IPnetwork.com is one of the 100 most influential companies on the
Internet who will join forces with the most influential people in
animation at the World Animation Celebration...
Former TriStar Pictures chairman Mike Medavoy has joined the board of directors of Film Roman. The current head of Phoenix Pictures, Medavoy becomes the sixth member of Film Roman's board. Film Roman president John Hyde said Medavoy's appointment would serve to "complement" the company's business plan rather than change it. Film Roman, which produces animation for TV (SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL), expanded its operations in 1998 to include limited development and production of feature-length films and recently increased its commercial output.
This month we take a look at Independent Animators and Recruiting &
Jobs...
Visual effects pioneer John Dykstra has swung onto the SPIDER-MAN project. The new project will reunite Dykstra with the effects team from Sony Imageworks, where he was recently special effects supervisor on STUART LITTLE. The Sam Raimi directed flick has also hired former PDI character animator Karen Goulekas. Dykstra told the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that he doesn't know how many effects there will be yet, because the script (by Raimi and David Koepp) isn't done. "We're still sorting the character out.
The Animation Academy, an in-house trade school owned by Animatrix
Productions, is looking for a 2D ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR teaching basic
animation, storyboards, character creation and layout/design. . . San
Francisco and New York City-based One Infinity Inc., a streaming
media development company, is looking for a 2D BACKGROUND
ILLUSTRATOR, a 2D FLASH ANIMATOR and a 2D FLASH LIP-SYNCHER for an
animated Flash hip-hop music video. . . West Los Angeles,
Comedy Central and iN DEMAND have struck a deal that will provide 25 episodes of SOUTH PARK on a pay-per-view basis. IN DEMAND executive VP entertainment Mark Sonnenberg said that the pact illustrates that video-on-demand is vibrant. "It's not just movies," Sonnenberg said. "It's everything consumers want -- movies, library products, TV series, local programming." Both companies plan to work together in the future to bring other Comedy Central content to PPV, like uncut stand-up shows.
Anima Mundi Web is Brazil's international animation Web competition.
The event is open to all countries and work must be in Flash and gif
formats. The festival will pre-select 20 animations and an
international jury will vote for the winners. The international jury
will consist of the people that have registered on the Anima Mundi
Festival Web site. The deadline for entries is June 1, 2000. The
winners will be announced on the closing night of the Anima Mundi
Marvel Enterprises and Artisan Entertainment have entered into a joint venture that will send 15 Marvel superhero characters to Artisan for feature, TV, direct-to-video and Internet programming. Both companies will share in the money made from the properties and tied-in merchandising. Each company will own the programming library.
In addition to the official competition, the Ottawa International
Animation Festival (September 19-24, 2000) will present a number of
retrospectives, tributes, special screenings and feature films. The
tentative program is as follows: thematic programs on computer
animation and jazz in animation; studio spotlight on Pacific Data
Images and Bermuda Shorts; tributes to Yvonne Andersen (who will
serve as the Honorary President for Ottawa 00), Spike and Mike's
Time Warner chairman, Gerald Levin, announced that the company has reached a "agreement in principle" with Disney about the carrying of Disney cable stations on Time Warner operating systems. The recent dispute over the price Time Warner would pay for the cable networks led to Time Warner aggressively pulling ABC from its cable system. This action quickly drew heat from regulators and the public, who had service interrupted during sweeps week specials of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONARE?
The troubled Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) has closed up shop. Nearly one week after its relaunch, DEN execs laid off 150 employees stating that the low money flow could no longer support the company in its present form. The employees were informed of the news at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, May 17, 2000. The final straw that broke the camels back was this weeks decline from a key investor to supply additional funding. The Netcaster has been plagued with problems from the start.
At the Apple World Wide Developers Conference Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, announced that Alias|Wavefront would be bringing out a version of Maya 3 for the Apple MAC OS X platform. Until now, Maya has only been available for high-end workstations including Windows NT and IRIX. This announcement is a significant one for both Apple and Alias|Wavefront, as well as for MAC users. Apple is poising Maya as the "premier 3D application for the MAC." With Newtek's Lightwave [6] as its only real competitor, Alias|Wavefront's flagship product will probably turn out to be just that.
