TOPIX/MAD DOG animates Russell Stover's Pecan Delights
Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG has completed the computer animated :15"Explosion" promoting Russell Stover's Pecan Delights. In the spot, whichwas created with Softimage and Flame, little chocolate men explode thecandies to find the pecan treats inside. Livio Passera and Mark Ainsliedirected the animation. Toronto-based Generator Productions shot thelive-action footage.
UNIVERSAL appoints WILLIAM A. SUTMAN
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS has appointed WILLIAM A. SUTMAN as senior vice presidentand chief financial officer. Sutman will be responsible for overseeing allworldwide financial activities for the Universal Studios Group. Sutman mostrecently served as chief financial officer for Universal Pictures. Sutmanjoined Universal in January 1997 from Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, where heserved for three years as vice president of auditing.
Wild Brain short becomes TV series
San Francisco-based Wild Brain, Inc. has joined with Munich-based EM.TV &Merchandising to co-produce POOCHINI'S YARD, a 26-episode series based onWild Brain's short, A DOG CARTOON. Wild Brain will manage all creativeaspects of the series which begins production this summer. Distributionrights are planned to be split between domestic for Wild Brain, andinternational for EM.TV. Wild Brain's credits include FERNGULLY 2: THEMAGICAL RESCUE, and current productions THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY &
Tony Caio designs Food Network program ID
Tony Caio of New York City-based DMA has designed a new program ID andtitle sequence for The Food Network's "Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay."In the ID, a Bobby Flay caricature appears in black tie, and juggles acocktail shaker, slab of steak, shrimp, and a pickle. Stylized stars dancein the background. Dancing pieces of food spin across the screen and circleonto plates, as the show's logo comes back into view, pulsating in apainterly fashion.
THE IRON GIANT remains in top ten at US boxoffice
It was another rough weekend for Warner Bros.' THE IRON GIANT at the USboxoffice. Directed by Brad Bird, the film finished tenth, grossing anestimated $3.8 million for a total of $12.6 million. Other animationrelated films in the top ten: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTHSENSE, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished first again, grossing anestimated $26.1 million, which is actually more than last week's $25.8million, for a total of $70 million; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, DEEP
Fire guts Ottawa Animation Festival office
A major fire has gutted the Ottawa Animation Festival office and put theoffice completely out of commission. "It looks like a war zone," says ChrisRobinson, Festival Director. "Fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire, butvirtually the entire contents of the office have been destroyed. I believethat we can salvage some things. Fortunately wehave insurance...however, a number of animation cels, our animationvideo/film library, and all sorts of priceless archival materials are
DAVID MCFARLAND joins FOX FAMILY CHANNELS
DAVID MCFARLAND has been named to the newly created position of vicepresident of Affiliate Sales for FOX FAMILY CHANNELS. McFarland willoversee all aspects of affiliate advertising sales and play an integralrole in developing strategic direction for Fox Family Channels'distribution efforts. McFarland joins Fox from Comedy Central where heserved as director of Affiliate Advertising Sales. Previously he served asregional sales manager for Cox Communications where he was responsible forselling cable advertising.
SKIPPER KIRSCH joins INTERFACE MEDIA GROUP
SKIPPER KIRSCH has joined the client services department of Washington,D.C.-based computer animation and special effects house INTERFACE MEDIAGROUP. Kirsch comes to Interface from Austin, Texas-based 501 Post where hewas operations manager.
CARTOON NETWORK ONLINE promotes POLA CHANGNON
CARTOON NETWORK ONLINE has promoted POLA CHANGNON to executive producer.Changnon will manage the Atlanta, Georgia-based team of producers, writers,and technical staff of CartoonNetwork.com, as well as New York-baseddevelopers Funny Garbage, and other developers. Changnon came to CartoonNetwork Online from San Francisco-based Colossal Pictures where she was aproducer. Prior to that she was a creative executive for Nickelodeon Movies.
