AWN Headline News

THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD, a live-action/animated feature length film,is scheduled to begin shooting this month in England and Canada. Based onthe TV series THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE, the film is a co-production betweenDestination Film, Britt Allcroft Co. and Gullane Pictures. Icon FilmDistribution, the British releasing arm of Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey'sIcon Productions, will distribute the film in the UK. THOMAS THE TANKENGINE began as a series of children's books by the late Rev. Wilbert

* Friday, June 18, 5:30-7:30 pm. Santa Monica, California, USA.

The Art Institute of Los Angeles will present its first portfoliopresentation showcasing graduates' work at their campus located at 290031st Street, Santa Monica. The reception for industry professionals is agreat way to find fresh talent! For more information call Colleen Lynch,Director of Career Services, at 310-752 4700; or e-mail lynchc@aii.edu.

Several artists who worked on the classic Warner Bros. shorts will be onhand at ASIFA-Hollywood's "A Looney Tunes Reunion" on Saturday, June 19, 11am to 2 pm at the Johnny Carson Park in Burbank, California. Scheduled toappear are background designer/director Maurice Noble, animator/directorNorm McCabe, Bob Givens, Pete Alvarado, animator/director Bill Melendez,and Art Leonardi. Bring a pot-luck dish, and be prepared for manysurprises. To RSVP, or for more information, call (818) 842-8330.

Oxygen Media has named several senior executives to its sales and marketingteam. MARY MURANO, who joins Oxygen as the Senior Vice President forAffiliate Sales, was formerly Executive Vice President, Distribution andAffiliate Marketing at AMC Networks; LAURIE BENSON, who is the new SeniorVice President for Advertising Sales, was formerly Vice President,Advertising Sales of Home & Garden Television; TRICIA MELTON, who has beennamed Vice President for Consumer Marketing, joins Oxygen from the Food

Geraldine Laybourne, Oxygen Media's Chairman and CEO, has announced thatOxygen Media has signed a carriage agreement with MediaOne, a domesticcable operator, to distribute Oxygen's cable network. The new Oxygennetwork, which is scheduled to launch on 02/02/2000, will be integratedwith Oxygen's existing online properties to create a "home base" for womenon cable and the Internet. Oxygen's carriage agreement with MediaOne willdeliver Oxygen to over 1 million subscribers at launch. Under the terms of

Rob Davies, a 1999 Emmy nominee for his work on STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS:PINKY, ELMYRA AND THE BRAIN, has recently returned from Warner Bros. T.V.Animation in L.A. to his native British Columbia, Canada to start up a newanimation studio, Atomic Cartoons Inc. Joining Davies is former REN ANDSTIMPY animator and Universal Cartoons director Mauro Casalese, directorTrevor Bentley (Nickelodeon's CAT DOG, Nelvana's NED'S NEWT), and directorOlaf Miller (Sony's LITTLE WITCH). "Our main focus is to assist companies

A bit of controversy has arisen due to the striking similarity between somescenes in James Gurney's DINOTOPIA books and George Lucas' STAR WARSEPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE. The questionable parallels include thatbetween PHANTOM MENACE's royal Naboo city of Theed and DINOTOPIA'sWaterfall City; the trip through PHANTOM MENACE's Naboo's core and asubmarine ride in THE WORLD BENEATH; the celebratory parade at the end ofthe film and several scenes from DINOTOPIA books; and between Jar Jar Binks

STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, the digital effects driven actionfilm from Lucasfilm, grossed $25.4 million to bring its total to $296.7million while finishing second to newly released AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHOSHAGGED ME in the US weekend boxoffice race for the week ending Sunday,June 13. Universal's THE MUMMY, with digital effects by ILM, finished fifthwhile grossing $5.48 million to bring its total to $136.2 million; THEMATRIX, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, finished seventh, grossing