Free Fan-Made "Ender's Game" Bracelets!

Thanks to EN reader Hannah, I have ~100 of these super cool bracelets to give away. "Enders Game" is written on one side and "Launchie" on the other. I mean, we're all Launchies around here, right?

Please note: These bracelets are 100% fan made, not for sale, and are in no way affiliated with anything officially Ender's Game. They are just for fun, and hopefully something you can wear that will help attract friends and family members to the project!

How you can get one: It's super easy! No contest or craziness this time around. Simply send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Ender News
c/o Kelly Severs
30 Howard St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
and I will get you one in the mail! (Plus a SDCC pin. View updated post here!) Cool, right? Read more about how to send a SASE here. :)

For international EN readers, it's kind of tricky. According to Wikipedia, everyone not currently in the US can buy what are called "international reply coupons" which I can exchange for postage stamps here. Jeremy Goh has a good tutorial on how to do that on his blog.

Here are the correct postage rates:

USA: $1.95
International: $3.00

If anyone has any questions about postage or anything else, please comment below and I'll try to help you as best as I can.

Please stick to the one bracelet per person idea - don't send me requests for bracelets for your mother, sister, doctor, pastor, etc. They can request their own. :)

388 days until the Ender's Game movie hits US theaters. We're all still excited, right? :)

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Jimmy Jax Pinchak's Holiday Contest: Design a Greeting Card!

Hey everyone! Fun news for you: Peter actor Jimmy Jax Pinchak has launched a Holiday-themed contest and has invited all Ender's Game fans to enter!

Taken from Jimmy's Facebook page:

Who is up for a contest? Putting it out there....Jimmy Jax needs a design for a killer 2012 holiday greeting card. "Happy Holidays" from Jimmy Jax Pinchak.

 What you can win: Winning design will receive the first autographed numbered print, 1/300. Winning artist will be credited the front of he card. $50.00 for the artist and a $50.00 contribution for a charity of winners choice. Winner will receive thirty signed greeting cards. Winner will also have the option to design next years greeting card, right before the release of Ender's Game!

Rules: Card must read "Happy Holidays". Art work must be original without using photos of other cast members. Make it fun, make it real, make it "Wiggin Worthy".

Deadline is November 10th, 2012. Winner will be announced on November 15th.
All artwork and designs must be original.Contestants are allowed TWO entries.
Ender's Game, "Peter Wiggin" are NOT be printed anywhere on the card.
Artist may use a photo, sketch or painting of Jimmy Jax Pinchak only.
We do not have permission to use any other cast members photo or likeness.
This contest is sponsored by Jimmy Jax Pinchak and is not affiliated with Ender's Game.
These cards will NOT be sold OR available to purchase.
Two hundred and eighty greeting cards will be mailed to the fans as a gift from Jimmy Jax.
All artwork will be owned by Jimmy Jax Pinchak Inc.

Stonehouse Collection

Please forward all questions and your artwork to jimmyjaxcontest@aol.com
along with your name, age and email address.

It's really great how so many of the cast and crew members are interacting in the Ender's Game fandom, giving fans opportunities to participate and keeping us up-to-date with pictures, videos, and other silliness. Can't wait to see what the next year is going to bring!

If you like this contest and plan on participating, make sure you head over to Jimmy's Facebook page and tell him so! Don't forget to "like" the page while you're there! :)

Ender News is also on Facebook. You can check us out there as well if you want to keep up-to-date with all the latest Ender's Game news right in your Facebook feed.

Thanks, Jimmy!

Edit: Jimmy has let us know that he has added a super secret prize that will especially excite Ender's Game fans -- so be creative!

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Happy 13th Birthday, Aramis Knight!

"I wanted a TOON for my birthday!"

Bean actor Aramis Knight turns 13-years-old today! All of us here at Ender News wish him super well. :)

Make sure to head over to Twitter and wish Aramis Knight a very happy birthday!

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The Nets Report #3

Ender's Game Cast/Crew News and Gossip

Seems like it's time for a bit of fun around here to lighten the mood! Let's see what a couple of our favorite Ender's Game cast members are up to these days...

Khylin Rhambo (Dink Meeker)

Instagram

What he's up to: The last week of August, Khylin Rhambo started filming on his new sitcom The First Family, a show following the often comedic lives of the President and his family in the White House. Many lucky viewers had a chance to check out the Pilot episode (which was filmed earlier this year) this past weekend, but for the rest of us, The First Family begins airing on October 5th.

