Untitled Animated Harold & Kumar Project (In Development) – An animated version of the popular blockbuster stoner comedy series, written by original scribes Jon Hurtitz and Hayden Schlossberg. John Cho and Kal Penn will voice the lead characters and also produce this Lionsgate production.

Rick & Morty – A genius inventor grandfather and his not-very-smart grandson, and the journeys in life they share. From Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland. (30-minute animated)

Colonel Wallace (Working Title) – An eccentric southern fried chicken magnate and his adventures with his family. Created by Greg Cohen (Conan O’Brien, King of the Hill, TV Funhouse). (15-minute animated)

Coffin Dodgers – A group of misfit grumps get into Animal House-style trouble at a cozy suburban retirement home. From Dave Silverstein and Matt Jeser (Drawn Together). (30-minute animated)

Green Bench: The American Day Dream – A group of friends have pooled their money to buy a large office space for their business. The only problem is they haven’t quite figured out what that business is. In the meantime, it’s an awesome headquarters where their petty, self-centered, and mischievous minds can wander. From the internet sketch comedy sensation Green Bench and produced by Dakota Pictures. (30-minute live-action)

Freestyle Love Supreme – These I.T. guys work on their freestyle rapping at the office, much to the annoyance of their co-workers. From Ars Nova (Black Dynamite, In the Heights). (30-minute live-action)

King Star King – King Star King is a modern day he-man who’s half-warrior, half-idiot. From artist JJ Villard (Monsters Vs. Aliens) and Eric Kaplan (Big Bang Theory). (15-minute animated)

Rolling With Dad – A brilliant, but disabled man deals with his much less intelligent family. From Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter; Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows; The Hard Times of RJ Berger) and David Katzenberg (The Hard Times of RJ Berger). (30-minute animated)

Adult Swim

Here are the winners in the Animation Category:

Eyrie by David Wolter (California Institute of the Arts)

www.vimeo.com/27011971

The Jockstrap Raiders by Mark Nelson (UCLA)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsq3erY9VXY

My Little Friend by Eric Prah (Ringling College of Art and Design)

ericprah.blogspot.com

Here are the winners in the other categories:

Alternative


The Reality Clock by Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California*

*Only one winner was selected in this category.

Documentary

“Dying Green by Ellen Tripler, American University

Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment by Keiko Wright, New York University

Lost Country by Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville

Narrative


Nani by Justin Tipping, American Film Institute

Narcocorrido by Ryan Prows, American Film Institute

Under by Mark Raso, Columbia University

To reach this stage, U.S. students competed in one of three regional competitions. Each region is permitted to send to the Academy up to three finalists in each of the four categories. Academy members earlier selected students from Germany and the United Kingdom as finalists in the Foreign Film category.

To follow the journeys of the 2012 Student Academy Award winners, visit studentacademyawards.tumblr.com.

The 39th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 9 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets are available online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, or by mail. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

In pan-Latin America deals, Pay TV channel Yups has acquired Jonathan M. Shiff & ZDF Enterprises’ Scooter, Secret Agent (26X26′) and Shaftesbury’s Baxter (13X30′) for all territories excluding Argentina & Brazil and Discovery Communications has picked up season one of Guru Studios’ Justin Time for Pay TV.

In Mexico, Free TV channel Canal Once has picked up Breakthrough Entertainment’s Dino Dan (26X30′) and Imira-produced Sandra, The Fairytale Detective (52X13′). In further Mexican deals, Televisa has picked up DQ Entertainment and ZDF Enterprises’ The Jungle Book(52X11′+1X60′), which has also sold to Canal Encuentro for Argentina.

Imira has also sold Spellbound Entertainment’s The Koala Brothers (39X26′) to TEVES in Venezuela and from distributor IMPS The Smurfs (163X26′) to KM Services in Nicaragua.

“We have a variety sales library full of dynamic, high-quality properties which we believe satisfy broadcaster demand, particularly in the Latin American market,” says Begona Esteban, Imira’s sales manager for Iberia, Latin America, U.S. Hispanic and Central Europe. “The fact that we have a presence on all kids’ channels in Pay TV and a considerable presence on Free TV across all markets in the region is a testament to our success.”

Sandra, The Fairytale Detective

The opening night film of the festival (June 14) is Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love. Steve Soderbergh’s Magic Mike closes the festival (June 24). Other gala screenings include Benh Zeitlin’s Sundance Festival winner Beasts of the Southern Wild and Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. The fest will also premiere Yuen Sang-ho’s The King of Pigs (South Korea).

Returning to downtown Los Angeles and headquartered at L.A. LIVE for a third year, the Festival will run from Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 24. Now in its eighteenth year, the Festival is widely recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema, and is produced by Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards.

General admission tickets to individual films go on sale beginning May 29. Contact the Ticket Office for passes, tickets and event information by calling 866.FILM.FEST (866.345.6337) or visit LAFilmFest.com. Animation Magazine is proud to be a sponsor of this great event.

Women of Wonder - LA Film Fest Women's Summit

Based on the companion book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, The Gruffalo’s Child centers on the monster’s tyke who ignores her father’s warnings never to go into the woods alone for fear of The Big Bad Mouse, and instead sets out to find the legendary creature. The half-hour special premiered on the U.K.’s BBC1 last Christmas and stars Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, James Corden, Robbie Coltrane, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson and newcomer Shirley Henderson as the Gruffalo’s child. Johannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschotter directed the film, which was produced by Magic Light in association with Germany’s Studio Soi.

NCircle will be promoting the DVD release with national TV and radio advertising as well as a broad social media campaign in the coming months.

