AWN Headline News

Quiet Man searches for "Intelligent Life" in two new 15 and 30-second spots for K'nex toy company. In the commercial, two animated aliens are sent to Earth to search for "signs of intelligent life." When they arrive, they ignore human beings and concentrate instead on a robotic toy built with high-tech plastic blocks called K'nex. The robotic toy has a Cyber Key device used to program it to perform different types of behavior such as that of a guard dog or a battle robot.

* November 2000 - February 2001. World Wide Web.

Entry Deadline: November 15, 2000.

* Tuesday, February 20 Saturday, March 3, 2001. Brussels, Belgium.

Entry Deadline: November 1, 2000.

* Monday, October 23, 2000. Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

* Wednesday, October 25, 2000. Burbank, California, U.S.A.

An evening of rare English-dubbed Japanese animated TV series of the 1960s that DIDN'T make it to America! Osamu Tezuka's BIG X, Toei's KEN THE WOLF BOY and Tatsunoko's SPACE ACE (aka RING-O) will be screened. Jerry Beck, Fred Patten and Fred Ladd (producer of the English language SPACE ACE) will introduce the screening. The event takes place at 7:30 pm. Admission for ASIFA members is US$2, non-members $5 and seating is limited. For more information call: Tel.: (818) 842-8330.

* Sunday, February 25, 2001. London, U.K.

Entry Deadline: Tuesday, October 31, 2000.

Upon the success of the TNT original movie, a new TV series based on the WITCHBLADE comic book will go into production. TNT has ordered 11 episodes from Warner Bros. to be broadcast next summer. The WITCHBLADE telepic was seen in 3.5 million households and was the most watch telepic for the week of August 21-27.

The I Castelli Animati Festival has split its grand prize between Igor Kovalyovs FLYING NANSEN and Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newloves VILLAGE OF IDIOTS. The event took place in Genzano, Italy from Wednesday, October 4 Sunday, October 8, 2000. This years international competition jury was composed of Furio Scarpelli, Julian Nott, Massimo Bucchi, Paul Driessen and Wendy Tilby.

German childrens content producer EM.TVs Florian Haffa has stepped down from his position as chief financial officer. Haffa will remain with the company as deputy chairman to help his brother and founder Thomas Haffa run the day-to-day operations. Currently, EM.TV is seeking out Haffas replacement. Even though the move was planned in advance, it comes after the company announced Monday that it was adjusting its figures for the first six months of the year to fix an accounting error in their acquisition of the Jim Henson Company and Formula 1 Racing.

From Masaki Kajishima, creator of PHOTON, SPACESHIP AGGA RUTER "Sweet Release" sets down in video stores on October 10, 2000. The AGGA series is an adult adventure set in the future where space pirates fight for domination of the heavens. The new installment will sell for US$29.99. The previous installment, SPACESHIP AGGA RUTER "Troublemaker," was released on August 8, 2000.

From the screenwriter of PHOTON and RECORD OF LODOSS WAR Katsumi Hasegawa, the newest episode of MAZE is about to debut in video stores. "Whirlwind Showdown" picks up on the bizarre adventures of Maze, who wakes up one day with amnesia and new superpowers. However, Maze transforms into a flirtatious man every evening. The MAZE tapes will retail at US$19.99 each. "Whirlwind Showdown" will hit stores October 10, 2000, with "Evil Labyrinth" to follow on November 14, 2000, "Time Traveling Playboy" on December 12, 2000 and four more titles coming in 2001.