Live Action Backgrounds Set Scene For Puppet Feature
In August, Germany-based director Heinrich Sabl will start production of MEMORY HOTEL, which will feature puppets animated against live-action backgrounds. The main difficulty in filming the feature is that the filmmakers only have seven seconds to set up the new frame before it needs to be shot. This short time frame to adjust the puppets into their new position is due to continuity of the live-action environment (ie clouds, grass, trees, etc).
Store Specials: An English Insert For Folimage Catalog And The Best Of Zagreb
Folioscope's catalog, "L'Equipée de Folimage Studio de Films
d'Animation," now includes an English insert for non-French speakers!
The catalog is a companion for the exhibition on Folimage, the
creators of the 1999 Cartoon d'Or winner, "L'Enfant Au Grelot"
(Charlie's Christmas), among other award winning productions. The
Folimage exhibition will be presented at the Annecy Museum, Annecy
France, June 3-October 31, 2000.
A Closer Look: Petrov Runs Off With All The Prizes
Alexander Petrov's "The Old Man And The Sea" won the coveted Grand
Prix at the International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy. The
paint-on-glass Imax short also won the audience prize. Petrov worked
for 2 1/2 years on the 20 minute animated film. A Canadian, Japanese
and Russian co-production, the film has been financed 95% by private
investments from Canada, and in part by NHK, the largest TV network
in Japan. The film is an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel "The
New Jobs: Animators, Digital Artists, Directors, Visual Artists And More...
Sylmar, California-based VCE, Inc. is looking for 2D EFFECTS ARTISTS
for work on a high profile motion picture. . . Visual Book
Productions, a company producing animated e-books, is looking for 3D
ARTISTS. . . Santa Clarita, California-based College of the Canyons
is seeking ANIMATION INSTRUCTORS for a tenure-track position in
Animation for the Fall 2000 semester. . . Homewood, Illinois-based
StarToons, a privately-owned, animator-owned studio, is looking for
Summer Scholarship In Digital Media Arts From Video Symphony
Video Symphony's Boot-Up! is a unique summer program in digital media
arts for creative people aged 17 to 24, all with a 55% sponsored
scholarship! The 120-hour Boot-Up! curriculum covers: Nonlinear
film/video editing (Avid); Web construction (Macromedia Dreamweaver);
Web animation (Macromedia Flash); Imaging and graphics (Adobe
Photoshop); and DVD pre-mastering (Sonic Solutions DVD Creator).
Sessions begin June 26, July 17 and August 7, 2000. Open House is on
Old Man Wins Annecy
The Oscar winner for best short animated film, "The Old Man And The
Sea," has won the coveted grand prize at the International Festival
of Animated Film at Annecy. In a lively ceremony held on Saturday,
June 10, 2000, the awards were handed out by the festival's artistic
director, Serge Bromberg. The short and feature film jury, comprised
of Meral Erez (Turkey), Aida Ndiaye (Senegal), Georges Schwizgebel
(Switzerland), John Lasseter (U.S.A.) and Jimmy T. Murakami
Ottawa Entry Deadline Approaching!
The deadline for entries at this year's Ottawa 00 International
Animation Festival is July 1, 2000. The festival will accept entries
as late as July 5, 2000. There are three competitions: independent
films, commissioned films and animation for the Internet. Categories
include: films for children, graduate films, independent films under
50 minutes, first professional film, TV series, TV special,
commercials, music videos, educational or industrial, ids, trailers
Holland Animation Film Festival Call For Entries
The next Holland Animation Film Festival will take place in Utrecht,
the Netherlands, November 15-19, 2000. Since 1985 this biennial
festival has aimed to be an intermediary between animators and the
business world, in addition to including film screenings,
retrospectives and theater programs. In the competition for applied
animation, films can be entered in the following categories:
publicity and promotional films; music videos; educational and
Safo New Features
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
WIA Writers' Group With Fox Family's Joshua Fisher
* Thursday, July 13, 2000. Westwood, California, U.S.A.
Joshua Fisher of Fox Family Worldwide will be guest speaker at the Women In Animation Writers' Group Seminar Series. Fisher will discuss the development process at Fox. The event will take place at Saban Entertainment, 10960 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood at 7:30 pm. Fee is US$5. RSVP is required to Jean Ann Wright, Tel.: (818) 360-8321 or E-Mail: jjwright@gte.net.
Anima Mundi Web
Ridley Rolls Out Second Series At UrbanEntertainment.com
Hot off signing a deal that will transform his Urban Entertainment series UNDERCOVER BROTHER into a feature at Universal, writer and producer John Ridley (THREE KINGS) is revving up his new animated series for UrbanEntertainment.com. The new series will be an adaptation of Ridleys crime novel WALK IN DARKNESS. Urban Media, parent of the Web site, will produce the show, and revenues will be shared 50/50 with Ridley. The story chronicles the perils of a rookie cop whose mission is to hunt down mutants with superhuman powers. Ridley is set to produce, write and direct the series.
Cinar Stock To Be Delisted
At the end of June, before a securities commission, Cinar Corp. will have to defend why they feel their stock should not be delisted from stock exchanges in Canada and the U.S. The Montreal-based childrens producer has dates to appear with the Ontario Securites Commission on June 30 and with the Nasdaq exchange sometime next month to reveal the reason behind why the firm has been unable to file its financial statements since the period ended November 30, 1999.
CEO Mechanic Can’t Fix Titan Failure and Resigns
The opening week failure of TITAN A.E. may have been the final straw that has pushed Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO, Bill Mechanic, to resign. Mechanic has decided to leave Fox and form his own production company much like former Disney chairman Joe Roths Revolution Studios. However, insiders say the abrupt exit was a result of pressure from parent News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch over financial losses and questionable movie greenlights.
Anima Mundi 2000
* Friday, July 14 Sunday, July 23, 2000. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tuesday, July 26 Sunday, July 30, 2000. São Paulo, Brazil.
10th Annual Sensual & Erotic Art Exhibition
* Thursday, July 13 Saturday, July 15, 2000. Reno, Nevada, U.S.A.
The 10th Annual Sensual & Erotic Art Exhibition is open to all artists using animation as their primary medium in the category of erotic art. This year's exhibition will focus on challenging works by promising new talent in this medium. For more information contact SASE at: The Lifestyles Organization, Attn: Curator, 2641 W. La Palma Ave. Suite C, Anaheim, CA 92801; Tel.: (714) 821-1235; Fax: (714) 821-9919; or E-mail xart@lifestyles.org.
MTV Animationfest Features Spy Groove Debut
From Saturday, June 24 to Monday, June 26, 2000, MTV will air Animationfest Weekend, which will feature the series debut of SPY GROOVE. Throughout the weekend, MTV will air fan favorite episodes of DARIA and CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH. MTV will run sneak peeks at SPY throughout the marathon, with the premiere of the new show at 10:30 pm June 26. GROOVE follows the missions of two suave secret agents sent out into the world to protect the Average Joe from bad style.