Quick little news story on Adelaide’s 7 News… Good fun.
Note: We haven’t ever received an ‘Oscar Nomination’ the story refers to our short The Cat Piano (dir. Eddie White and Ari Gibson) making the Oscar shortlist in 2010. Just so there’s no confusion…
‘Ouch’ I hear you say? Six Foot Kid is the new game development team formed out of the alliance between PRA and Halfbrick. Six Foot Kid will be developing a fresh, new style of social game initially for Google’s Chrome Web Store and Google+.
Band Stars is the first game from Six Foot Kid. It’s a social ‘fame-game’ where you form a band, start recording and rock your way to the top of the charts with your friends.
The game is available now at the Chrome Web Store here and is already being played by over 70,000 people! You can also access more social features from within the game via Google+
Here’s the trailer we made for the game at PRA…
…and efficiently covering Christmas, New Year and the upcoming Chinese New Year all in the one beautiful piece. Thank you Makoto! Check out more of Makoto’s super sweet artworks…makocchi-desu.blogspot.com
It’s grand, it’s old and some say haunted but it’s proving to be a great place to work. In early November, we moved our studio over one hard slog of a weekend, to the old Glenside Hospital building, now known as Adelaide Studios pictured below.
Like something from a Harry Potter film stands our new home at Adelaide Studios. Photo courtesy of Tricia Watkinson for Adelaide Now.
The building, once Adelaide’s most revered mental health hospital (I saw first hand the old electro-shock therapy gear once used there on my first tour of the building), has received a $48 million facelift and fit-out. The new construction at the rear of the building holds two huge new sound stages and a Dolby Mixing Theatre amongst other expensive toys. Soon to be the site of a bunch of TV series and film productions taking place in the new facilities, the building is also home to the South Australian Film Corporation, a number of independent production companies, the Bigpond Adelaide Film Festival and now PRA. NB. I apologise in advance to the other tenants for the state of the shared kitchen on level 1.
An Artists Impression of the Lunatic Asylum in 1890.
The building was known as the ‘Parkside Lunatic Asylum’ when it first opened in 1870 up til 1913. The fact that its name once had both the words ‘Lunatic’ and ‘Asylum’ in it is pretty impressive. I wonder when today’s terminology of ‘Mental Health Consumer’ will be considered politically incorrect?
Oh, and about the haunted thing… apart from a creepy sounding howling wind that happens every now and then caused by some open windows and unsealed office doors, we haven’t felt anything creepy at all. In fact, we’ve got twenty crew working across three bitchin’ projects right now so the place is buzzing with creative industriousness. Haunted shmaunted!
It is a great place to be working and we look forward to sharing with you early in 2012 some of the work that’s being concocted within the one-metre thick walls of this beautiful structure here in Glenside.
We are thrilled to announce the news today about our new partner in crime…Halfbrick!
With Halfbrick (the creators of the iphone smash hit Fruit Ninja) recently making a partial acquisition of PRA we now have the support, creativity and experience of their team behind us. From here we will work on bringing inspired and engaging animation to audiences through multiple channels. This includes games; which we are without doubt an integral part of the entertainment spectrum. We are pumped about the future with Halfbrick.
We will continue to serve new and ongoing clients in advertising and games – our mission of bringing inspired and engaging animation to audiences applies also to the TVC’s, cinematics and trailers we produce. This will still be our core business focus.
Stay tuned for the game trailer we are working on with Halfbrick for their next instalment in the Barry Steakfries saga…Machine Gun Jetpack.
Some excerpts from the press release release below…
“This is an important step for Halfbrick. We see their [PRA's] narrative focus as an incredible resource for creating new and truly compelling IP. Between PRA and Halfbrick, there is barely a screen we can’t reach,” said Shainiel Deo, CEO of Halfbrick.
“The Halfbrick team has built a culture that fosters creative brilliance and simply breeds success,” said Sam White, CEO of The People’s Republic of Animation. “We are very excited to be a part of Halfbrick, both to work with them to create exciting new gaming IP, and to continue to establish PRA one of the world’s leading animation studios.”
Full press release here.
Some recent marketing bumpers we produced for BlueTongue Entertainment and THQ for the de Blob 2 launch in late Feb 2011.
We conceived and produced three bumpers for the game launch: Inky Ladies, Inky Dysfunction and Prismas Got Talent.
de Blob 2 - Inky Ladies
For all of you who haven’t yet checked out the recently released de Blob 2 game it is available now on just about every platform you can think of. Shake that inky maker!
Loved this interview with Nick Hagger, Project Director at Bluetongue Entertainment. Nick is one of our favourite clients, we have had the pleasure of working with him since late 2007 on the first de Blob game right through to the recently released and amazingly stunning (yes, ok I’m a tad biased) de Blob 2 game.
Nick is never short of an opinion and always seems to have his finger right on the pulse of the industry here as well as the wider international games development scene.
While we’re on the topic, I’ll post up some of the bumpers we produced recently for Bluetongue Entertainment and THQ in the lead up to the de Blob 2 release shortly…
Thanks to Kotaku for the interview.
Hey all,
We finally have PAL and NTSC versions of the standard def DVD’s for The Cat Piano available via Kunaki here.
The DVD features all the same special features as the Limited Edition Blu-ray but the Standard Def DVD’s aren’t signed. They will suit those of you who haven’t jumped on the Blu-ray train as yet.
Cheers!
Just an update to the previous post on The Cat Piano Special Editions. Only 20 available now so please get in soon if you are keen! Thanks to all those folks who have already picked up a copy. Love to hear what you thought about the special feature with Ari and Eddie.
The Limited Edition Cat Piano discs are available from here.
We have created a special edition Blu Ray version of the Cat Piano DVD. The DVD has a variant cover and the same features as the Standard Definition version. They can be purchased off our eBay listing for A$50 each + postage and handling.
Each copy is signed and numbered by Writer-Director Eddie White and shrink wrapped. You will need a Blu-Ray player to play the DVD. Click here to buy!
The Standard Definition version will be available on Amazon in February.
