San Diego Asian Film Festival 2007
San Diego, California, USA
October 11-18, 2007
Deadline: June 15, 2007

The most popular sailor in animation history is certainly "strong to the finish." Nearly 75 years after his silver screen debut, he'll bring to DVD for the first time the cartoons that first made him famous when Warner Home Video (WHV), Hearst Ent. and King Features Syndicate release POPEYE THE SAILOR 1933-1938 VOLUME 1 on July 31, 2007, for $64.92.

The Annecy International Animation Festival is nearing and Animation World Network wants to know what your doing at the premiere animation event of the year. Send us your festival and MIFA news for consideration for our special Annecy Flash newsletter and daily site coverage. It's a chance to get the word on your project out to the community before the festival begins. Please send all information and press releases to Sarah Baisley at sarah@awn.com by May 28, 2007.

Cookie Jar Education Inc., a leading publisher of educational materials and teaching aids, has promoted Roger Posacki to coo, while Tom Purcell comes on board as svp, finance.

Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, Cookie Jar Education is the educational arm of The Cookie Jar Group, owner of Carson-Dellosa Publishing and HighReach Learning.

The Syndicate has completed production on the first of a multi-spot commercial and branding package, "You Are Here," for Six Flags, the world's largest theme park company. The ad campaign broadens Six Flags' brand focus on family entertainment.

In a creative partnership with The Zimmerman Agency, The Syndicate's managing director Kenny Solomon and The Syndicate's director Ben Grossmann, developed the concept of an ordinary suburban neighborhood transformed into a theme park in an eruption of roller coasters, thrill rides, superheroes and costumed performers.

Flying Bark Prods. Pty. Ltd. in Autralia has joined forces with A Stark Production to establish a new company -- A Stark Ent. A Stark Ent., which comes under the umbrella of Flying Bark Prods. and will be responsible for creating and developing independent projects in children's entertainment programming.

lynda.com announced the launch of After Effects CS3 Professional Preview and Premiere Pro CS3 Preview with Chad Perkins. These two new training titles are available for free at www.lynda.com.

lynda.com's training courses in After Effects, Premiere Pro and other Creative Suite 3 products will be on display during the NAB conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, booth SL2028, from until April 19, 2007.

Mike Young Prods. (MYP) and Gamania Digital Ent. (GDE) have partnered with Cartoon Network Int'l to co-produce the new animated comedy/action series HERO:108. This Flash animated series has been conceived with an eye towards online gaming and interactivity with its intended 6-11 year old worldwide audience.

Anima Mundi has issued a final call for entries for Anima Mundi Web 2007 and Anima Mundi Cell 2007.

Anima Mundi Web is for animated works specially created for the Internet. Files will be accepted only with the extensions ".swf" (shockwave flash) or ".flv" (flash video). There is no time limit for the length of the animation, size up to 5 mb.

Carol Lundberg, who worked for such studios as Filmation Assoc., Marvel Prods., Hanna-Barbera Studios and Hyperion Pictures, died on Feb. 11, 2007, reports THE BIG CARTOON DATABASE. She was 72.

In 1969, Lundberg began work as a layout artist for Filmation, where she worked until 1981. Her Filmation layout credits included: STAR TREK (1973), THE SECRET LIVES OF WALDO KITTY (1975), THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN (1977), THE YOUNG SENTINELS (1977), THE FAT ALBERT CHRISTMAS SPECIAL (1977) and THE NEW ADVENTURES OF FLASH GORDON (1979).

This week in AWN's Forums, animation fans discuss their thoughts on TMNT and MEET THE ROBINSONS. The thread on favorite villains is still hot. Some of the senior members give a junior some advice on his first walk cycle. Other animators need help with Flash, Maya and Toon Boom. There also interesting threads on RATATOUILLE, Aardman and TOY STORY 3. As well as, tools for teaching animation, the business of animation and, as always, brand new stuff to check out in show and tell!

Adobe Systems Inc. announced Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium software, a complete integrated post-production solution. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium offers unprecedented levels of integration across major new releases of its video, audio and web software, including Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe Encore CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS3, Adobe Flash CS3 Professional and Adobe Soundbooth CS3.

This week in AWN's Forums, the question is PC or not PC? The thread on members' favorite villains is still going strong. Others are talking about Flash 9.0. The debate has really kicked in on whether the U.S. should implement a quota system for how much animation should be produced within the country. There are members discussing the acting in the RATATOUILLE trailer. As well as, tools for teaching animation, the business of animation and, as always, brand new stuff to check out in show and tell!

Visual Resource announced the launch of "A World of Barriers," a Web tour created for Adobe Systems Inc., highlighting the features of their new Acrobat 8 Professional product, specific to marketing professionals.

You can find the program for fmx/07, the 12th International conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, online at the website. The Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart will once again host the international digital community from May 1-4.

Highlights include:

Wildform Inc. announced the release of WildPresenter Pro 3.1, a major update to its award-winning multimedia presentation software. The new update includes many of the features most requested by Wildform customers including:

* Full screen mode. WildPresenter output can now automatically scale to play at full screen size in both web browsers and in standalone projector files.

This week in AWN's Forums, moderator Larry L presents the question -- should the U.S. impose a quota system as other countries do on animation produced abroad? Others have begun posting their thoughts on the overseas trailers for RATATOUILLE. There's a debating going on pitting Aardman against DreamWorks. There's a thread on TOY STORY 3 as well as KidScreen Summit. Lots of members need help with various software including Maya 8.0, Flash and Toon Boom.

Nickelodeon has announced the new additions to its lineup at its upfront meetings in New York City.

MAKING FRIENDS is a new Flash series developed from Nickelodeon's TurboNick broadband platform. The series centers on two girls, Charlotte and Vendetta, who are two polar opposites. MAKING FIENDS was created by Amy Winfrey and is based on her popular MAKING FIENDS online films. The network has order six episodes to launch in 2008.

Nickelodeon’s newest Nicktoon, EL TIGRE: THE ADVENTURES OF MANNY RIVERA, premieres with two back-to-back all-new episodes on Saturday, March 3, 2007, 10:00-11:00 am, then will air regularly on Saturdays at 10:30-11:00 am. Nickelodeon’s first Flash animated comedy series comes from Mexican-born creators Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua.

The complete list of programs officially selected for Cartoons on the Bay 2007, the international showcase of the year's best productions for television animation, have been announced.

The selection includes 162 programs from 19 countries (13 countries were represented in 2006) and will be on display in the digital video library for artists and professional in the industry, buyers, distributors, multimedia publishers and journalists.