On Thursday, May 8, Imaginary Forces Director of Experience Design Tali Krakowsky will be presenting at the 13th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Digital Media in Haus der Wirtschaft, Stuttgart, Germany. This session is part of the flashconference forum of the event.

MyToons.com will mark its first anniversary by collaborating with Adobe to deliver content to Adobe Media Player. High-quality, member-created animation from MyToons.com, along with video from television broadcasters and leading content publishers, will now be available on Adobe Media Player.

PBS KIDS Sprout is making viewers the stars of its new original afternoon block, THE SPROUT SHARING SHOW.

Launching on May 5, 2008 in the 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET timeslot previously occupied by THE LET'S GO SHOW (which is moving to weekend afternoons), THE SPROUT SHARING SHOW will be hosted by a group of fun and loveable hand puppets who will showcase viewer-submitted videos featuring preschoolers showing off their talents and "Look what I can do!" moments.

Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation announced the release of Toon Boom Studio Express 4. With this release, Studio Express 4 increases your ability to easily create eye-catching animation, all within a more user-friendly interface.

Feature highlights include:

*New flexible docking user interface
*Calligraphic line styles for a unique animation look
*Feather edges for creating blurs and glows
*Vectorization using textures for bitmap integration

Attention animators! San Diego Asian Film Festival 2008 will once again be showcasing animated short films produced by animators of Asian ethnicities in a 90-minute all-animation program. All forms of animation (traditional, claymation, stop-motion, flash, CGI, etc) will be accepted for consideration into this competitive festival. Films by all animators pertaining to Asian issues and themes will also be considered. Only VHS and DVD (preferred) formats are accepted for consideration. A Best Animated Short Film Award will be awarded with prizes to be determined.

Cosgrove Hall Films, Europe's largest and most prolific animation company is set to unveil an exciting slate of programming at MIP TV 2008.

New programming launching at the market includes innovative home-grown animation; ROGER TO THE RESCUE, EDDIE RETRACTORHEAD and MY NEIGHBOUR IS AN EVIL GENIUS!

Created in-house in Toon Boom Harmony, ROGER TO THE RESCUE is a 52 x 10 minute series aimed at the 3-6 year old demographic.

New licensing deals continue to pour in as Speed Racer Enterprises prepares for the launch of the new animated television series SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION on Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon's 24-hour animation network, on May 2, 2008.

The following companies are joining the blue-chip roster of licensees for both SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION and the classic SPEED RACER animated television series:

This week in AWN's Forums, pitching an idea to Cartoon Network is still a popular thread. Questions have arrived regarding animation basics, Flash and Photoshop. Others are adding to the discussion on the pros and cons of modeling your own CG characters or purchasing models. There's more talk on internships. EL TIGRE has a continuing thread. Members are still writing their thoughts about the influence of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax had on their lives.

Bringing children "a wonderful world of cultural discoveries," the award-winning former executive producer of Disney's BABY EINSTEIN and former vice president of Disney Interactive Studio's -- Learning is launching Global Wonders.

Global Wonders is a new children's multicultural education and entertainment brand to introduce children to the customs, music, languages and lifestyles of friends next door and around the world.

This week in AWN's Forums, a member has questions about adding voiceover tracks in Flash. Discussion fails to cease on pitching to Cartoon Network. More people write in on internships and what's the best PC for animation. Wacom vs. pencils is still a hot topic. While other members are sharing their recent work for others to critique. Plus, new members are introducing themselves weekly. As well as, tools for teaching animation, the business of animation and, as always, brand-new stuff to check out in show and tell!