This week's updates to the Calendar of Events includes twenty new events,
from animation, short film and visual arts festivals to an advertising arts
competition, to business conferences...
Visual Magic Magazine, AWN's 3D animation and digital effects on-line
magazine, has posted a new article...
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...
Sign up now for AWN's ANIMATION FLASH Newsletter and your name will be
entered in a drawing to win a copy of this comprehensive history and
critique of world animation, acclaimed as a classic work of scholarship,
and an indispensable addition to any animation library. AWN is giving away
ten copies of this prestigious book to its subscribers by drawing lots.
This exceptional Millennium drawing is open to all new subscribers and
re-subscribers who buy a yearly subscription of the ANIMATION FLASH before
For the first time, Zagreb studio's library was offered for international
distribution at NATPE a year ago. The library offered all of Zagreb's
award-winning short films, including the works of such masters as Zlatko
Grgic ("Devil's Work") and Dusan Vukotic (his short "Ersatz" was the first
non-U.S. animated film to receive an Academy Award). Since then, Rembrandt
Films and Image Entertainment have released on video five hours of
animation from Zagreb Film. This is just another distribution deal, and
* Thursday, February 10, 2000. Westwood, California, U.S.A.
The Women In Animation Writers' Group will meet at Saban Entertainment at
7:30 pm. This month's topic is the animation premise and general animation
structure. The charge for the workshop is US$5. RSVP required. For more
information please contact Jean Ann Wright at: Tel.: (818) 360-8321 or
E-mail: jjwright@gte.net.
It's finally here!...The Winter 2000 Animation School Directory is your
complete, indispensable reference guide to over 440 animation related
schools and educational programs, from 37 countries...
California-based, Costa Mesa Coast College has a contract (tenure track),
full-time position to teach multimedia, 2-D and 3-D animation and
interactive concepts...
Bill's next feature, to be released in 2001, will be based on the graphic
novel "Mutant Aliens"...
* Saturday, January 29 - Sunday, January 30, 2000. Ontario, Canada.
Cinematheque Ontario will present a series of screening of
animator/filmmaker Stan Brakhage's work. Since 1952, Brakhage has
experimented with manipulating celluloid by directly scratching,
hand-painting, etching and collage on its surface. What makes these works
so exquisite is the precision with which they are made. Brakhage's abstract
films are rewarding viewing for anyone interested in cameraless filmmaking
* Saturday, February 5, 2000. Ontario, Canada.
Cinematheque Ontario presents a screening of Canadian animator Norman
McLaren's work. McLaren was one of the most prolific and inventive figures
in abstract cinema and experimental animation. McLaren's greatest abstract
films from five decades of work will be shown like: BEGONE DULL CARE,
SPHERES, BLINKITY BLANK and SYNCHROMY. The event will be held in the Art
Gallery of Ontario's Jackman Hall at 2 pm. Jackman Hall Box Office opens 30
* Sunday, February 6, 2000. Ontario, Canada.
Cinematheque Ontario will present "Round-Up: Recent International Gems"
featuring animation and experimental films. The screening will include
British Columbia-based animator Richard Reeves' LINEAR DREAMS. Other works
on the programme explore different areas of abstraction outside the realm
of animation. Jackman Hall Box Office opens 30 minutes prior to the first
screening of the day. All screenings restricted to individuals 18 years of
* Tuesday, February 8, 2000. Glendale, CA, U.S.A.
Women in Animation, ASIFA-Hollywood and Glendale Community College proudly
present the Fourth Annual Lecture Series "Careers in Animation." This
year's presenter will be Frank Gladstone, head of Artistic Development at
DreamWorks SKG Animation. Gladstone has been a professional animator,
producer, director, writer and teacher for more than twenty-five years.
Between 1973 and 1989, he managed his own award-winning studio, Persistence
CINAR Corporation, makers of ARTHUR and THE BUSY WORLD OF RICHARD SCARRY,
have settled the lawsuit filed last year against them by the Jim Henson
Company. The lawsuit claimed that CINAR's WIMZIE'S HOUSE features puppets
that violate Jim Henson's copyright and trademark rights on their puppets.
In the settlement, CINAR and its licensees Eden LLC and Carson-Dellose
Publishing Company denied and continue to deny wrongdoing or liability for
infringement. The agreement, the terms of which are confidential, allows
In the wake of Sony's success with STUART LITTLE, Warner Bros. has
greenlighted a live-action/animated feature, CATS AND DOGS. Recently,
Warner has been looking to see if it could get a quick family-flick
finished for a Christmas 2000 release, however it looks like the studio
will take its time and shoot for a 2001 holiday release for CATS AND DOGS.
