* Tuesday, March 13, 2001. Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

* Friday, July 13 – Monday, July 23, 2001. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Wednesday, July 25 – Sunday, July 29, 2001. São Paulo, Brazil.

Entry Form Deadline: April 15, 2001

Films & Videos Deadline: June 1, 2001

Sci-fi/horror entertainment Website Distant Corners has signed a deal to manage the online and licensing rights for the CREATURE FEATURES franchise. FEATURES is an upcoming HBO and Cinemax series, which will modernize versions of Samuel Z. Arkoff's 1950s classic monster movies. The first two films in the series will be THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED and WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST. The series is being produced by Lou Arkoff, Colleen Camp and Stan Winston, whose Stan Winston Studios will handle the visual effects.

* Tuesday, May 29 – Sunday, June 10, 2001. Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Entry Deadline: March 23, 2001

DreamWorks is backing out of GameWorks, a string of location-based entertainment centers, which it helped found five years ago. DreamWorks' spokeswoman Vivian Mayer said, "Our commitment was a creative input. We fulfilled our commitment." Steven Spielberg was one of the original initiators of the company and oversaw the design of many of the coin-operated arcade versions of his films, like JURASSIC PARK. GameWorks has reported that same store sales are up an average of 10% in the past six months and overall revenue is up US$10 million from last year.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events includes the "Little Prince And The 8 Headed Dragon" screening, January 31, Burbank, California, U.S.A.; FlashBang 2, February 19, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.; The Animation Business Marketplace, March 1-2, Hollywood. California, U.S.A.; eStreaming World, March 6-8, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.; The Canadian Film Centre's Worldwide Short Film Festival, June 6-10, Toronto, Canada; and Anima Mundi, July 13-29, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil.

* Wednesday, April 4 – Friday, April 6, 2001. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Columbia Pictures has snatched up the feature film rights to the comic book SPAWN. Recently, New Line Cinema, who produced the original live-action feature, let their claim on the rights expire, thus reverting them back to creator Todd McFarlane. Columbia was quick to pounce on the film rights to the popular Imagine comic book series. Already, Don Murphy has signed on to produce the next feature through Sony-based AngryFilms. Currently, McFarlane and screenwriter Steve Niles are working on the first draft of the SPAWN sequel.

DIC Entertainment has signed on to create 26 half-hour episodes of EVOLUTION, based on Ivan Reitman's forthcoming summer live-action feature. This project re-teams DIC's president and CEO Andy Heyward with Reitman, who collaborated on REAL GHOSTBUSTERS and MUMMIES ALIVE. Producing the series along with DIC will be Reitman's The Montecito Picture Co. (TMPC) in conjunction with DreamWorks and Columbia Pictures. Heyward, Reitman and TMPC's co-founder Tom Pollack will executive produce the traditionally animated show.

Valley Cottage, New York's Southeast Design Co. is looking for a 3D ANIMATOR with 4-5 years broadcast animation experience. . . Santa Clara, California's Believe, Inc., a pre-IPO start-up, is looking for experienced SOFTWARE ENGINEERS who will create, implement and support new features, tools and other improvements in custom software. . . New York's Center for Advanced Digital Applications - New York University, an advanced training facility for animation and visual effects, is looking for PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS with experience in digital production and/or art in a professional environment. .