Latest news with #MichelGondry
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Annecy Revs Up For 2025 Edition; Kicking Off With Michel Gondry & Matt Groening Honors & Shorts Selection Featuring New ‘Stars Wars: Visions' Title
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival kicks-off this weekend with a masterclass by French filmmaker Michel Gondry, who will also receive a career award alongside The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and UK animation director Joanna Quinn at the opening ceremony. It marks The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Gondry's first trip to the lakeside event, billed as the biggest animation festival in the world, although his work Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?:An Animated Conversation with Noam Chomsky played at the festival in 2014, winning the best French film prize. More from Deadline 'Wallace & Gromit' Studio Aardman Partners With France's Foliascope On Cross-Border Stop-Motion Training Program Gkids Takes North America For Cannes & Annecy Title 'Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain' Nickelodeon Acquires Animated Kids' Show 'Mr. Crocodile' From Joann Sfar's Magical Society & Mediawan 'Michel is exactly like Terry Gilliam,' says the festival's artistic director Marcel Jean, referring to Annecy's 2024 guest of honor. 'He comes from the world of animation. That's where he started. We've wanted to invite him for a long time and the planets have aligned.' Jean notes that Gondry's visit also coincides with a focus this year on the use of animation in music videos, a domain in which the director is also well-known for his collaborations with the likes Of Björk, The White Stripes and Daft Punk. In a break with tradition, Jean has opted to world premiere five short films at the opening ceremony rather than showcase a single feature film. Recent openers have included The Most Precious of Cargoes (2024), Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams (2023) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022). 'We wanted to reaffirm the place of the short film at Annecy,' explains Jean. 'With the first films, we don't stipulate that they are French premieres, but this year we received an enormous amount of world premieres, so we decided to open with a program of shorts, which are very different and very strong.' They range from 9 Million Colours by emerging Czech director Bára Anna Stejskalová, who won praise for her short film Love Is Just A Death Away, to Shinya Ohira's Star Wars: Visions – 'Black', from Japanese anime studio david production, produced by Lucasfilm for Disney+. The line-up also features The Girl Who Cried Pearls, the latest stop-motion work from Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the Canadian directorial duo working under the banner of Clyde Henry Productions, who were Oscar nominated for short film Madam Tutli-Putli. Bulgarian Oscar-nominated director Theodore Ushev, who won Annecy's best short award in 2020, also returns with La Vie avec un idiot about a man forced to live with an idiot as a state sanctioned punishment. The opening night mix of filmmakers forging their way in the indie space and globally known animation stars such as Matt Groening and IPs such as Star Wars encapsulates the essence of Annecy, which is one of the few film festivals in the world to truly showcase indie and studio fare side-by-side with equal amounts of respect and attention. This mix and the festival's efforts to cater to animation professionals across all formats and styles has won it fans worldwide. In 2024, there 17,400 accredited attendees, including 6,500 participants at its MIFA market, and 4,120 students, who give the festival its youthful atmosphere. At the heart of the festival program is the 21-title Main Competition, with contenders this year ranging from established names such as Sylvain Chomet with A Magnificent Life and Félix Dufour-Laperrière with Death Does Not Exist, to newcomers such as Ugo Bienvenu with Arco, and Momoko Seto with Dandelion's Odyssey. Jean acknowledges that many of the films have French connections this year but suggests this is more a reflection of the role France plays in financing independent feature films. 'I think the dynamism of French film finance and cultural diplomacy makes it look like there are a lot of French entries but the directors and stories this year are from across the world,' he says. Outside of the competition programs, the festival will also be world premiering Andy Serkis's Animal Farm on Monday and hosting the French premiere of How To Train Your Dragon as special screening events ahead of its release in France on June 11. The other big draw for attendees outside of the films are the works-in-progress, makings of and sneak peaks, as well as the program of close to 200 industry sessions. As ever, all the Hollywood studios will be out in force. Disney kicks off the Making of sessions on Monday (June 9) with a presentation of new action-adventure series Eyes Of Wakanda, which launches on Disney+ on August 6, with director and executive producer Todd Harris leading the presentation. 'It's a big year for Disney at Annecy,' comments Jean, noting all of its divisions – from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Animation, Lucasfilm, Disney Television Animation to 20th Television Animation – will be at the festival. Further highlights of the Disney program include the Pixar Animation Studios showcase on Friday, featuring footage from Elio and first images from Hoppers and Toy Story 5, teased by the studio's CCO and Annecy regular Pete Docter. 'Netflix and Warner will also be out in force,' adds Jean, noting the presence of the latter's Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. Warner Brother Animation will hold a special conversation event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Cartoon Network Studios' featuring creators such as Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory), Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls), Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe), J.G. Quintel (Regular Show), Adam Muto (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake). 'In recent years, TV series have brought about a huge amount of innovation.,' says Jean. He points to the example of Ward's series Adventure Time, about the adventures of a boy called Finn and his adoptive brother Jake, a dog with shape shifting powers. 