Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG has completed the computer animated :15 RussellStover Peanut Butter and Jelly Cups "Oil Well" for Russell Stover andBerstein-Rein. For the spot, TOPIX/Mad Dog developed proprietary fluiddynamics software that can be customized to replicate jelly spurting out ofan "oil" derrick. Done in Softimage, the spot features little chocolateconstruction workers who become excited when their derrick hits jelly. SeanMontgomery directed.
London-based PASSION PICTURES' CG animation director Chris Knott and postproduction house RUSHES' Paul Wratten have finished "Very Boggy," a :40spot for Nouvelle toilet tissue. In the spot a variety of toilets open andshut in time to the music of Handel's "Water Music." CG animator ChrisKnott reproduced the toilet seats which were first shot as live-actionreference. Mark Wilson completed all the builds, surfacing, lighting, andcompositing in Lightwave 5.6.
The Action Young Independent Talent Award is an annual contest organized byFilms Action Inc., in partnership with Ina-Imagina. This 3D contest's goalis to promote new 3D computer artists talents. Prizes include hardware andsoftware packages. The best animation will be transferred to 35 mm. Entrydeadline is October 10, 1999. The festival takes place in Paris, FranceJanuary 28-February 3, 2000. For more information contact Films Action,Laurent Rodon, 25 rue Le Peletier, 75009 Paris, France; Tel: +33 1 47 70 45
Newly released DreamWorks SKG's THE HAUNTING, with digital effects by ILM,finished first in the U.S. weekend boxoffice race, grossing an estimated$33 million. Also newly released, The Walt Disney Company's INSPECTORGADGET, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished second, grossing anestimated $22 million. Warner's WILD WILD WEST, with digital effects byILM, finished seventh, grossing an estimated $5.4 million for a total of$104.2 million; Disney's TARZAN finished ninth, grossing $4.8 million for a
The San Francisco Independent Film Festival (aka SF IndieFest) seeksfeature length film and video and short animation films for its secondannual festival to take place December 9-12, 1999. All films in thefestival will compete for the Audience Awards for best feature and bestanimated short and for a prize (new this year) which will be awarded to theIndieFest Staff Favorite. Early deadline with no entry fee is September 1.Late deadline with $20 entry fee is September 17. For an entry form contact
Mumbai, India-based GRAPHITI MULTIMEDIA has completed "The Case of theMissing Tooth" for Pepsodent, a 7-minute infomercial in which detectivesSqeezy, a tube of toothpaste, and Bristles, a toothbrush, work their waythrough a tooth maze, battle germs in a haunted house, peer into a foodcave, and are lectured by a dentist who explains to them the benefits ofgood oral hygiene. Traditional line drawings were used to create thecharacters, but environments were produced in 3D Studio Max. Cambridge
* Friday, July 23, 8 am. Hollwyood, California, USA.
Ray Harryhausen will appear at a screening of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS.Tickets (donations) are $20, which includes a souvenir booklet. Location:Mann's Chinese Theatre. For more information contact The ArgonautFoundation, 10153 1/2 Riverside Dr. #290, No. Hollywood, CA 91602. Tel:818-890-4492; fax: 818-896-6613; e-mail: argonautfound@webtv.net; or visitwww.zwebb.com/7thvoyageprod/argonaut/index.html.
The British Academy of Film and Television Art's (BAFTA) InteractiveEntertainment Awards are open to entries from all parts of the world on allinteractive platforms. Categories include: Entertainment Website,Innovative Game, Moving Images, Sound, Interactivity, Design, ComputerProgramming, and more. Entry deadline is August 6, 1999. Awards will beannounced October 20, 1999. For more information contact BAFTA,195 Piccadilly, London, W1V 0LN, UK; Tel: + 44 171-7340022; Fax: + 44171-341792; e-mail: helenw@bafta.org; or visit www.bafta.org.
DEPTH is a project of Village Arts (Animha Productions). DEPTH is lookingfor challenging contemporary Puppet or 3D Model animation of any genre.DEPTH accepts films from around the world in any of the followingcategories: Experimental, Professional, and Student & Non-Professional. Allfilms submitted will be considered equally for screening. Provisional entrydeadline is July 30, 1999. For more information contact DEPTH, VillageArts, Stable House, Water Lane, Loftus, Saltburn, TS13 4JT, England; Tel:
The International EMMA Awards are prestigious European-based interactivemedia awards. In 1999, there will again be an online announcement ofnominations and winners. In the months following the announcement, anotherseries of winners' celebration events will be organized to coincide with anumber of new media related events such as Invision in San Francisco andMilia in Cannes. Categories include: Business, Entertainment, GeneralInterest, Technology, Education, Games, Interactive, and Digital City.
The Academy for Television Arts and Sciences have announced the nomineesfor the 1999 Primetime Emmy Awards. The awards ceremony will be telecast onFox on September 12 and held in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. Theanimated nominees include the following programs:
The category for OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM (For programming one hour orless) includes five nominations:
FUTURAMA - A BIG PIECE OF GARBAGE (FOX/Curiosity Company Productions inassociation with Twentieth Century Fox).
