George Lucas has divided his empire in Point Richmond, California into a new animation division to focus on the creation of digitally animated feature films reportedly due to his frustration over studio-controlled animated projects that have fallen through over the past six years. Lucas-film Animation will be given its own identity and autonomy to develop and generate full-length CG cartoons.

Leading videogame publisher Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) has changed its corporate name to Atari. Infogrames (New York City and Lyon, France) acquired the Atari brand when it bought the interactive assets of toymaker Hasbro in January 2001 and has periodically used the name, one of the oldest (30 years) and most legendary in videogame history, for titles such as DRAGON BALL Z, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, SUPERMAN, TERMINATOR 3 and ENTER THE MATRIX, which debuts on May 15, 2003, day and date with the film, THE MATRIX RELOADED.

Chel White, Ray Di Carlo and David Daniels have combined strengths to form an artist-driven studio Bent Image Lab, in Portland, Oregon. "Our mission is to generate the future in 'mixed media/animation/live-action'," said partner/executive producer Di Carlo. "We are artists doing business, not businessmen trying to make art." Di Carlo however, has a successful business background and will operate Bent under a highly unique business model.

In response to recent attention surrounding childhood obesity and lack of nutrition in school lunch programs, Nickelodeon and East Side Entrees have partnered to offer Nickelodeon-branded milk in school lunches nationwide starting in September 2003. The first character-licensed milk to be distributed nationally in schools, the milk cartons will display images from JIMMY NEUTRON, ROCKET POWER, THE WILD THORNBERRYS and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. Flavored nutritionally fortified packaged milk products will be for kids 6-11, and milkshakes will be available for kids 11-17.

The Henson family is the winning bidder to buy 100% of The Jim Henson Company from German kids TV outfit EM.TV Merchandising AG for $89 million. Recently Disney, Saban and Sony Pictures had appeared to be the likely buyers. The Henson heirs sold the company to EM.TV three years ago for $680 million and now are set to pay $78 million in cash plus $11 million of the Henson Co. assets.

Viacom-owned Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI) has laid off 70 workers, roughly 10% of its staff, on May 5, 2003, primarily in the areas of affiliate relations, marketing and creative services. This follows on the heels of rival HBO eliminating 20 jobs the previous week.

S4 Studios a traditional/3D animation design and content creation studio founded in 1999 in the San Fernando Valley, has opened its new studio in the heart of Hollywood. The new facility, located at 1529 N. Cahuenga Boulevard, will allow the growing studio greater access to its core businesses of trailers, network graphics and TV commercials while continuing to develop original content for motion pictures, television, direct to video and online.

McFarlane Toys has created adult collectible figures based on the second and third installments of THE MATRIX trilogy, THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS. On May 15, 2003, Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment, will release THE MATRIX RELOADED, the second installment of the Academy Award-winning blockbuster THE MATRIX. The third chapter, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, will be released later in 2003.

DIC Entertainment has sued Speed Racer Enterprises to enforce DIC’s television, merchandise and other ancillary rights to the animated series SPEED RACER, which is airing weekly on the Nickelodeon network. DIC is seeking damages of $5 million plus punitive damages and injunctive relief for fraud, breach of contract, injunctive relief, conversion, slander of title and a number of other causes of action in case filed with Los Angeles Super Court.

Broadcast design industry leaders Paul Newman, Jim Moran and Gary Bonilla have formed CO-OP, a new advertising and design company in New York City that operates as the strategic core of a network of partners with a full range of complimentary creative companies. CO-OP offers its clients brand strategy and brand development through advertising, vertical marketing, business to business communication, direct marketing, interactive, brand design and identity and broadcast design.

Nickelodeon, and Lowe's, one of the largest home improvement retailers, hope to paint kids rooms Nick pretty for spring, launching the Nickelodeon paint collection, one of a series of American Tradition Signature Colors available in Lowe's stores in the U.S.

;;<??orial started up April 21, 2003 in Santa Monica, California to offer creative editorial to the television advertising community. Company co-founders are Michael Raimondi, Werner Mayes and Ron Moler, with Raimondi also acting as executive producer and Megan Dahlman as producer. Mayes and Raimondi worked together for several years at Santa Monica-based editorial facility Harley's House.

Spellbound Entertainment has granted an international toy license for it’s new pre-school property, THE KOALA BROTHERS, to leading toy company Hasbro Inc. The deal covers key merchandise categories including plush toys, figurines, play sets and Play-Doh. Items will be available in stores next year following the show's premiere on the BBC later this year.

A developer wants to raze the Hanna-Barbera Studios buildings that animation legends William Hanna and Joseph Barbera erected in 1963 at 3400 Cahuenga Blvd. near Universal City, to build shops and apartments. HB preservationists are scrambling to mount a campaign to save what they call is a historic and architecturally significant landmark, while some residents of that neighborhood fear the project would worsen traffic in the Cahuenga Pass.

Haim Saban's plan to buy KirchMedia has hit a snag because KirchMedia creditor banks are refusing to accept some terms of the deal, which they claim are different than what Saban originally proposed. "The most recently presented business plan (11 April) has substantial disadvantages for the banks' position in comparison with the originally presented business plan," credit bank, cooperative DZ Bank said in a two-page letter, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Manex Entertainment, Inc. reported revenues of approximately $1,750,000 with an operating profit of $400,000 in its preliminary unaudited results for the three-month period ended March 31, 2003. Manex Entertainment has been best known in the past for providing Oscar-winning visual effects for big-budget feature films such as THE MATRIX, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. It has west coast facilities in Los Angeles and Hayward, California and is proposing to build east coast facilities in Trenton, New Jersey.

Viacom has reached an agreement with AOL Time Warner to buy AOL's 50% interest in Comedy Central, the only all-comedy network in the U.S., for a total of $1.225 billion. The transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2003, whereby Comedy Central will be wholly owned by Viacom and join MTV Network's line-up of basic cable channels. Viacom is well positioned to do so, having just announced a 26% increase in net earnings in the first quarter of 2003. Viacom posted net income of $443M, or 25 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.11 billion in 2002, or 63 cents a share.

Roger Chouinard, owner and co-founder of Duck Soup Studios in Los Angeles, has renamed his studio DUCK to go with a new image and logo, as well as new developments in the creative and technical direction of the studio.

Breaking into a cool new licensing category, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS is available now in an Ice Cream Parlor line from Breyers. Now fans who dig SpongeBob can dig into a bowl of vanilla-flavored ice cream with a caramel swirl and chocolate cookie dough pieces shaped like SpongeBob and his friend Patrick. Joining SpongeBob SquarePants ice cream is the Ice Cream Parlor Creamsicle.