MONDO MEDIA, a leading creator and distributor of serial-based animated content, announced that it has named ROBIN HARPER, former VP of marketing for Ninth House Network and Maxis (a division of Electronic Arts), as its new Senior vice president of marketing. In her new position, Harper will be responsible for Mondo Media's marketing operation and help guide the company's overall marketing strategy.
CHARLEX founder and creative director Alex Weil has created "Casual George," a 30-second spot to introduce the new "gold dollar" coin from the U.S. Mint. Charlex brings the stoic face of the first U.S. president off the dollar bill and places it on a lean young body. George gets jiggy with friends at a club, scuba dives with the fishes and drives a classic car along the freeway. "This project was about creating the character of George," said Weil. "We wanted to give him as much humanity as possible. When he reacts to the new one dollar coin, we wanted a reaction everybody can relate to.
WILL VINTON STUDIOS has delivered a new spot entitled "Choices" promoting 989 Studios' video game SYPHON FILTER 2. Mike Wellins directed the CGI commercial for San Francisco-based ad agency, Butler, Shine & Stern. The spot is designed to look like a scene taken directly from the game. The ad starts with the hero running on top of a speeding train firing his machine gun at approaching enemy. When the valiant hero corners the villain, the evil foe suddenly asks whether he can be "done in" with something less painful than a gun.
BLACK LOGIC wins big with new visual effects commercial for the Wisconsin Lottery. The spot highlights the new FastLucky5.com, a cutting-edge on-line game from the Wisconsin Lottery. Black Logic's Michel Suissa directed the ad. The fast paced spot begins with the declaration, "We have seen the future, and it's digital." The colorful spot bursts with floating digits and 3D animation and promises "a whole new way to play the numbers." Suissa said, "The challenge was to appeal to a younger audience, while remaining coherent and relevant.
The newest trailer for Disney's upcoming CGI epic DINOSAUR has hit the Web. The trailer, which runs 2 minutes, 26 seconds and offers new footage from the film, was available on the Internet for one week prior to its nationwide debut in theaters on March 10, 2000. Richard Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group said, "Premiering the new DINOSAUR trailer on the Internet is a great way to bring this fantastic film to a large cross-section of moviegoers.
Cartoon Network will bring The Banana Splits -- Fleagle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky -- to the Web. The original live-action variety show, THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR, was produced by Hanna-Barbera and Sid & Marty Krofft, and appeared on NBC from 1968-1970. The show featured music by The Splits, and introduced serialized cartoons such as THE ARABIAN KNIGHTS and THE THREE MUSKETEERS. In this updated version, The Splits are transformed by a Magic Machine into animated personas. Each of the characters goes on their own adventure before they all meet up again in the final episode.
Abacus Software, Inc. has release a new add-on for Microsoft's COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR called BEHIND ENEMY LINES. The fictional voice-accompanied adventure takes you into the heart of Axis Germany. Players volunteer to fly a critical mission for the Allies. After sneaking behind enemy lines, one must follow the voice instructions from the mission commander or from secret agents. BEHIND ENEMY LINES features 30 new missions, 16 for the RAF and 14 for the Germans, and 3 new aircraft: the Supermarine Spitfire MkIX, the Schweizer 2-32 glider and an UltraLight. The game is priced at US$29.99.
On March 21, 2000, Activision, Inc. released the highly anticipated TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. The game features a sophisticated yet easy-to-learn trick and combo system that allows players to perform hundreds of combination moves in an effort to become the highest-rated skater. Gamers choose from Tony Hawk and other nine top-ranked skaters as they thrash real-world tracks, performing signature tricks.
Based on the forthcoming release of 20th Century Fox's futuristic animated feature film, TITAN A.E., Fox Interactive announced its plans to develop the TITAN A.E. game for PlayStation. Fox Interactive is banking on the sci-fi feel of the film to translate easily to the gaming world. "We're raising the level of excitement for the film and inviting fans to embark on their own TITAN adventures through the game," said Dave Shaw, executive director of Worldwide Brand Marketing. "Titan A.E.
