San Luis Obispo Festival Highlights Indie Flicks
* Thursday, October 26 Sunday, November 5, 2000. San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.A.
Second Cartoon Masters Event Will Look At Which Tool For Which Markets?
* Thursday, October 26 Saturday, October 28, 2000. Angoulême, France.
Digital Media Innovations Conference Converges On Ontario
* Thursday, October 26 Saturday, October 28, 2000. Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
International EMMA Awards Is Looking For Your Digital Media Artwork
* October 2000. World Wide Web.
Entry Deadline: September 30, 2000.
Leipzig Fest Celebrates Two Under-Appreciated Art Forms
* Tuesday, October 17 - Sunday, October 22, 2000. Leipzig, Germany.
CMJ FilmFest Highlights The Synergy Between Toons & Tunes
* Thursday, October 19 Sunday, October 22, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
TDIF Is The 3D Fest For The New CGI Mecca
* Wednesday, October 25 Thursday, October 26, 2000. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Look! Creates Wartime Effects For Pavilion Of Women
Los Angeles-based Look! Effects recently finished 30 visual effects shots for the upcoming Universal Pictures release THE PAVILION OF WOMEN. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck, the movie is about a frustrated woman in a traditional Chinese marriage and the American missionary who tries to help her achieve personal liberation. The drama stars Willem Dafoe and Chinese actress Luo Yan, who is also the writer, producer and director of the picture. Look! Effects had to create a sequence depicting Japan's invasion of China in the early days of World War II.
Stan Lee Media Buys Conan Rights
Stan Lee Media has bought the rights to CONAN THE BARBARIAN from Conan Properties Inc. for US$4.3 million in stock. Lee plans to turn CONAN into a Webseries. Currently, SLM is creating two other new Web series: one based off of Gene Roddenberrys STARSHIP and the second about futuristic cops. SLM currently produces Web action series 7TH PORTAL, THE ACCUSER and BACKSTREET PROJECT. Stan Lee Media is a publicly traded Web-based superhero-type content producer, started by comic book legend Stan Lee, the co-creator of SPIDER-MAN and THE HULK.
AlwaysI.com Goes Platinum With Comic Book Production Deal
AlwaysI.com, an independent content destination Website, has signed a production, development and distribution deal with comic book production company Platinum Studios. As part of the pact, Platinum will have a first look option on all of AlwaysIs independent content for development into feature or TV properties, as well as licensing and merchandising. Platinum has a production deal with Miramax/Dimension Films and owns a portfolio of over 1,000 comic book characters.
Alvin & The Chipmunks Owners Sue Universal
On Monday, September 11, 2000, the family that owns the rights to Alvin and the Chipmunks filed a US$105 million lawsuit against Universal Studios, claiming it failed to license products adequately based on the cartoon characters. According to the lawsuit filed in State Superior Court in Los Angeles, members of Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian Sr.'s family claim that Universal executives told them that the studio would make Alvin, Theodore and Simon "a cornerstone" of the company's licensing efforts.
ASIFA-Hollywood’s Annie Nominations Announced
ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles area-based branch of the International Animated Film Society, has announced the nominations for the 28th Annual Annie Awards. This years competition is a much more difficult field than last years feature sweeping run by IRON GIANT. In the best feature category, FANTASIA/2000, TOY STORY 2, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, CHICKEN RUN and TITAN A.E. will be battling it out for the top prize.
WB’s Baby Blues Gets Second Season Pick-Up
The WB TV network has decided to pick-up its newest toon, BABY BLUES, for a second season. The channel has ordered 13 more episodes of the series, which debuted in late July. The toon has preformed well in a tough Friday time slot for the WB and is one of the highest rated comedies the network has ever had. BABY could serve as the WBs quick replacement series if any of its new live-action comedy series dont work out. BABY is based off the newspaper comic strip of the same name and features the voice talents of Mike O'Malley, Julia Sweeney and Nicole Sullivan.
Nan Desu Kan Brings The Art Of Anime To The Rockies
* Friday, October 13 Sunday, October 15, 2000. Lakewood, Colorado, U.S.A.
Burbank's Children's Fest Brings The Best In Kid Content To Toon City
* Friday, October 13 Friday, October 20, 2000, Burbank, California, U.S.A.
Teen Comic Age Is An Opportunity For Young Talent To Find A Home
* Saturday, October 14, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Teen Comic Age 2000 is a festival highlighting teen comic and animation artists. Presented by the Los Angeles Public Library, the event will feature portfolio reviews, comic and animation workshops, panel discussions, celebrity signings and student, computer and anime animation screenings. The festival takes place from 10 am 5:30 pm and admission is free. For more information contact the library at: Tel.: (213) 228-7510; or Web: www.lapl.org.
