AWN Headline News

This year the San Diego Comic-Con International will be held August 12-15.Comic-Con is the largest convention of its kind. It features a huge comicbook, animation, film and related items marketplace, a slew of panels, andmany special guests. The special guests currently scheduled include NeilGaiman (SANDMAN), Mike Mignola (HELLBOY), Art Spiegelman (MAUS, RAW), JimSteranko (publisher of PREVUE, writer and artist of famous 1960's issues ofS.H.I.E.L.D. and CAPTAIN AMERICA), Dave Stevens (THE ROCKETEER), Jill

International Fine Arts College, founded in 1965, has received approvalfrom the Florida State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities tooffer the Master of Fine Arts in Computer Animation. Classes will beginJanuary 2000. The Master of Fine Arts Degree in Computer Animation is astudio based, sixty credit program focusing on animation utilizing theSilicon Graphics platform with Alias|Wavefront Maya software. The AnimationStudio boasts 63 SGI O2s running the latest versions of Alias|Wavefront;

DIC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Disney, has sold two new animated seriesto Pax TV, a new family-oriented network in the US. "Archie's WeirdMysteries" and "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" will appear this Fallas part of the weekday "Pax Power Mystery Hour." "Archie's WeirdMysteries," a co-production with M6 France, is based on the long runningArchie comics series. In the series, a lab experiement goes awry, creatingsuch characters as a 50-foot Veronica, and Dr. Jughead and Mr. Hyde.

* Sunday, April 11. Richmond, Virginia, USA.

PRE-1950 AMERICAN ANIMATION will feature several gems including "Porky inWackyland," "Bimbo's Initiation," and Betty Boop in "Snow White." JanetScagnelli introduces the program which starts at 5pm at the James RiverFestival. TEL: (804) 355-1383. www.vcu.edu/artweb/jamesriverfest alsooffers further details.

PDI has named producer/director Don McBain as Visual Effects Producer for its Commercial and Feature Film Effects Division. McBain's credits include Production Supervisor for the STARSHIP TROOPERS Miniature Unit, the crash sequence for MONEY TRAIN, and line producer/production manager for 25 projects at Sony Pictures Imageworks, as well as making the independent, experimental Imax film, FIRE.

Judy Fearing has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president, Global Marketing and Studio Development, for Disney Consumer Products, it was announced Thursday by division Chairman Bo Boyd and President Anne Osberg.

A team from HELIUM PRODUCTIONS, INC. and TWO HEADED MONSTER has created a new computer animated spot for Starburst which immerses the viewer in a simulated water environment designed for absolute believability. The animators used SGI Octanes, Side Effects' Prisms, and Pixar's Photorealistic Renderman software to create the realistic physics of water splashing and swirling. At Helium Productions, John Scheafer was creative director. At Two Headed Monster Christopher Willoughby was creative director and Ruth Schiller produced.

SPIDER-MAN TO SWING WITHOUT CAMERON. Whatever expectations were created in 1990 when Stan Lee (Spider-Man's co-creator with Steve Ditko and possibly Jack Kirby) announced that James Cameron would be directing a Spider-Man film, ended for the director of TITANIC and THE TERMINATOR on Monday when THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reported that Cameron will not be directing this long dreamed of project. This announcement comes soon after the resolution of legal disputes between most of the involved companies over rights to the Spider-Man character and related properties.

Hibbert Ralph Entertainment's half hour film "The First Snow of Winter" haswon the award for Best Children's Entertainment given by The RoyalTelevision Society. The film tells the story of a little Irish duck whogets left behind when his friends and family fly south for the winter.Director Graham Ralph accepted the award.