ILM hires ANDY HENDRICKSON promotes DAN MCNAMARA
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC has hired ANDY HENDRICKSON as director of systemsdevelopment, and promoted DAN MCNAMARA to director of film and editorialservices. Hendrickson returns to ILM after two years, following a stint asthe Director of Computer Systems at San Francisco-based Advanced PathologySystems. In his new role, Hendrickson will be working with the architectureof existing digital infrastructure systems at ILM, as well as shaping thefuture innovations in this area. In addition, he will be primarily
DONNA TEGGART joins ALIAS|WAVEFRONT
DONNA TEGGART has joined ALIAS|WAVEFRONT as manager of the global marketingteam. Her primary responsibilities will be to act as the companyspokesperson and to manage the industry and public perception ofAlias|Wavefront and its brands. Teggart was formerly in the publicitydepartment at Side-Effects Software.
ITS announces Monitor Awards
ITS, a Vienna, Virginia-based trade association of the post-productionindustry, has announced the winners of the 1999 International MonitorAwards. "The Awards recognize artists who have successfully mastered thesynthesis of creativity and technology. It is the highest recognition foroutstanding production and post-production," says Ruth Roland, Chairman ofthe 20th Annual International Awards. This year's animation related winnerswere:
BEST ELECTRONIC VISUAL EFFECTS FOR FILM ORIGINATED TELEVISION SERIES
Nashville calls for entries
The 31st Annual Nashville Independent Film Festival 2000 takes place inNashville, Tennessee from June 7-11, 2000. The competition will include newtwo categories, Television Pilot/Episodic Television and Family andChildren's Films, in addition to the already existing features, animation,documentary, short films, and young filmmakers categories. The earlydeadline is December 17, 1999, and the final deadline is February 1, 2000.For more information call (615) 742-2500; or visitwww.nashvillefilmfestival.org.
REMEMBERING WALT authors do Disneyland signing
Amy Boothe Green and her husband, Walt Disney Pictures publicist and vicepresident of studio communications, Howard Green, will appear in person tosign copies of their book, REMEMBERING WALT: FAVORITE MEMORIES OF WALTDISNEY, on Saturday, August 21 at The Disney Gallery in New Orleans Squareat Disneyland in Anaheim, California from 1:30-3 pm. For the book, theauthors interviewed more than 100 individuals about their experiences withWalt Disney, including Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, animators Frank Thomas
Wallace & Gromit and Bugs Bunny return!
Warner Bros. Home Video is re-releasing the feature length THE LOONEY,LOONEY, LOONEY BUGS BUNNY MOVIE, a collection of Looney Tunes by FrizFreleng. It includes the following Bugs Bunny shorts: KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS,SAHARA HARE, ROMAN LEGION HARE, HIGH DIVING HARE, HARE TRIMMED, SHOW BIZBUGS, WILD AND WOOLY HARE, and THE UNMENTIONABLES, as well as CATTYCORNERED (Tweety & Sylvester), GOLDEN YEGGS (Daffy Duck), and THE THREELITTLE BOPS. (Note: Some films may not be complete.) Also from Warner Bros.
CGSD demonstrates virtual reality driving simulator
CGSD unveils its DS-100 Virtual Reality Driving Simulator for the first time at this year's SIGGRAPH.
Women In Animation hosts the Klassy Gals from Klasky!
A lively evening of discussion with the women directors at Klasky-Csupoincluding Becky Bristow, Sylvia Keulan, Cathy Malkasian, Carol Millican,Bonita Versh, and special guest Jeff McGrath, creative producer for THEWILD THORNBERRYS. Location: Klasky Csupo, 6353 Sunset Blvd. RSVP: Tel.(310) 535-3838. The event takes place Wednesday, August 25, 6:30 pm inHollywood, California.
Don't miss MIPCOM!
