AWN Headline News

As of July 1, 1999 Graham Ralph is relinquishing his stake in London-based Hibbert Ralph Animation, which will then be known officially as HRA. This will enable Ralph to invest actively in future films and TV series' through a new company, Silver Fox Films. He will also be acquiring the rights to Hibbert Ralph Entertainment's library.

Alias|Wavefront, an SGI company, is shipping Maya 2 for Microsoft Windows NT and Silicon Graphics IRIX workstations. Maya 2 includes a number of feature enhancements, timesaving workflow improvements, and across-the-board performance optimizations for 3D animation and visual effects. New features include Wavefront IPR (Interactive Photorealistic Renderer), a rendering technology that allows users to edit lights, shaders, textures and visual effects in a final rendered image.

Macromedia Inc. has announcedthe worldwide availability of Flash 4. Flash 4 includes support for high-fidelity MP3 streaming audio and commands for creating interactive sites. In addition, Flash 4 streamlines the development process with a revamped authoring environment optimized to help developers create bandwidth-efficient Web sites. MP3 streaming audio support in Flash 4 allows designers to create new Web audio applications, such as long-form animations with voiceovers and background music, while keeping files small enough for low-bandwidth delivery.

The Moondance International Film Festival will be held in Park City, Utah, during the Sundance Film Festival in January 2000, and is open to all women screenwriters and film-makers from any country. All finalists and semi-finalists will have their work read in a public staged reading or viewed at The Moondance International Film Festival. Awards will be given for best original screenplay, best independent feature film, and best documentary, animation or short film. The entry deadline has been extended to September 1, 1999.

Work from the films of British animator Mark Baker will be on display as part of London, England's Museum of the Moving Image's animation exhibit from Tuesday, June 1 - Tuesday, August 31. For more information call 0171 401 2636.

AWN's 1999 Oscar showcase features "Jolly Roger," an Astley Baker production directed by Mark Baker at www.awn.com/oscars.For more information about MOMI, visit the

Master animator Barry Purves will be teaching Acting for Animation at the Museum of the Moving Image in London. The class takes place from Saturday, July 10 to Sunday, July 11, from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm both days. Barry Purves is one of the world's leading stop-motion puppet animators. He began his career at Cosgrove Hall Productions working on such programs as THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. Since then Barry has gone on to write, direct, and animate several award-winning films: NEXT (1989), SCREEN PLAY (1992), RIGOLETTO (1993), and GILBERT & SULLIVAN (1998).

Dan Romanelli has signed a new long-term contract with Warner Bros., extending his tenure as president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Consumer Products. Along with continuing responsibility for all the business units within the Warner Bros. Consumer Products division, such as Warner Bros. Licensing and Warner Bros. Studio Stores, Romanelli adds to his charter the ability to acquire properties intended primarily for the creation of licensing and merchandising franchises.

Beginning September 6, 1999, NODDY will air Monday through Friday on PBS stations in the US as part of PBS's "Ready to Learn" service. NODDY debuted in the US in the fall of 1998. The program's success has led to the production of 25 new episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 65. The new episodes will begin airing in the fall of 1999. Based on the world-renowned children's books by Enid Blyton, NODDY, a show for children ages three to seven, is co-produced by BBC Worldwide, The Enid Blyton Company and Toronto-based Catalyst Entertainment, Inc.

The Cartoon Art Museum presents a show of animation art from the collectionof Mike and Jean Glad featuring Disney villains. Marc Davis, animator ofThumper, Tinkerbell, Malificent, and many other Disney characters, as wellas other Disney artists, will appear, although they will not be doingautographs. The opening takes place on Saturday, June 19, 1999, 6-8 pm, butthe show begins on June 16 and continues through September 5, 1999. Themuseum is located at 814 Mission Street, 2nd floor in San Francisco,