Futurama Has A Future
Bender will be back next year for more adventures on FUTURAMA. The animated
series from producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen has been picked up
for the 2000-01 season by Fox. A decision has not been made yet on whether
the number of episodes ordered will be 13, 22 or some number in-between.
Phantom Menace's Worldwide Release
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced the
simultaneous worldwide VHS release of George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE I
THE PHANTOM MENACE. Young Jedi wanna-bes around the globe will snag their
copy the week of April 3 - 8, 2000. The biggest box office hit of 1999 and
second highest-grossing motion picture of all time worldwide, will official
go on sale in North America on Tuesday, April 4, 2000. The US$922 million
NewTek Introduces LightWave [6] For Mac
![NewTek Introduces LightWave [6] For Mac](https://www.awn.com/sites/default/files/styles/small_featured/public/image/featured/6037-newtek-introduces-lightwave-6-mac.jpg?itok=9LvQkzND "NewTek Introduces LightWave [6] For Mac")
![NewTek Introduces LightWave [6] For Mac](https://www.awn.com/sites/default/files/styles/tiny_featured/public/image/featured/6037-newtek-introduces-lightwave-6-mac.jpg?itok=_4M997Az "NewTek Introduces LightWave [6] For Mac")
At San Francisco's MacWorld which ran from January 4-8, NewTek introduced
LightWave [6], the product's most significant upgrade in 10 years. The new
version of the already popular 3D tool boasts more new features than ever
introduced to the product in previous upgrades, many of which have never
been seen on the Macintosh system before. On the modeling side of things,
LightWave [6] introduces a whole new modeling paradigm, which gives users
control over the manipulation and animation of their models to a degree
Empowering The People With PuppetTime
PuppetTime Inc. recently announced that it has released version 1.0 of its
PuppetTime Producer software, an easy to use 3D character animation program
that the company claims makes "the TV-watching generation, the TV-making
generation." PuppetTime Producer is not a character animation package for
animators, but a package for non-animators which allows them to create
'movies' quickly and easily without any knowledge of animation technique at
all. Users can create 3D animation in minutes simply by selecting
Alias|Wavefront To Develop Maya For Intel's IA-64 Processor
Alias|Wavefront announced that they would be developing a version of their
Maya software for Intel's forthcoming IA-64 Itanium processor, and
Microsoft's 64-bit Windows NT operating system. The IA-64 operating system
uses a 64-bit architecture and offers the robust performance required by
data-intensive 3D visualizations and computer graphics. Alias|Wavefront is
among the first software developers to port their software to Itanium, and
in doing so it will allow its customers to take full advantage of the speed
Moondance International Film Festival
* Friday, January 14 - Sunday, January 16, 2000. Boulder, Colorado, USA.
The Moondance International Film Festival's objective is to promote and
encourage women screenwriters and women who make independent films, in any
genre, including animation. There will be one winner in each category:
Filmmaker, Screenwriter, or Documentary Filmmaker. Awards: $2000 for best
original screenplay, $2000 for best independent film, and $1000 for best
documentary film. There will be 2 semi-finalists in each category. All
Gionet Joins Black Logic
BRUCE GIONET has become BLACK LOGIC's new CGI Supervisor. Gionet will lead
the New York-based company's artists in the production of computer
generated imagery for film, television and advertising. For the last eight
years, Gionet was the Director of CGI at Cyclotron/Post Perfect in New York
City. His credits range from his work on the opening of THE LATE SHOW WITH
DAVID LETTERMAN to Emmy-winning design on WWOR New York's News opening.
Link's Teddybears Hits Trio Channel
London-based Link Entertainment Television has sold the rights to
TEDDYBEARS to U.S.-based Trio Channel, a new satellite channel broadcast on
Direct TV and TCI Hits. Trio's 26 episode purchase comes on the heals of
another recent deal for Link with Canada's SCN for all 52 episodes of the
lovable bears television adventures.
SimEx Flies With Millennium Froot Loop Spot
Kellogg's Froot Loops spokesman Toucan Sam comes to life with help from
Santa Monica-based SIMEX STUDIOS for a new spot entitled "Time Flies." The
spot highlights the new 2000 Marshmallow Blasted Froot Loops by blasting
Toucan Sam through the air with an explosion of marshmallow "2s". SimEx
produced the spot for ad agency Leo Burnett of Chicago. The SimEx team on
the commercial was animation producer Christina Cox, animation director
Jean Perramon, live-action producer Bob McGinness and live-action director
TOPIX/Mad Dog Catches Poke-ball For Sears
Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG provided the CG images for "Flying Ball" for
Sears' new Poke-Mart. The 30 and 20 spots were produced for Young &
Rubicam. POKEMON hero, Ash, throws the famous Poke-ball which leads
children like lemmings to Sears' Poke-Mart section to catch all the new
Pokemon products. Diana D'Amelio produced and Patrick Coffey animated the
tags for TOPIX/Mad Dog.
