By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) --Trolls turned out in full force to kick off the first day of programming at Comic-Con – the ones with the wacky hair, not the ones that hurl insults on the internet.
Audience members in brightly colored wigs watched Thursday as DreamWorks Animation debuted 16 minutes of footage from "Trolls," an animated feature coming to theaters Nov. 4. It's based on the toy with tall, neon hair.
Co-directors Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn said they were excited by the prospect of creating something with no pre-existing mythology
In this world, trolls are tiny packages of positivity, who hug every hour. Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake voice a pair of mismatched trolls who have to rescue their friends from troll-eating giants.
Timberlake served as executive producer on the soundtrack, which includes remixes of classics like Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" and four originals such as "Can't Stop the Music."
Part of the footage shows Kendrick's character, Poppy, who is bright fuchsia pink from hair to toe, tormenting Timberlake's killjoy troll Branch with her singing. Branch gets his own musical moment too, eventually.
Producer Gina Shay said the film is informed by 1970s aesthetics – the troll's are the happy, bright, lava-lamp side of things, and the evil giants, called Bergens, are brutalist and polyester.
"The whole production has a crocheted blanket vibe," Shay said.
They also made sure to break "every princess rule in the book" by letting the female trolls be stumpy, short and shoeless.
Hall H audiences also got a sneak peek at "Boss Baby," an animated film about a devious baby with a grown-up demeanor and voice. Alec Baldwin, who voices the baby, surprised the crowd with an appearance.
Director Tom McGrath said part of the process of getting studio approval was showing an animation test with the baby saying lines from "Glengarry Glen Ross." Baldwin laughed that he hopes that expletive-ridden test is never made available.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More