Continuing a 50 year-old Hollywood Animation tradition, Los Angeles, New York and London-based Unbound has moved its Unbound Animation Studio into the buildings occupied by Playhouse Pictures since 1952. Playhouse, which is relocating to larger facilities in West Los Angeles, is recognized by the City Council of Los Angeles as the oldest continuously operating animation studio in Hollywood, and second oldest (after Disney) in the world.

Cinar, which is beginning to rebound from its troubled past, has announced it will team with France's Alphanim to co-produce two new 26-episode animated series, CREEP SCHOOL and POTATOES & DRAGONS. CREEP SCHOOL is a spooky comedy that takes place at an isolated boarding school. The series concept was created by Torbjorn Janson and Sweden's Happy Life, and will be co-produced by CINAR, Alphanim & Happy Life. The series is set to broadcast on TeleTOON (Canada), France 3 and ZDF in Germany.

Perky Pickle Studios, a new full-service animation studio has launched in Burbank, California. Helmed by award-winning animation filmmaker Jordan Reichek, Perky Pickle will offer a variety of animation techniques including 2D traditional, 3D and Flash. Said Reichek, "Top talent with strong leadership and financial responsibility are the cornerstones of the Perky Pickle Studio mantra. With this idea, we hope to provide a creative haven for our clients and employees." The studio has already partnered with artist Robt. Williams to develop his bizarre artwork into animated properties.

In an ongoing effort to reduce costs, Jim Morris, President of Lucas Digital Ltd., has announced a restructuring of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Key changes have been made to the leadership team in a move to streamline management. To this end, Chrissie England, a twenty-four year veteran of ILM, has been named senior vice president of production. England was most recently vice president of feature production, a post she held for the last two years. Reporting directly to Morris, England will oversee all aspects of ILM's feature effects work.

UK-based entertainment and sports marketing company CSS Stellar has acquired a majority shareholding in Target Distribution from founder shareholder Tiger Aspect Productions (MR. BEAN). In June 2002, Target had agreed to a merger with the Just Group, with Just Group proposing a 54% stake in the company to be purchased with funds raised by shareholders. This deal fell through in late summer, although Target continued to pursue a financial and strategic partner.

Intertainer, an online broadband entertainment-on-demand site has filed an anti-trust suit against three major entertainment companies, AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal and Sony. Intertainer has accused the companies of conspiracy to fix prices in the digital distribution of entertainment. Intertainer's suit alleges that the three defendants have attempted to control the marketplace for entertainment content on demand, thereby hindering and delaying the emergence of the broadband content industry and Intertainer's video on demand services.

Capitalizing on the name-recognition of the Sony brand, the company announced that it will be renaming its domestic and international television divisions. Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (CTDT) and Columbia TriStar International Television (CTIT) will now operate under the names Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI), respectively.

Animation and family entertainment reps The Gotham Group have reemerged from the break up of Artists Management Group, where they functioned as AMG's animation agency, and have forged a strategic relationship with The William Morris Agency (WMA). The announcement was made jointly by Jim Wiatt, president and co-CEO of the William Morris Agency and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, CEO/founder of The Gotham Group. WMA will also represent Goldsmith-Vein and Gotham in their role as producers and expect to announce a first look deal at a major studio shortly. Gotham also plans to branch out to live-action.

Elephant Productions, the UK-based media company behind such series as GRIZZLY TALES FOR GRUESOME KIDS and JOHNNY CASANOVA THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE, is to join forces with animation company Fictitious Egg to launch a new studio, Elephant Egg. The studio plans to offer a full range of animation services including traditional 2D, Flash, CGI and Celaction, as well as development and co-production services. Sarah Muller, managing director of Elephant Productions, will head up Elephant Egg, with Andy Wyatt, managing director of Fictitious Egg, as head of animation.

Production agency CeMEDIA (Central European Media Workshop) has added Hungary's FirkaFilm to its production network and named it "First Base Studio" for the CeMEDIA production pipeline. Firka will control the overall production process and subcontract to other CeMEDIA member studios. Under contract with Varga Studios, Firka has provided animation services for an ANGELINA BALLERINA special and most recently completed the animation for 5 episodes of the series MR. BEAN. CeMedia will be at MIPCOM to distribute nearly 50 hours of animation provided by their European member studios.