Taos Talking Picture Festival

Taos, New Mexico USA

Thursday, April 10 - Sunday, April 13, 2003

Entry Deadline: Friday, January 10, 2003

Teletoon Canada has ordered 13 half-hour episodes of the Atomic Cartoons and Phil Roman Entertainment production ATOMIC BETTY. The series follows Betty, a sweet and brainy girl with only a few friends. But when the galaxy beckons, she sheds her humdrum persona and becomes Atomic Betty, "intergalactic rocket jockey and legendary defender of the universe," zipping across the galaxy on daring and valiant missions.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: Gallery Exhibit of Paintings & Sculptures by Bob Lizarraga: Tuesday, October 08, 2002, Burbank, Ca. USA . . . It's A Nightmare! Tim Burton's Animated Films at L.A.'s El Capitan Theater: Friday, October 25 - Thursday, October 31, 2002, Hollywood, California USA . . . Kinetica 4: Tuesday, December 03 - Monday, December 30, 2002, Touring, CA USA . . . Kinetica 3: Saturday, December 21, 2002 - Thursday, January 30, 2003, New York, NY USA . . .

CineGroupe has joined with Fox Kids Europe (FKE) to distribute its new animated TV series PIG CITY. The series is a co-production of CineGroupe and AnimaKids (France), in association with Merchandising Munchen and Fox Kids France. The agreement with FKE includes the television, home video and merchandising rights to the series across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. CineGroupe will continue to distribute the series in Canada, the U.S., Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Animakids will handle the rights in France and Merchandising Munchen in Germany.

DECODE Entertainment and Sunwoo USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunwoo Entertainment, have finalized a co-production deal to produce the series B-BOT VS. THE ALIEN POSSE. The deal is being called the first Canadian/Korean co-production based on a property developed by a Korean company. Sunwoo USA developed the show for television from a concept originally created by Sunwoo Entertainment's commercial division for an advertising campaign. The concept was introduced at MIP 2002 and caught the attention of DECODE.

On October 6, 2002, MIPCOM Junior wrapped up its 10th year with the market reaching its all-time high in number of buyers. According to organizers, 433 buyers of children’s programs from 53 countries attended the two-day event, with animation remaining the favorite category and scoring the highest number of screenings. The total number of buyers represented a 19.3% increase compared to last year.

The DIY Film Festival

Hollywood, California USA

Tuesday, February 04 - Saturday, February 08, 2003

Entry Deadline: Friday, January 24, 2003

Studio B will be attending MIPCOM with their latest series in development including TINSELLANIA, a Canada/France co-production with Saban International Paris. The series features the inhabitants of a fairy-tale kingdom that collide with the modern world. Studio B just confirmed a development deal for 26 x 22-minute episodes of TINSELLANIA with Family Channel Canada. Studio B is also highlighting INTO THE SHADOWS and BEING IAN at MIPCOM. Based on a series of popular books published by Smart Kids, Family Channel Canada has already ordered 52 x 11-minute episodes of INTO THE SHADOWS.

In a truly international showing, the jury of the 2002 edition of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) chose five films from five different countries as the top prize winners in the Independent Short Films Competition. The festival concluded on October 6, 2002 with a gala awards presentation and Robert Bradbrook's HOME ROAD MOVIES (UK) scored the Grand Prize for Best Independent Short Film or Video. The film, which recently won the coveted 2002 Cartoon d'Or, is a true account of a shy father and his wish to bring his family closer together by taking them on automobile outings.

Framestore CFC has recently completed work on a new TV commercial titled "Cow and Bear," which features two animated plastic containers (a chocolate syrup-filled cow and a honey-filled bear) fighting over the pleasure of dispensing their contents on a plate of Kellogg's Eggo waffles. The 30-second spot represents the first time that the U.K.-based Framestore, best known for their work on the Discovery Channel's WALKING WITH DINOSAURS mini-series, has created photo-real character animation for a prominent U.S. client. Another first for Framestore was handling all post-production online.