AWN Headline News

As part of ASIFA-Hollywood and Glendale Community College's Fourth AnnualLecture Series on Careers in Animation, Sari Gennis will speak aboutSpecial Effects on Tuesday, October 12 at 7 pm. Sari designed and animatedeffects for the first STAR TREK movie and went on to form her own company,ANIMATRIX, where she has produced and directed commercials, televisiongraphics, and theme park special effects. Since 1987 Sari has specializedin effects animation for feature films, including ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN and

Children's bookstore Storyopolis celebrates the launch of Fox FamilyChannel's THE KIDS FROM ROOM 402. Meet Fox Family Channel characters andcreator Michael Paraskevas, and see an episode of the show. An exhibit ofart by Michael Paraskevas begins on October 5. Storyopolis is located at116 N. Robertson. For more information Tel. (310) 358-2500. The event takesplace Saturday, October 9, 11 am - 2:30 pm in Beverly Hills, California,USA.

The 2nd Matita International Animation Film Festival was held September 23- 26 in Guardiagrele, Italy. The jury consisted of Jury President GiulioCingoli (producer and director), Milan, Italy; Piotr Dumala (director,animator, and teacher at the Film School of Lodz), Warsaw, Poland; RuthLingford (director, animator, and teacher at the Royal College of Arts andNational Film & Television School of London), London, UK; Laura Ruggeri(student at the International Academy of Image, Lanterna Magica), L'Aquila,

Toronto-based NELVANA LIMITED has appointed IRENE WEIBEL and JILL NEWHOUSECALCATERRA as marketing vice presidents of the company's newly-formedcorporate sponsorship division. They will be responsible for the creationof national corporate advertising opportunities for Nelvana's animated TVprograms. Weible was previously vice president of national sponsorship forWGBH-TV, the Boston PBS affiliate. Calcaterra was previously vice presidentof marketing, licensing and public relations for Santa Monica,

Disney will release A BUG'S LIFE - COLLECTOR'S EDITION DVD on November 23, 1999. The Disney/Pixarfilm, which crosses the Western THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (a remake of AkiraKurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI) with Aesop's THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, isabout an inventive ant named Flik who hires what he believes are "warriorbugs" to defend his colony from a horde of freeloading grasshoppers. Aswith the TOY STORY laserdisc box set, the supplemental features areplentiful:

DISC ONE: THE MOVIE

Warner Bros. Online, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company, and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, an Internet content and tools developer, have announced the formation of a co-production and Internet distribution relationship to launch a co-branded 3-D animation channel, the MULTIPATH MOVIE CHANNEL, on Time Warner's Entertaindom Web site at www.Entertaindom.com.

STUART OKEN has been promoted to the position of senior vice president ofcreative affairs for WALT DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS. Oken joined WaltDisney Theatrical Productions in 1995, and has been closely involved withthe Tony Award-winning stage show, THE LION KING, and Elton John and TimRice's new musical, AIDA, set to premiere in Chicago in December 1999. . .TOM WILLIAMS, a 29-year company veteran and former president and chiefexecutive officer of Universal Studios Escape in Orlando, Florida, has been

Burnaby, British Columbia-based CDIS is offering a one-day industryintroduction to Macromedia's Flash 4.0 on October 23 from 9 am-4:30 pm.Cost is $225, which includes lunch. By the end of the seminar, you'll knowhow to prepare graphics for Flash, use the interface, sketch and draftideas for animation and interactivity, create symbols and manipulateinstances for actions, combine the final pieces into your own 30-secondanimated banner with sound, and post the final product to the web with FTP.

NIGHT OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN, an hour-long animated special, will air onFox on Thursday, October 28, at 8 pm. Featuring the voices of Luke Perry(BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), William H. Macy (FARGO), and Tia Carrere(WAYNE'S WORLD), the special was produced by Dallas, Texas-based ComputedAnimation Technology (CAT) and Wimberley, Texas-based Locomotion Studiosusing performance (motion-capture) 3D animation. It was written by JohnShirley (THE CROW). The special, like the upcoming Tim Burton film, SLEEPY

Toronto, Canada-based IMAX CORPORATION, which operates a chain of largeformat film theaters, has appointed MARY PAT RYAN to the new post ofExecutive Vice President of IMAX Ltd. and Network Group President. Ryanwill oversee the ongoing development of the Network Group, which is chargedwith ensuring the success of all theatres in the worldwide network of IMAXtheatres and the development of the IMAX brand. Based in New York, Ryanwill have responsibility for all areas of the Network Group including brand

Vancouver-based BARDEL ANIMATION has added executive producer CAROLEDUCHARME and business affairs executive DEBORAH REES-LEE to its businessaffairs department. DUCHARME began her career in the film industry as alawyer specializing in film financing and as a legal advisor fororganizations such as the Quebec Film Classification Board. She moved intothe role of producer with the Paris, France-based company Les ProductionLazennec, negotiating and drafting agreements for international

On November 2, 1999 Rhino Records will release GO SIMPSONIC WITH THESIMPSONS, musical selections from the often very musical THE SIMPSONS.Consisting of more than 50 tracks of songs, themes, and underscore music,GO SIMPSONIC not only picks up where its predecessor, SONGS IN THE KEY OFSPRINGFIELD, left off, but also digs deep into the first nine seasons,capturing selections that didn't make it onto the first collection. GOSIMPSONIC also makes available for the first time four never-before-heard