* Saturday, August 5 Friday, August 11, 2000. Trondheim, Norway.
The theme of the 12th SAS Conference is "Digital Challenges - Expanded Boundaries." The conference will discuss how technological changes have effected the industry in the present, past and future. Topics will include technology and budgets, classic animation in the future and motion capture.
* Thursday, August 17 Friday, August 18, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
* Sunday, September 10, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
* Tuesday, September 19 Sunday, September 24, 2000. Ottawa, Canada.
AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.
With several debuts around the globe, THE PATRIOT has won the war for international box office supremacy. Premiering at #1 in Germany, the Mel Gibson-starrer grossed a hefty $3.23 million. Slipping to second, THE PERFECT STORM garnered $1.29 million, raising its German cume to $8.62 million. Down one to #4, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 added another $1.01 million to its $22.42 million German cume. At #8, THE TIGGER MOVIE rounded up an additional $206,761, bringing its German cume to $3.97 million. In its 10th week in Germany, GLADIATOR grossed $119,979 in tenth, advancing its cume to $19.99 million.
Web toon house Honkworm International will open a new studio in Vancouver. Video and gaming designer Ian Verchere has been named president of Honkworm Canada and digital production veteran David Weir has been named president of digital production. The Seattle-based company has also assigned Verchere to the post of senior executive producer and Weir to creative director. As president of Honkworm (Canada), Verchere will oversee the physical development and production of new series by the Canadian company.
Rhythm & Hues has added David Glaubke to its staff as director of development. This move quickens the special effects houses transition to becoming an original content producer. Glaubke will help R&H VP of motion pictures, Deborah Giarrantana, in developing relationships with various writers and producers. Previously, Glaubke served as the story editor for Australian-based Village Roadshow. Currently, Glaubke has started work on the companys 3D animated feature, ARMOUR STAR, from FERNGULLY-director Bill Kroyer.
Creative Planet, Inc., the parent company of Animation World Network, has secured an additional US$38 million in new equity financing. The new funding will help drive its strategy to deliver technology solutions and resources for increased cost-efficiencies in the moving image production process.
The 4th Hollywood Film Festival has announced the winners for this year's Hollywood Internet Awards. JoeCartoon.com beat out tough competition in Rumpus and Showtimes WhirlGirl for best animation site. Internet users at the Entertainment Tonight Online (www.ETOnline.com) and NetAwards.com Web sites voted for the nominees. "We are extremely pleased with the massive response. Thousands of voters participated in the nomination of their favorite sites. It was a great interactive experience," Hollywood NetAwards founder, Carlos de Abreu said.
* Wednesday, September 13 Thursday, September 14, 2000. New York City, New York, U.S.A.
* Thursday, September 21 Sunday, September 24, 2000. Abruzzo, Italy.
shockwave.com has rolled out the new version of their Shockmachine entertainment player. Shockmachine 2.0 lets users save shockwave.com titles and replay them full-screen offline. The new version also comes with a desktop compact mode that allows consumers access to hundreds of titles with the click of one button, and a new notification feature to keep Netizens in touch with shockwave.coms new releases. Shockmachine 2.0 is available as a free download at www.shockwave.com.
3dfx Interactive Inc. announced the completion of its merger with GigaPixel Corporation. Subsequently, George T. Haber, a founder of GigaPixel, and Andrei M. Manoliu, a member of the GigaPixel board of directors, will join the 3dfx board. "The merger marks an important step in enhancing the 3dfx technology leadership and expanding our business for the future," said Alex Leupp, president and CEO of 3dfx.
SGI and Intergraph Corporation, two of the leaders in high-performance graphics workstations and software, have announced an alliance that allows both companies to share each other's products and expertise. Under the partnership, Intergraph will purchase US$100 million in SGI products and services over three years. In turn, SGI will obtain assets from Intergraph, including Intergraph Computer Systems' Zx10 family of ViZual Workstations and Servers.
netGuru, Inc. (formerly Research Engineers, Inc.) has expanded its netGuruDigitalmedia facilities to provide animation, production and digital media services for U.S. and offshore producers. Based in both Yorba Linda, California, U.S.A. and Calcutta, India, the company offers animation services including 2D animation, clean-up, in-betweening, digital ink and paint, 3D animation, special effects compositing, audio/video editing, and Web and interactive animation and graphics. netGuru also markets AXA Team 2D Pro, a 2D pencil test and ink and paint software package, and newly released AXA-Web.
With three major releases this past weekend, Sony Pictures HOLLOW MAN was far from invisible at the U.S. box office, finishing in first place. The INVISIBLE MAN redux, with primary visual effects by The Ranch Entertainment, Tippett Studios and Sony Imageworks, grossed US$26.41 million, giving it the second largest August opening in history. Falling to second, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS dropped 58% from its debut weekend, with a gross of $18.17 million. The phat festival, with primary visual effects by Double Negative Ltd., has rounded up $76.7 million thus far.
With host Terrence "T-man" Masson, Creative Planet's
forum has become a hot topic. Check out the new threads on careers in
visual effects, crash zoom shot transitions, the shrinking miniature
FX market and the use of Macs in effects houses. Join the party and
meet the visual effects pros.
In
Sources say that Vancouver-based film producer Lions Gate Entertainment is on the verge of purchasing Harvey Entertainment. As reported in VARIETY, Harvey chairman/CEO Roger Burlage has been shopping the home of Casper around to many companies. Last spring Burlage saved Harvey from acquisition by Artisans by securing US$17 million in funding from entertainment company Kushner-Locke and then-investment banker and current Lions Gate vice-chairman, Michael Burns. The funds came in the form of $11.5 million in cash and $5.5 million in Kushner-Locke stock.
Northridge, California-based Lebedfilm Associates Ltd. is looking for
3D MODELERS and ANIMATORS to work on various animation projects and a
PROJECT MANAGER responsible for handling the day-to-day operations of
the company CG department. . . San Rafael, California-based
Stormfront Studios, Inc., a creative development house, is looking
for a 3D TECH ARTIST who is very familiar with 3D Studio Max. . . San
Bernardino, California-based Brooklyn Born Productions, in
NetGuru, Inc. (formerly Research Engineers, Inc.), an integrated
Internet technology and software company, has expanded its
netGuruDigitalmedia (www.guruanimation.com) facilities to provide
animation, production and digital media services for U.S. and
offshore producers. The new Calcutta studio is equipped with the
latest software including AXA Team 2D, After Effects, Director, 3D
Studio Max and Flash. The studio has already completed various
NetGuru, Inc., an integrated Internet technology and software
company, is now shipping AXA-Web 1.0, an accessory software
application for AXA Team 2D, its leading 2D ink & paint/compositing
animation software for the Window's environment. AXA-Web 1.0 provides
for batch raster to vector conversion for existing users of AXA as
well as all the major bitmap and vector file formats for conversion
for use on the Web, in Flash, or for print work. AXA-Web 1.0 lets the
The deadline to register your film for the Cinanima International
Animated Film Festival competition has been extended to August 8,
2000. Categories include: Features, Shorts, Commercials, Educational
Films and TV Series. For more information about entries, email
cinanima@mail.telepac.pt, call (+351) 22734-611, or fax (+351)
22734-6015. Since 1977, Cinanima has been promoting the international
art of animation in Espinho, a city located on the Northern coast of
In addition to the screening information, the Ottawa 00 International
Animation Festival Web site now offers a detailed program of
professional development and training workshops and panels.
Check out the latest "behind the scenes" features and tutorials from
Visual Magic Magazine...
