Let your Toons make their Way to Norway
After 6 years, the organizers of the Oslo Animation Festival have movedoperations to Fredrikstad, Norway. Complete with a new name, the Nordic andBaltic Animation Festival invites both animators and spectators on May 3-5,2000 to take part in an event dedicated to promoting the screening andbetter understanding of animation. This year's festival presents: Nordicand Baltic films in competition, Nordic and Baltic Panorama, Internationalhighlights, a Focus on British animation, Animation as Music, a Celebration
Imagine calls for Canadian Kids
The Center for Digital Imaging and Sound has launched Imagine 2000 -- thefirst Western Canadian high school media arts competition. The event willoffer 11th and 12th graders from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba thechance to win CA$200,000 in media scholarships. Categories includeanimation, game development, Web site design, video and film production,sound and music composition, graphic design, and fine art. This festivalgives any creative student the rare chance to get his or her work out to
Wild Brain Child on the Net
Wild Brain, Inc., a leading U.S. animation studio, has brought to theever-expanding club its new child, wildbrain.com. The new Web channel willbroadcast animation from around the globe and will be the feature providerof animation on Yahoo! Broadcast. In the deal, Yahoo! will provide Websolutions for Wild Brain's video animation programming, which is availableon wildbrain.com as well as Yahoo! Broadcast. wildbrain.com will debut withGLUE, an Internet exclusive toon featuring the adventures of a town full of
New Nirvana for Nelvana & RTV
Toronto-based Nelvana Limited, an integrated family entertainment company,has formed a multi-layered partnership with German-based production houseRTV Family Entertainment AG, a leader in children's programming in Germany.The agreement includes a significant distribution deal for current andlibrary programs and a 3-year deal for future productions andco-productions. Through the deal, RTV will bring Nelvana's library of showsto TV, home video, and merchandising venues across Germany, Eastern Europe,
The Tick is Back!
Cult comic and TV franchise THE TICK is getting a new lease on life.Producers Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson (FANTASY ISLAND, MAXIMUMBOB), via their deal at Columbia TriStar Television, will bring alive-action, primetime half-hour version of the clueless hero's show to FoxBroadcasting. The series is scheduled for fall 2000.
Read more about THE TICK from creator Ben Edlund in the Animation WorldMagazine article "Tick Fever Endures" by Deborah Reber.
Can't catch all those Pokemon Cards?
Is Pikachu anti-Semitic? The answer is no, even after questions to thecontrary circled when parents complained of a swastika-like symbolappearing on the Japanese language cards for Pokemon's Golbat and Ditto.These two cards, not yet released in the U.S. card collection, include aJapanese symbol called a "manji," which is a mirror image of a swastika.The symbol, however, is a centuries-old, Japanese symbol for good fortune.Not wanting to create any bad financial karma, Nintendo has announced thatit will discontinue the questionable cards.
A New Vivid Animation Studio
Vivid Animation, a new high-end CGI animation studio specializing insophisticated digital characters and animated effects for commercials andinteractive media, has been formed by Jeff Lotman, CEO. "Vivid Animationopens its doors with a trio of world-class digital animators as itscreative nucleus," said Lotman, CEO. This nucleus, all of whom come fromsenior positions at Digital Domain, includes Animation Supervisor, StephaneCouture, Digital Effects Supervisor, Gonzalo Garramuno and Vivid
Sumatra flies through First Production Tests
SOFTIMAGE|Avid's Sumatra, which is set to redefine computer animation, hasrecently been used in a UK production for the BBC called "Everyman." Theanimation system, which is currently in beta, was used by Aldis Animationto create the 20 second title sequence of the show. Kim Aldis, the founderof Aldis Animation said that Sumatra increased the company's productivity,while at the same time giving them "more flexibility to experimentcreatively." Sumatra is due to be released at the end of the first quarter,
Trey Parker & Matt Stone get Shocked
Shockwave.com has announced that they have signed Trey Parker and MattStone, the creators of SOUTH PARK, to concoct 39 new works. The new showswill first air on shockwave.com beginning in March. Stone and Parker's newdisfunctional toons will range from 2 to 5 minutes and could be one-offshorts or pieces of an on-going series. In the L.A. Times on December 8,1999, Stone was quoted as saying that "the real allure of [the deal] isthat we get to create another TV series but on a much smaller scale. We
Interactive Effects lead Avid Customers into the Light
With Avid's recent announcement that they are effectively 'dropping' theircontinued development and support of Media Illusion and Matador,Interactive Effects has stepped in to offer customers using those productsa new solution. Interactive Effects is already an established provider ofdigital tools for visual effects artists, filmmakers and broadcasters.Their flagship product, the Piranha HD Visual Effects System, is in use bymany top studios all over the world (Pixar, Industrial Light + Magic, and
Folimage Screening
* Saturday, December 11, 1999 - Sunday, April 2, 2000. Valence, France.
