AWN Headline News

Toronto, Canada-based IMAX CORPORATION, which operates a chain of largeformat film theaters, has appointed MARY PAT RYAN to the new post ofExecutive Vice President of IMAX Ltd. and Network Group President. Ryanwill oversee the ongoing development of the Network Group, which is chargedwith ensuring the success of all theatres in the worldwide network of IMAXtheatres and the development of the IMAX brand. Based in New York, Ryanwill have responsibility for all areas of the Network Group including brand

Vancouver-based BARDEL ANIMATION has added executive producer CAROLEDUCHARME and business affairs executive DEBORAH REES-LEE to its businessaffairs department. DUCHARME began her career in the film industry as alawyer specializing in film financing and as a legal advisor fororganizations such as the Quebec Film Classification Board. She moved intothe role of producer with the Paris, France-based company Les ProductionLazennec, negotiating and drafting agreements for international

On November 2, 1999 Rhino Records will release GO SIMPSONIC WITH THESIMPSONS, musical selections from the often very musical THE SIMPSONS.Consisting of more than 50 tracks of songs, themes, and underscore music,GO SIMPSONIC not only picks up where its predecessor, SONGS IN THE KEY OFSPRINGFIELD, left off, but also digs deep into the first nine seasons,capturing selections that didn't make it onto the first collection. GOSIMPSONIC also makes available for the first time four never-before-heard

Cary, North Carolina-based LIPSinc. is offering a free beta version ofVentriloquist for MAX, a new lip-synching plug-in for 3D Studio MAX R3.0.Ventriloquist for MAX automates the process of synchronizing correct mouthmovements to dialogue for animated characters. For more information visitwww.lipsinc.com.

The new trailer for TOY STORY 2 will play online for one week beginningFriday, October 1 at www.toystory2.com before it screens in theaters. Thesequel, which features Buzz, Woody and the gang, plus new characters suchas Mrs. Potato Head and Emperor Zorg, debuts in US theaters on November 24,1999. The eagerly awaited sequel to the 1995 Pixar/Disney groundbreakingCGI feature, TOY STORY, continues the story of pull-string cowboy doll,Woody, and his action figure Space Ranger friend, Buzz Lightyear. The new

Studio B Productions has moved to a custom designed studio at 190 AlexanderStreet in Vancouver, British Columbia. The three-floor, 27,000 sq. ft.facility is home to Studio B's animation studio and production house aswell as Mercury Filmworks, a fully equipped digital animation facility, andDick and Roger's, a fully equipped sound studio which means that thefacility now has the ability to produce an animated show or series in itsentirety from script to post-production. The move to larger, custom

Los Angeles-based Rhino Records has released TIP OF THE FREBERG, a four CDbox set that also includes a video and a booklet. Stan Freberg is probablybest known to animation fans as the voice of Junyer Bear, Bertie the mouse,and Pete Puma in various Warner Bros. shorts, as well as the beaver in LADYAND THE TRAMP, but Freberg, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,has also won many awards for his comedy records and commercials. This greatcollection spans Freberg's entire career, 1950 to 1998, and includes many

HESTON, animation director J.J. Sedelmaier's final TV FUNHOUSE segment forSATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, aired Saturday, October 2 on the comedy show's seasonpremier, which was hosted by comedian Jerry Seinfeld. Sedelmaier's finalvignette, which concludes his three-year collaboration with writer RobertSmigel, lampooned the NRA's pro-gun position by using real audio of NRApresident, actor Charlton Heston, addressing Congress combined withdialogue from his PLANET OF THE APES movies and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, in