Press Release

RED GIANT STUDIOS ANNOUNCES ITS 1ST ANIMATED FILM, THE WAY TO HEAVEN

The CG-animated short film will wrap all production in Summer 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2009 -- Red Giant Studios, LLC., a new animation and visual effects studio founded by Dalton Grant, Jr and Cindy Rangel, announces its plan to release it's first CG-animated short, The Way To Heaven, in July of 2009.

The film is the result of the collaboration between Red Giant Studios and that of Guilin Jieli Digital Animation, an offspring company from the founder of Jieli Publishing, which is one of the largest children's book publishers in mainland China. The Way to Heaven, which is Directed by Dalton Grant, Jr and Co-Directed/Executive Produced by Mier Tang, is a film for all ages and, though the story is rooted in the beautiful, Chinese region of Guilin, the message is global. The Way to Heaven is the result of a small group of highly-talented Chinese and international artists

(some of which having worked at some of the largest studios in the field) that came together to create a film that would not only be shown on a world stage but would help to represent a new standard in Chinese animation.

The two companies officially began work on the project in May of 2008, when production was green-lit by Guilin Jieli Digital Animation and Red Giant Studios officially opened its doors. However, the project has been in development since June 2007 when Dalton and Mier first discussed the possibility of such a venture. “Since the beginning of this film, our initial idea has always been to not just have a pretty film but, most importantly, to have one that tells a good story and this myth, in particular, just felt like the right story for us to do as our first project” says Dalton Grant. Upon its completion this summer, the film will be traversing the international festival circuit.

Currently, a teaser trailer for the short can be viewed on Red Giant Studios' website, www.redgiantstudios.net. Also in the works, Red Giant Studios has another short film in its pipeline and is currently in the process of developing its first feature-length film.

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This news release can also be viewed at the following links:

Animation World Network

Highend 3D

Screen Daily

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Int'l Forum on Chinese Animation Underway

December 19, 2008 -- Kung Fu Panda was certainly Hollywood's animated movie of the year, a huge box office success around the world. The film is laden with many symbolic elements of Chinese culture. But the success story was a harsh lesson for Chinese animators, who strive but have never achieved such success for Chinese animation.

With this is mind, an international animation forum titled "Kung Fu Panda and Chinese Comics" has opened in Beijing.

The forum brings Jed Diffenderfer, a story artist for Kung Fu Panda and Dalton Grant, a story artist behind Cars and Shrek 2, together with prominent Chinese animators.

They discussed how to increase the competitiveness of Chinese animation, how to learn from countries with advanced animation industries, and tapping into China's rich culture to create a homegrown cartoon phenomenon.

Po the panda may be an unlikely hero, but he fought his way into the hearts of global film viewers. The much-hyped movie brought in up to 180 million yuan, or about 26 million US dollars, at the Chinese box office, the highest ever total for an animated movie.

Surprisingly, Kung Fu Panda artist Jed Diffenderfer had never even been to China when he plotted the story.

The forum was organized by the Beijing Publishing House Group, also launching its Beijing Comic Public Service Platform. The platform includes a comic creation center and a professional cartoon website.

The building of the platform will be based on cartoon magazine "Beijing Comic". The professional magazine has nurtured a group of young cartoon artists since its establishment in 1995.

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This news release can also be viewed at the following links:

CCTV Animation Industry

China Economic Net

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