Folimage, the creators of the 1995 Cartoon D'Or winner LE MOINE ET LEPOISSON (THE MONK AND THE FISH), will feature an exhibition of theirworld-famous work. The event will take place from 2 pm - 6 pm every Monday,Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. An additional screening at 9 am - 12 pm willbe held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. For more information contact4, Place des Ormeaux, 26000 Valence, France; or Tel.: ++ 33 4 75 79 20 80.
Surrey Institute Screening
* Friday, December 12, 1999. London, England.
The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College will behighlighting the unique graduate work done in their film, video, andanimation department since 1995. One can share in the rare chance of seeingthe cream of the crop from the school's library of productions. Thereception starts at 6pm to be followed by themed screenings at 6:30 pm,7:30 pm, 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Due to limited seating the college requests a
"Art & Animation" Exhibit
* Sunday, December 19 - Monday, December 20, 1999. Turin, Italy.
ASIFA Italia, with the help of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, theRegione Piemonte and the Comune di Torino, together with the support ofYoung Artists Circle and the British Council and Pro-Helvetia, isorganizing a meeting with a series of films on the subject of "Art &Animation". The meeting aims to heighten awareness of animation as an artform with a particular stress on independent short films of research,
"Animation Dreams: Millenium Nightmares" Exhibit
* Monday, January 10, 2000 - Saturday 29, 2000. New York, New York, USA.
After the crimson dust clears from the apocolyptic Armegedeon of Y2K, goenjoy some animation at the School of Visual Arts' "Animation Dreams:Millenium Nightmares" exhibit. Films presented at the screening centeraround the theme of the students' most horrific nightmares. The exhibitionwill also feature 3D character models, storyboards, animation cels,background drawings, murals, video tests of films, and a reel of
LIPSinc releases Ventriloquist for MAX 3
LIPSinc. recently announced that they have released a version ofVentriloquist, their lip-synchronization plug-in, for 3D Studio MAX version3. Ventriloquist is a voice-recognition lip-synching system which drivesthe animation based on the input of audio files. Timing and keyframe datawithin Ventriloquist for MAX are linked together automatically, providingeasy access and manipulation for animators who feel the need to 'tweak'Ventriloquist's work. The voice recognition system is based on LIPSinc.'s
Digital Video SLR releases Toonz Linetest
Digital Video SLR recently announced the release of Toonz Linetest, apencil test tool that is designed to preserve the animator's originalconcept. Linetest, which relies heavily on the Toonz exposure sheettechnology, offers a wide range of editing tools to manipulate frames,levels and sequences. One can insert new drawings, change the step of theanimation, and replace already grabbed images. One can also enlarge, reduceand rotate images, or create complex movements with ease thanks to the
Disney gets yield on stopping Go Logo
As we reported previously [AF 11/16], U.S. District Court Judge Terry J.Hatter Jr. had ordered Disney to stop using its Go Network logo until aftera trial on the matter next year, agreeing with the plaintiff GoTo.com thatDisney's logo was confusingly similar to its own. Now however, it looks asif the green and yellow traffic light logo of Disney's Go.com has gotten astay of sentence at least until December 19, 1999. Soon after the initialruling, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the
Toy Story stays steady at #1
