ARNOLD RIFKIN, whose Cheyenne Enterprises, LLC, is currently partnered with
such talent as Bruce Willis, Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover, has joined
the Board of Directors of on-line entertainment company MediaTrip.com.
Rifkin was a founding partner in the talent agency, Triad Artists before it
was acquired by the William Morris Agency in 1992. Soon after Rifkin went
on head the Motion Picture Department at William Morris before being named
RAINBOW STUDIOS, a digital media company, announced DAVID STIPES has joined
Rainbow Studios' management staff. Stipes role will be to direct and
motivate Rainbow's team of award-winning producers, designers and artists
in current and upcoming projects. Stipes comes to Rainbow from Paramount
Pictures where he served as visual effects supervisor. Stipes designed
visual effects and supervised on-set live-action, motion control, CGI and
digital compositing for STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: VOYAGER and
SYCONET.COM, INC., a leading U.S. distributor of anime videos and DVDs,
announced that ANNELIESE CHANG will become their new director of marketing.
Chang will be responsible for the development of sales and marketing for
the company. Before joining SyCoNet.com, Chang held a management position
at Disney Consumer Products-Licensing, where she managed the product
development for over 20 toy licensees on various Disney properties
including TOY STORY 2, DINOSAUR, MICKEY MOUSE and WINNIE THE POOH. Prior to
REBECCA POOLE, a veteran Nickelodeon Movies exec, has been appointed to the
newly created position of VP, production, at Burbank, CA-based
AniManagement. Poole will help lead the company's new efforts in animated
and live-action film production. Her responsibilities will include managing
the division's existing client base and the acquisition and development of
original material. Most recently, Poole served as manager, creative
affairs, at Nick Movies. Before joining Nick, Poole worked at American
Check out the latest "behind the scenes" features and tutorials from Visual
Magic Magazine...
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book, "Sleazy
Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
FPS (Frames Per Second), the Canadian animation magazine, now has a
questionnaire on-line that they invite all readers, new and old, to fill
out. The FPS survey is located at
The current issue of FPS (#18) is available for sale in AWN's
where you can subscribe to your favorite animation publications and
February is our annual motion-capture and stop-motion issue, and we have
plenty in store as usual. Sharon Schatz interviews Brian Nilles of leading
motion-capture technology firm, Vicon Motion Systems. Gregory Singer goes
behind the scenes on one of the many projects which uses Vicon's
technology, while Laura Schiff introduces us to Webbie Tookay, a new
motion-capture personality. On the stop-motion side of things, Wendy
Jackson covers Aardman Animations' current high flying times as they work
New York-based HEAVY.COM is looking for ANIMATORS to join their growing
staff. Applicants are expected to have solid skills in drawing,
storytelling, design, Flash and interpersonal dynamics. Prior filmmaking
experience and/or background in traditional 2D animation techniques is a
plus.
For more information about these and other jobs, check out AWN's
Career Connections, the online Animation Job Fair.
STARDUST ENTERTAINMENT FILMPRODUKTION is a studio located in
Berlin-Potsdam, Germany, specializing in computer animation (3D) and visual
effects. The CGI studio is equipped with the most advanced wireless
motion-capture system by Motion Analysis. In addition to its staff of 50
CGI professionals from 15 different countries, currently based at the
studio in Germany, Stardust Entertainment is cooperating with CGI studios
in Romania, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Asia. Currently in production on a 26
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival will take place
February 28-March 11, 2000. 128 films have been selected for the official
competition, 119 shorts and 9 features, representing 22 countries. The list
of all selected films is available on-line. In addition to the feature
program, the festival will present six international programs of short
films, two international programs of student films, and two programs of
Belgian films. The retrospectives include: "Humour? Humour!," an anthology
The newest Career Coach, our monthly column by Pamela Thompson, is online...
* Saturday, February 12, 2000. Ontario, Canada.
Cinematheque Ontario will present Lotte Reiniger's timeless silhouette
animation, THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (DIE ABENTEUER DES PRINZEN
ACHMED). The story is adapted from the "Tales of the Arabian Nights." The
film, that took Reiniger two years to make, captures fantasy, romance,
adventure, and humor. The screening will begin at 2 pm. The Jackman Hall
Box Office opens 30 minutes prior to the first screening of the day. Ticket
* Wednesday, February 16, 2000. Westwood, California, U.S.A.
For the tenth consecutive year Clifford Cohen's AnimAction will be
presenting the TEAM (Tobacco Education Awareness Message) Awards.
