TYRO screenwriter Ali Russell has launched feature production banner Elysium Ent. with a pair of comicbook-based projects -- THE 10TH MUSE and an untitled Rob Liefeld film, reports VARIETY. Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Ent. will sheperd the new company. Weaver discovered 21-year-old Russell at the UCLA screenwriting program.

Weaver optioned MUSE for low-six figures and Russell is set to write and produce the film. Based on the comic by Darren Davis, the story follows the adventures of modern-day daughter of the Greek God Zeus.

A group of Korean researchers from a local university have developed a new kind of high-quality MoCap technology that is so simple to use that they believe this will allow Koreans to compete internationally in vfx, reported THE CHOSUN ILBO.

NVIDIA Corp. unveiled the GoForce 3D 4500, the world's first 3D wireless media processor. The NVIDIA GoForce 3D 4500 WMP enables a whole new level of interactive content not previously possible on cell phones, PDAs or other handheld devices. For the first time, mobile content developers can harness a powerful 3D medium to create rich, dynamic, lifelike worlds and characters.

Finally, the wait is over for the original STAR WARS trilogy on DVD, as the impressive four-disc set arrives in stores Sept. 21 (Fox Home Ent., $69.98). Purists, of course, have been up in arms for two years after George Lucas revealed that he had no intention of making the theatrical versions of A NEW HOPE, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI available on DVD.

Bob Scarabelli, Rainmaker Income Fund president/ceo, has passed away from natural causes. Scarabelli worked for Rainmaker for the past 25 years, growing it into one of North America's leading post-production facilities.

Rushes was called upon by AMVBBDO to illustrate the search for "Sheba," the ultimate luxury food for cats. Produced by Lindsay Hughes and directed by Graham Fink, MAZE is a fantasy quest through a beautiful world, with a cat leading its owner to its favorite food.

Avid Technology Inc. announced the worldwide availability of Avid Studio Tools, a fully integrated software package designed exclusively for customers using Media Composer Adrenaline, NewsCutter Adrenaline FX, and NewsCutter XP systems.

For the first time, the Visual Effects Society (VES) will be offering online voting in preparation of its third annual VES Awards ceremony, to be held in Los Angeles at the Palladium on Feb. 16, 2005.

Meanwhile, the VES has offered several tips and reminders:

The Video Lab Johannesburg has two announcements: not only has renowned international colorist Catherine Pantazopoulos joined the group, but they have secured the latest in grading wizardry: Discreet’s lustre 2.5, the only one in South Africa.

Joining luminaries such as Pixar Animation Studios and Sony Pictures Imageworks, The Video Lab plans to have the lustre up and running by mid-October in a custom, designed, world-class grading room.

Independence Day 2005 is shaping up at a toe-to-toe battle between Fox’s tentpole FANTASTIC FOUR and Paramount and DreamWorks’ “event movie of the decade” WAR OF THE WORLDS. The Marvel Comics adaptation from 20th Century Fox was first to stake a claim on the lucrative holiday weekend by taking a release date of July 1. However, the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Cruise-starring alien invasion flick has now set its sights on June 29. With Spielberg stating that his H.G.

First THE ANIMATRIX, then VAN HELSING and THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK and now ALIAS – they all boast animated DVD shorts to bolster their live action siblings.

iHollywood Forum Inc. announced its lineup of entertainment industry luminaries at "The Digital Studio," a summit and showcase focusing on digital technology and how it is transforming the film and TV industry. The third annual summit takes place as part of the American Film Market, (AFM) on Nov. 2, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Monica Laemmle Theatre, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA.

Industry headliners include:

European visual effects society eDIT | VES, whose upcoming festival runs in Frankfurt, Germany from Sept. 26 – 28, 2004, will award Academy Award winner Vilmos Zsigmond (THE DEER HUNTER, HEAVEN'S GATE, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND), aka Master of Light, the Festival Honors. The award will be handed out on Sept. 26 at the opening gala of eDIT | VES 2004. Zsigmond will discuss "The Art of Cinematography" during the festival on Sept. 27 at 7:00 pm. More information can be found at www.edit-ves.com.

Lions rule the animal kingdom in the recent DVD release, PRIDE (BBC Video, $14.98), boasting character effects and animation by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

Gnomon School of Visual Effects and Pixologic will be hosting the first official Pixologic ZBrush User Group meeting, Sept. 30, 2004, at 6:00 pm at Gnomon (1015 N. Cahuenga Bl. Hollywood, CA 90038).

* Bay Raitt (Creature Facial Lead for Gollum and co-founder of Box Rocket) will discuss the strengths of ZBrush and its use in various production pipelines, i.e. Weta Digital, Valve Software.

With Universal recently hiring CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE director Andrzej Bartkowiak, the studio has now secured one lead with a second in negotiations to star in its DOOM adaptation. BOURNE SUPREMECY baddie Karl Urban is set to star with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in talks to join the cast. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and John Wells are producing from a script by Dave Callahan. The film will follow the zombie blasting plotline of the recently released DOOM 3 videogame. The film is set to go before cameras in mid October.

Los Angeles visual effects and design company A52 earned an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design on HBO's CARNIVÀLE series. The award was presented during the 2003-2004 Creative Arts Primetime Emmys segment of the 56th Annual Emmy Awards presentation at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sept. 12.

A52’s work on this project also earned the PROMAX Gold Award in the category of Non-Promotional Animation earlier this year.

Finally, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW opens this Friday, after all the buzz about the vintage look and CGI wonder. As many of you are already aware, it boasts the most elaborate bluescreen compositing work ever done for a feature, containing some 2,000 shots, nearly half of which was outsourced to more than a dozen vfx studios. Will its sweet and innocent retro vibe catch on? Or will it polarize people like MOULIN ROUGE with its accent on artifice?

Nine new members have been appointed by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Frank Pierson to the organization's year-old Science and Technology Council, bringing the number of members to 23.

The new members are Peter W. Anderson, visual effects branch; Clay M. Davis Jr., sound; David W. Gray, sound; Richard Hollander, visual effects; Brad Hunt, associates; George Joblove, visual effects; Takuo Miyagishima, members at large; Daryn Okada, cinematographers; and Richard Patterson, visual effects.

Massive Software founder and product manager Stephen Regelous has been nominated for a World Technology Network Award in the entertainment category. Determined by a vote of industry peers, the awards are presented by the World Technology Network (WTN) to recognize work that has a high level of innovation and lasting significance in such fields as biotechnology, space, energy, ethics, design and entertainment. Winners will be named Oct. 8 at the World Technology Awards in San Francisco.