AWN Headline News

Sega of America has appointed Joseph Culley as vice president of marketing. Culley will help steer marketing, advertising and promotional campaigns for Sega Dreamcast and SegaNet. A brand-building veteran with most recently Levi Strauss & Co, Culley has 14 years experience in consumer marketing, business development and brand positioning. As vice president of marketing, Culley will oversee Sega's brand strategy and marketing programs, including positioning, advertising, corporate identity and channel marketing.

Magna Entertainment Corp. has appointed Mark Feldman to the position of president and chief executive officer. Previously, Feldman was executive vice president of E! and was responsible for all of its core business operations, including all international ventures and sales, on-line operations, new business development and general administration.

Infogrames, Inc., announced that entertainment industry veterans Jason Bell and Alyssa Padia have joined Infogrames' North American management team. Bell will become senior vice president of publishing for Infogrames' North American operations, while Padia will become senior vice president of corporate evolution. Bell will head all publishing activities for Infogrames' labels in the U.S. For the past six years, Bell has worked at Electronic Arts and Kesmai. During that time, he held senior management roles focused on development of single player and multi-player games.

Alex Zamm has been brought on to help William Robertson rewrite the direct-to-video sequel to Disneys INSPECTOR GADGET. Most likely Zamm will helm the $10 million redux with Disney-based Fountain Prods. Charles Hirschhorn and Peter Green developing the project. Disney senior VP Gregg Hoffman is overseeing the film for the studio. Casting has not begun, but with such a slim budget the likeliness that the stars of the original like Matthew Broderick will not return.

Walt Disney will be releasing a sing along version of Walt Disney's Academy Award-winning classic MARY POPPINS. At Disneys El Capitan in Hollywood, a restored 35mm Dolby Stereo print of the classic 1964 film will feature on-screen lyrics of all the songs so that audiences can join in. Like a family-friendly ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW screening, moviegoers are encouraged to dress as their favorite character from the film. Prizes for best costume will be awarded at each show.

Eyeball finished a series of two-minute promos for USA Network. Creative director and art director Jory Hull created a slick style for the project that showcases USA Networks fall line-up of original movies, first-run Hollywood features, sporting events and USAs demographics. Eyeball created the design elements that linked the footage provided by USA. The promos were used as a visual representative of USA Networks for media buyers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Shur said, "This was somewhat of a departure for USA Networks.

J.J. Sedelmaier Productions brings the green world of Pete the Gardner to life again for Ortho. The spot entitled, "Bookworm Pete," starts off with Pete reading a book about the hungry hordes of bugs nibbling on his lawn. Finally, in frustration Pete throws down the book and grabs Orthos Bug-B-Gon. "The concept underwent some development during production," said director J.J. Sedelmaier. "The client wanted the bugs to appear more threatening than they did in the initial boards.

* Monday, October 30 Friday, November 3, 2000. Bourg-en-Bresse, France.

Entry Deadline: August 25, 2000.

* Saturday, September 23, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Entry Deadline: August 31, 2000.

TOKYOPOP.com has extended their first AnimeOnline Festival until September. Animation artists working in the anime style are invited to submit their original anime Internet works in Flash, Shockwave or Quicktime formats. There are five categories in which participants may enter: Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Fighting (Battle), Love/Comedy, Shoujo (Girl's Anime) and Asia Pop Focus (Open Category). Participants may enter into more than one category and may