A judgement was recently rendered by a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce arbitrator that Swedish animation house Happy Life violated copyright and was in breach of contract when it produced a second series of the animated show LISA. The dispute between LISA creator Magnus Carlsson and his former employers ended in his favor on December 21, 2001 after a six-month long arbitration process.

Australian visual effects companies Photon VFX and GMD have formed a strategic alliance and will begin their collaboration as joint visual effects contractors for the Disney production of INSPECTOR GADGET 2. The film, which is currently shooting on location in Brisbane, Australia, is a direct-to-video project from Disney. The eight-week shoot is will utilize Photon's motion-control services during production. Post-production is slated for completion by mid-2002.

Fremantle International Distribution (FID) will be launching a second series of the animated adventures of BILLY THE CAT at NATPE 2002. Based on the books created by Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg, BILLY THE CAT is the story of a boy who is transformed into a cat as punishment for being cruel to animals. BILLY THE CAT has already been well-received by broadcasters worldwide, with sales of the first series to the U.S., the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Benelux, Australia, Latin America, South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The first installment of the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING is shaping up to be a huge success for New Line Cinema. Already benefiting from repeat viewings, the film, with primary digital effects by WETA in New Zealand, continues its number one run, bringing in $56.9M over the five-day holiday weekend for an astounding two-week total of $174.1M.

As everyone predicted LORD OF THE RINGS, with primary digital effects by WETA in New Zealand, was easily number one at the U.S. box office this long, holiday weekend. Opening on Wednesday, December 19, the film pulled in over $18 million in the first 24 hours alone. As of Sunday, December 23, the film has a cume of $73.1 million and shows no sign of slowing down as other newcomers had weak openings. Ultra-slick OCEAN’S ELEVEN, with visual effects by E=mc2 and Cinesite, is holding strong with a second place finish of $14.6M and a cume of $95.2M.

AUSFEST 2002. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Wednesday, August 28 - Sunday, September 01, 2002

Entry Deadline: Thursday, May 30, 2002

Australian Effects & Animation Festival 2002: Tuesday, February 26 - Thursday, February 28, 2002, Sydney, NSW Australia. The Australian Effects & Animation Festival 2002 is a unique opportunity for Australians to learn the creative and technical secrets behind some of the biggest VFX/animation projects from Hollywood and around the world. It provides an exclusive access pass to the leading personalities in the global VFX and animation community.

Tropfest: Sunday, February 24, 2002, Sydney + world-wide web, NSW Australia. Entry Deadline: Thursday, January 17, 2002. Tropfest aims to support emerging filmmakers and gives them the opportunity to showcase their work to a broad audience in a festive environment. Tropfest also enourages production - films entered must include the Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) to show that the film was specifically made for Tropfest. Sixteen films in total are chosen for screening at Tropfest and prizes are announced in the lead up to the event.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:

Pepper's Ghost Productions (PGP) has inked an agreement with Cambridge Animation Systems whereby Cambridge will be the exclusive worldwide distributor for PGP's production management software tool, PG Studio. PG Studio was developed by PGP to manage all facets of production for its 3D CGI properties. The software was an integral part of the award-winning television series, TINY PLANETS, which was co-produced with Sesame Workshop, and is already on air in Australia, sold to territories throughout the world, and with a U.K. version to be seen on CiTV in the spring of 2002.