Will Vinton Studios will be offering home video titles from their library on their Web site www.vinton.com. The Academy Award winning CLOSED MONDAYS, The California Raisins and the Mr. Resistor collection will all be available on the site. Additional titles, as well as Will Vinton merchandise, will be added to the site in the months to come.
London, UK-based ADN Entertainment, a new UK company aiming to
leverage technological innovations in graphics and visual fields and
apply them to feature animation, is looking for a FEATURE FILM
DIRECTOR...
Rumpus.com is readying their 45-minute Internet epic HERSHEL HOPPER, NEW YORK RABBIT. The kids animation destination will broadcast the film featuring their Hershel Hopper character on Easter Sunday (April 23, 2000) at 3 pm. The film follows the mishaps of Hershel as he is unwittingly shipped to New York City. Currently, Rumpus is airing a music video previewing the adventure. The Webpic features the voice talents of Jason Priestley, Brad Renfro, Brendan Sexton III, Sean Thomas and former New York City mayor Ed Koch.
In the television competition at Cartoons on the Bay, Warner Bros.'
beleaguered series "Mission Hill" took home the prize for best
over-all animation series. The 4th Cartoons On The Bay International
Festival of Television Animation was held in Positano (Amalfi Coast),
Italy from April 14 - 18. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in
the world dedicated to television animation. The festival is an
international event with awards, workshops, lectures and events
Aardman Animations will be releasing Darren Walsh's ANGRY KID on the Internet at AtomFilms. The first 60-second episode of ANGRY KID will be available for download midnight on Sunday, May 7, 2000 at a specially developed Angry Kid spotlight on the AtomFilms site at www.angrykid.com. "We believe the Internet could very well prove to be one of the most exciting platforms for entertainment distribution," said Dave Sproxton, co-founder and managing director of Aardman.
This Month: Voice Acting And Music & Sound...
The global deal marketplace for the business of licensing takes
center stage in New York City, June 13-15, 2000, with L!CENSING 2000
INTERNATIONAL...
11,111 participants representing 2,776 companies from 100 countries
gathered in Cannes for the 37th edition of MIP TV which closed on
Friday April 14, 2000. The countries most represented in terms of
stands were: France (191), US (188), UK (177), Canada (85) and
Germany (76). In terms of participating companies the countries most
represented were: UK (443), France (422), US (372), Germany (173) and
Canada (139); more than 500 of them came from media and Internet
The M.P.S.C. Local 839 IATSE, the labor union for screen cartoonists
and CGI artists and technicians in southern California, has updated
their page with the April 2000 edition of their newsletter, "The
Peg-Board"...
AWN has just launched a brand new Event Calendar, complete with
searchable information...
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book,
"Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia
Quiz...
Prestigious life drawing instructor Glenn Vilppu is now offering The
Vilppu Quick Sketch Manual, with 22 pages of drawings from his
sketchbooks...
* Wednesday, April 26 - Sunday, April 30, 2000. Champaign, Illinois, U.S.A.
Twentieth TV has signed a cable-TV rights deal for KING OF THE HILL with the Fox Channels Group. Either FX or Fox Family Channel will get the series in September of 2004 on a four-year licensing deal. Twentieth TV has licensed out the series to syndicated networks for US$3 million dollars per episode. The series will start airing off-network in the fall of 2001. So far, Twentieth TV is nearing $300 million in off-net syndication deals for the series.
BROADCASTING AND CABLE has reported that SOUTH PARK creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are currently being lured by ABC to create new material for the network. Currently, Comedy Central pays the team of tastelessness between US$400,000 to $500,000 per episode for SOUTH PARK. Reportedly, ABC is offering the cross-dressing crew $1 million per episode for the new programming. THE NEW YORK POST reported that Comedy Central has countered ABC by offering the SOUTH PARK partners artistic freedom on a new series, an offer ABC could never make.
