AWN Headline News

Sherman Oaks, California-based Warner Bros. TV Animation Studio hascompleted a spot featuring the classic cartoon characters, Tom and Jerry,in Promise Buttery Light "Butter Trouble," a :30 for New York-based agencyMcCann Erickson. In the cel-animated spot, Tom attempts to trick Jerry byswitching Promise Buttery Light for plain butter.

White Plains, New York-based J.J. Sedelmaier has completed two :30 spotsfor Old Navy. "Girls Zip Pocket Flares" features a young magician whoconjures up and controls Old Navy's new zip pocket jeans for her friends.In "Boys Boarder Jeans," boys show off their large style jeans whilewalking the dog, sawing a log, talking to a frog, and paying the rent whileskateboarding. The spots feature a '60s retro-style designed by DavidSheldon.

SHOWTIME will launch a newadvertising campaign for the network's exclusive, weekly online seriesWHIRLGIRL, which premiered on SHO.com in February 1999. The new campaign,designed in-house by SHOWTIME's Red Group led by Showtime Networks'Executive Vice President, Creative & Marketing Len Fogge, will debut inprint, outdoor, and on the world wide web in August. Valued atapproximately US$1 million, the campaign will run through October 1999. Togenerate greater awareness of WhirlGirl, the network will target national

TIME WARNER INC. has named Warner Bros. current chief operating officer BARRY MEYER as the new chairman and chief executive of the film studio, and Castle Rock Entertainment Chairman ALAN HORN as its president and chief operating officer. The new team, which takes over October 4, replaces Warner Bros. co-chairmen Robert Daly and Terry Semel, who announced last month that they would step down from the studio they have run together for nearly twenty years. Meyer joined Warner in 1971 as a director of business

The Surrey Institute Of Art & Design has awarded an honorary fellowship toClare Kitson, Channel 4's animation commissioner, for her contribution toBritish Animation. Films commissioned by Kitson at Channel 4 include AlisonSnowden and David Fine's BOB'S BIRTHDAY and ACHILLES by Barry Purves.

Newly-formed, Los Angeles-based FilmWorld Inc. Chairman Menahem Golan andPresident John Daly have announced the first of many films they willjointly produce. GUNGA DIN will be based on Rudyard Kipling's story about ayoung Indian boy's adventures with the British Army in India. Thescreenplay is by James Silke and Joseph Goldman, and the film's release isprojected for the 2000 holiday-season in theaters throughout the world.Golan has had a film career spanning more than thirty years in which he has

Klasky-Csupo's latest TV series, ROCKET POWER, will premiere on Nickelodeonon Monday, August 16 at 8:30 pm (ET/PT). Set in the fictional SouthernCalifornia beach community of Ocean Shores, ROCKET POWER features theadventures of four extreme-sports loving friends who chase the ultimatewave, ramp, or slope in quest of an adrenaline rush. ROCKET POWER isco-created and executive produced by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo,co-founders of Klasky Csupo, Inc. which also produces the extremely

North East Calgary, Canada-based Chromacolour International Limited, aninternational leader in the manufacture and sale of traditional and digitalanimation materials, software, and equipment, has appointed John Munro tothe position of Vice-President of Marketing and Sales. "Since joiningChromacolour, John has made great strides towards developing andimplementing a strong marketing and sales strategy for the Company's coreanimation business. John has introduced a number of programs and systems

This year, SIGGRAPH '99, the International Conference on Computer Graphicsand Interactive Techniques, is being held in downtown Los Angeles at theL.A. Convention Center. The conference program will include papers, panels,courses, sketches, and applications. The event will also include ananimation festival; art gallery: technOasis; Emerging Technologies: TheMillennium Motel; Creative Applications Lab: The Digital Cafe; and TheStudio showcasing the latest implementations of technology. The Electronic

The fifth annual Anima Mundi festival has had its run July 9-18 in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil. At this festival the audience is the jury, and they havechosen:

Best Brazilian Film - DE JANELA PARA O CINEMA (RAINBOW'S END) by QuiáRodrigues.

Best Film of the Official Selection - GOGWANA by Deiniol Morris, UK.

Second Best Film of the Official Selection - AU BOUT DU MONDE (AT THE ENDSOF THE EARTH) by Konstantin Bronzit, France.

Third Best Film of the Official Selection - RECI, RECI, RECI (WORDS, WORDS,

Marvel Enterprises has hired Peter Cuneo as president and CEO. Cuneo wasCEO of Remington Products, president of the security hardware group ofBlack and Decker, and president of Clairol's personal care division. FormerCEO Eric Ellenborgen resigned to head a media investment concern.

Warner Bros.' newly released shark thriller, DEEP BLUE SEA, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite,finished third, grossing an estimated $18.6 million at the U.S. weekendboxoffice for a total of $24.7 million. DreamWorks SKG's THE HAUNTING, alsowith digital effects by ILM, finished fourth, grossing an estimated $15.1million for a total of $63.8 million; The Walt Disney Company's INSPECTORGADGET, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished fifth, grossing anestimated $14 million for a total of $47.7 million; Lucasfilm's STAR WARS