney Plus is getting the lion's share of the Mouse's resources.

In other words - Covid-19 is not going away. At least not anytime soon.

This is still a gamble for Disney since the Covid-19 lock down has kneecapped their usual moneymakers: theme parks, cruises and movie theater attendance. But on the surface, this shift makes sense.

 https://www.fastcompany.com/90566231/disney-plus-streaming-covid-19?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss?cid=search

  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/business/media/disney-streaming-reorganization.html?auth=login-google

 https://theconversation.com/no-blockbusters-how-covid-19-has-worsened-the-fraught-relationship-between-cinemas-and-distributors-147622 

 So, after voting in this vital election, keep your masks clean, and keep that popcorn popping as you curl up with your favorite media device this winter.

Studio Showrunners and Talent jumping to Streaming Services

New gold rush? New brain drain? Streaming (a.k.a. the new cable TV) seems to be the technology we should focus on. The L.A. Times reports on how showrunners are leaving TV production for the streaming service companies. This is concerning since good animation jobs will depend on these new studios. On Star Trek, the Next Generation, commander Data mentioned that television became obsolete by 2040 as a popular form of entertainment. Looks like it will be much sooner than that.

 (By Thomas Suh Lauder and David Ng)

https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-et-netflix-job-report/?fbclid=IwAR0cF6erLuldRlG_jD92KuistK69yGS_7ZMyW0b8TRyhop2VPCVPAIgJa00

In the meantime, Carl Beu created this nifty chart showing how timers form the heart, or maybe the backbone of TV animation employment.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102690632423247&set=p.10102690632423247&type=3&theater

Carl used Gephi to create this cool chart.

https://gephi.org/ 

Streaming Animation - Rights for Artists and Viewers

Credit where credit is due: I think this article by Alex Dudok de Wit on Cartoon Brew gives a thorough rundown on the situation of streaming sources and their rates. Excellent research.

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/streaming/the-ultimate-guide-to-streaming-animation-comparing-netflix-amazon-prime-video-hulu-disney-apple-tv-hbo-max-177645.html

 Alex's article took me back to my concerns about the rights of animation artists working in new media, and the rights of consumers. It looks like we have simply gone back to paying for a new type of cable TV, on top of paying our internet bills. And will the new media studios try to continue in nickel and diming the artists to death? My Spidey-Sense says yes.

https://animationre-creation.blogspot.com/search/label/corporate%20mergers

And then there's this: After months of negotiations with ShadowMachine, animation artists finally succeeded in signing a Guild labor contract on Bojack Horseman. Now, after a six year run, Netflix is pulling the plug on the show.

(copyright Netflix)

https://ew.com/tv/2019/09/28/aaron-paul-says-netflix-decided-end-bojack-horseman/

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/bojack-horseman-final-season-netflix-1203351456/ 

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2481223/why-is-netflixs-bojack-horseman-ending-aaron-paul-seems-to-have-a-different-explanation

With the financial and technology situations changing so rapidly, I can see why the studios want to hedge their bets on labor and other production costs. But I still think animation artists and technicians need representation in new media, and citizens still need a Digital Bill of Rights. Especially when it comes to our savings, and our privacy. And just our plain old satisfaction when we plunk down in front of whatever screen we choose for entertainment.

https://www.awn.com/news/bojack-horseman-crew-votes-unionize

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/breaking-bojack-horseman-crew-is-victorious-in-unionizing-with-animation-guild-176148.html

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflixs-bojack-horseman-animators-push-union-wages-1205833