Twenty-seven middle schools have participated in AnimAction's filmmaking
program this year. Students work together in creating animated Public
Service Announcements (PSAs). The award winning PSAs will be aired on
network and cable TV. Previous PSAs have been distributed by UNICEF and
* Sunday, February 20 - Wednesday, February 23, 2000. Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
Created in 1979, the Monte-Carlo Television Market was established as a
companion to the world renowned Monte-Carlo International Television
Festival. Today, the Television Market ranks as one of the top program
markets in the world. In 1999, the Market had 487 registered buyers and
1,920 participants on hand. For 2000, two new events have been added to the
* Thursday, February 24 - Sunday, March 5, 2000. San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Cinequest San Jose Film Festival showcases features and short films (16mm &
35mm all genres) of artistic, social or stylistic merit. This year, the
festival is celebrating Maverick Films, Filmmakers and Technologies. For
more information contact Cinequest 2000 at: P.O Box 720040, San Jose, CA
95172-0040; Tel.: (408) 995-5033; Fax: (408) 995-5713; E-mail:
cineqst@wenet.net; or Web: http://www.cinequest.org.
* Monday, February 28 - Saturday, March 11, 2000. Brussels, Belgium.
Each year the Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the
"crème de la crème" in international animation. It is one of the top
festivals on the international cartoon and computer generated images
circuit. It features 150 to 200 films, plus premieres, original
retrospectives, exhibitions, "making of" programs and invites a host of
* Friday, March 3 - Saturday, March 4, 2000. Glendale, California, U.S.A.
This year, ASIFA-Hollywood will host its 7th Annual Animation Expo. The
Expo is a two day animation industry trade show focusing on the exhibition
of animation related products and services and the recruitment of related
talent and personnel. In addition, the Expo offers industry seminars and
workshops, digital tutorials and a showcase of animation. Admission price
* Wednesday, March 8 - Sunday, March 12, 2000. Tampere, Finland.
As the biggest short film event in Northern Europe, the Tampere
International Short Film Festival features 80 screenings, a film market and
seminars. 16mm and 35mm films under 30 minutes, completed after January 1,
1998, are accepted for competition. Awards available include Grand Prize,
Special Prize of the Jury, Best Animation, and an Audience Award. Last
* Thursday, March 9, 2000. London, U.K.
The 3rd annual British Animation Awards will include the following: Best
Film Under Seven Minutes, Best Longer Short Film, Best TV and Film
Graphics, Best Film at the Cutting Edge, Mari Kuttna Award for Best
Directorial Debut, Best Direction of an Animated Commercial, Best
Animation/Craft in a Commercial, Best Adult Series, Best TV Children's
Special, Best Children's Series, Best Pre-School Series, Children's Choice
Walt Disney and Pixar have yet another trophy on their mantle, this time
it's the grand prix at Imagina 2000. The computer conference and festival,
which started in Monaco on January 31 and then continued in Paris on
February 2, finishing Friday, February 4, is often referred to as the
European equivalent to SIGGRAPH. The events in Monaco included the "Prix
Pixel-INA" awards competition, the Innovation Space, and various
conferences and panel discussions such as "2D/3D Animation," a discussion
FILM ROMAN INC. has announced that veteran entertainment industry executive
LEONARD J. GROSSI has joined their board of directors and SIDNEY CLIFTON
has been promoted to director of television development. Currently, Grossi
is a partner in LSLG Associates, which owns a 49% interest in WHPN-TV, a
Madison, WS-based UPN affiliate. Grossi has recently formed and serves as
chairman and CEO of both Baseline Media and Entertainment Inc., a media,
communications and entertainment consulting firm, and Mile Square
On Wednesday, December 26, 2000, a second child was reported to have
suffocated on Burger King's promotional POKEMON ball. The 4-month old,
Indianapolis, Indiana boy was found dead by his grandmother who left the
toy in the crib with the sleeping child. Millions of the toys were recalled
on December 11, 1999 after a Sonora, California girl was found in her
playpen with half the ball over her nose and mouth. U.S. federal officials
accused the Miami-based fast food chain of being too slow in recalling the
The Super Bowl, American football's biggest game, kept people away from
U.S. theatres this past weekend, but STUART LITTLE, with primary visual
effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks, additional animation by CFX and Rhythm
& Hues, and miniatures by Thunderstone, stayed steady at 4th place in the
box office. Sony's great white hope (a white mouse that is) grossed US$4.78
million bringing its total to $123 million. THE GREEN MILE, with primary
