AWN Headline News

It was a rough weekend for Warner Bros.' newly released THE IRON GIANT at the US boxoffice. THE IRON GIANT, directed by Brad Bird, was the first 100% animated film to be released since June's SOUTH PARK, but despite nearly unanimous praise from critics and fans, it finished a lackluster ninth with a gross of just $5.7 million.

New York City-based Cyclotron@Post Perfect has signed Alex Seiden asCreative Director. Seiden will direct commercial projects. Seiden comesfrom ILM where he was a Director & Visual Effects Supervisor on such filmsas JURASSIC PARK, DRAGONHEART, and STAR WARS: THE SPECIAL EDITION. He alsodirected a PSA for the American Psychiatric Association, and numerouslive-action second unit and special effects shoots.

Gold Coast, Australia-based EA Australia, a subsidiary of Redwood City,California-based Electronic Arts, has hired Steve Dauterman to head a newdevelopment studio located in Australia. Dauterman, formerly Director ofDevelopment for LucasArts, had been with the Lucas group for ten years,initially as Financial Analyst for Lucasfilm before moving across toLucasArts in 1992. Since working at LucasArts he has overseen thedevelopment of such worldwide interactive titles as "Rebel Assault," "Dark

Stockholm, Sweden-based Filmtecknarna F. Animation has completed theanimation for "Chilled Cream," a three-spot campaign for British beercompany Boddington. The three ads combine 2D animation with 3D backgroundand CGI effects. The design of the characters and the overall look of thefilms were created at Filmtecknarna under the creative direction of StigBergqvist and Jonas Dahlbeck. The sound editing and overall productionmanagement was handled by London-based Nexus Films with producer ChrisO´Reilly in charge.

Newly launched Atlanta,Georgia-based Giant Studios is a performance animation studio. Theirproprietary Motion Reality? system utilizes the latest advancements inmicroprocessor technology and interfaces with the best animation software.A state-of-the-art motion capture studio is available with a 50' x 50' x24' open floor space. The system can capture and process multiple,subject-object interactions in real-time, as well as the intricate detailof hand and facial captures. The studio offers fully integrated

Six new children's series based on popular titles from noted authors suchas Maurice Sendak, Rosemary Wells, Don Freeman and William Joyce will beproduced by Toronto-based Nelvana for distribution by the PublicBroadcasting Service (PBS) as a weekend block beginning in fall 2000. Thesix book titles upon which the new series will be based are: MauriceSendak's SEVEN LITTLE MONSTERS, William Joyce's GEORGE SHRINKS, DonFreeman's CORDUROY BEAR, Rosemary Wells' TIMOTHY GOES TO SCHOOL, Michael

Culver City, California-based advertising consultants Random/OrderInformation and Entertainment has hired Robert Abel to oversee severalaspects of its consulting services, as well as to develop new content andprogramming. CGI-pioneer Abel has created many landmark titles, includingcommercials for Apple Computer, IBM, the Smithsonian Institution, and theMayo Clinic. His many technical innovations include: the first "motioncontrol" camera system, "streak photography," and the first algorithms forcomputer animated human movement.

Disney's Whomptastic, the previously announced two hour cartoon programmingblock which is set to air daily on UPN beginning September 6, has beenchanged to DISNEY'S ONE TWO so that viewers will associate it with Disney'sother cartoon block, the ABC Saturday morning DISNEY'S ONE SATURDAYMORNING. DISNEY'S ONE TWO will present the premiere of SABRINA THE ANIMATEDSERIES, as well as include the already established shows DISNEY'S RECESS,DISNEY'S DOUG and DISNEY'S HERCULES.