AWN Headline News

Improv Technologies, Inc., a New York-based software development company,announced that their flagship product, Orchestrate3D, will be shipping inMarch 2000. A beta version of the tool, which is designed to improvework-flow by allowing artists to reuse animated content to 'orchestrate'new animations, will be available in December. The initial release is beingdeveloped for Maya, 3D Studio MAX, and SOFTIMAGE|3D only, and will besolely available for Windows NT. However an IRIX version is planned for

Viacom's MTV Networks Online has announced the formation of NickelodeonOnline, a new Internet-only company that combines several already existingNickelodeon Web sites, as well as some new sites. Leading the new companyis Nickelodeon veteran Taran Swan, who has been named senior-vice presidentof the new company. Swan will report directly to Fred Seibert, president ofMTV Networks Online and Chairman of Nickelodeon Online. Prior toNickelodeon Online, Swan was the General Manager for Nickelodeon Latin

Dream Quest Images, the visual effects division of The Walt Disney Companysince 1996, will join creative forces with Disney's in-house FeatureAnimation computer graphics unit to form a new entity called The Secret Lab(TSL). The Secret Lab, which will be based at Feature Animation's Northsidefacility in Burbank, California, will provide state-of-the-art CGIcharacter animation and visual effects for a variety of the Studio'slive-action projects in addition to producing computer-animated features.

Lucasfilm's STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE took in $16.5 millionlast weekend (October 15 - 17), bringing its overseas gross to US$428million, surpassing its domestic gross of US$426.8 million. The film openedin France with US$11.02 million, the best ever opening in France for a USfilm.

An exhibition of New Animation from Germany consisting of models,paintings, sketches and production shots from the works of eight youngGerman animators will be on display at Chapman University. The event takesplace Monday, November 1 - Wednesday, December 15, 1999 in Orange,California, USA. For more information including a screening schedule call:(714) 997-6729.

A Web site for FANTASIA/2000 launched on Friday, October 22. The siteexplores various aspects of the creation of the film -- the art, musicand technology -- through virtual visits to Roy Disney's office, ananimator's work station and a scoring stage. The site will feature sneakpreview clips from the film, interviews with the artistic and musicaltalents as well as games and activities. The site will also provide acomplete listing of IMAX theatres around the world that will be debuting

The Harvey Entertainment Company, which owns the rights to such charactersas Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich, has announced an agreementwith Spumco Inc. (the company founded in 1989 by John Kricfalusi to makeTHE REN & STIMPY SHOW for Nickelodeon) to produce cartoons createdspecifically for the Internet based upon classic Harvey characters. Thecartoons will run from two to seven minutes in length utilizing newstorylines written for Harvey characters such as Spooky, Little Audrey,

Work, in the form of original concept drawings, as well as 18 seconds of animation, done by Salvador Daliin 1946 at the Disney studio for a never-completed film called DESTINO, isbeing dusted off by Disney vice chairman Roy Disney (Junior) and will becompleted as an art house cartoon by the Disney studio, according to theLondon SUNDAY TIMES. "I am going to finish the work of Salvador Dali,"Disney told the newspaper. "At Disney, we need to recover our history." Theproduction will be supervised by Disney, who is a son of Roy Disney (Walt

WALT DISNEY FEATURE ANIMATION has promoted BOB BACON to the position ofvice president of finance. Bacon will oversee production finance for all ofFeature Animation, including both traditional and CGI-based projects atDisney's Burbank, Orlando and Paris animation studios. Most recently, Baconserved as Feature Animation's director of production finance.