Category: Business

The newly renamed AtomFilms and Shockwave combined company, AtomShockwave Corp., has announced the closing of its latest round of financing of US$22.9 million. Leading the round was Macromedia, parent company of Shockwave, along with Sequoia Capital, JPMorgan Entertainment Partners, Arts Alliance, Waterview Partners and affiliates and Intel Capital. The new company plans to retain its two distinct brands, AtomFilms and shockwave.com, as well as strengthening its offices in Tokyo and London.

Madrid production house Filmax has formed a new animation arm entitled Filmax Animacion. The new arm will have three divisions: production services, production and distribution. Filmax plans to integrate its animation studio Bren Entertainment into this new venture. In October 2000, Filmax gained animation production-distribution house PPM Multimedia's Francisco "Paco" Rodriguez to head Bren. Rodriguez formed PPM Multimedia in 1990 and quickly transformed the small company into a major force in the Spanish market.

Walt Disney Co. has announced that its past decision to scrap its Go.com portal has been reversed. However, the Go.com portal will be a much more pared down version with Web searches handled by former rival GoTo.com. The Go.com home page now serves as a low maintenance starting point for the Walt Disney Internet Group's other sites like Disney.com, ABC.com and Movies.com. In the formation of Go.com, Disney purchased Infoseek and their search engine. Currently, Disney is looking to sell off assets associated with Infoseek.

The Harvey Entertainment Company has announced that it has signed an agreement with Classic Media, LLC, for the sale of its library of Classic Characters, including Casper, Richie Rich, Baby Huey and Little Audrey. Classic Media already owns the rights to the UPA characters Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing. The deal, scheduled to close within 90 days, is worth US$16 million plus debts associated with the characters. This move is Harvey's attempt to liquidate its bank debts.

Toronto-based SimEx Inc., a major player in the location-based entertainment industry, has announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Iwerks Entertainment Inc., a leading special venue production firm. SimEx will pay $0.63 per share for Iwerks, which values the deal at approximately $2.2 million. Once the deal is completed, Iwerks will keep its name and continue to work out of its Burbank, California offices, under its current team.

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

The Walt Disney Co. has purchased the rights to Winnie the Pooh for an amazing $350 million. Former rights holders Westminster School and the Garrick Club will receive $88 million each and the Royal Literary Society will gain $132 million. Disney first licensed the rights to Winnie in the 1960s and has been paying twice-yearly royalties to the owners. Disney will hold the copyright until it expires in 2026. The last relative of POOH creator A. A. Milne to hold a share in the copyright was Christopher Robin Milne.

Swimming against the recent tidal wave of dotcom disasters, Heavy.com has announced a new US$3 million round of financing. In addition, Heavy has announced that David Pachter has been named president and COO. Prior to Heavy, Pachter served as senior VP of business development for Interactive Video Technologies, a streaming video solutions firm. "We feel extremely fortunate to have attracted a person of David's caliber," co-CEO David Carson said.

The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, Local 839 IATSE, has won their organizing election at Bohbot Kids Network (BKN), a German-owned animation studio with offices in Los Angeles. The ballot tally was 38 in favor of union representation versus 3 against, with six challenged ballots. The original vote took place in June 1999, but was delayed by BKN attorneys' legal challenges over the election procedures. However, in late January 2001, the National Labor Relations Board overruled BKN's suit. The union hopes to negotiate a contract with BKN in the near future.

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

Stan Lee Media, Inc. has announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a statement, CEO and president Kenneth Williams said, "After looking at all of the available options, management and the board of directors concluded that the best way to maximize the company's value is to seek to sell the company in a Chapter 11 proceeding. As previously announced, the company has been reviewing strategic alternatives for the company since mid-December, and in conjunction with this review has had discussions with a number of potential buyers and strategic partners.

Cinar Corporation has entered into an agreement with its banks to extend its credit line until October 15, 2001. Of US$24 million previously outstanding, half of the amount is still with standing. In certain circumstances prepayments will be required prior to October 2001. The plagued children's producer also announced that it would release its unaudited 2000 financial statements by March 31, 2001. "Cinar continues to have a strong balance sheet.