This October MIPCOM and MIPCOM Junior will once again bring together thetelevision producers, distributors, buyers, and programmers of the world inCannes, France. MIPCOM Junior takes place October 2-3, and MIPCOM takesplace October 4-8. MIPCOM will also include for the first time a three dayconference on the convergence of TV and Internet from October 4-6.Featuring special keynotes, strategic panels and case studies/workshops,MIPCOM will bring together players from the TV industry, new media networks
Cinequest calls for entries
Cinequest San Jose Film Festival is accepting submissions of features andshort films (16mm & 35mm all genres) of artistic, social, or stylisticmerit. The festival is celebrating Maverick Films, Filmmakers andTechnologies. The festival takes place in San Jose, California fromFebruary 24 to March 5, 2000. The entry deadline is October 29, 1999. Formore information contact Cinequest 2000, P.O Box 720040, San Jose, CA95172-0040, USA; Tel: (408) 995-5033; Fax: (408) 995-5713; E-mail:cineqst@wenet.net; or visit www.cinequest.org.
AnimAction presents Animation Workshop at the "Electronic Schoolhouse"
Clifford Cohen's AnimAction conducted a workshop in the Electronic Schoolhouse at SIGGRAPH this past Monday. Titled "Art Before Technology or Technology Before Art? That is the Question", instructors introduced attendees to the classical animation process, stressing the importance of the basics and illustrating how a solid foundation in the art of animation supports creation and teaching. Recently, AnimAction presented at Annecy '99 in association with UNICEF celebrating the completion of the animated features for Cartoons for Child's Rights.
Blue Sky plans aggressive slate of SIGGRAPH activities
Key Blue Sky staff are taking part in a number of events throughout the conference:
- "Bunny" the Oscar Award Winning short film from Blue SkyStudios will close each showing of this year's SIGGRAPH '99Electronic Theater at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.The conference and exhibition is being held from August8-13th at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
- Chris Wedge will be speaking at the Wiltern Theatre in LosAngeles on Monday, August 9th at Noon as part of theSoftimage SIGGRAPH user group meeting.
Kaydara announces FiLMBOX matchmove
Kaydara Inc. has announced FiLMBOX matchmove, a new camera tracking system designed to automatically extract and track 3D camera information from pre-recorded video sequences. A part of the FiLMBOX v2.0 suite of products, FiLMBOX matchmove offers a host of new features - such as automatic track point selection, multiple-camera support, and real-time playback - which will greatly simplify the process of integrating 3D and video footage.
Sony Pictures Imageworks to highlight "Stuart Little" at SIGGRAPH
Sony Pictures Imageworks will be highlighting its major forthcoming project Stuart Little, a live action film whose star is a fully digital photo-realistic character. Imageworks isalso engaged in production on Hollow Man, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath and WhatPlanet Are You From, working with such directors as Rob Minkoff, Paul Verhoeven,Robert Zemeckis and Mike Nichols.Imageworks is home to some of the industry'stop talent, including visual effects supervisors Scott E. Anderson, Rob Legato,
BOXX introduces the first NT-based compositing/editing system for HD
BOXX, manufacturer of high-performance, high-bandwidth Windows NT-based systems for 3D, animation, film, and HD broadcast markets, has introduced the first NT-basedcompositing/editing system for HD as well as RenderBOXX, a completely scaleable NT rendering solution. The BOXX suite of solutions, which are designed to increase productivity and performance, include workstations and complete systems for 3D,rendering, film, and HDTV.
Kaydara launches FiLMBOX version 2.0
Kaydara Inc. has announced the launch of FiLMBOX version 2.0, its real-time production system. Incorporating an advanced suite of interactive character animation, motion capture and audio/video tools FiLMBOX v2.0 hosts a variety of new on-line production tools, such as camera tracking, real-time video input/output, and improved character mapping. FiLMBOX v2.0 provides live integration of 3D elements for game, film and TV production into a unified digital environment,
