Animation

• In the vibrant ebb and flow of Glasgow’s Byres Road, a new residency of snorkelling artists shines a light on the hidden deep.
• This exhibition showcases their diverse range of multimedia artworks, from illustration and printmaking to audio recordings of underwater seascapes and animation.

• Installation artist Vicki Fleck’s work uses a variety of media while “exploring the fluid, spongy and colourful landscape” underwater.
• She says she has been particularly inspired by the horizonless perspective of the snorkeller, “where everything comes up and towards”.

Internationally acclaimed wildlife artist and scientific illustrator Rachel Brooks’s detailed ink pieces capture the often-overlooked marine life found in UK coastal waters, while drawing on her expertise in zoology and marine biology.

• This residency has also inspired poems and storytelling, exhibited with QR codes that direct people to podcasts and compositions by some participants.
• Composer and sound artist Nicolette MacLeod creates work that invites people to listen to a series of compositions and podcast episodes made in response to the residency experience.

Hope spots

• The goal is to create a global network of hope spots, as far flung as the Galápagos and the Great Barrier Reef, that together help protect the hugely unexplored, yet fragile, ocean habitats beneath the waves.
• The Argyll Coast and Islands Hope Spot, on the west coast, is the first in Scotland and the only designated hope spot in UK coastal waters.

These residencies give artists access to new pastures of inspiration and discovery. By collaborating with marine scientists during this experience, the artists are encouraged to bring the mysteries and beauty of the largely unseen underwater worlds to a larger public. This can enlighten and educate people about the critical role that the ocean and its teeming-yet-threatened populations play in our own survival.

Visual storytelling

• Using visual narratives to communicate information can help demystify and explain sometimes complex, inaccessible and unfathomable places and lifeforms that most people would not normally have access to, or knowledge of.
• Visual narratives have a potency that supersedes textual formats.

• This form of storytelling presents information, data and ideas in a more accessible, visual context that allows more people to see the bigger picture.
• It can be hard for people to connect with the sea other than by looking out over its seemingly endless surface.
• But art initiatives can unite people to engage with causes that might otherwise escape their notice, because visual storytelling brings this subject matter closer to home.

Chris Mackenzie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Unleashing creativity in film and TV, cultivating Hong Kong as cultural exchange centre
  HONG KONG, Mar 14, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - The Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) and EntertainmentPulse, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), concluded successfully today.
• The Digital Entertainment Summit featured at EntertainmentPulse explored trending topics in the world of digital entertainment, including animation and cross-border collaboration.
• FILMART is not only a trading platform for the film and entertainment industry, but also a showcase for music producers.
• Registered users can rewatch EntertainmentPulse seminars and connect with global buyers and exhibitors to explore more business opportunities.

• Andy Heyward, Chairman & CEO of Kartoon Studios, stated, “2023 was a transformative year for the Company as we laid the foundation for long-term growth and sustainable profitability.
• At the same time, Kartoon Channel!’s paid subscriber base continues to grow, providing us with high margin recurring revenue.
• Moreover, our Beacon Media Group subsidiary has resumed solid growth and, in Q4 2023, achieved its highest quarter revenue since 2021.
• The team of players now inside Kartoon Studios brings extraordinary playing records at Disney, Warner Brothers, Hasbro, and other leading organizations.

• BOCA RATON, Fla., April 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grom Social Enterprises, Inc (NASDAQ: GROM), which recently announced that it has entered into a Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire Arctic7, the Austin, Texas-based game and co-development services provider, today announced the formation of a synergy council that will, upon completion of the acquisition, explore gaming production and other opportunities for ancillary revenue growth.
• Grom, a media, technology, and entertainment company focused on family-friendly programming, web filtering technology and safe social media for kids, intends to explore ways Arctic7’s proven expertise can complement its existing entertainment offerings of safe, social media for kids, its growing catalog of original intellectual properties and its robust 2D animation production studio, based in Manila, the Philippines.
• Specifically, the synergy council will be tasked with delving into ways Grom might embrace kid- and family-friendly gaming into the company's platforms, create original content together and pursue opportunities the acquisition presents for Top Draw Animation's 300+ animation pros.
• Darren Marks, CEO of Grom, said: “The gaming market represents $180B, with children’s gaming being sizable +$20bn of that.