The story follows the neighborhood war between cats and dogs that occurs
right underneath human's feet without them even noticing. Reuters reported
FX's offbeat series, THE DICK AND PAULA CELEBRITY SPECIAL, will return in
March with seven new episodes. Produced by Tom Snyder Productions, the show
follows Worcester, Massachusetts' favorite husband and wife talk show team.
The series features interviews with real and fictionalized characters,
including famous and even infamous historical figures. Some crazy moments
coming up on the series include: the first sighting of The Blair Witch as
she discusses her 10K Run for Testicular Cancer Awareness; Joan of Arc
Fantome, one of Europe's premier producers of 3D animation, was founded in
1985 by Georges Lacroix. Fantome has gained an international reputation,
and garnered more than 40 international prizes, including an Emmy. Its most
notable credits are: THE GEOMETRIC FABLES (50 x 3 minutes), the first
computer-generated animation series ever made, and INSEKTORS (26 x 13 min)
which has sold in more than 160 countries. In 1998 after being faced with
Assistant editor JESSE REISNER has moved up to editor at New York-based
EDITING CONCEPTS. Reisner holds a BFA degree in visual arts from Brown
University. Despite his impressive academic career, he credits the staff at
Editing Concepts with the bulk of his education and technical experience.
Reisner's first national spot "Puppy Love," for Casio via Della
Femina/Jeary and Partners, debuted recently. His earlier work includes
regional spots for Bob Stores (KGA Advertising, CT, Spencer Antle
CYBERWORLD INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, a new-media company, has announced
that PAUL LYPACZEWSKI has joined the company as senior vice president of
strategic business & product development. Lypaczewski will oversee the
strategic business and product development group within CYBERWORLD to
further develop the company's software technology. Lypaczewski will also
help build strategic industry relationships to help make CYBERWORLD the
dominant provider of interactive Internet-based multimedia. Lypaczewski
RE:Vision Effects recently released ReelSmart Motion Blur, a plug-in for
After Effects 4.0, Commotion 2.0+ and Final Cut Pro. The plug-in is
designed to apply more natural looking motion blur to effects shots and
video sequences within After Effects. ReelSmart Motion Blur automatically
tracks every pixel in the shot which takes the handy-work out of the
process. Features include reduced strobing, fewer artifacts, and a tool
which lets one blur one image sequence using the motion of another
BOXX Technologies recently unveiled their RenderBOXX NT and Linux rendering
system, which relies on Intel Pentium III 800MHz processors to 'bolster'
rendering times. Currently shipping is the RenderBOXX 4000 series with
single or dual processors, and a price tag starting from US$2365. The focus
of the 4000 series is to streamline workflow for visual effects and video
game professionals, and because RenderBOXX is very easy to set, has a
completely open rendering system (it does not require special rendering
Sony's LITTLE hero slipped two spots to fourth place in the U.S. box office
behind live-action flicks NEXT FRIDAY, DOWN TO YOU and THE HURRICANE.
STUART LITTLE, with primary visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks,
additional animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and miniatures by
Thunderstone, grossed US$6.41 million bringing its total to $117.1 million.
THE GREEN MILE, with primary visual effects by ILM, Rhythm & Hues, POP and
Matte World Digital, stayed in 5th place grossing $5.39 million bringing
The Walt Disney Company has announced its financial results for its
operations excluding its Internet business, GO.com. Disney pro forma
diluted earnings per share excluding GO.com were $0.25 for the quarter
ended December 31, 1999, a 9% increase over the prior year. Disney revenues
increased 5% to $6.8 billion and operating income increased 8% to $1.1
billion. Excluding the retained interest in GO.com, net income increased 7%
to $515 million. Broadcasting results for the quarter were driven up by
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes Awards shocked the
world by naming TOY STORY 2 the best comedy or musical picture of 1999. The Woody and Buzz Lightyear feature beat out heavy-weight live-action films like: favored best flick, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH; Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal's ANALYZE THIS; the Andy Kaufman bio-pic, MAN ON THE MOON; and mega-hit Julia Roberts-vehicle, NOTTING HILL. However, even though TOY
STORY 2 took home the honors, the television broadcast producers didn't
