Melbourne Digital Media Festival has announced that it will screen STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION, the sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 cult hit STARSHIP TROOPERS. The film marks the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett (who worked on VFX for the original). STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION will debut this month from Columbia TriStar Home Ent. on Special Edition DVD.

Continuing a collaboration that has lasted eight years, director Joss Whedon and Zoic Studios' vfx supervisor Loni Peristere are reunited for the upcoming Universal feature SERENITY. The move marks the most ambitious feature to date for Los Angeles-based Zoic.

We conclude our April gaming focus with the Pixel Priestess' assessment of how vfx fits into the high-octane universe of games, and a discussion Mary Ann Skweres had with the Climax development team behind the upcoming Xbox role-playing title from Microsoft, SUDEKI. Meanwhile, later in the week Mark Ramshaw gives us a glimpse of what's hot in the U.K.

In response to growing demand from industry, Game Art and Design and Visual Effects have been added to broaden the mix of accredited diploma programs offered at Vancouver Institute of Media Arts. “The addition of Game Art & Design in 2003 and now Visual FX allows our students the ability to focus their training in more specific areas of the industry” says Alan Phillips, President of VanArts.

For 10 days, starting May 6, 2004, The El Capitan Theatre will screen an archival 70 mm print of Walt Disney Pictures' 1982 landmark computer animated feature, TRON, featuring six-track Dolby SR Stereo. As part of the salute, original costumes and memorabilia will be on display.

The Visual Effects Society (VES) will present VES 2004, its sixth annual Festival of Visual Effects, June 18-20 in San Rafael, California. The three-day event at The Rafael Film Center features presentations and panels headed by visual effects supervisors and their teams, which focus on vfx and how they enhance the storytelling process.

Starting in May, Animation World Magazine and VFXWorld will feature a monthly gallery of new content from around the world. We're looking for visual effects and animated:

* Music Videos
* Shorts
* Titles
* IDs/Promos
* Interstitials
* Commercials
* Webisodes
* Games
* Training & Presentations
* Wireless Content

On May 2, 2004 at 10:00 pm, Sci Fi Channel delves deep into the legend of vampire hunter Van Helsing in the one-hour original special VAN HELSING: THE MAN AND THE MONSTERS. In addition to a behind-the-scenes look at Universal's upcoming feature VAN HELSING, the special will also explore the myths that surround vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein that inspired the story. VAN HELSING: THE MAN AND THE MONSTERS also features an exclusive interview with the film's star Hugh Jackman and a first look at one of the movie's scenes.

Two new Spacecraft Film treasures, THE MIGHTY SATURNS: SATURN V (EXTENDED COLLECTOR'S EDITION) and APOLLO 15: MAN MUST EXPLORE (EXTENDED COLLECTOR'S EDITION), are now available in separate three-disc and six-disc sets (Fox Home Ent., $49.98 and $89.98). They are the latest in the most comprehensive collection every assembled to chronicle NASA's early space missions. Developed and produced by film historian Mark Gray, they contain full-length TV transmissions and complete inventories of onboard film.

Tim Burton's underrated BIG FISH, the imaginative and heartfelt father-son drama starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney, is sure to find renewed life on DVD (Columbia TriStar Home Ent., $28.95) when it's released on April 27, 2004. The Alabama-based yarn about reality and fantasy and the nature of storytelling features some slight yet effective vfx from Sony Imageworks, and represents the director's first foray into the world of Digital Intermediate, which is used marvelously during the fantasy sequences.