In the show, Khylin plays Charles, a character he himself describes as "always happy," "mischievous," and  "into the ladies."

If you want to check out what Khylin and the rest of the cast are up to on The First Family, you should follow the show on their Facebook page -- they've promised to keep us updated!

Twitter

Our favorite recent tweet: @KhyRhambo Made a milkshake. Had to call the cops to escort the men off my yard.

Abigail Breslin (Valentine Wiggin)

Twitter

What she's up to: Making music, in part! Abigail was featured in the newest single of Stargroves, an alternative indie band from NYC. The song is called Westfjords and you can listen to it here.

If you're interested in hearing more from Abigail Breslin, she's also a member of a band called CABB with her good friend, actress Cassidy Reiff. Head over to YouTube to listen to their song "Well Wishes."

Our favorite recent tweet: @yoabbaabba No, you can never have too many pumpkin (autumn in general) scented candles.

---

Also: Heads up, guys! Ever wondered why stunt coordinator Garrett Warren wears an eyepatch? Check out his story this Friday (September 28th) on Dateline NBC. The episodes are usually available afterward to watch online if you can't catch it live!

The Nets Report is an Ender News series dedicated to keeping the fandom up-to-date with cast news and gossip until the movie's release in November 2013. Updates every couple of weeks!

402 days to go! (We hope.)

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"Ender's Game" Protected in Digital Domain Sale

Judge Brendan L. Shannon signed off on the sale of Digital Domain Media Group's (DDMG) assets to the Galloping Horse and Reliance MediaWorks joint venture. The group will pay $30.2 million, additionally take on contracts worth $3.6 million and pay employees $2.9 million in wages. Court records show that the Chinese-Indian team beat out 3 other bidders, but Ender's Game producers OddLot Entertainment (OLE) did not participate in the auction. We reported last week that OLE has filed a motion with the court to protect the Ender's Game project:

Given the importance of the assumption of all of the Agreements to the success of Ender's Game, OLE is particularly concerned that a buyer may agree to assume all of the Agreements at the Auction and the hearing on the Sale Motion, only to turn around and assume only certain of the Agreements after this Court has approved the sale.

Documents show that OddLot has been successful with this motion, as the now approved Asset Purchase Agreement (PDF) has been revised to include the following:

On or before the Closing, Buyer may, from time to time, update the Schedules hereto listing Acquired Assets to add or remove a Contract, lease or other asset to or from such Schedules. Provided, however, that Buyer shall not remove any of the agreements related to Ender's Game. (page 12)

Within 30 days after the Closing Date, Buyer may by written notice to Sellers indicating which, if any, Post Closing Contracts or Post Closing Assets shall be assumed by Sellers and assigned to Buyer on the Assignment Effective Date [...] Provided, however, that none of the agreements related to Ender's Game shall constitute Post Closing Contracts notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary. (page 13)

That should ease the most severe of OLE's concerns about the Digital Domain sale, and after all the threat of moving Ender's Game VFX work to another provider could have only been that... a threat! Another reassuring fact for OLE should be that Galloping Horse has extensive experience as a film/TV production company. The most prominent film is probably 2010's The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, where Galloping Horse was co-producing.

We haven't seen an official statement from Summit Entertainment or OLE yet, and we can only speculate if the relationship between those two companies and Digital Domain Productions has been harmed too badly in the process of this bankruptcy. I personally hope that everything can be worked out, the producers continue to support Digital Domain, and together they bring us a spectacular Ender's Game film on November 1, 2013.

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Chinese-Indian JV to buy Digital Domain

Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG) has received a winning bid of $30.2 million for virtually all its assets from a joint venture led by Beijing-based Galloping Horse Film & TV Co. and Reliance MediaWorks (RMW), based in Mumbai, India. Both Asian media firms already have an existing business relationship with Digital Domain. Chinese firm Galloping Horse, which will hold a majority stake of 70% in the venture, partnered last year with Digital Domain to produce its first animated feature "The Legend of Tembo," while RMW and DDMG joined forces in July 2011 to set up visual effects and 3D studios in Mumbai and London.

The sale is subject to execution of an asset purchase agreement and approval by the U.S. bankruptcy court, which will hold a hearing today (September 24) on this and other matters. According to The Indian Express, Reliance MediaWorks issued a statement saying that the purchase includes DDMG's co-production stake in Ender's Game and that all acquired businesses "will continue to operate in the normal course, with the joint venture assuming ownership upon court approval."