'There are lots of independent features and shorts that were influenced by Pendleton Ward and Adventure Time, which in turn also opened the way for Rebecca Sugar to make Steven Universe, which also opened up new subject matter. Channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network have been extremely important,' says Jean. 'Someone like Genndy Tartakovsky who went on to make features and comes from these channels, is a key figure… there's also Adult Swim which last year presented the first episode of Common Side Effects. That series for me, is a major milestone in the history of animated series, which has gained in importance since the election of Donald Trump,' he adds of the show about two high school students who take on big pharma and corrupt government. Warner Bros. Animation will also be running a work-in-progress session for Get Jiro based on the best-selling graphic novel set in a not-too-distant future L.A. where master chefs rule the town, and making of presentation for Bat-Fam. In other studio highlights, Netflix will be running its traditional Next on Netflix Animation event, with a focus on the upcoming From Stranger Things: Tales From '85 animated series and feature film In Your Dreams, which it is positioning for an awards season push. Sony Pictures Animation will also be in town to unveil animated sports-themed production GOAT from Tyree Dillihay and co-director Adam Rosette; DreamWorks Animation will present a first look at Bad Guys 2 directed by Pierre Perifel and co-directed by Juan Pablo Sans, and Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon will showcase Smurfs and The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Europe Hits Meta, Apple With $790M in Antitrust Fines
The European Union has issued its first major fines under its antitrust legislation, the Digital Markets Act, hitting Apple and Meta with a combined €700 million ($793 million) in penalties as part of a broader effort to rein in the influence of major tech companies operating across the bloc. Apple was fined €500 million ($566 million) over restrictions in its App Store that the European Commission said limit competition by preventing developers from offering alternative app marketplaces. Meta received a €200 million ($227 million) fine for its controversial 'consent or pay' model, which required users to either allow cross-platform data collection or pay for ad-free services — an approach regulators said does not constitute genuine consent under the law. More from The Hollywood Reporter Annecy Unveils 2025 Lineup (Full List) Annecy to Honor Michel Gondry, Matt Groening, Joanna Quinn Netflix Boss: Hollywood Gets "Thrown Under The Bus" During Trade Deals 'These companies have fallen short of compliance,' said EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera. 'We have taken firm but balanced enforcement action against both companies.' Both Apple and Meta pushed back forcefully. Apple accused the EU of forcing it to 'give away our technology for free' and of undermining user privacy and security. Meta described the decision as 'a multibillion-dollar tariff' imposed through regulatory fiat, and argued that the EU was holding American firms to different standards than their Chinese and European competitors. The Digital Markets Act, which came into effect last year, was designed to address what the EU considers systemic imbalances in the tech industry by requiring so-called gatekeeper platforms to open up to fairer competition. The Commission's actions mark the first enforcement under the new law. Though the fines are modest relative to the companies' revenues — far smaller than the €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) levied against Google last year — they arrive at a moment of rising trade tension between Washington and Brussels. The Trump administration has already imposed a 10 percent tariff on EU imports, and criticism of European regulatory policy targeting U.S. tech companies has been mounting. A White House spokesperson has not yet commented on the latest fines, but the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank funded in part by tech firms, called the EU's actions a revenue grab. 'The Commission's actions today will not be well received by the Trump administration,' it said. Meanwhile, Epic Games, long at odds with Apple over App Store policies, welcomed the decision. CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X that the ruling was 'great news for app developers worldwide' and urged U.S. lawmakers to follow the EU's lead. Legal observers say appeals from both Apple and Meta are likely. Meta has already signaled its intent to challenge the ruling in the European Court of Justice. As the EU moves forward with investigations into other U.S. platforms, including Google and Amazon, and prepares for possible action against Elon Musk's X for violation of laws regulating the spread of disinformation and illicit content online, Wednesday's fines signal a more aggressive phase in Europe's tech oversight — one that may reverberate well beyond the continent. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Warner Bros is sharing select movies for free on YouTube
Over the past several weeks, Warner Bros. Entertainment has been uploading a selection of full movies to a playlist on YouTube. It's an odd move, considering parent Warner Bros. Discovery also owns the increasingly pricey streaming service Max. But free is free, so the company can be odd as much as it wants! It'd be easy to assume this is where the studio is putting its less prestigious back catalog, just to see if it can rake in some ad revenue from an unexpected source. And there is some impressively terrible stuff in the playlist, including a 1988 Bobcat Goldthwait vehicle that achieved the rare 0 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But this isn't just a digital dumping ground for bad movies. Quality films such as Waiting for Guffman (from the hilarious Christopher Guest), The Science of Sleep (directed by Michel Gondry) and The Mission (starring Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons) are all currently available in full on the YouTube playlist. It's tough to gauge exactly why Warner Bros. would be taking this route, or how the company is selecting movies to release. Maybe it's a response to business debts. Maybe it's a licensing issue. Whatever the reason, the TL;DR is that there are some fascinating movies you can stream for free, and new titles are being added every week.
