Category: Business

Award-winning animation director David Chartier has launched Loop Filmworks (www.loopfilmworks.com), a new animation production company. His stop motion animated spot, "Talk Show," won both the Gold Medal and Grand Prix award at this year's New York Festival. Since starting in the industry in 1991, he has worked for Olive Jar Studio and Curious Pictures, and recently designed two stop motion/cut-paper animation campaigns for Nickelodeon. "I started Loop Filmworks as a means of rededicating myself to creating innovative animation for advertising," said Chartier.

One of the largest motion capture studios in the world, hOuse of mOves (HOM), has moved to a larger facility in Marina del Rey, California, situated near Los Angeles International Airport. The larger space includes a 3,500-square foot stage with a 24-foot ceiling, along with an additional 3,500 sq. ft. of space for executive offices and conference rooms. HOM has also upgraded their motion capture hardware to include a new system with 12 cameras capturing at anywhere from 60-240 frames per second.

Imax Corp. has agreed to make a strategic investment in Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment, producers of the 3D computer-animated REBOOT and BEAST WARS. The company will invest CAN$16 million (U.S.$10.6 million) into Mainframe to acquire an equity and convertible senior debt, giving Imax an approximate 30% stake in the company. As part of the deal, Imax and Mainframe will co-produce 3D animated films for release in IMAX theaters and other markets. Their first collaboration, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, is expected to be released to IMAX theaters by summer 2001.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached an agreement with Castle Rock Television for a collective bargaining contract covering the writers of DOWNTOWNERS, an animated series premiering on the primetime WB line-up this fall. The dispute had initially begun when writers on the show were unhappy with the benefits of the union that was representing them, the IATSE Cartoonists Local 839. A key point in the agreement was recognition of the WGA as the exclusive bargaining representative of primetime animation writers employed by Castle Rock Television and Downtowners Productions.

Pixar Animation Studios took a bit of a dip in the fourth quarter while still awaiting the cash flow from their latest blockbuster feature A BUG'S LIFE. The company reported fourth-quarter profits of $1.1M for the period ending January 2, down from $4.4M for the same period in 1997. Quarterly revenues dropped from $7.1M to 3.1M, with revenue generated from sales of services and tools to other producers in Hollywood, as well as proceeds trickling in from their first film TOY STORY (1995).

Legendary Marvel comic book creator, Stan Lee, has formed a new company, Stan Lee Media, to harness the power and global outreach of the Internet to create a new world of superheros. The first venture of the newly formed company is StanLee.net (http://www.stanlee.net), which is being constructed to attract and accommodate the largest global assemblage of young comic book enthusiasts, who will be engaged in community creation on the Internet with Stan Lee and his new universe of superheros.

New York-based Tape House Digital has changed their name to Black Logicannounced Alfie Schloss, Vice President, Marketing. Black Logic is afull-service visual effects company offering graphic design, high-endcompositing, 2D and 3D computer animation and live-action production.Founded in 1992, the company's mission is to become one of the East Coast'spre-eminent visual effects and computer animation companies. Schlossstated, "This is not merely a name change. As Black Logic we have