Author: Robert Greenberger

In the old days, Disney was paralyzed by indecision as executives kept trying to imagine “what Walt would do.” Under recent management, the studio has been expanding in many different directions, including adding foreign points of view to their filmmaking.  The studio is now proceeding with making live-action film under a new Walt Disney Pictures India banner.

The Hollywood Reporter says four films will be produced for starters.

"We have finalized two projects to start with, which include The 19th Step starring top South Indian actor Kamal Hassan, directed by Bharat Bala. The second is Zokkomon, starring top child actor Darsheel Safari and directed by Satyajit Bhatkal," a WDCI spokesperson told the trade.

Joining Hassan in Step will be Japanese star Asano Tadanabo and fellow Indian actress Asin. Step’s plot will “revolve around the ancient Indian martial arts form Kalarippayattu”.

Zokkomon is described as a children’s tale. Its star, Safari, gained praise from last year’s Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth). Walt Disney Home Video acquired the film about a boy with dyslexia for international distribution.

Mumbai-based Yash Raj Films has previously partnered with Disney for animated fare and the first effort from that partnership,  Roadside Romeo, with voices from Bollywood’s Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor will open October 24.

Vampires remain popular as noted by the success of HBO’s True Blood series and the enduring appeal of Dracula.  It’s with little surprise to see that Mike Newell’s 50 Canon Entertainment has optioned Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson character for development.

Mercy’s adventures take place in Washington state’s Tri-Cities area.  She’s a VW mechanic living in a world where vampires and werewolves are neighbors and not necessarily nasty threats. There are three Mercy Thompson novels in print, all from Ace Books and include Moon Called (2006), which is the story of a vampire-hunter who has the ability to shape shift into a coyote, Blood Bound (2007), and Iron Kissed (2008). Bone Crossed is due out in February 2009.

Brigg’s also told Publisher’s Weekly that the Dabel Brothers will be adapting her works for a series of graphic novels to be released as part of their deal with Random House. She will write the original story for the initial four-issue miniseries. The Dabels gained attention with their work adapting Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake vampire novels.

Newell is no stranger to genre entertainment having directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and is currently directing an adaptation of Terry Brooks’ The Elfstones of Shannara.

The 43-year old author has also started a spin-off series set in the same universe starting with 2007’s Alpha and Omega, which was a novella and was followed this year with Cry Wolf.
 

Eight cartoonists have been visiting with American troops recovering from action-related injuries at both Washington’s Walter Reed Hospital and at German’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

According to a report from Stars and Stripes, Chip Bok (editorial cartoonist at Akron Beacon-Journal), Jeff Keane (Family Circus), Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues), Mike Peters (Mother Goose & Grimm), Mike Luchovich (editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Walt Handlesman (editorial cartoonist for Newsday), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), and Tom Richmond (Mad Magazine) have been traveling together along with military artists and others.

The National Cartoonist Society members broke in to groups and scoured the wards, sitting beside soldiers and sketching away, often doing caricatures as they chatted and presenting them as tokens of appreciation.

"You guys are awesome," Jesse Stephenson said upon receiving a drawing. "You guys are awesome."

"You’re awesome," Peters told him in return.

Doctor Who is journeying somewhere new, even for him.  A multi-platform adventure known as The Darksmith Legacy kicks off as a book and online experience for fans of the Time Lord.

Fans who want the fill experience will need to register online and create an avatar so they can participate in the adventure by completing tasks, earning points and helping the Doctor when things get most dire.  Collaboration with other fans online to earn extra points will release exclusive content and assist in the Quest to keep the precious Eternity Crystal safe from the dangerous Darksmith Collective. It’s the cyber equivalent of clapping your hands if you believe in fairies.

Fans can log in at a special website www.thedarksmithlegacy.com starting in mid-November.  Meantime, the book component will be ten volumes, with the first two being released in January and then one per month throughout 2009. Penguin UK will be releasing the books with no known American publishing announced. (more…)

The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles’ annual juried competition, Illustration West, is the largest illustration competition west of New York worldwide. Throughout the 47 year history of the competition, they honored some of the most accomplished and emerging talent. For the first time ever, they have added a Comic Book/ Graphic Novel category. The Illustration West 47 show chair, Tatiana EL-Khouri told ComicMix, "I’m proud that we are embracing the Comic Book and Graphic Novel industry and all it’s contributions to the art community."  The deadline has been extended to October 3 for the ComicMix community. Artwork created in or published between June 1st 2007 and June 1st 2008 is eligible.

The esteemed judges include ComicMix’s Mike Gold and Michael Davis, as well as BET’s Denys Cowan, writer Marv Wolfman, Bob Kato, Simone Legno, Isabelle Dervaux, Joe Cepeda, Penelope Dullaghan, Tomasz Opasinski, Edel Rodriquez, Heidi Volpe, and Nate Williams.

To enter the competition, visit http://www.entersila.com

For more information about the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, visit http://www.si-la.org
 

The four-week auction to raise $50,000 to fix up the exterior of Jerry Siegel’s boyhood home ended on Monday and raised a total of $110,772.  Additional funds were raised through t-shirt sales and general donations which brought in another $6450.  As a result, a total of $117,222 with more expected.

The most money earned by a single item during week four was $14,100 for a walk-on part during this season of NBC’s Heroes. At $14,101, the largest donation made for any time was the original commission from Jim Lee depicting the winner with the Man of Steel. The same bidder won both items.

Jefferson and Hattie Gray, currently occupying the house, will be the immediate beneficiaries as renovation work has already begun.  This past weekend, some 100 volunteers arrived to clean and paint.  Kimberly Avenue is scheduled to be renamed Jerry Siegel Lane while Amor Avenue, where Joe Shuster grew up, will be renamed Joe Shuster Lane.

The Siegel & Shuster Society will have first rights to purchase the home whenever the Grays are ready to sell.

Brad Meltzer, who used the death of Jerry’s father Mitchell to propel his latest novel, The Book of Lies, spearheaded the campaign.  He made a moving video to make people aware of the situation then called on friends throughout the comic book community to participate,  Not only did his efforts work, but many other creators contacted Meltzer to offer their wares.

And if you’re wondering, naming rights to a character in my 2009 Iron Man went for $512. Not bad.