Spontaneous Combustion Morphs Millstone Coffee Spot
New York-based SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION produced the 3D animation and visual
FXs for the newest Proctor & Gamble's Millstone Coffee spots. The 30 second
and two 15 second commercials entitled "Own the Mug" features a ceramic
coffee cup morphing into a boat. The spots were produced for New York ad
agency D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles. Tony Robins directed and Simone
Pillinger produced the commercials for Spontaneous Combustion. The spots
will continue to air through April 2000.
AOL & Time Warner Merge Into New Media Giant
On Monday, January 10, 2000, America On-line, the leader in on-line
services, has announced their acquisition of Time Warner, the world's
largest media and entertainment company. Valued at approximately US$180
billion, the stock for stock merger is what will be the biggest corporate
merger ever. America On-line's chairman and chief executive, Steve Case
will serve as chairman of the merged company entitled AOL Time Warner. AOL
and Time Warner will each name half of the board of directors of the new
Cartoon Network's Mag Masters Poland
Cartoon Network, featured on Poland's Wizja TV, is the #1 rated channel on
the programming package and now Cartoon Network Magazine rules the
newsstand. The first issue sold over 500,000 copies making it the top
magazine in Poland. In just three days, the magazine sold out and
publishers ordered an immediate reprint. The Polish version of the mag with
comic strips, quizzes, posters and articles featuring Cartoon Net's legion
of toon heroes and heroines is based off the British version and is the
Disney Delivers Strategy 2000
Disney's CEO Michael Eisner delivered a four-part strategy for improving
the entertainment giant's slumping fiscal achievements. The Y2K plan
includes agressively attacking trouble spots, squeezing more profits out of
exsisting businesses, expanding those current businesses' affairs and
continuing development of new products. The seemingly Business 101 strategy
also includes annual savings of up to $300 million from changes in
purchasing. Eisner said cost-cutting efforts in live-action film production
Last opportunity to update your school profile
AWN's Winter 2000 Animation School Directory will soon be here...
Send in your TV Animation Program for Bay's Pulcinella Awards
The 4th edition of Cartoons On The Bay, International Festival of
Television Animation, will be held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy,
April 14-18, 2000. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the
world solely dedicated to television animation. Promoted by Rai
Radiotelevisione Italiana and conceived and organized by Rai Trade,
the festival is an international event with awards, workshops,
lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of
Annecy 2000 last call for entries
The deadline to register your film for competition at the 24th
International Festival of animated film is January 15, 2000. Entry
forms are available on the festival web site. For its 40th
anniversary, the festival is hosting triple Oscar-winning animator
Richard Williams, who will offer a three-day Animation Masterclass on
the principles of animation, June 3-5, 2000. The MIFA expo will be
open June 7-10, 2000, and feature a sizable new technologies area.
The Toronto Animated Image Society joins AWN!
AWN is pleased to welcome Canadian non-profit corporation, the
Toronto Animated Image Society, to the AWN family...
Win a copy of Giannalberto Bendazzi's book: "Cartoons"
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
Plympton's Comic of the Week
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book,
"Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
This week's Animation Trivia Quiz
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia
Quiz...
A Closer Look: In passing...individuals who marked their time
January 1997 saw the passing of filmmaker Renzo Kinoshita and curator
Louise Beaudet. Annecy Festival Director Jean-Luc Xiberras died a
year ago. Although they worked in very different areas, the three of
them shared a passion for animation, and dedicated their lives to
helping the animation community define itself.
Renzo Kinoshita was an accomplished filmmaker -- his major work,
"Made in Japan" won the Grand Prix at the New York International
Holland's ComicHouse Moves Into The Wild
Over the holiday break Holland-based ComicHouse started its move to a new
home. After spending fifteen years in Amsterdam, the animation house has
taken root in Holland's largest nature reserve "DeVeluwe." The new base of
operations will give ComicHouse the needed workspace and client
accessibility that was lacking in the confines of the city. The company
will re-open again in Ooserbeek on January 10, 2000. For more information
contact ComicHouse at: Stationsweg 20, 6861 EH Oosterbeek, The Netherlands;
Improv-Ice Debuts Rocket for FXDeko Effects
On December 2, 1999, USA Networks' Live Telecast of IMPROV-ICE, debuted
graphics done by Pinnacle Systems' Rocket for FXDeko. Rocket for FXDeko is
a template-based tool that allows the generation of real-time 3D elements
which can be automatically updated by live data streams. Rocket integrates
with Pinnacle's award-winning FXDeko character generators and adds further
dimension to live broadcasts including textured, reflective and transparent
Ring Of Fire Finishes FX on Ericsson Spot
RING OF FIRE provided the fx for the newest Ericsson T-28 mobile phone ad
entitled "Aliens." Ring of Fire produced the spot for Stockholm ad agency
Hall & Cederquist. The international 30 second spot beams down aliens to a
man deserted on an island. The aliens mistake the phone for intelligent
life (like most humans do in Los Angeles) and wonder whether or not the
device will taste like chicken. Jerry Spivack was Creative Director for
Ring of Fire and Kevin Prendiville served as Visual Effects Supervisor.