The Gruffalo’s Child

The game will offer an entirely different Ben 10 experience with all-new character designs that pay homage to Ben’s past, plus a fresh batch of battle-ready aliens. Omniverse will also introduce Ben’s new sidekick, Rook. The immersive action-brawler gameplay allows players to switch forms and battle as one of 13 playable alien heroes (including some never before seen) to defeat an evil villain bent on destroying the world in single player or co-op mode (all platforms except Nintendo DS and 3DS).

Omniverse is being developed by Vicious Cycle Studios for Nintendo’s Wii U and Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3, while 1st Playable Productions is devving for Nintendo DS and 3DS portable systems. For updates, visit www.d3publisher.us.

Ben 10: Omniverse - Microsoft Xbox 360

Ben 10: Omniverse - Sony PS3

Ben 10: Omniverse - Nintendo DS

Ben 10: Omniverse - Nintendo 3DS

Ben 10: Omniverse - Nintendo Wii

Michael J. Vogel – Vice President, Development, Hasbro Studios

A dedicated shepherd of Hasbro’s toon flock, Vogel has headed all development for Los Angeles-based Hasbro Studios (the production divistion of Hasbro, Inc.) since March of 2011.

As a veep and previously as executive director of boys and action programming, Vogel has worked closely with Hasbro Studios producers, writers and artists as well as independent entities to guide many of the studio’s well-known brand revamps from inception through to broadcast success on Hasbro/Discovery’s joint venture The Hub and on networks that reach over 160 countries.  These top properties include Transformers Prime, Transformers Rescue Bots, Littlest Pet Shop, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters and the Clue miniseries, based on the iconic family game.

Prior to joining Hasbro, Vogel served as director of animated programming at Sony Pictures Entertainment, overseeing development and current programming for animated TV fare. His toon credits include the Emmy-nominated Jackie Chan Adventures, Stan Lee’s The Spectacular Spiderman for Kid’s WB, the Peabody Award-winning The Boondocks and Sit Down Shut Up.

Barry Blumberg – Executive Vice President, Alloy Digital | President, Smosh

As EVP for Alloy Digital, a major creator/distributor of media and entertainment for the 12-34 set, Blumberg guides editorial strategy and programming development for Alloy-owned sites which include popular properties Alloy, Gurl, The Gloss, Teen, Smosh and Smosh’s Shut Up! Cartoons. He continues to serve as president of Alloy-own pop-culture phenom Smosh—the Webby Award-winning online destination for multiplatform original video content for teens and young adults which is one of the top three channels on YouTube, generating more than 13 million views per month.

Blumberg is also the driving force behind Smosh’s Shut Up! Cartoons, the recently launched and fast-rising YouTube original animation channel that features a host of irreverent creators producing high-quality toon content—including those behind some of the most popular animated properties around. Launched April 30 of this year, Shut Up! Cartoons has already attracted over 5.4 million views, led in subscriber gains, broken into the top 350 of YouTube channels and finished among its 20 most popular channels in its first week alone.

Before making a splash at Smosh, Blumber served as president of Walt Disney Television Animation, where he oversaw production of more than 1,000 episodes delivered to Disney Channels and other global distribution outlets. His resume also includes a stint as EVP of Harvey Entertainment, where he managed media and merchandising activities for evergreen brands Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich.

Step back in to the 31^st century on June 20 with the season premiere episode “The Bots and the Bees,” in which Bender (John DiMaggio) fathers a child with the office vending machine, played by guest star Wanda Sykes. Immediately following will be “A Farewell to Arms,” which finds the gang coping with an ancient prophecy that predicts the end of the world in 3012! (Sound familiar?)

Check out this preview clip for “The Bots and the Bees”:

In addition to actress/comedienne Sykes, special guest stars this season include George Takei, Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer on The Simpsons), Patrick Stewart and Estelle Harris. Original stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche et al are returning. And don’t forget to visit comedycentral.com to get exclusive Futurama episode previews, interviews and more.

Futurama

Topping our agenda this week is the terror-ific Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: Season 2 set from Shout! Factory. Thirteen two-parter episodes from season two of Nickelodeon’s ‘90s classic are collected on two dark discs of unnerving (yet hilarious) adventures. Created by Gabor Csupo and Peter Gaffney and produced by Klasky-Csupo, the series stars Christine Cavanaugh, Charles Adler and David Eccles as a trio of monsters-in-training whose ventures to the surface world to scare the humans never quite go as planned. Available May 15, $19.93.

Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: Season 2 DVD [$19.93, Shout! Factory]

Also out today:

Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures Season One, Volume One [$26.99, Warner] The 21^st century reboot of the Hanna-Barbera adventure classic launches on DVD with this two-disc, 13-episode set. Includes Jonny Quest Returns: Modernizing a Classic for a New Generation of Fans featurette. [May 15]

Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures Season One, Volume One DVD [$26.99, Warner]

Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World [$19.98, Warner] This new two-disc set collects 13 globe-trotting episodes of the perennial mystery-solving series—join Scooby and the gang as they unfurl plots in Venice, Mexico, the Bermuda Triangle and more. [May 15]

Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales Around the World DVD [$19.98, Warner]

Sid the Science Kid: Sid’s Backyard Campout [$6.99, NCircle Ent.] And one for the tots: Jim Henson Co.’s CG puppet pal Sid joins Gerald and Dad on a backyard camping adventure—complete with campfire sing-along. [May 15]

Sid the Science Kid: Sid’s Backyard Campout DVD [$6.99, NCircle Ent.]