Editing Concepts Paces Super Hero Spot For Kids Footlocker
Editing Concepts Jesse Reisner combined live-action and graphics for two new 30-second spots for a new Kids Footlocker campaign. In "Super Hero," star Captain Velocity is going through his morning routine, until his emergency phone rings and he zooms off leaving a trail of smoke behind. In "Street Ball," city teens gather for an intense game of basketball, while a series of graphics pop-up to note the difference between the game as they play it and how basketball is played in a gym. "We knew going in that the graphics would play a huge role in the spot," said Reisner.
Quiet Man Makes Gopher Scream For Planters Nuts
Quiet Man has created the "ground breaking" visual effects for Planters Nuts newest spot. In the spot, a group of golfers say to each other "gophers don't like nuts," making a rodent do a double take and uproot the putting green by tunneling a likeness of the Planters mascot "Mr. Peanut." "The challenge on the Planters spot came toward the end of the project," said Phalana Dias, Quiet Man visual effects artist. "The gopher's double take wasn't boarded, but it was a good idea, so it was up to me to animate the gopher's head using Inferno.
Olive Jar To Represent Director Bruce Alcock
Olive Jar Studios Inc. will be the exclusive U.S. representation of veteran director Bruce Alcock and his Vancouver-based company Global Mechanic. Alcock, the former creative director and co-founder of Tricky Pictures, joins Olive Jar with a resume featuring live-action with mixed-media, design-based drawn animation, stop-motion and experimental computer animation. Olive Jars executive creative director Fred Macdonald said, "I have been a big fan of Bruces work, and, having bid against Tricky Pictures in the past, know that Bruce is one of the few true experimental directors.
Film Roman Names New Prez of TV Programming & Development
Peter J. Schankowitz has been appointed Film Romans new president of television programming and development. Schankowitz will oversee all aspects of the companys TV development and sales, including developing live-action and animated series and specials. For the past two years, he has been senior development executive for Jonathan Goodson Productions where he headed the creation and executive producing of the companys reality and game projects.
SGI Adds More Workstations To Disney Features
SGI announced that it would be providing Walt Disney Feature Animation with more than 500 of its Silicon Graphics visual workstations, which will include their new Silicon Graphics Octane2. Previously, Disney has used SGI workstations to create digital characters and special effects for their features GONE IN 60 SECONDS, MISSION TO MARS, DINOSAUR and the upcoming 102 DALMATIANS. The Silicon Graphics Octane2 has more visualization power, a high-performance MIPS RISC processor and new industry-first features.
Smarterville Creates Safe Learning Site For Kids
Seattle-based Smarterville, Inc., a Web-based childrens media company, announced the launch of its Web site, smarterville.com. This is the first Web site to integrate ad-free learning for kids aged 3-7 safely with a revenue-generating destination for parents. Activities featuring animated characters are geared to the childs age, grade and skill level. A system of animated rewards encourages the child to return to the site. The activities are downloaded so children cannot jump to another location online, and no unauthorized people can send messages to the child.
Nick Hits It Big With New Nick Jr Series Oswald
Nickelodeon and HIT Entertainment PLC, a leading supplier of children's programming, have agreed to co-produce 26 half-hour episodes of a new Nick Jr. series entitled, OSWALD. As part of the deal, HIT Entertainment will control all international rights in all media excluding the U.S., which Nickelodeon will handle. The show tells the story of a blue octopus who lives in a whimsical city with his best friends, a pet hot dog, penguin and daisy. The animated series, which will be produced by Nicktoons, is based on characters created and designed by childrens book author Dan Yaccarino.
B2B Investor Beefs Up Heavy.com
Digital Creative Development Corporation (DC2) announced that it has entered into a strategic distribution alliance with Heavy.com, a Web destination blending music, video and animation. Under the terms of the deal, DC2 will provide programming and various other business services to Heavy.com. In turn, DC2 will have access to Heavy.coms distribution pipeline that reaches over 135 million Internet users.
Tigger Bounces High In Sweden, Scary Debuts In IBO
The international box office this past weekend saw a strong debut by SCARY MOVIE in the U.K. and THE TIGGER MOVIE bounced high in its Swedish nod. Disneys orange idol landed in #2, with a gross of US$280,418. Slipping to fourth, CHICKEN RUN laid another $184,548, bringing its total take in Sweden to $589,026. THE PERFECT STORM sank from #2 to sixth with a gross of $146,588, raising its Swedish cume to $834,053. X-MEN fell from fifth to eighth, with a gross of $78,087, lifting its Swedish cume to $1.43 million.
