Rotterdam International Film Festival
* Wednesday, January 26 - Sunday, February 6, 2000. Rotterdam, The
Netherlands.
The Rotterdam International Film Festival includes a short film section
with categories in animation that include Fiction, Documentary, and
Experimental. To highlight the fest's Japanese program, an exhibition
entitled "Manga Manga!" will showcase selections from manga productions
from 1945 to the present. The festival will again present its "Exploding
Batman Descends On DVD & Video
The Dark Knight descends into video stores December 21, 1999 with three new
BATMAN BEYOND videos and two new DVDs -- BATMAN BEYOND: THE MOVIE and
BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. Each of the three BATMAN BEYOND VHS tapes
(DISAPPEARING INQUE, SCHOOL DAYZ, TECH WARS) all feature three episodes of
the Warner Bros. cartoon series. The BATMAN BEYOND DVD features the movie
and four bonus episodes of the series. BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM is the
first feature animated movie and has sold millions of copies on VHS
Women In Animation Writers' Group
* Thursday, January 13, 2000. Westwood, California, U.S.A.
The Women In Animation Writers' Group begins a new series of seminars at
Saban Entertainment at 7:30 pm. Have you always wanted to write for
animation, but you don't where to start? What's the difference between
writing for animation and live-action? What are some of the techniques for
writing gags? Join us and find out! For more information please contact
Jean Ann Wright at (818) 360-8321. RSVP required.
Disney's Former Internet Exec Convicted
On Thursday, December 16, 1999, a federal court jury convicted former Walt
Disney Internet executive, 34-year-old Patrick Naughton, of possessing
child pornography, but deadlocked on charges that he crossed state lines
seeking sex with a "13-year-old girl" which he arranged via the Internet.
Naughton's lawyers asked that he remain free on bail awaiting an appeal,
however the request was denied due to the fact that federal law requires
persons convicted of crimes of violence to be jailed upon waiting for an
Stuart Little Makes It Big At The BO
STUART LITTLE had big shoes to fill to make it to the top of the U.S. box
office this past weekend. The Sony flick, with primary f-ex by Sony
Pictures Imageworks, additional animation done by CFX and Rhythm & Hues,
and miniatures done by Thunderstone, knocked off TOY STORY to finish atop
the bo with a gross totaling US$15.02 million. THE GREEN MILE kept pace and
walked in second place with a gross of $12.68 million and a cume of $36.7
million. TOY STORY 2 slipped to third with a gross of $12.13 million making
Pokemon: Europe Won't Be The Same
Recently, Europe has gotten a good old dose of American capitalism,
Japanese style. POKEMON has infested the European television market. The
children's mega-hit first debuted in the UK on Sky 1 in April and quickly
became the channel's #1 kids show. In October, the ITV Network and GMTV
secured UK terrestrial broadcast rights to the show. A month prior to the
ITV and GMTV deal, POKEMON started airing on Germany's RTL2, The
Netherlands' Fox Kids, Belgium's VT4 and RTL, Portugal's SIC and France's
Brazil Bans Violent Video Games
Brazil's Justice Ministry has banned six video games it considers too
violent for the public. This ruling comes on the heals of last month's
deadly shooting rampage in a movie theater by a medical student. "The games
are considered violent and [are] affecting people who play them,
particularly children," a ministry spokeswoman said. "As for DUKE NUKEM,
the ministry regulation says its virtual world may have motivated Mateus da
Costa Meira to stage the cinema shooting on November 3 in Sao Paulo." All
Euro-Disney May Not Party Like It's 1999
A strike by union employees at Disneyland Paris may stop the park's rocking
New Year's Eve celebration. Disney played down the chance of a strike,
however local union leader Elena Stanciu warned, "The party'll be ruined,"
citing staff frustration over slow-moving pay talks and dissatisfaction
with a $115 New Year's Eve bonus as the main reasons for the latest threat
of a walk out. Stanciu said seasonal staff were being offered almost four
Metacreations Makes 'Creative' Changes
MetaCreations, a renowned provider of graphics software, recently announced
that the Board of Directors has made the baffling decision of effectively
dropping their range of graphics products to concentrate purely on their
MetaStream technology. This decision comes shortly before the release of
Carrara, MC's "next-generation 3D software for print, video and the Web."
