Actualités

In a preemptive deal, Solipsist Films has taken the film rights to Top Secret Service, an upcoming action-comedy comic book from writer Zack Keller and illustrator Giovanna La Pietra.

The high-concept comic is described as in the spirit of Midnight Run and 48 Hrs., with adding in the political suspense of Air Force One. The goal for the movie is to pair two young actors with an older actor as the President of the United States.

Per the logline, “When an elite kill team assaults a remote Montana ranch, two young Secret Service agents must protect the retired president they were assigned — only to discover he’s the last living link to a decades-old alien contact cover-up and the key to unlocking dangerous extraterrestrial tech the world was never meant to find.”

Keller will write the script, with Solipsist’ Stephen L’Heureux producing. The producer, known for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,...

Dick Figures is back, and it has brought a hairy character to its latest party. Zack Keller and Ed Skudder’s web series (which spawned its own movie in 2013) has returned with a three-episode series of branded videos sponsored by Jack Links beef jerky.

The first of the three new videos arrived on the Mondo Media YouTube channel on October 1st. In it, the crudely-drawn Dick Figures protagonists (who have always had a penchant for pranks) look to pull a fast one on Sasquatch during a homecoming dance. Regular TV viewers will recognize this as a spin on Jack Links long running Messin’ with Sasquatch ad campaign, in which passersby encounter Bigfoot, yank his chain in some silly way, and receive due punishment when the legendary cryptid retaliates.

Given their shared interest in slapstick humor, Dick Figures studio Six-Point Harness and Jack Links ad agency Carmichael Lynch are natural partners.

In Shops This Week:

Death Head #1

Writer: Zack Keller, Nick Keller

Artist: Joanna Estep

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Price: $4

Description: When Niles and Justine Burton go camping to get a break from their stressful lives, they expect to find peace . . . not an abandoned village hiding an ancient evil. In a turn of events ripped straight from a horror movie, a brutal killer wearing a plague doctor’s mask begins hunting Niles, Justine, and their two kids.

Our Take: As a new horror title, there’s many things to praise about Death Head: it has a suitably cool antagonist, a genuine sense of terror and a complex but intriguing narrative. On the other hand, the characters often feel flat and forced, given so little time to develop that they feel like parodies of the people they’re supposed to be. By starting so many stories in a single issue, the writers...

In Shops This Week:

Negative Space #1

Writer: Ryan K. Lindsay

Artist: Owen Gieni

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Price: $4

Description: When one man’s writer’s block gets in the way of his suicide note, he goes for a walk to clear his head and soon uncovers a century-old conspiracy dedicated to creating and mining the worst lows of human desperation.

Our Take: Despite being fairly prolific and has worked on books that would fit in here at Destroy The Brain, writer Ryan K Lindsay premieres on this site with Negative Space, alongside a remarkably skilled and talented artist whose coloring work graced high profile titles like Shutter and Manifest Destiny. But clear away your preconceptions about what Negative Space is going to be; it’s not quite horror but it’s certainly horrifying at times, despite also having a darkly comedic mood. Comparable to The Life After but more grounded,...

Mondo Media will be relaunching the 2006 Korean animated cult film Aachi & Ssipak! The digital launch (YouTube, iTunes and Google Play) is February 11. The DVD launch is March 11. *They have enlisted the help of Dick Figures creators Ed Skudder and Zack Keller (reportedly a YouTube sensation?) who have rewritten the script and re-voiced the feature. Yes. It will be dubbed. Check out the trailer below.Sometime in the future, mankind has depleted all energy and fuel sources, however they have somehow engineered a way to use human excrement as fuel. To reward production, the government hands out extremely addictive, popsicle-like "Juicybars," which in turn also makes them constipated. Aachi and Ssipak are street hoodlums who struggle to survive by trading black market Juicybars. Through...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

After more than a year in production, Dick Figures: The Movie is here. The slapstick, animated adventure is now available across multiple platforms, including fairly new pay-to-view service Yekra. Dick Figures' Yekra release most piqued our interest because Zack Keller and Ed Skudder's film represents (at least from our point of view) the most intriguing release from the platform since it closed a $3 million funding round in May. With more than 350 million views across all of its episodes, the Mondo Media web series clearly has a huge audience, but will they pony up to purchase the film? Will the fans who donated to the Dick Figures Kickstarter campaign be willing to dip into their wallets a second time to support their favorite stickmen? Yekra Cmo Matuskiewicz thinks so. "It starts with content, the film is amazing and seriously funny," he said. "After meeting with the creators Zack and...

It's raised over $300,000 on Kickstarter and has over 350 million views on YouTube. And now the sophomoric animated online show "Dick Figures" will get its own feature-length movie on various digital platforms via Cinedigm and Yekra, a new distribution platform, the companies announced today. In case you're not familiar with "Dick Figures," it's an animated story of friendship created by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller and featuring dysfunctional heroes (in the form of stick figures) Red and Blue. The movie will follow Red and Blue's quest to discover The Great Sword of Destiny. "Dick Figures: the Movie" will be released as 12 weekly, ad-supported chapters on YouTube and also made available in its entirety on Google Play, as well as other paid/rental digital platforms. Mondo Media, "Dick Figures'" YouTube home and production company Six Point Harness partnered with Cinedigm to manage the paid/rental digital platforms and Yekra, to distribute video.

