Children’s Medical Center’s “Brooke”–a stop motion paper cutout animation tour de force directed by Jamie Caliri of DUCK Studios, Los Angeles, for The Richards Group, Dallas–has won the Annie Award in the commercials category during a gala ceremony held this past weekend (2/5) at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles.
Now in its 38th year, the Annie Awards competition annually recognizes outstanding achievement in animation. The Annies are presented by the Burbank, Calif.-headquartered International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood).
“Brooke” topped a field of Annie spot nominees that consisted of: the DUCK-produced McDonald’s ad “Spaceman Stu” directed by Oliver Conrad of the Kompost collective for Leo Burnett, Chicago; LAIKA/house, Portland, Ore., for Frito Lay Dips’ “And Then There Was Salsa” directed by Nicholas Weigel for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; Nathan Love, New York, for Pop Secret’s “When Harry Met Sally” directed by Joe Burrascano for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; and DreamWorks Animation for the How to Train Your Dragon Winter Olympics interstitial “Speed Skating.”
On the feature film front, How to Train Your Dragon from DreamWorks Animation dominated the Annie proceedings, winning 10 categories, including Best Animated Feature, Best Directing (Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois), Best Character Animation in a Feature Production, Best Character Design, and Animated Effects in an Animated Production,
For the Best Animated Feature honor, How to Train Your Dragon was up against Despicable Me (Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures), Tangled (Disney), The Illusionist (Django Films) and Toy Story 3 (Disney/Pixar).
According to an AP report, Disney boycotted the Annies ceremony, opting not to make any awards push for the Annies in a dispute over voting procedures, which Disney claimed were stacked in favor of DreamWorks Animation movies.
Nonetheless Pixar did win the Annie for Best Animated Short Subject on the strength of Day & Night.
Best Animated TV Production honors went to Kung Fu Panda Holiday from DreamWorks Animation.
And topping the category for Best Animated Television Production for Children was Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants.
For a full rundown of Annie winners, click here.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More