Michael Jantze, creator of the internationally-syndicated comic strip The Norm, whose outlets include ROK Comics (see www.rokcomics.com/thenorm) has had his animated short accepted into the Short Film Corner at Festival de Cannes 2008.
Mr. Lux: At Your Service, Jantze’s first animated short, will be part of the Short Film Corner at Festival de Cannes this month. The animation is a fast ride of traditional animation utilizing both pencil to paper animation and the latest in computer software.
A new character from Jantze, Mr. Lux is only happy when he delivers five-star service to his hotel guests.
Jantze’s script was brought to life by a story team consisting of himself, David Andrews and Kelly McNutt. Jantze created the layouts and designs as well as directed McNutt’s animation. Jory K. Prum provided the Sound Design and Jared Emerson-Johnson wrote and performed the Mancini-esque soundtrack. Nicole Jantze served as Executive Producer.
Michael and Nicole Jantze will be in the Short Film Corner at the Festival de Cannes between 19 and 21 May to speak with interested buyers. The four minute short can be viewed on the Cannes Short Film Corner website or at Jantze.com (www.jantze.com/animation) along with other recently finished shorts. There's also a clip on YouTube, linked below.
• In related news, Michael Jantze's The Norm web site has just had an extensive makeover: not only can you read about the character but related merchadinse and other many gems are now on offer. Check it out at www.thenorm.com
ROK Comics, a subsidiary of ROK Entertainment Group Inc. the global mobile entertainment company, is pleased to announce the addition of the legendary Roy of the Rovers comic to its stable of classic comics for mobile phones, in partnership with Egmont UK.
Arguably the most famous British comics character of all, 'Roy of the Rovers' forty-year playing career began on the cover of top-selling weekly comic Tiger in September 1954. Since then, the phrase 'Roy of the Rovers stuff' has become part of the English language, regularly invoked by pundits to describe the essence of footballing dreams.
Working closely with Egmont and its Roy of the Rovers archivist Mark Towers, keeper of the official website, ROK Comics has begun its run of ROTR by serialising the 1970s story in which Roy is offered the opportunity to become England manager. Already a successful player-manager of Melchester Rovers, will he accept the demanding role?
Roy of the Rovers joins a growing number of classic and ongoing British comics being published in the ROK Comics format via www.rokcomics.com and telecom partners in countries such as China, India, Pakistan and South Africa. "British comics have been exported worldwide for decades," says ROK Comics Managing Editor John Freeman. "Now they're being exported digitally over the internet and to mobile phones!"
In addition to Roy of the Rovers, ROK is also publishing Egmont characters such as the secret agent Dredger from Action!, the classic humour strip Faceache and others.
"We're delighted to be working with Egmont on bringing their classic characters to a whole new generation," added Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK “and we’re looking to score big time – home and away - with Roy on our hugely popular ROK Comics service.”
ROK Comics also has agreements with publishers such as the Daily Express (Beau Peep, Jeff Hawke and others), Look and Learn Ltd. (Robin Hood), Markosia (Dark Mists, The Lexian Chronicles) and others. Garfield, which appears in the Daily Mail and Doonesbury, which appears in The Guardian, are also being offered for download and on subscription in key territories.
ROK Entertainment subsidiary, Fun Little Movies won the Content Award for its Fun Little Movies Channel at the prestigious 2008 Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) in Cannes last week.
Fun Little Movies, based in California, specializes in the development, production and distribution of original video content for global distribution to mobile network operators and was the first US company to produce comedic films for mobile phones worldwide, when it launched as a channel on Sprint TV back in in 2004. Shows include the animated series such as Hoota N Snoz, Doodlez (above), Ms. Rabbble and more.
The Meffy awards, which received applications from 21 countries across four continents, are judged by an independent panel of national media and leading trade journalists and analysts. The Content Award shortlist, which received the third highest number of entries, included FLM, MTV Networks International, and Orange.
This isn't the first award for the company: FLM's "Fun Funny Phone Films" have won 22 awards to date, including CTIA's "World Smallest Film Festival" and two Golden Eagles at the American Cine' Awards, as well as The Content Award at Cannes in 2008, over MTV and Orange. FLM was also a finalist at the Cannes Film Festival for Best Short Film and the 2008 Mobile Content Award in London.
Commenting on FLM's success, Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director, said "With distribution from Brunei to Bethlehem to Burbank, Fun Little Movies' collection of funny, short, made-for-mobile comedy films has proven the universal appeal of laughter and snackable content."
"Our gratitude goes first to ROK Entertainment Group," said FLM's President and Chief Creative Officer Frank Chindamo, "who, since acquiring FLM in 2007, have supported and helped enhance our product offering, such as in partnership with ROK Motion.
"We would also like to thank the MEF, our own creative staff, and all the filmmakers with whom we have partnered or whose work we have licensed. In fact, look for our latest production, HighSpeed Dating, written and directed by Terry Rossio and Jocelyn Stamat. Terry wrote and/or produced the Shrek, National Treasure and Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and we have high hopes for the series release later this year."
"We're delighted to have won this award and congratulate the FLM team," added Laurence Alexander, Group CEO of ROK. "This award demonstrates the success of ROK's growth strategy as well as recognition that the creation and delivery of relevant, funny and fast-paced mobile content is great for mobile consumption. FLM faced tough competition and this award is proof of their position in the market for the production and delivery of mobile content."
Fun Little Movies have played on numerous US TV networks worldwide including HBO, Showtime, CBS, Playboy, MTV and Comedy Central. FLM's mobile comedy can be watched on Sprint, Verizon, Nokia, Motorola and ATT mobile phones, on Veoh.com, Revver.com, Vuze.com and many other top video sites, and on other mobile and Internet platforms. FLM also has distribution deals with several handset makers and overseas partners, from China and Japan to Europe, Africa and South America.