This list of upcoming home entertainment releases includes some new titles,but most of them are new only to DVD. Disney has just re-released ROBINHOOD and ALICE IN WONDERLAND; their live-action RETURN TO OZ, whichincludes some stop-motion by Will Vinton Studios, will be released on DVDand VHS on August 10. Touchstone's WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? will bereleased on DVD on September 28. Warner Bros. has just released 1999'sanimated THE KING AND I on both VHS and DVD; WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE
Vancouver, Washington-based Hash, Inc. has released an update to AnimationMaster 99, the 3D animation software program. In addition to carrying a lowprice tag, Hash offers many features found in higher priced packages and issupported by many animators as a low cost package that is capable of goodwork. New to version 7.1 are advancements in new real-time hardwaretechnologies, enhanced rendering tools, and overall workflow performanceenhancements. The upgrade is free to owners of Animation Master 99. Formore information visit www.hash.com.
French company Infogrames Entertainment has released 'Bugs Bunny Lost inTime' for Sony PlayStation. In this video game Bugs encounters old nemeses,including Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Witch Hazel, Rockyand Mugsy, Merlin the Wizard, the Bull, and Daffy Duck in settings rangingfrom the Stone Age and Pirate eras all the way forward to Dimension X.Suggested retail price is US$39.95.
Don't miss out on your chance to save by registering your exhibit early forAnimation Expo 2000. The deadline for registration at the Early Bird ratesis July 30, 1999. ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Expo 2000 will be held at theGlendale Civic Auditorium in Glendale, California, USA on March 3 and 4,2000. This 7th annual animation trade and technology show focuses on therecruitment of animation related talent and personnel, demonstrations ofcomputer technology, animation related products and services, and the sale
* Wednesday, July 21, 7 pm. Beverly Hills, California, USA.
Ray Harryhausen, director Nathan Juran, and genie actor Richard Eyer willbe on-hand for the screening of a newly restored print of THE 7TH VOYAGE OFSINBAD. Tickets (donations) are $20, which includes a souvenir booklet.Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949Wilshire Blvd. For more information contact The Argonaut Foundation, 101531/2 Riverside Dr. #290, No. Hollywood, CA 91602. Tel: 818-890-4492; fax:
Director John Adams has signed to be represented by Santa Monica,California-based AREA 51 Films. Prior to launching his commercial directingcareer last year, Adams was director of broadcast production at DDBNeedham, Dallas.
The Attik/San Francisco has also named Ian Renton Studio Manager. Rentonwill oversee the day to day operation of the studio. He is also responsiblefor insuring that all equipment works correctly, handling briefings withclients, and shepherding design projects from inception to completion. Hecomes from The Attik's Huddersfield, UK office where he was Digital ArtworkManager/Studio Manager.
Cartoon Network, the 24 hour all-cartoon cable service, has announcedseveral highlights on its fall schedule. These include: a TINY TOONMARATHON on Sunday, September 19, 12-8 pm; the premiere of new series MIKE,LU & OG, created by Chuck Swenson, Mikhail Aldashin, and Mikhail Shindel,on November 12; the premiere of new series COURAGE, THE COWARDLY DOG,created by John R. Dilworth, on November 12; the television premiere of thefeature-length SCOOBY-DOO AND THE WITCH'S GHOST on November 27 at 8 pm.
The Annual Society for Animation Studies (SAS) Conference will be hosted byGriffith University and will feature papers by Maureen Furniss on motioncapture, Chris Robinson on Estonian animation, Richard Leskosky onanimating between the lines, Jean-Paul Goergen on hand-drawn sound inGermany in the 1930s, Suzanne R. Williams on the aesthetics of computergames, Marilyn Carney on Australian women animators, Bryan Barker on theimpact of CinemaScope on animation production, Cathyrn Vasseleu on "Time
MTV: Music Television will premiere its newest animated series, MTVDOWNTOWN, which was created by New York-based School of Visual Arts alumnusChris Prynoski, on Tuesday, August 3, 1999 at 10:30 pm ET/PT, 9:30 pm CT.The 13-episode series will air regularly on Tuesday nights. MTV DOWNTOWNfocuses on the shy and thoughtful Alex, and his wild and crazy sister,Chaka. Many of the characters and situations are based on interviews withpeople around Manhattan.
Hollywood-based Super 78 used Adobe After Effects 4.0 to design the 2Dgraphics for a :30 spot, "Wanna Bet?," for YouBet.com, a new thoroughbredhorseracing on-line wagering service.
Cartoon Network is forming Cartoon Network Studios, an independentproduction facility to develop and produce original animated programmingfor the 24-hour, all-cartoon cable channel. The new, Los Angeles-basedfacility, due to begin operation by the end of the year, will give CartoonNetwork more control over series development, production, andadministration procedures. Among the series that the new studio willproduce are the currently airing THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, JOHNNY BRAVO, and
In 1992, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS) first launched its 24 hourall-cartoon cable service, Cartoon Network. Next spring, Turner will launcha second all-toon service, Boomerang. When Cartoon Network debuted sevenyears ago, it could have been called the Hanna-Barbera Network because itsprogramming consisted almost exclusively of the classic Hanna-Barberalibrary, which was also owned by Turner. But recently new shows such as THEPOWERPUFF GIRLS and DEXTER'S LABORATORY, produced by Cartoon Network
ASIFA-Hollywood's ANIFEST '99 is a free 2-day festival of animation. Eventsinclude a hands-on animation experience for kids; a stage show by voiceartist Lucille Bliss and others; SIMPSONS comic book artist Phil Ortiz,Warner Bros. Feature Animation director Tom Sito, storyboard artist BobMiller, plus other professionals will also offer individual animationindustry insight through engaging stage presentations; demonstrations fromanimators, storyboard artists and character layout artists; and a silent
