mOcean and CMP/West, two of the Craig Murray Prods.’ group of companies, will join together in a new Westside Los Angeles facility to be completed in September and operate under the mOcean banner.

The newly combined company will serve the entertainment industry as a full-service creative advertising agency as well as continue to provide its film and television clients with a complete range of design and editorial capabilities in the production of theatrical trailers and television image campaigns.

Miramax/Dimension Films and San Francisco-based animation studio Wild Brain Inc. have agreed to a multi-year, multi-film agreement to co-finance and co-produce CG-animated films. Each will each finance 50% of the production on agreed projects. Miramax/Dimension will distribute the films worldwide in all media.

The first joint production is expected to be OPUS, which Craig Mazin (SCARY MOVIE 3) will adapt from the Pulitzer Prize-winning comic strip, BLOOM COUNTY, created by Berkeley Breathed.

Disney president Robert Iger said on Wednesday that a renewed deal between the house that Walt built and Pixar Animation Studios was "unlikely,” reports REUTERS. He added that partnerships like the one Disney had with Pixar to distribute its films often "outgrow one another."

"If it's not Pixar, it will be someone else," Iger told an audience at the Royal Television Society's international conference in London.

Alias today announced the completion of the acquisition of Kaydara, a leading developer of realtime 3D character animation and motion editing solutions for the entertainment industry.

Ed Newmann and Monca Kendall, founder/owners of Chicago-based Calabash Animation, one of the leading privately-owned animation studios in the country, have sold the company to Wayne Brejcha and Sean Henry. Brejcha, who joined Calabash in 1990, takes over as chairman and Animation director, and Henry, who joined in 1998, will be president.

The Walt Disney Co. board of directors met Sept. 19-21, 2004, on the 20th anniversary of Michael Eisner's service as ceo, and voted to reaffirm support for its management team, redesigned the management incentive bonus program and started its search for its next ceo to be chosen by June 2005.

Rhino Films has joined forces with MOTHER JONES magazine and Alligator Planet to form Rhino Animated Features, which is designed to produce a series of activism docs for theatrical release, reports VARIETY. The first film will be MOTHER SEES RED, which will take a look at America's current culture wars. An animated version of labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones will host the films.

MOTHER JONES will give editorial direction for the projects. Rhino Films head Stephen Nemeth brought the idea to Alligator Planet, where Tim Boxell will head the company.

A group of Korean researchers from a local university have developed a new kind of high-quality MoCap technology that is so simple to use that they believe this will allow Koreans to compete internationally in vfx, reported THE CHOSUN ILBO.

TYRO screenwriter Ali Russell has launched feature production banner Elysium Ent. with a pair of comicbook-based projects -- THE 10TH MUSE and an untitled Rob Liefeld film, reports VARIETY. Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Ent. will sheperd the new company. Weaver discovered 21-year-old Russell at the UCLA screenwriting program.

Weaver optioned MUSE for low-six figures and Russell is set to write and produce the film. Based on the comic by Darren Davis, the story follows the adventures of modern-day daughter of the Greek God Zeus.

Entertainment Rights has acquired the production company Tell-Tale. Creative talent Iain Lauchlan and Will Brenton with fellow directors Karl Woolley and Helen Cadwallader will join ER to lead the creative division, which will immediately begin work on an extensive production and development slate.