Japanese trade officials have placed trade restrictions on Sony's PlayStation 2 because of concerns that the gaming system could be used for a military processor. The fear is due to PlayStation 2's high-speed graphic processing. Theoretically, the processor could be removed from the console and used in missile guidance systems. For example, a missile like a Tomahawk needs to locate its destination as it flies through the air and use high-speed graphic processing to pinpoint its target.

San Francisco, California-based Mondo Media, a leading online animation and syndication company, is looking for 2D TRADITIONAL CHARACTER ANIMATORs, ANIMATION DIRECTORs, CHARACTER DESIGNERs/ILLUSTRATORs and STORYBOARD ARTISTs to work on original Web-based animated shows. . . Imaginary Forces, a conceptual design/production company based in Hollywood, California, is looking for 2D/3D ANIMATORs. . .Manhattan's So!much[design] is looking for a 3D ANIMATOR. .

* Thursday, May 4, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

"The turn-out was terrific. It's better than we ever imagined. It shows the depth of emotion in Hollywood toward this issue," said Tom Sito, president of the Screen Cartoonists' Union Local 893. With bright, artistic signs in hand, a crowd of nearly 250 people consisting of both working and non-working animation professionals showed up to picket in front of Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET. The picket even drew members from SAG and the American Film union. The event was a show of support against the recent move by PBS that sent their network's animation work to Canada.

Mainframe Entertainment is set to produce two new TV movies based on the characters from their TV series REBOOT. The two telepics are being produced in partnership with Canadian cable broadcaster YTV Canada, Inc. for broadcast in the Spring and Fall of 2001. REBOOT was the first ever half-hour computer animated TV series produced in the world. The series was originally shown in North American in September of 1994 on YTV in Canada and on ABC Television in the U.S.

The 4th edition of Cartoons On The Bay, the International Festival of

Television Animation, will be held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy,

April 14-18, 2000. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the

world solely dedicated to television animation. Promoted by Rai

Radiotelevisione Italiana and conceived and organized by Rai Trade,

the festival is an international event with awards, workshops,

lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of

Rockstar Games Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two

Interactive Software based in Oakville, ON, Canada, is looking for a

3D MODELER; an ANIMATOR, to create video game characters for

PlayStation 2; and a PROGRAMMER, to help develop real-time video

games for a next generation gaming console. . . Motion Media is

seeking an EDITOR and DEMO ARTIST with NT NLE experience. . .

Blackbox Digital is looking for a COMPOSITOR, with experience in

Fraud troubles for CINAR Corp. increased as RCMP agents seized four boxes of the ARTHUR TV-series producers' tax documents. With a warrant in hand, a joint team from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and provincial police searched the Old Montreal offices of the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Sodec) on the morning of Thursday, April 6, 2000. The search was part of an ongoing investigation launched by the RCMP on October 19, 1999 [AF 10/19/99] after a Bloc Québécois MP made tax fraud allegations in the House of Commons.

* Wednesday, April 26, 2000. Burbank, California, U.S.A.

* Friday, April 28 - Saturday, April 29, 2000. Glendale, California, U.S.A.