TOY STORY 2 has repeated its performance in the top spot at the U.S. boxoffice. The film took in approximately US$28.3 million over the weekend tobring its two week total to $117.3 million. The remaining three films inthe top four also stayed the same from Thanksgiving with: THE WORLD IS NOTENOUGH, with primary visual effects by Digital Film, Cinesite London, andMagic Camera, coming in second with a gross of $10.6 million and a cume of$90.4 million; END OF DAYS, with primary visual-effects by Rhythm & Hues,
CGI Casper haunts from Harvey
The Harvey Entertainment Company has announced an agreement with Canada'sMainframe Entertainment, Inc. to produce the first all-CGI direct-to-videofilm based on Harvey's Casper, the Friendly Ghost franchise. Production,which has already started, will be funded by Harvey Entertainment, with arelease to the home video market scheduled for Christmas 2000. A previouslive-action/CGI Casper direct-to-video feature, CASPER, A SPIRITEDBEGINNING, sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Alisha Serold, Executive
Toy Story battles with Burgers & Toys
The war between TOY STORY and POKEMON over kids' piggy bank change hasmoved to a new battle field -- the local burger joint! McDonald's Corp.,the U.S.-based, world-wide burger chain, has released TOY STORY 2 toys inconnection with the recently released film. The McDonald's promotion,featuring a collection of 20 different characters from the TOY STORY 2movie, will be distributed with each Happy Meal purchase. The chain willalso offer six TOY STORY 2-themed candy dispensers for $1.99 each with the
Bandai set to battle Pokemon
In continued coverage of the war to empty the pockets of the POKEMONpeople, Bandai America Incorporated, the company responsible for the PowerRangers and Tamogotchi virtual pets, unveiled a new line of toys based onthe POKEMON-like DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS, at an event held at FAO Schwarzin New York. Since the debut of the TV series in August on Fox Kids,DIGIMON has become the #1 ranked show in its time period among allcompetition with Boys 6-11. Kids can also visit the DIGIMON Web site which
Trollback rap on Rowecom Spot
TROLLBACK & CO., a newly formed visual effects and design studio, finisheda new spot for ROWECOM, a start-up internet service company. The commercialfeatures a fast-paced mix of books, maps and other layered images in conjunction withlive action footage by director Elena Colombo. The spot was produced for thecreative team at Boston-based McKay Communications. The spot started airing October18 on CNBC North America and Europe (including the United Kingdom).
TOPIX/Mad Dog munches on Kellogg
To introduce KELLOGG's new Cereal & Milk Bars for Leo BurnettInternational-London, England, TOPIX/MAD DOG completed the 3D animatedproduct demo and box sequences, and integrated them within 2D animation fora vibrant :30 spot. The commercial began its global run in the UK, France,and Ireland in October. The spot will make its debut in Germany, Mexico,Iceland, Belgium, and possibly Canada in the new year.
ILM gets jiggy with Will2K
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC just finished up the new Will Smith video WILL2K forColumbia Records and Sony Pictures. Robert Caruso directed the vid that sendsmega-star Will Smith on a Millenium eve time traveling spree. The futuristiceffects were created with ILM's newest motion capture software.
Read Heather Kenyon's interview with ILM's Seth Rosenthal in AnimationWorld Magazine.
Games to be Played at Milia 2000
The Reed Midem Organization, organizers of Milia 2000, have entered into afar-reaching agreement with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe(ISFE)-- who include members from interactive industry organizations like AISI inItaly, ELSPA in the UK, NVPI in the Netherlands, SELL in France and VUD inGermany -- to co-produce the Interactive Entertainment and Online Gamesconference for the THINK.TANK Summit. THINK.TANK will be a new two-dayconference and networking event for the interactive content industry held in