As anticipated, Marvel's net sales decreased over last years first quarter period due in part to film licensing revenue. The year-ago quarter included a non-refundable advance from Sony Pictures Entertainment for the feature film license of Spider-Man, as well as an advance from Universal Studios for a feature film based on The Hulk. Also, year-ago first quarter revenues reflected strong initial distribution shipments for the Toy Biz divisions new line of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) products.
Mondo Media's weekly Web toon, THUGS ON FILM, will hit BBC America's summer primetime line up. Mondo, a leader in Web content production, also announced that bbcamerica.com will air THUGS ON FILM which will include a co-branded show introduction and a special launch page on the bbcamerica.com Web site. The pact also includes a Mondo/BBC America co-production, which will create two brand new animated characters exclusively for BBC America and bbcamerica.com. THUGS ON FILM is a film review show hosted by Cecil and Stubby, two English hoods.
The continuing tribulation around the merger of Time Warner and America On-line now includes impending separate fines looming over the two firms. The Los Angeles City Attorneys Office and Information Technology and General Services Committee are looking to the recent dispute between Disney and Time Warner, which resulted in Time Warner pulling ABC from its cable service. The move affected some 400,000 subscribers for 36 hours, which included the sweeps week celebrity broadcast of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONARE.
Creative Planet has launched the beta version of the new
CreativePlanet.com, a cutting-edge portal for entertainment industry professionals...
* Friday, April 7 Thursday, May 25, 2000. Montpelier, Maryland, U.S.A.
* Tuesday, May 16 Saturday, June 17, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
* Wednesday, June 21 Sunday, June 25, 2000. Zagreb, Croatia.
Anima Mundi Web is Brazil's international animation Web competition. The event is open to all countries and work must be in Flash and gif formats. The festival will pre-select 20 animations and an international jury will vote for the winners. The international jury will consist of the people that have registered on the Anima Mundi Festival Web site. The winners will be announced on the closing night of the Anima Mundi Festival in Rio de Janeiro on July 23. The deadline for entries is June 1, 2000. For judging go to www.animamundiweb.com.br.
Autonomous Effects recently released a new version of their SceneGenie plug-in suite for match-moving and combining live-action footage with CGI. The new version is available now, and boasts features like 3D tracking, an easy to use interface, faster tracking tools, optimizations and much more. Priced at US$995, SceneGenie 1.2 is available as a plug-in for 3D Studio MAX 2.5, 3.0 and 3.1.
The Second Annual Ajijic Festival de Cine is inviting both students as well as professionals to submit their entries in the categories of animation, documentaries, independent and studio produced feature films, short subjects and screenplays. The event will be held in Ajijic, Mexico from Wednesday, November 8 to Sunday, November 12, 2000. "The emphasis of this festival as it was with our inaugural effort last year, will be the celebration, discovery and recognition of talent from around the world," said James E. Lloyd, Chairman of the Festival's Board of Directors.
On Sunday, June 11, 2000 at 9 pm, Cartoon Network will present an hour of cartoons never-before-seen on television during "The Lost Cartoons" TOONHEADS Special. Airing on "Lost Cartoons" will be Spooney Melodies' CRYIN' FOR THE CAROLINES, Leon Schlesinger's short-lived collection of musical "Vitaphone Varieties," which feature abstract animation using paper cut-outs and double exposures to create visual accompaniment to arranged music.
Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), a Gen Y-targeted Netcaster, has relaunched its site. The new version has a slicker look and features a Flash comic strip called CRIME TIME. Director, producer and writer Steve Oedekerk (ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE) has also signed a deal to bring his Thumb.com content to the site, which includes WORLD THUMB WRESTLING. In the next 60 days, DEN plans to relaunch the Flash animated THE FAT KID NETWORK.
Wild Brain, Inc. announced that the animation studio is producing a slate of original Web shows for the Cartoon Network On-line. The 15 Webtoons will air on both of the companies' Internet channels. The two companies have worked together before, most recently on EL KABONG, a Cartoon Network retro TV short featuring the famous 1960s cartoon character, Quick Draw McGraw. Reflecting Cartoon Network's wide array of animated genres, Wild Brain's 15 new creations will vary in terms of art-direction, character design and overall tone.