Cinedigm announced on Tuesday [30] that Dick Figures: The Movie, based on the animated YouTube series created by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller, will open on Sept 17.

Six Point Harness produced the film following a $300,000 raise through Kickstarter in summer 2012 and has partnered with distributor Mondo Media, Cinedigm, YouTube and Yekra on the forthcoming release.

The film will open on Sept 17 and tells of two best friends, Red and Blue, who race around the world hunting down the ultimate birthday gift – The Great Sword Of Destiny.

The film will roll out over all major digital platforms and the distributors are expected to reveal further details in early September.

I really don't put much stock in the International Animated Film Society's 2013 Annie Awards, which is why I didn't rush to report on their results on Saturday. One year Disney and Pixar boycott the event, feeling there was an unfair advantage paid to larger contributing sponsors, DreamWorks being the primary example. So with such a nasty stench over the event what good does it do to pay it much mind? That said, I'll be brief in mentioning Wreck-It Ralph topped Saturday night's winners with five awards, including Best Animated Picture. The awards have something like a 75% streak when it comes to helping predict the eventual Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature and as the days have gone on, it's looking more and more like Ralph will be this year's winner (see my predictions here). Pixar's Brave, Laika's ParaNorman and DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians each took home two awards in lesser,...

Disney's "Wreck-It-Ralph" was the big winner at the 40th Annie Awards held Saturday taking home the Best Animated Feature award. It is now officially the Oscar frontrunner in the Best Animated Film category.

Here's the complete list of winners/nominees; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies this season, click here:

Animated Feature

"Brave" . Pixar Animation Studios

"Frankenweenie" . Walt Disney Studios

"Hotel Transylvania" . Sony Pictures Animation

"ParaNorman" . Focus Features

"Rise of the Guardians" . DreamWorks Animation

"The Pirates! Band of Misfits" . Aardman Animations

"The Rabbi.s Cat ". Gkids

Winner "Wreck-It Ralph" . Walt Disney Animation Studios

Animated Special Production

"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1" . Warner Bros. Animation

"Before Orel" . Trust . Starburns Industries, Inc.

Winner "Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem" . Illumination Entertainment

"Disney Tron: Uprising . Beck.s Beginning" . Disney TV Animation

"Dragons: Gift of the Night Fury" . DreamWorks Animation

"Justice League: Doom" . Warner Bros. Animation

Animated Short Subject

"Brad and Gary" . Illumination...

I love the art of animation, and it's amazing to see how far things have come and advanced over the years. The industry is changing in terms of technology, but what it all really comes down to is telling good stories. There's been a lot of great animated movies this year, and many of them are up for several awards at the 40th Annual Annie Awards.

Some of the movies nomainated include Brave, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, ParaNorman, Rise of the Guardians, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Wreck-It Ralph. Out of those films my favorite is a toss up between Wreck-It Ralph and ParaNorman, those were two pretty incredible films. I think ParaNorman has the edge though.

Some of the other animated properties nominated are Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, Disney Tron: Uprising, Justice League: Doom, Robot Chicken ‘DC Comics Special', South Park ‘Raising the Bar’, and several others.

The International Animated Film Society (Asifa-Hollywood) has announced the nominees for the 40th Annie Awards also known as Animation's Highest Honor. Disney/Pixar led the nominees with "Brave," "Frankenweenie," and "Wreck-It-Ralph" getting Best Picture nods. The 40th Annual Annie Awards will take place on February 2, 2013 at UCLA.s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, California.

And the nominees for the 40th Annual Annie Awards are:

Best Picture nominees:

Brave - Disney/Pixar)

Frankenweenie -The Walt Disney Studios

Hotel Transylvania - Sony Pictures Animation

ParaNorman - Focus Features

Rise of the Guardians - DreamWorks Animation

The Pirates! Band of Misfits - Aardman Animations

The Rabbi.s Cat - Gkids

Wreck-It Ralph - Walt Disney Animation Studios

Annie Award for Best Animated Special Production

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 . Warner Bros. Animation

Best General Audience Animated Television Production

Archer .Space Race, Part 1. . Weissman Markovitz Communications for FX

Bob.S Burgers .Earsy Rider...

Which of 2012′s animated films drew the most applause? According to the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, the options include Pixar’s Brave, Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, and DreamWorks’s Rise of the Guardians. All three — among others — were nominated for animation’s highest honor today when the group named the contenders for its 40th annual Annie Awards. The prizes will be distributed Saturday, Feb. 2 in Los Angeles.

See who else made the cartoon cut with this list of nominees for the Annie Awards’ biggest honors. A full list of nominees can be found at the awards’ website.

Best Animated...