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Rihanna to Release Concept Album Based on DreamWorks Animation

RihannaRihanna is working on a concept album for new animated film Home.

The superstar's next record will be entirely inspired by the new 3D DreamWorks Animation movie, in which she voices a teenager called Gratuity "Tip" Tucci.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, revealed the news during the company's quarterly earnings announcement, explaining that Rihanna will perform new songs. While no further details have been confirmed, the release is likely to coincide with the film - based on author Adam Rex's 2007 children's book The True Meaning of Smekday - hitting cinemas this November.

The album will be Rihanna's first since 2012's Unapologetic, and a welcome return from the 26-year-old star, who released a new record every single year from 2009 until 2012. Despite taking a year off in 2013, the hardworking singer remained in the charts by collaborating with Eminem's smash hit "Monster" from his album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and more recently with Shakira on "Can't Remember to Forget You."


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Comic Book Jobs: Concept Artist

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Television,

Lord Of The RingsWho wouldn’t want to work in New Zealand (that’s the place where Peter Jackson filmed Lord Of The Rings).

Oktobor Animation is now accepting “portfolio and reel submissions for super-cool digital concept artists for pre-production including character, prop, and environment design on interactive, transmedia and CG animation projects.”

That’s fine, but what kind of thing are they looking for? They’d “love to see fantastical and epic environments, creatures, stylized characters, robots, vehicles, etc.”

If that sounds like a lot like comic book work, you’re not far off. Concept art for movies, TV shows and animation looks a lot like comic book art. And what are comic book artists if not conceptual artists?

Applicants need to be self motivated, and able to adapt to different styles with a great sense of lighting, color and composition. But my favorite is this: “a strong knowledge of anatomy and proportion, human and creature.”

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Comic Book Jobs: Pixar

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Buzz LightyearWant to work for the vast Disney empire? And for the team that made Toy Story, Up and the upcoming Brave?

Pixar is hiring some folks for their Emeryville offices and while some of them aren’t exactly making comic books, people with comic book skills might be right for them.

One is Character Sketch Artist where you’ll be developing drawings that “explore the visual look of a film.” This includes characters, objects, sets, backdrops, all that stuff and from all angles.

Another is Story Artist where based on written/verbal descriptions from the Director (or Head of Story) you’ll “create quick thumbnail sketches through to finished detailed storyboard panels,” perform background research and illustrate script pages, coming up with story ideas yourself.

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Comic Book Jobs: Nelvana

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,

NelvanaDo you love the animated cartoons? Of course you do.

This isn’t technically a comic book job, but if you have some comic book skills, you could handle it. Nelvana, the Canadian animation powerhouse, is looking for an Art/Design Coordinator for one of their animated series (name unknown, for now). It’s a 12-month position, which isn’t bad in the world of television animation. You’ll report to the Art Director and be “responsible for providing administrative assistance to the Design and Art team” on the series.

What does that mean?

Just the following: “Provide administrative support to Art Director, Assistant Art Director, Design Supervisor; Act as a liaison for all activities relating to the Art/Design Teams; Review Scripts/Boards to prepare Design Lists,” and quite a bit more in terms of administrative and managerial.

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Comic Book Jobs: Cartoon Network

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,

Adventure TimeCartoon Network, the home of Adventure Time, Ben 10, and Scooby Doo, is looking for some helping for the Spring.

It’s all part of their Spring 2012 Intern Program. It’s 12 weeks, 15-20 hours per week. No money, and course credit is optional (it helps if you’re somehow majoring in Animation or a related field).

You’ll be doing all the usual (and occasionally horrible) intern tasks, but you’ll be jumping into the deep end of the animation pool. Cartoon Network’s Internship Program “exposes students to a variety of duties and provides valuable knowledge of the industry. Students may have the opportunity to learn and observe a number of functions within the production department. They will be exposed to all aspects of a traditionally animated series.

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Cartoon Voiceovers: Be The Joker

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,

Stevie VallanceDo you have what it takes to be the voice of Batman? Or are you more Twilight Sparkle?

Either way, if you’ve ever asked yourself, “How can I break into the wonderful world of voice-acting?” there’s a class that might have your answer.

My pal, actress and voice director, Stevie Vallance has been doing cartoon voices for some time. We just finished working together on a show that's coming up later this year on Nicktoons.

It was a real treat to watch her in the booth, bringing out the best performance from our actors and helping them breathe life into the words on the page.

When she’s not doing that, Stevie runs a series of voice-over workshops called Tooned In! Animation Voice-over Acting Workshops.

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Comic Book Jobs: Nickelodeon

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,

Tuff Puppy

If you can draw comics, the theory goes, you can also be a storyboard artist.

In fact, many comic book artists also do double-duty as storyboard guys. Stephen DeStefano is one. Keith Giffen is another.

If you have storyboard experience, then Nickelodeon is looking for you.

They need a storyboard artist on their hit show: T.U.F.F. Puppy, created by Butch Hartman.
 

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Sydney Opera House: Animation Competition

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Kissing GrammaAttention cartoon fans! Sydney Opera House in Australia has just moved into round 2 of their global GRAPHIC animation competition.

It's part "of the GRAPHIC 2011 festival of storytelling, animation and music."

In round 2, they've narrowed the field to 10 1-minute animated shorts by a host of creative folks - if you love the short cartoons and want to see some terrific animation in a variety of styles get over to their website and watch and vote.

And feel free to vote for Dave Barton Thomas' short, Kissing Gramma. He's a friend of mine, he won last year, and we have a project together - not this one - that we're hoping goes somewhere.

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Comic Book Jobs: Star Wars

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Dark Horse Comics,

Knight Errant AflameLucas Licensing, that tiny little division of the massive Star Wars empire, is looking for a new Emperor, I mean, Senior Editor.

You'll be "responsible for all aspects of development, editing and approvals for the adult fiction and comics program." Sound great yet?

There's more, of course, by why bother reading when you could be dropping your resume over there Right. This. Second.

Here's some more in case you're not convinced yet: "Creatively develop new storylines for Star Wars fiction/comics to maintain and grow our readership."

Or how about this: "Work with publishers and Publishing team to identify appropriate writers and/or illustrators for each project."

You'll need some education, of course, and at least "5-7 years of publishing experience and 3-5 years as an editor" but that is nothing compared to your nerd cred: "Solid knowledge and demonstrated interest in Lucasfilm brands" and "solid knowledge of SW fiction (expanded universe)."

Good luck, job seekers!

[Artwork: Knight Errant: Aflame, a new trade paperback from Dark Horse, coming in August and © Lucasfilm]


Disney Re-Releasing Lion King in 3D

The Lion King

Will baby animated lions look even more precious in 3D? Disney thinks so. The mega-corporation announced at the beginning of the year that new 3D Blu-rays of their biggest hits (Beauty and the Beast, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Lion King) would be released. Now, they’ve upped the ante: they’re brining at least one animated favorite back to the theaters, too.

First up, The Lion King (so dig out your old “hakuna matata” T-shirt). It’ll come back to theaters, in full 3D, in September. If it makes any money at all, you can expect that Disney will trot out the entire vault.

Read More | Entertainment News

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