Special effects facility Digital Domain has promoted Senior VP C. Bradley Call to head of business development and chief administrative officer and Yvette Macaluso to VP finance. As the company's new #2 man, Call will continue as general counsel, but will help expand Digital Domain's feature development arm. Call will now head the effects houses human resources and purchasing departments. With the company from its inception 7 years ago, Maculas has managed the finance and accounting departments.
IPnetwork.com is one of the 100 most influential companies on the
Internet who will join forces with the most influential people in
animation at the World Animation Celebration...
Former TriStar Pictures chairman Mike Medavoy has joined the board of directors of Film Roman. The current head of Phoenix Pictures, Medavoy becomes the sixth member of Film Roman's board. Film Roman president John Hyde said Medavoy's appointment would serve to "complement" the company's business plan rather than change it. Film Roman, which produces animation for TV (SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL), expanded its operations in 1998 to include limited development and production of feature-length films and recently increased its commercial output.
This month we take a look at Independent Animators and Recruiting &
Jobs...
Visual effects pioneer John Dykstra has swung onto the SPIDER-MAN project. The new project will reunite Dykstra with the effects team from Sony Imageworks, where he was recently special effects supervisor on STUART LITTLE. The Sam Raimi directed flick has also hired former PDI character animator Karen Goulekas. Dykstra told the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that he doesn't know how many effects there will be yet, because the script (by Raimi and David Koepp) isn't done. "We're still sorting the character out.
The Animation Academy, an in-house trade school owned by Animatrix
Productions, is looking for a 2D ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR teaching basic
animation, storyboards, character creation and layout/design. . . San
Francisco and New York City-based One Infinity Inc., a streaming
media development company, is looking for a 2D BACKGROUND
ILLUSTRATOR, a 2D FLASH ANIMATOR and a 2D FLASH LIP-SYNCHER for an
animated Flash hip-hop music video. . . West Los Angeles,
Comedy Central and iN DEMAND have struck a deal that will provide 25 episodes of SOUTH PARK on a pay-per-view basis. IN DEMAND executive VP entertainment Mark Sonnenberg said that the pact illustrates that video-on-demand is vibrant. "It's not just movies," Sonnenberg said. "It's everything consumers want -- movies, library products, TV series, local programming." Both companies plan to work together in the future to bring other Comedy Central content to PPV, like uncut stand-up shows.
Anima Mundi Web is Brazil's international animation Web competition.
The event is open to all countries and work must be in Flash and gif
formats. The festival will pre-select 20 animations and an
international jury will vote for the winners. The international jury
will consist of the people that have registered on the Anima Mundi
Festival Web site. The deadline for entries is June 1, 2000. The
winners will be announced on the closing night of the Anima Mundi
Marvel Enterprises and Artisan Entertainment have entered into a joint venture that will send 15 Marvel superhero characters to Artisan for feature, TV, direct-to-video and Internet programming. Both companies will share in the money made from the properties and tied-in merchandising. Each company will own the programming library.
In addition to the official competition, the Ottawa International
Animation Festival (September 19-24, 2000) will present a number of
retrospectives, tributes, special screenings and feature films. The
tentative program is as follows: thematic programs on computer
animation and jazz in animation; studio spotlight on Pacific Data
Images and Bermuda Shorts; tributes to Yvonne Andersen (who will
serve as the Honorary President for Ottawa 00), Spike and Mike's
Time Warner chairman, Gerald Levin, announced that the company has reached a "agreement in principle" with Disney about the carrying of Disney cable stations on Time Warner operating systems. The recent dispute over the price Time Warner would pay for the cable networks led to Time Warner aggressively pulling ABC from its cable system. This action quickly drew heat from regulators and the public, who had service interrupted during sweeps week specials of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONARE?
The troubled Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) has closed up shop. Nearly one week after its relaunch, DEN execs laid off 150 employees stating that the low money flow could no longer support the company in its present form. The employees were informed of the news at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, May 17, 2000. The final straw that broke the camels back was this weeks decline from a key investor to supply additional funding. The Netcaster has been plagued with problems from the start.
