SONY PICTURES FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT GROUP has appointed five key development
executives. BOB HIGGINS has been promoted to Senior Vice President of
Creative Affairs; STACEY ATTANASIO has been named Senior Vice President of
Production; JOE D'AMBROSIA has been named Executive Director of Creative
Affairs; TARA POLACIK has been promoted to Director of Creative Affairs and
GRACE BENN has been named Creative Executive. Prior to his new appointment,
BOB HIGGINS served as Vice President of Creative Affairs for Columbia

Sony Pictures Entertainment
has formalized the name of its newest business unit, Sony Pictures Family
Entertainment Group (SPFE), and appointed Gary Hirsch as senior vice
president and general manager of the division. Reporting to Sander
Schwartz, president of the relatively new division, Hirsch will oversee new
business development opportunities for the division and its day-to-day
operations, including business affairs, human resources, studio operations,
production and marketing. Hirsch comes to Sony's SPFE from Columbia

Columbia Records will celebrate the 20th anniversary of
the release of PINK FLOYD's album THE WALL with the release of the film on
DVD in October. The film includes animation designed and directed by Gerald Scarfe, who went on
to design Disney's HERCULES. The DVD features a new transfer of the
original widescreen film, as well as unreleased footage, a remastered 5.1
Dolby Digital soundtrack, the 25-minute "making of" documentary THE OTHER
SIDE OF THE WALL, and the new 45-minute documentary RETROSPECTIVE, with

One of the fastest growing areas of the booming entertainment technology industry is special effects, and with standards being raised daily by innovative uses in TV, film, and computer games the need for qualified effects artists increases. The Center for Digital Imaging and Sound (CDIS), a private technical arts college celebrating 20 years in operation in British Columbia, has jumped on the opportunity.

The fifth annual Anima Mundi festival has had its run July 9-18 in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. At this festival the audience is the jury, and they have
chosen:


Best Brazilian Film - DE JANELA PARA O CINEMA (RAINBOW'S END) by Quiá
Rodrigues.


Best Film of the Official Selection - GOGWANA by Deiniol Morris, UK.


Second Best Film of the Official Selection - AU BOUT DU MONDE (AT THE ENDS
OF THE EARTH) by Konstantin Bronzit, France.


Third Best Film of the Official Selection - RECI, RECI, RECI (WORDS, WORDS,

Los Angeles-based DNA Studio has named David Badagliacca as its Head of
Sales, Marketing & New Business Development, and Jane Greenstein, as a
full-time producer. Previously, Badagliacca supervised the launch of
Maverick Records' Clio Award-winning Web site while at the label. He also
oversaw efforts for other popular, unconventional sites, including a new
site for recording artist Alanis Morissette and a music video made
exclusively for the Web. Jane Greenstein will produce original content for

Once again, Bill Plympton has updated his appearances page. This month, "I Married a Strange Person" will be appearing in various festivals and other events in Canada, Germany, Finland and Ukraine. "Mondo Plympton" will be screened in the US, Brazil and Germany. Bill will also be attending the events in Canada, Brazil and Germany.


www.awn.com/plympton/appearances.html

The Walt Disney Company has named four executives to new positions. ETIENNE DE VILLIERS has been named president and managing director, Walt Disney International Europe; MICHAEL O. JOHNSON has been named president and managing director, Walt Disney International Asia; DIEGO LERNER has been named president and managing director, Walt Disney International Latin America; and PAUL SALEH has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer, Walt Disney International.

The inaugural Vancouver Effects & Animation Festival (VEAF) will exhibit
animation and effects works created by people from around the world and
will present awards in 22 categories. The festival takes place Monday, July
13-18 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. For more information call
(604) 874-5590; or visit www.veaf.com.

Rob Davies, a 1999 Emmy nominee for his work on STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS:
PINKY, ELMYRA AND THE BRAIN, has recently returned from Warner Bros. T.V.
Animation in L.A. to his native British Columbia, Canada to start up a new
animation studio, Atomic Cartoons Inc. Joining Davies is former REN AND
STIMPY animator and Universal Cartoons director Mauro Casalese, director
Trevor Bentley (Nickelodeon's CAT DOG, Nelvana's NED'S NEWT), and director
Olaf Miller (Sony's LITTLE WITCH). "Our main focus is to assist companies