On the third line of their Carrara announcement, MetaCreations stated that
it would continue to support their existing graphics products. However,
TGS Announces Amapi 3D V.5
Template Graphics Software (TGS) recently announced that its modeling and
animation software Amapi, was receiving an upgrade. The new release will be
'officially' announced at the Mac World Expo in January, however, the new
version is available now. It features Dynamic Geometry, which allows users
to edit an object dynamically by changing its outline, profile or basic
structure, through the software's ability to remember the construction
history of the object. The upgrade also has a new Decimation tool, which
3D Studio MAX 3.1 Now Shipping
Discreet recently released a maintenance update to 3D Studio MAX 3 which,
in the coming weeks, will be distributed free of charge to all registered
users of the software. The announcement comes shortly after the company
declared success at clearing well over 100,000 copies, and are reinforcing
their commitment to users by bringing them new features so soon after the
initial release of the software. The update includes data containers for
Quebec Animation Makes Quite A Team
Twenty 2D/3D animation and special effects companies from Quebec, Canada
have formed a union in order to better promote the award winning work done
in the region. Called Quebec Animation, the association is supported by the
Quebec Minister of Industry and Commerce, the Quebec Minister of
Communications and Culture, the Quebec Minister of International Relations,
the Montreal Bureau of Cinema, and the Canadian Service Center in
Multimedia Applications (CESAM). The association sets up a focal point for
Angela Anaconda Marathon
Fox Family's newly picked up ANGELA ANACONDA rings in the New Year with a
14-episode marathon on January 1, 2000. The seven-hour event will start at
7 am and run 'til 2 pm on Fox Family. The show that TV Guide recently named
one of the top ten new kids shows of 1999 regular airs at 1 pm on Saturdays
and Sundays on Fox Family.
FPS Issue #18 now available!
In this new issue #18: Cover Story: "Return to Pepperland" by AndrewOsmond. Features: Multiplying the Monster; Newsreel: What's New inToontown; Festival Watch: SIGGRAPH '99, The Montreal World Film Festival,TDIF '99, SAFO '99, and Animart; Doin' It on the Low End: Painting Frames;Women in Animation: On a Roll: NFB Film Keeps Pleasing Jurys; Short andSweet; Education: Training on the Right Side of the Brain; Cartoons:Spliced; In Progress: Bully Dance, A Monster's Calling and Ho-Ho-Ho;
QAS profiles more animators
The Quickdraw Animation Society web site has been updated...
New additions to AWN's Calander of Events
This week's updates to the Calendar of Events includes the World AnimationCelebration in the U.S., and Anima Mundi 2000 in Brazil. The Calendar ofUpcoming Events is a constantly changing reference source for what'shappening around the World of Animation. Use it to stay abreast ofanimation related activities across the globe. If you know of animationrelated events that we don't have listed, send an email with the pertinent
This week's Animation Trivia Quiz: Pioneers in Computer Animation
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
Store Special: "Setting Up Your Shots"
"Setting Up Your Shots: Great Camera Moves Every Filmmaker Needs To Know,"was written by Jeremy Vineyard, a writer and director based in Los Angeles...
A Closer Look: The Brave New World of Internet Entertainment, Part 2
The past few weeks were marked with announcements regarding companiesbeginning to broadcast animation over the 'net, and this is only going tointensify...
The Acrobat issue of Animation World Magazine is now on-line!
This month Animation World Magazine is taking a special focus on AsianAnimation, especially Japan. Kosei Ono profiles Japanese artist, TadahitoMochinaga, and Gigi Hu introduces us to two of Japan's leading independentfilmmakers. A group of key creative talent from Blue Sky Studios recentlytoured Japan and have provided us with a scrapbook of photos and stories.Andrew Osmond takes an indepth look at the impact Japanese animation ishaving on animation made outside of Japan and we begin the first in a
Job Opportunities for an Academic Director and an Assistant Professor.
The Art Institutes International at San Francisco, a post-secondary,degree granting educational institution, is seeking a qualified candidateto serve as ACADEMIC DIRECTOR for its computer, multimedia and graphicdesign programs...
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Expo offers new pavilions.
ASIFA-Hollywood will host its 7th Annual Animation Expo on March 3-4, 2000,in Glendale, California...
Ottawa Festival recognizes industry achievements in animation
Ottawa '00 will take place from September 19-24, 2000. The OttawaInternational Animation Festival will recognize industry achievements inanimation with a new competition devoted solely to commissioned works...
Brussels 2000 announces official selection
Each year the Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the'cre de la cre' in international animation...
Flordia-based AARGH! screams for Cold-Eeze
Florida, U.S.-based AARGH! ANIMATION, Inc., one of the largest independentcel animation houses, has produced a series of national spots for Cold-Eezecold medicine that combine live-action with cel animation. The celanimation was directed by Mark Simon and Dave Kallaher of AARGH! Nowrunning and continuing through the cold season, these spots, three :10spots and two :30 spots, are running in heavy rotation on major U.S.networks. The spots feature live-action actors whose sneezes morph theminto animated characters.