The outcome of this bankruptcy auction is possibly good news for Digital Domain, its remaining businesses and employees. Galloping Horse and RMW are global, strong companies with a combined enterprise value of $25 billion, and the outstanding quality of Digital Domain's visual effects work has never been questioned. However, we don't know how the Ender's Game producers, OddLot Entertainment and Lionsgate/Summit feel about parterning with Chinese and Indian companies for the Ender's Game franchise. If they have concerns they will make those heard at the court hearing today.

Video

Let's not forget that Digital Domain's bankruptcy is a total mess. Approximately $135 million in U.S. taxpayer money has been lost in the process while executive compensation has risen sharply in 2011. The company closed its animation studio in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and laid off 346 workers without a severance package or paying out their vacation benefits. Yet Digital Domain's new CEO Ed Ulbrich is quoted in the LA Times today with saying that the Galloping Horse/Reliance deal puts them "in the strongest financial position that Digital Domain has ever been in."

Let's hope that this newfound financial strength will translate into fair treatment and compensation for the fired staff. Just this Saturday hundreds of former DDMG employees held a yard sale, selling their belongings in an effort to raise enough money to move to California, where most of the country's visual effects industry is located.

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"Ender's Game" VFX Work Likely to be Moved

New court documents (PDF 1, PDF 2) in the Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG) bankruptcy case show that there is now a substantial risk for the timely completion of the Ender's Game film. When DDMG filed for bankruptcy on September 11 the company was working on the visual effects for Ender's Game and this work is far from being completed.

The producers, OddLot Entertainment (OLE) and Ender's Game Holdings (with Lionsgate via Summit Entertainment), contacted DDMG immediately after the bankruptcy filing to negotiate the situation and possibly reach a settlement, but according to the document "extensive negotiations" were "ultimately unsuccessful" as the producers learned at the court hearing last Thursday (September 20) that Digital Domain was "unwilling to go forward with the negotiated settlement." (PDF 2, page 2-3)

OLE sees Digital Domain's situation as pretty much hopeless. The court document states that DDMG has "no reasonable chance of reorganizing," and that the only reason the bankruptcy case was filed was to "effect an extremely expedited sale process followed by a liquidation." (PDF 1, page 11) OLE also believes that Digital Domain is "in no position to finish production under the Ender's Game Agreements," and therefore immediate action is necessary to protect the film.

In U.S. bankruptcy law a so-called "Automatic Stay", an automatic injunction that halts certain actions by creditors such as collecting debt in a declared bankruptcy, currently prevents the producers from moving forward. OddLot Entertainment and production partners petitioned the court to schedule a hearing tomorrow (September 24) at noon ET for granting them relief from the Automatic Stay. If granted, they plan to exercise the following steps: (PDF 1, page 8)

1. taking immediate possession of the Ender's Game Property
2. moving the visual, digital and animation effects for Ender's Game to another provider
3. accessing any of [Digital Domain's] technology necessary to finish the production of Ender's Game.

Those steps would be necessary because "films such as Ender's Game have carefully selected release dates, such that any actual or threatened interruption to the delivery of work product by [Digital Domain] would have potentially devastating and certainly very costly financial impact. Any delays in the production of Ender's Game will cause significant and irreparable harm. ... [Digital Domain's] current status presents a substantial risk, if not likelihood, that such delays will materialize very shortly." (PDF 1, page 7)

The whole situation looks pretty dire, however, OLE concludes that "if [...] the visual, digital and animation effects for Ender's Game are transferred to another provider in a timely and orderly manner, [the producers] may still have the ability to complete Ender's Game on schedule." (PDF 1, page 14)

My take on this, and what it means for Ender's Game:

Those court documents express the views of Ender's Game Holdings and OLE who naturally have an interest in regaining complete control over the film as quickly as possible. The court doesn't necessarily have to follow the producers' assessment. However, certain statements made in the filings, such as DDMG having "no reasonable chance of reorganizing," and being "in no position to finish production," are worded so strongly that I would consider them factual, especially as they are presented to the court.

It now seems very likely that the special effects work on Ender's Game will be moved to another VFX studio, which will ultimately cause delays in post-production of the film. This is supported by OLE's conclusion that they "may still have the ability to complete Ender's Game on schedule" if everything works out smoothly, which effectively means that the November 1, 2013 release date is now at risk, no matter the outcome of Monday's court hearing.

Ender News will be keeping you updated on any new developments in this mess of a bankruptcy case related to our beloved Ender's Game franchise.

Update:  Chinese-Indian JV to buy Digital Domain

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