Ad industry veteran Thor Raxlen is firmly ensconced in his new LAIR (www.lair.tv), a live-action, visual effects, character animation, design and post finishing studio.

The winners of the Rushes Awards for short format work (www.sohoshorts.com) were announced last night.

Reinforcing their status as an incubator of up-and-coming talent, TEAK has successfully ushered the first live-action television directing job for accomplished still photographer Kate Powers.

A new package of four intensely cinematic identities for Nicktoons, created by motion graphics + live action studio nailgun* are guaranteed to raise the eyebrows, (and quicken the pulse), of pre-teen boys watching everywhere.

I’ve already professed an interest in industry conferences, and often wish that I could have more time with featured speakers at events I attend. So when the team at Wiredrive said they were creating a custom microsite (http://promaxbdatheconference2010.com,)for PromaxBDA with interviews featuring design, marketing and branding luminaries I was excited.

In anticipation of the launch of the 2011 Ford EDGE this fall, the agency creatives at Team Detroit called on the talent and proprietary Drive-A-Tron technology at SWAY for a series of computer-generated short films for the Ford Edge web site www.fordvehicles.com/edge.

Magical World Creators Rely on Real-time Non-linear 3D Workflow and Rendering to Successfully Mix Live Action with Animation

EXPOTOONS is an annual international animation festival taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, dedicated to companies, artists, producers, students and professionals. In its 4th edition, it continues to build a bridge between Latin America and the world.

East Coast commercial visual effects studio Animal has gone bicoastal with the launch of a West Coast studio to serve its growing roster of national and international agency clientele.

In Head, Heart and Hand, Guest Bloggers Kinda Akash and Geraint Owen of Superfad explore the importance of design and what that means for effective, persuasive experiences.

Mark Simon discusses a growing trend in animation.

Simon Ratigan has directed McDonald’s latest spot, a celebration of Britain’s weather highlighting the all-important role of local farms. ‘Weather’ was produced by Claire Taylor at Leo Burnett and Lisa Trnovski at HLA.

Artist owned-and-operated bi-coastal effects boutique Brickyard VFX has just completed work on the new "Yahoo! Lip Sync" campaign via ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Hungry Man director Bryan Buckley.

Nothing says ‘guy-fun’ like rocket science and the possibility of things blowing up. Those two elements are conveniently combined in Science Channel’s new show 'Large, Dangerous Rocket Ships.'

Troika , a multidisciplinary brand strategy and design agency, announces the addition of Executive Producer Connor Swegle.

motion 2010

In Bodyguard, the latest MasterCard spot out of McCann Erickson NY, Mr. T looks as tough as ever (albeit a little older), standing, arms crossed, beside a woman as she goes to the dry cleaners, the beauty salon, and the grocery store.

Upwardly mobile London-based Animation Studio Not To Scale have signed an exclusive representation deal with JP Reps for them to represent Not To Scale in Canada.

Company 3 recently completed work on Lady Gaga’s newest music video, “Alejandro,” which was released on the web on June 7.

Enthusiastic fans of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves are an animated bunch, but even they were surprised to see themselves rendered as naive line art in a series of four whimsical, hand-drawn animated spots created for the team by CRASH+SUES for Hunt Adkins/Minneapolis.