AWN Headline News

SIMEX Digital Studios teamed up with DUCK SOUP STUDIOS to combine live-action with animation in the new Keebler Elves spot. Promoting Chips Deluxe Cookies, the commercial entitled "One Upsman Chip" pits various elves against each other in a bake-off. SimEx wove together the animation from director Sam Cornell with live-action cookies. Animation director Jean Perramon of SimEx helped add a 3D touch to the backgrounds of the spot. The commercial was produced by Carolyn Bates at Duck Soup and Christina Cox at SimEx. SimEx and Duck Soup created the spot for Chicago-based ad agency Leo Burnett.

Brian Miller has been named VP and general manager of the new Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. Miller will oversee the studio's production department as well as the day-to-day operations. Formerly, Miller served as VP of production at Nickelodeon's Nicktoons Animation Studio, where he oversaw all production. Before moving to Nicktoons, Miller was VP of animation at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, where he managed all domestic and overseas productions.

LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC announced it has teamed with Verant Interactive Inc. and Sony On-line Entertainment to create the first massive multi-player STAR WARS on-line role-playing game. Gameplay will jettison players into a unique combination of combat, specialized missions and daring quests. The STAR WARS on-line game will be developed by Verant, distributed and sold at retail stores by LucasArts, and available for play exclusively on-line at The Station@sony.com(link sends e-mail). This alliance partners together three of the foremost companies in the interactive entertainment industry.

* Friday, April 21- Sunday, April 23, 2000. Utica, Illinois.

MIXME NETWORKS, INC., a developer of media technologies supporting dynamic, interactive e-marketing tools and interactive greetings, announced the appointment of RUSSELL T. GILLAM as the company's new CEO. Gillam is an Internet pioneer coming to MixMe Networks, Inc. from Disney Direct where he served as senior VP of commerce. Gillam was responsible for all the Internet initiatives of Disney properties. There he led a staff of over 1,000 people across the e-commerce units including Disney, ABC, ESPN and Go.com.

The king of family film remakes Eddie Murphy will star in the newest redux of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN. Set to direct the film is TOMMY BOY helmer Peter Segal. Fred Wolf, a former writer on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, has penned the new version of the film that follows the trials and tribulations of a man shrunk to the size of a mouse by a strange mist.

The new UPN clay animated series HORMONE HIGH has added more names to its lengthy voice cast. Recently joining the pilots' cast are Jerry O'Connell (MISSION TO MARS, SLIDERS), John Cryer (GETTING PERSONAL), Adam Goldberg (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) and Jennifer Tilly (BOUND, BRIDE OF CHUCKY). The half-hour comedy is being directed by CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH creator Eric Fogel. Other talent on the voice-over cast are PUNKY BREWSTER child-star Soleil Moon Frye, FRAISER's Harriet Sansom Harris, SPARKS' Arif Kinchen and BAKERSFIELD, P.D.'s Brian Doyle-Murray.

Microsoft announced on Friday, March 10, 2000, that it will create its own video-game unit entitled X-Box. The high-end console will be in direct competition with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Sega's Dreamcast. "We want X-Box to be the platform of choice for the best and most creative game developers in the world," said Microsoft chairman Bill Gate at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose. Intended to be a hybrid of the personal computer and traditional gaming console, the new system is expected to hit stores sometime in 2001.

The Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival has announced their winners. Each year the festival programs the "crème de la crème" in international animation and serves as one of the top festivals on the international cartoon and computer generated images circuit. This year's jury consisted of Canal +'s Servane Calmant, director Catherine Montondo, "RTBF" journalist Hugues Dayez, "Plateau" journalist Luc Joris and producer Steve Walsh. Brussels nominates four films for the prestigious Cartoon d'Or, the winner of which will be announced in September.

On March 9, 2000, the winners of the British Animation Awards were announced to a packed audience at London's National Film Theatre. The big winner was ROBBIE THE REINDEER: HOOVES OF FIRE directed by Richard Goleszowski, which took home three awards. The half-hour TV special tells the story of the trainee reindeer, Robbie (son of Rudolph), and his bulbous nose. The film was a BBC Animation Unit/BBC Worldwide production in association with Comic Relief. Oscar short-listed films HUMDRUM and SILENCE both picked up awards. Below is a full list of winners in each category.

The Tampere International Short Film Festival in Finland has always been a place for animation. This year was no exception. Animation is an integral part of the programme. The Tampere Festival, which celebrated its 30th edition March 8-12, 2000, is often regarded as one of the major short film festivals in Europe, even in the world. However, among the general short film festivals it has the clearest emphasis on animation. The festival enjoyed beautiful weather; the sun shone and the ground was completely covered with soft white snow.