AWN Headline News

MTV: Music Television will premiere its newest animated series, MTVDOWNTOWN, which was created by New York-based School of Visual Arts alumnusChris Prynoski, on Tuesday, August 3, 1999 at 10:30 pm ET/PT, 9:30 pm CT.The 13-episode series will air regularly on Tuesday nights. MTV DOWNTOWNfocuses on the shy and thoughtful Alex, and his wild and crazy sister,Chaka. Many of the characters and situations are based on interviews withpeople around Manhattan.

Cartoon Network is forming Cartoon Network Studios, an independentproduction facility to develop and produce original animated programmingfor the 24-hour, all-cartoon cable channel. The new, Los Angeles-basedfacility, due to begin operation by the end of the year, will give CartoonNetwork more control over series development, production, andadministration procedures. Among the series that the new studio willproduce are the currently airing THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, JOHNNY BRAVO, and

ASIFA-Hollywood's ANIFEST '99 is a free 2-day festival of animation. Eventsinclude a hands-on animation experience for kids; a stage show by voiceartist Lucille Bliss and others; SIMPSONS comic book artist Phil Ortiz,Warner Bros. Feature Animation director Tom Sito, storyboard artist BobMiller, plus other professionals will also offer individual animationindustry insight through engaging stage presentations; demonstrations fromanimators, storyboard artists and character layout artists; and a silent

A.D.V. Films is releasing the following titles in the US. CITY HUNTER: BAYCITY WARS, and SORCERER HUNTERS VOLUME 5 - FORBIDDEN DESIRES, are beingreleased on October 12, while SAKURA WARS 2, SAKURA WARS DVD, and VARIABLEGEO, are being released on October 26. All of these titles will be releasedin both English dubbed and Japanese with English subtitles. A.D.V.'sSoftcel division, which specializes in titles with nudity, sex, and adultsituations, is releasing CAN CAN BUNNY and COUNTDOWN: AKIRA on September

San Franciso-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced an agreement under whichMacromedia will acquire Elemental Software for $24 million in a stock forstock transaction. Elemental Software is a privately held company thatdevelops and markets software that enables corporate users to build Webapplications for e-business solutions. Elemental's products includeDrumbeat 2000, Drumbeat 2000 JavaServer Pages Edition, and eStore Builderfor Drumbeat 2000. Upon completion of the acquisition, the Elemental

In October 1999, Disney publishing house Hyperion will publish PAPER DREAMS- THE ART AND ARTISTS OF DISNEY STORYBOARDS by John Canemaker. The bookprovides a behind-the-scenes look at the development of stories,situations, and personalities for many of Disney's animated films, fromPLANE CRAZY through TARZAN. It also includes information about many littleknown story artists and writers. Artists covered include Bill Peet, TedSears, Pinto Colvig, Earl Hurd, Webb Smith, Carl Barks, Harry Reeves, Homer

The Attik/San Francisco has named Joe Gallegos Director of StrategicPlanning. He comes to The Attik from Saatchi & Saatchi where in Miami,Florida he was Regional Account Supervisor for the Latin American marketfor both Eastman Kodak Company's Professional Division and Nortel Networks;and in Rochester, New York where he was Senior Account Executive.

Santa Monica, California-based Mixin Pixls completed the computer animationfor "Mouse," a spot for DiTech.com in which a computer comes to life andtells its owner about DiTech.com. Live-action was directed by Ken Robertsfor Laguna Beach, California-based Ken Roberts Productions.

Hollywood-based Ring of Fire has completed the visual effects for two spotsfor the Nissan Infiniti Q45 SUV sedan. "Monoframe" shows the solid, steelchassis of the Infiniti Q45 SUV sedan falling toward the Mojave Desert,then transforming into a shining Infiniti Q45 when it hits the ground."Flower" uses time-lapse photography to show a flower blooming in the glowof the head lamps of a new Infiniti Q45. Live-action was directed by NicoBeyer for New York-based Compass Films, and TBWA Chiat/Day was the agency.

Taking advantage of the buzz around the upcoming release of the Englishversion of PRINCESS MONONOKE directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which is due to bereleased on October 29, 1999, Stone Bridge Press and Miramax Press are bothreleasing tie-in books. Stone Bridge Press is publishing HAYAO MIYAZAKI:MASTER OF JAPANESE ANIMATION by Helen McCarthy. The book mixes film-by-filmsummaries with insider interviews and discussions of art, plot, productionqualities, and themes. It is a 216 page, 7x9" paperback with more than 70

Glen Cove, New York-based Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. has announced resultsfor its fiscal 1999 third quarter ended May 31, 1999. The Company reportedthird quarter net revenues of $80.0 million, an increase of 9% comparedwith $73.2 million in the third quarter of the prior year. During thequarter, Acclaim shipped All Star Baseball 2000 for the Nintendo 64 andGame Boy Color, Bust-A-Move '99 for Nintendo 64 and PlayStation,Bust-A-Move 4 and WWF Attitude for Game Boy Color, and Machines and South

ImagineAsia has hired John Rocco as Director of Animation and Eric Alba asHead of Production. Rocco will oversee direction of all studio animation,including the upcoming 3D animated series THE QUEST: TALES FROM THERAMAYANA. His most recent work includes art direction for DreamWork'sSHREK, Creative Director for the virtual theme park ride DisneyQuest forWalt Disney Imagineering, and Creative Director at Digital Domain. Albawill supervise and coordinate studio production for feature films,