Lucasfilm Ltd. has spun off its
THX digital cinema division as an independent company, THX Ltd.
Lucasfilm remains an investor in the newly formed, privately held
company, along with other corporate and private investors. The
formation of THX Ltd. will allow the company the opportunity to
expand into markets outside of Lucasfilm's core areas. THX Ltd. will
reorganize its programs and services into five key areas: THX
Studio, THX Cinema, THX Home, THX Mobile and THX Games. In the

Digital Production Management
(DPM) systems provider NXN Software has expanded its Japanese
operations by opening a new subsidiary in Tokyo and appointing
industry veteran Shigemitsu Ejiri as vice president of sales, Japan.
Ejiri comes to NXN Software from Borland, Japan, where he served as
the vice president of sales. Prior to Borland, Ejiri spent 16 years
at Nichimen Corporation, holding the position of executive director
and head of sales for four years. NXN DPM solutions are used to

Thinking about a career in
the game development industry? Well, pick up a copy of GAME DEVELOPER
magazine's July 2002 issue to read the results of its annual game
developer salary survey. The survey indicates that the game
development industry has remained healthy despite the downturn in the
overall U.S. economy. According to GAME DEVELOPER, the average game
programmer's salary is $66,000 and a technical director with six or
more years experience earns an average of $104,000. On average, game

The 2003
edition of The Brussels Cartoon and Animation Festival will have a
new look, with a poster created by Spanish artist Carles Porta, and a
new name -- Anima 2003. Since 1982, Brussels has hosted the annual
event devoted to animation and welcomed such animation luminaries as
Tim Burton, Paul Grimault, Kihachiro Kawamoto, John Lasseter, René
Laloux, Peter Lord, Moebius, Yuri Norstein and Nick Park. Over the
past five years the festival organizers have initiated a

German children's television producer RTV Family Entertainment has received a temporary reprieve from its financial woes in the form of a bridge credit line issued by a banking syndicate. The funds are backed by a letter of credit from RTV's majority shareholder Ravensburger AG, and will enable the floundering company to cover all current and past due liabilities. RTV still needs approximately 4 million Euro (US$3.7M) to continue operations through the end of the year.

German animation producer RTV Family
Entertainment has announced that the recent collapse of Kirch Media
and co-production partner Phenomedia, as well as losses from bad
debts with foreign partners, has led to a rapid deterioration of the
company's financial situation. A May 2002 cancellation of a 5 million
Euro (approximately US$4.7M) credit line from a major Austrian bank
has added to the company's dire financial straits. According to a
press release issued by RTV, the company needs between 6 and 7

Just
Action Group, international distributors for BUTT UGLY MARTIANS, has
recently merged with rights management and distribution company
Target. Just Group, which collapsed last year after CEO Wilf
Shorrocks and commercial director Paula Shorrock were dismissed, due
in part to a revision of expected revenue from BUTT UGLY MARTIANS
plus a less than successful purchase of publishers MediaKey, has had
a recent cash infusion of 1.85M pounds (US$2.7M) from its
shareholders, who have agreed to acquire a majority shareholding in

U.S. producer of anime and manga Viz Communications, Inc. has partnered with manga publisher Shueisha Inc. to launch a new mass-market boys' magazine. Viz currently produces Japanese animation and comics in English with over 20 monthly titles. The new monthly magazine, to be launched in November 2002, will be patterned after Shueisha's magazine SHONEN JUMP and will feature the manga from which many of the world's most popular anime properties such as DRAGON BALL Z and YU-GI-OH were derived. "U.S. kids know all about anime due to exposure on television," said Yamaji.

Children's videogame publisher NewKidCo International Inc. has announced that the company's first quarter 2002 results were in line with its budget. The net loss of $1.8 million versus net income of $.3 million for the same period last year was a result of increased selling and marketing expenditures as part of the overall plan by NewKidCo to support its broad product rollout for the year (selling and marketing costs have been expensed as incurred).