MEN IN BLACK: THE SERIES has been picking up steam on Kids WB! The Sony
Pictures Entertainment show has increased its ratings by 110% since its
second season last year. It has earned a 4.2 rating with kids 2-11 and a
5.0 rating with kids 6-11.
In a move much like a parent buying their child a toy and then receiving
money from their kids allowance for it, Warner Bros. Features has sold
THE IRON GIANT to Cartoon Network and TNT. Cartoon Network couldn't
handle the license fee of US$3 million, so sister Turner channel, TNT,
came in to help out on a six-month pre-Cartoon Network window. TNT will
get six runs of the critically acclaimed box-office disappointment
within that six month time period. Both networks plan to promote the
New York-based BLACK LOGIC, a production and post-production house, has
hired 3D animator MARK VOELPEL. As R/GA Digital Studios' Director of
CGI, Voelpel directed commercials for Dodge, Bell South, S.C. Johnson,
LG and Orkin. Mark won a Clio for his work on the Orkin campaign. His
feature film credits include 3D effects supervision on flicks like
DEMOLITION MAN, THE LAST ACTION HERO, and THE SHADOW.
Viz Communications, a leading U.S. publisher of Japanese animation and
comics (anime and manga), including titles such as POKEMON, DRAGON BALL
Z, and Hayao Miyazaki's NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF WIND, announced new
Internet partnerships and the relaunch of their chief Web sites.
www.viz.com will provide the latest news and information on anime and
manga series. www.j-pop.com will feature reviews on the latest in
Japanese pop culture including anime, manga, games, music and film.
Salsa Distribution has put together a deal that will create a new Jim
Henson programming block entitled MUPPET TIME in Panama. FETV will air
MUPPET TIME starting January 3, 2000 in a deal that lasts 2 years. The
block will include the MUPPET SHOW, MUPPETS TONIGHT, MUPPET BABIES,
FRAGGLE ROCK and JIM HENSON'S ANIMAL SHOW.
The Nickelodeon toon THE WILD THORNBERRYS will be coming to a town near
you beginning February 14, 2000. Starting at Toy Fair in New York City,
the Commvee recreational vehicle from the series is making its real
world debut. After Toy Fair, the Commvee will make appearances at Nick's
"All That Music and More" tour venues, "The Big Help" events, and
various "Lucky 10" markets across the U.S. So when picking up wild
berries at the local Lucky 10 don't miss out on meeting the wild
Atlanta-based CRAWFORD COMMUNICATIONS, a service provider for all
aspects of television, film, Internet, audio and satellite
communications, has announced that BILL THOMPSON has been promoted from
Production Services Division's Director of Operations to VP of
Post-Production. The 10-year veteran of the company will oversee
editing, audio, graphics, telecine and the film labs. While no longer
servicing the day-to-day operations, Thompson will still head Crawford's
production services.
Atlanta-based Fathom Studios, which creates compelling graphic elements
for distribution on television, film or computer platforms, is looking for
a STORYBOARD ARTIST...
Gnomon has a series of new classes scheduled for the upcoming Winter Term,
which runs from January 10 to March 19, 2000...
Animation Foundation interviews Rob Coleman, ILM Animation Director on
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace...
AWN's January 2000 Millennium issue of Animation World Magazine is now online...
We've launched the Quiz Archive last week, so now you can access all 25
quizzes from one simple pull down menu...
Visual Magic Magazine, AWN's 3D animation and digital effects online
magazine, has posted a new article...
MeTV.com, a new Internet video on demand company, has commissioned
Sonalysts Studios to produce original broadband promos, trailers and
interstitial material for the MeTV.com Web site. The original broadband
material will appear as full-motion video on PCs with Internet
connections of 350kps or higher running Microsoft MediaPlayer.
Walt Disney's former Executive VP of Corporate Affairs JOHN COOKE was named the J. PAUL GETTY TRUST's exec VP of External Affairs. He will be responsible for establishing and maintaining all business relationships, including partnerships between the Getty and other cultural and corporate institutions around the world. . . .
