The Mad Cow Picture Company has just opened its doors in Sydney, Australia. The new studio specializes in Flash animation and animation pre-production, including storyboarding and character design. Mad Cow Picture Company offers a mix of digital and traditional animation. The company is currently creating pilot episodes for StupidHeroes.com and 00STEVEN: PLAYGROUND PRIVATE EYE. For more information contact The Mad Cow Picture Company at: Tel.: ++612 9808 4153; Fax: ++612 9808 1041; or Web: http://www.madcowpictures.com.

Sony Corp. has announced that it's cutting its initial U.K. shipment of PlayStation 2 gaming consoles from 200,000 to 165,000 units. The cut-back is due to a computer chip shortage, which also led to Sony halving its originally projected 1 million unit shipment to the U.S. Arriving in the U.S. on October 26, the next generation console made an estimated $165 million in its first 72 hours of release. In addition, PlayStation 2 has sold approximately 3.5 million units in Japan since its release there in March.

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

Das Werk, a leading German provider of digital processing services, announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire a majority stake in Glassworks, a London digital effects studio which combines 3D computer-generated imaging with high-end compositing and special effects. In purchasing a share of Glassworks, Das Werk will further expand its international portfolio of post-production facilities and gain a hold in the high-profile London advertising and music video market.

Burbank, California-based Renegade Animation, which specializes in producing cel-animated television commercials, has launched a new service to provide cel-style animation for advertising on the Internet. As the service's first job, FMT Advertising, New York, has contracted Renegade to create an animated Internet cartoon series for its client BulkRegister.com. The series, consisting of five 90-second episodes, parodies "dot com" culture, while promoting BulkRegister.com's ability to register large quantities of domain names.

On Monday, November 6, 2000, German children's TV producer and rights buyer TV Loonland announced that it expects annual sales to top DM127 million (US$55.9 million) for 2000. This report is almost four times its original estimate of DM32.7 million ($14.4 million) when the German company went public in March. It's pretax profit is estimated to be DM25.5 million ($11.2 million), increased from DM18.6 million ($8.2 million). TV Loonland attributes the growth to its recent international acquisitions, including the purchase of France's Salsa Distribution and U.K. production studio Telemagination.

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

British Culture Secretary Chris Smith was quoted in the LONDON SUNDAY EXPRESS as saying he will issue orders to U.K. TV regulators to cut back on "trashy cartoons" which have flooded the airwaves and replace them with "high-quality educational shows." Broadcasting Minister Janet Anderson told the newspaper, "The government shares parents' concerns that violent and unsuitable material is being broadcast in ever earlier slots." However, some U.K. officials may be uninformed about where the illicit animation is actually coming from.

Children's animation producer Nelvana has won its lawsuit against Paris-based Editions Mango for the use of Nelvana-owned properties after the two companies' licensing agreement was terminated. In 1994, Nelvana and New York creative consultancy Clifford Ross Co. signed a licensing deal with Editions Mango, allowing the French company to produce and sell books based on Nelvana and Ross-owned characters, including Babar, Celeste, Arthur, Cornelius, Flora and Alexandre.

Uri Geller, world-renowned psychic entertainer and author, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court against Nintendo for unauthorized use of his name on Pokemon cards and related materials. The lawsuit demands that the Koyto, Japan-based company stop using Geller as a character on its Pokemon cards and pay substantial general and punitive damages.