AWN Headline News

Join The Creative Alliance Monthly Salon Series as they present TV and Film Producing for the Young Audience, a look at how decisions are made to produce today's entertainment for the young audience. The panel includes: Allison Abbate, Producer of THE IRON GIANT; Marne Jones, Children's Programming for CBS and others. The panel will be moderated by Stephen Galloway Executive Editor of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The event takes place Tuesday, September 28, 7:30 pm in Los Angeles, California, USA at The Gower Theater, Paramount Studios. There is an admission fee. RSVP at (310) 789-5686.

Alexander Petrov, a Russian master animator whose best known films are THE MERMAID

and THE TRAGEDY OF A RIDICULOUS MAN, has completed a new film, THE OLD MAN

AND THE SEA, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway about an old man's

struggle to catch a fish. Two years in the making, the film is now playing

at IMAX Theaters throughout the world and features Petrov's renowned

paint-on-glass technique for which he is world famous. For more information

MIP INTERACTIVE INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT will debut the week of September 20, 1999 atwww.mipinteractive.com. The Spotlight will be bi-monthly and the on linesession will last one business week. Each Spotlight will explore specificprogram genres or territories with articles, executive viewpoints,programming highlights, special e-mail sections, bulletin boards,statistics and logistics, reviews and interviews, and more. The firstSpotlight will feature "The Science of Programming Children's Blocks."

Nickelodeon is opening a new animation studio in New York City at 1515 Broadway which will be knownas Nickelodeon Animation Studio New York (NASNY). The digital animationstudio and development laboratory will open in October, although the movehas already taken place. Among the series that will be produced at the newstudio will be BLUE'S CLUES, LITTLE BILL, and GARBAGE BOY, a new weeklysegment for KABLAM!. The studio will house 140 employees including 70animators/digital designers. All phases of production other than

Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, finished third at the US weekend boxoffice, grossing anestimated $11.2 million over the weekend, for a total of $216.7 million. Noother animation related films finished in the top ten.

Toronto-based NELVANA LIMITED has promoted EMMANUELE PETRY to vicepresident of Nelvana Europe International Limited. In her new position,Petry will be responsible for supervising the company's London and Parisoffices. She will continue to investigate co-production and financingopportunities in Europe, and she will also oversee the distribution of TV,video, theatrical and merchandising rights in countries outside NorthAmerica.

The Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) has named ABCInc. President Steven Bornstein as chairman. Bornstein will oversee BVIG'spreviously announced plan to merge with Infoseek, an internet searchengine, to form a single Internet business called go.com and issue a newclass of common stock to track the performance of the new enterprise. Thetransaction is expected to be completed by the end of the 1999 calendaryear. At that time, Bornstein, who is currently a member of the Infoseek

On Monday, October 4 at 4 pm Jean-Marie Messier, president of Vivendi, aFrench multimedia, communications and power company, will deliver thekeynote address for the special three day forum on convergence, TV Meetsthe Internet @ MIPCOM. The address will be entitled "21st CenturyTelevision: Visions for Next Generation Broadcasting.". . . Rome,Italy-based RAI TRADE will offer BROTHER JACOB, an animated edutainmentseries for children about a storytelling monk, as well as GONE WITH THE

Burbank, California-based DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS has hired SUSAN GARELLIas vice president of human resources. Garelli joins Disney from Pasadena,California-based Avery Dennison, a worldwide manufacturer of self-adhesivematerials and consumer products, where she was also vice president of humanresources.

New York City-based SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION has named Flame Artist FABRICEMAUREL as Design Director. Maurel comes to Spontaneous Combustion from LosAngeles, California-based Novocom where he contributed to the artdirection, design, implementation and special effects compositing oftelevision shows, commercials and music videos.

Santa Monica, California-based SIMEX DIGITAL STUDIOS has completed "IceCliff," a spot for Dunlop Tires and agency Dentsu, Inc. of Tokyo, Japan. Inthe spot, five luxury sport cars race on rapidly eroding, digitallygenerated, ice covered cliffs. The camera moves back to reveal that thecliffs are created by a giant digitally created Dunlop tire. CGI ArtistJeff Chung used Alias Power Animator and Maya Media Illusion to create theeffects.

Tom Sito will host THAT '70s - 80s CARTOON SHOW! on Friday, September 17, at 7 pm. Meet Filmation directors Tom Tataranowicz and Ed Friedman; Lou Scheimer, Filmation's founder; Hanna-Barberas Jerry Eisenberg, designer of THE BANANA SPLITS and PETER POTAMUS; and Iwao Takamoto, designer of Scooby Doo and Penelope Pittstop. The evening will include screenings, plenty of stories and a chance to ask the creators about your favorite shows and characters. Admission is $5 at the door for ASIFA-Hollywood members and full time students, $8 at the door for all others.