London-based SEVEN ANIMATION, a 3D computer animation and special effects company, has named JO NOBLE as Producer. Noble has done work on PADDINGTON BEAR, DIRTY BEAST, and BEANO. Noble will supervise Seven Animation's childrens programs being developed for MIPTV 2000.
ANDREA-MANUELA SEIBERT has been named VP, European Sales for RIVE GAUCHE INTERNATIONAL TV. Seibert previously served as lead Acquisitions Exec and Special Project Exec at RTL Television in Munich, Germany. Based in Germany, Seibert will head European sales and marketing of Rive Gauche's programming library, handle acquisitions of European-produced specials for worldwide distribution and coordinate European co-productions.
BLUE SKY STUDIOS, a leading animation house, has promoted LINDA ZAZZA to Operations Manager. She will oversee day-to-day operations of the facility and office, including recommending and hiring administrative staff, working with vendors, planning events and budgeting. Zazza began her tour of duty at Blue Sky as an executive administrative assistant.
The Jim Henson Company's MuppetWorld Web site will celebrate its first Yuletide with Kermit the Frog lighting an on-line Christmas tree. MuppetWorld offers a compelling interactive environment, allowing fans to play with their favorite Muppet characters. Fans may purchase Muppet merchandise, take cooking lessons from the Swedish Chef who offers weekly culinary masterpieces in the "What's Cooking?" location, and be able to tune into their favorite Muppet clips.
shockwave.com, a leading Internet entertainment site, announced new holiday additions to its award-winning site. The additions include new creative applications Toonmaker and Puzzlemaker; new festive greeting cards; and an improved Shockmachine experience. These free on-line gifts can be sent to friends and family. Toonmaker enables users to create personal cards and cartoons using well known characters such as the kids from South Park. Puzzlemaker allows users to turn their own photos into puzzles, add messages and then send them to friends.
shockwave.com, One Infinity and Madlab Creative have produced Why2k@large which uses Flash 4 animation and MP3 streaming audio technologies to present an animated, multimedia series focusing on the approach of the year 2000. Live interviews were collected on the streets of New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco featuring what the American public thinks about the approaching Millennium.
ZDTV, a 24-hour cable television channel about computing, technology and the Internet, will have Atari founder Nolan Bushnell on BIG THINKERS. Hosted by Mark Eddo, BIG THINKERS features in-depth discussions with the most visionary and influential men and women working in the high-tech industry today. The episode with Bushnell, the creator of PONG, will air January 5, 2000 at 10:30 pm. These interviews, plus additional footage not shown on air, will be available in streaming video on the show's companion Web site.
In promoting post-production on the MAC platform, Apple recently bundled a number of 3D and 2D tools with its Final Cut Pro system. MAXON, Terran Interactive, and Puffin Designs have announced that their software will be bundled in with Final Cut Pro at no extra cost. MAXON's Cinema 4D GO -- their entry level 3D package (in short, a cut down version of their very popular Cinema 4D XL package) -- will be included in the Final Cut Pro package as a full working version, allowing users to create 'flying logos' and other simple 3D imagery for use in their productions.
Early in December 1999, Macromedia, a leader in digital and Internet software, announced it had completed its acquisition of Andromedia Inc., a leading provider of eMarketing software solutions for e-commerce. Macromedia previously announced a definitive agreement to acquire Andromedia on October 7, 1999. As part of the merger, Macromedia will obtain all of the outstanding stock in Andromedia. The company will issue 5.2 million shares of stock in connection with the deal and will incur one-time charges from the merger of up to $5 million in its fiscal third quarter.
With new live-action flicks ANY GIVEN SUNDAY and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY taking the top two spots in the U.S. box office Sony's STUART LITTLE had to settle with third place grossing US$11.82 million bringing its grand total to $39.5 million. TOY STORY 2 finished fourth by flying in with another $10.38 million making its cume $177.5 million. THE GREEN MILE fell to fifth with a weekend pull of $9.26 million and a cume of $53.1 million. New comer GALAXY QUEST, backed by some surprisingly good reviews from the likes of Mr. Ebert, debuted at #7 with a first weekend take of $7.01 million.