At the Apple World Wide Developers Conference Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, announced that Alias|Wavefront would be bringing out a version of Maya 3 for the Apple MAC OS X platform. Until now, Maya has only been available for high-end workstations including Windows NT and IRIX. This announcement is a significant one for both Apple and Alias|Wavefront, as well as for MAC users. Apple is poising Maya as the "premier 3D application for the MAC." With Newtek's Lightwave [6] as its only real competitor, Alias|Wavefront's flagship product will probably turn out to be just that.
As anticipated, Marvel's net sales decreased over last years first quarter period due in part to film licensing revenue. The year-ago quarter included a non-refundable advance from Sony Pictures Entertainment for the feature film license of Spider-Man, as well as an advance from Universal Studios for a feature film based on The Hulk. Also, year-ago first quarter revenues reflected strong initial distribution shipments for the Toy Biz divisions new line of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) products.
Mondo Media's weekly Web toon, THUGS ON FILM, will hit BBC America's summer primetime line up. Mondo, a leader in Web content production, also announced that bbcamerica.com will air THUGS ON FILM which will include a co-branded show introduction and a special launch page on the bbcamerica.com Web site. The pact also includes a Mondo/BBC America co-production, which will create two brand new animated characters exclusively for BBC America and bbcamerica.com. THUGS ON FILM is a film review show hosted by Cecil and Stubby, two English hoods.
The continuing tribulation around the merger of Time Warner and America On-line now includes impending separate fines looming over the two firms. The Los Angeles City Attorneys Office and Information Technology and General Services Committee are looking to the recent dispute between Disney and Time Warner, which resulted in Time Warner pulling ABC from its cable service. The move affected some 400,000 subscribers for 36 hours, which included the sweeps week celebrity broadcast of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONARE.
Creative Planet has launched the beta version of the new
CreativePlanet.com, a cutting-edge portal for entertainment industry professionals...
* Friday, April 7 Thursday, May 25, 2000. Montpelier, Maryland, U.S.A.
* Tuesday, May 16 Saturday, June 17, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
* Wednesday, June 21 Sunday, June 25, 2000. Zagreb, Croatia.
Anima Mundi Web is Brazil's international animation Web competition. The event is open to all countries and work must be in Flash and gif formats. The festival will pre-select 20 animations and an international jury will vote for the winners. The international jury will consist of the people that have registered on the Anima Mundi Festival Web site. The winners will be announced on the closing night of the Anima Mundi Festival in Rio de Janeiro on July 23. The deadline for entries is June 1, 2000. For judging go to www.animamundiweb.com.br.
Autonomous Effects recently released a new version of their SceneGenie plug-in suite for match-moving and combining live-action footage with CGI. The new version is available now, and boasts features like 3D tracking, an easy to use interface, faster tracking tools, optimizations and much more. Priced at US$995, SceneGenie 1.2 is available as a plug-in for 3D Studio MAX 2.5, 3.0 and 3.1.
The Second Annual Ajijic Festival de Cine is inviting both students as well as professionals to submit their entries in the categories of animation, documentaries, independent and studio produced feature films, short subjects and screenplays. The event will be held in Ajijic, Mexico from Wednesday, November 8 to Sunday, November 12, 2000. "The emphasis of this festival as it was with our inaugural effort last year, will be the celebration, discovery and recognition of talent from around the world," said James E. Lloyd, Chairman of the Festival's Board of Directors.
On Sunday, June 11, 2000 at 9 pm, Cartoon Network will present an hour of cartoons never-before-seen on television during "The Lost Cartoons" TOONHEADS Special. Airing on "Lost Cartoons" will be Spooney Melodies' CRYIN' FOR THE CAROLINES, Leon Schlesinger's short-lived collection of musical "Vitaphone Varieties," which feature abstract animation using paper cut-outs and double exposures to create visual accompaniment to arranged music.
Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), a Gen Y-targeted Netcaster, has relaunched its site. The new version has a slicker look and features a Flash comic strip called CRIME TIME. Director, producer and writer Steve Oedekerk (ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE) has also signed a deal to bring his Thumb.com content to the site, which includes WORLD THUMB WRESTLING. In the next 60 days, DEN plans to relaunch the Flash animated THE FAT KID NETWORK.
