AWN Headline News

Ring of Fire has finished two spots for Sonys Walkman entitled "Spaceship" and "Dorm." Both spots center around the space alien Plato. In "Spaceship" after downloading tunes onto his Sony Memory Stick Walkman, Plato fights Los Angeles traffic in his shuttle on his way to his new college. In "Dorm," Plato enters his room after a shower to find that his female over-night visitor loves the mini disk of songs Plato has made her on his MiniDisk Walkman.

* Friday, September 22 Sunday, September 24, 2000. London, U.K.

* Saturday, September 23 Saturday, September 30, 2000. Split, Croatia.

AtomFilms has appointed veteran TV executive Mikael Shields senior VP entertainment Europe. At the Netcaster, Shields will shepherd acquisitions and development of entertainment properties, negotiating and managing co-productions and content partnerships in Europe. He will work out of the year-old London office of the Seattle-based company. Previously, Shields served as CEO of U.K. television production company EVA Entertainment. He was a founding shareholder of EVA and helped negotiate the firms sale to Pearson Television in February 1999.

On Tuesday August 8, 2000, David Spades new animated series, SAMMY, made a lackluster debut in the bottom of its 8:30 pm time slot. Despite a decent lead-in by a rerun of 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, the new primetime toon drew only 4.1 million viewers and a 1.8 rating/6 share for adults 18-49. The long shelved series follows the reunion of a newly famous son and his deadbeat dad. How long will the series last only time can tell. The last two heavily hyped primetime toons, GOD THE DEVIL & BOB and CLERKS, never made it past six episodes combined.

Former Disney chairman Joe Roths Revolution Studios will turn the Web series, LIL PIMP, into a Flash-animated feature. The MediaTrip.com series will be the first feature length film to be animated using Macromedias Flash software. Creators Paul Gilstrap and Mark Brooks with their team of four animators are set to scribe, produce and direct the project. Production on the flick could begin as early as three to four weeks. No monetary details have been released, however Gilstrap and Brooks look to make most of their money from backend revenues.

Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design (RMCAD), located in Denver, Colorado, has added a new animation program to its bachelor degree program. Currently, the college offers five other Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Graphic Design and Interactive Media, Illustration, Painting, Sculpture and Interior Design. The schools goal is to delve into the medium of animation as the only interdisciplinary visual art that merges art, writing, storytelling, drawing, design, sculpture, acting, filmmaking, art direction and film directing.

With several debuts around the globe, THE PATRIOT has won the war for international box office supremacy. Premiering at #1 in Germany, the Mel Gibson-starrer grossed a hefty $3.23 million. Slipping to second, THE PERFECT STORM garnered $1.29 million, raising its German cume to $8.62 million. Down one to #4, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 added another $1.01 million to its $22.42 million German cume. At #8, THE TIGGER MOVIE rounded up an additional $206,761, bringing its German cume to $3.97 million. In its 10th week in Germany, GLADIATOR grossed $119,979 in tenth, advancing its cume to $19.99 million.

Rhythm & Hues has added David Glaubke to its staff as director of development. This move quickens the special effects houses transition to becoming an original content producer. Glaubke will help R&H VP of motion pictures, Deborah Giarrantana, in developing relationships with various writers and producers. Previously, Glaubke served as the story editor for Australian-based Village Roadshow. Currently, Glaubke has started work on the companys 3D animated feature, ARMOUR STAR, from FERNGULLY-director Bill Kroyer.

The 4th Hollywood Film Festival has announced the winners for this year's Hollywood Internet Awards. JoeCartoon.com beat out tough competition in Rumpus and Showtimes WhirlGirl for best animation site. Internet users at the Entertainment Tonight Online (www.ETOnline.com) and NetAwards.com Web sites voted for the nominees. "We are extremely pleased with the massive response. Thousands of voters participated in the nomination of their favorite sites. It was a great interactive experience," Hollywood NetAwards founder, Carlos de Abreu said.

* Tuesday, September 19 Sunday, September 24, 2000. Ottawa, Canada.