GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE director Sam Weisman has been tapped to direct WIDOW'S BROOM for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The film is based on a book by JUMANJI and POLAR EXPRESS scribe Chris Van Allsburg, who will be adapting his book for the screen. Van Allsburg's production firm Golden Mean will produce the film along with Radar Pictures. Golden Mean partner Bill Teitler will serve as producer. Karen Rosenfelt and Julia Pistor will shepard the project for Paramount and Nickelodeon respectively. The film will go into production early 2005.

Nevercenter Ltd. Co. announced the immediate availability of its highly-acclaimed 3D modeling program, Silo for Mac OS X Panther (10.3). A single Silo license can be purchased online at www.nevercenter.com or through a reseller for $109, and allows an individual user to use Silo on up to three computers, in any combination of Macs and PCs.

Paramount Pictures has announced details for the “SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW Air Combat Challenge" tournament, a three-week contest that began on Aug. 23, 2004. Playing the free downloadable game FLYING LEGION AIR COMBAT CHALLENGE, contestants will vie against one another for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to the London premiere of SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, opening in theaters nationwide Sept. 17, 2004.

PhaseSpace unveiled their latest optical motion capture system in the Guerilla Studio and AMD booth 1334 at SIGGRAPH 2004, August 8-12 at the Los Angles Convention Center.

Major features of the new optical motion capture system, include:

Valhalla Motion Pictures and MTV Films have announced the supporting cast for their live-action adaptation of Peter Chung’s animated cult TV series, AEON FLUX. Joining Oscar-winning actresses Charlize Theron (MONSTER) and Frances McDormand (FARGO) will be Marton Csokas (XXX), Jonny Lee Miller (HACKERS), Sophie Okonedo (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS), Amelia Warner (QUILLS) and Caroline Chikezie (U.K. TV’s THE FOOTBALLERS’ WIVES. The flick is scheduled for theatrical release in 2005. Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Ent. will distribute.

Charlex, the New York-based 3D, animation and effects studio for film and television, has named Adam Isidore as vp/exec producer. He moves from BBDO New York where he held the same title. At BBDO, Isidore recently served as exec producer in charge of production for the Cingular Wireless account. In addition to producing several dozen Cingular spots, he also wrote a spot for the New York launch called SUBWAY, which won an Addy Award.

Six new Maya Masters have been selected by Alias for 2004: Andrew Daffy, CGI supervisor formerly with Framestore CFC; Jeremy Gordon, president/ceo of San Francisco-based game development company Secret Level; Lee Griggs, product specialist at ART VPS; Derald Hunt, digital effects artist; Tom Kluyskens, CG supervisor; and Rene Morel, character modeler and texturer.

Odd Lot Ent. and Batfilm have acquired the feature film rights to comic legend Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT. Odd Lot's Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete (THE WEDDING PLANNER) and Batfilm's Michael Uslan (BATMAN BEGINS, CATWOMAN, CONSTANTINE) will produce the film. Benjamin Melniker and Steve Maier are attached as exec producer with F.J. DeSanto and Linda McDonough as co-producers.

MGM Consumer Products and Interactive, has launch the STARGATE SG-1 "Get In The Game" sweepstakes. This contest offers STARGATE SG-1 fans the chance to have his or her likenesses scanned and used as one of the characters in the first STARGATE SG-1 videogame.

To participate in the sweepstakes, participants need to register at www.mgm.com/contest.do between Aug. 24 and Sept. 24, 2004, 12:00 am PDT. A random drawing will take place on Sept. 27, and the winner will be announced by e-mail.

Curious Labs announced an end of August release for Shade 7. This is an all-in-one 3D graphic suite for designers, illustrators and architects, offering a rich tool set at an affordable price. The intuitive Bezier modeling tool features quick results in visual design. Global illumination rendering that includes Radiosity with physics, accomplishes beautifully radiant imagery. And, the deep tool set is integrated to cover details and complete any project

SPIDER-MAN 2, with vfx designed by John Dykstra and created by Sony Pictures Imageworks, will sling its way onto DVD Nov. 30, 2004, courtesy of Columbia TriStar Home Ent. A double-disc special edition loaded with more than 10 hours of bonus material will retail for $29.96.

Noted animation industry veteran Troy Brooks has joined Pipelinefx as its cto. Brooks, formerly CG supervisor for the basketball franchises at Electronic Arts Canada, production systems supervisor at SquareUSA and lead programmer at Mainframe Ent., is a computer graphics animation pioneer with more than 13 years experience. "Troy is one of the most experienced animation experts in the industry. He knows the mechanics of both film and game production workflow inside and out," said Bill Spencer, Pipelinefx ceo.

There is currently a paradigm shift in the world of vfx with the ascendance of the visual effects producer, according to supervisor Jeff Okun (THE LAST SAMURAI), who participated Thursday night in a panel discussion on "Producing Magic on Time and on Budget" at Sony Pictures Imageworks, sponsored by the Producers Guild of America's New Media Council and the Visual Effects Society.

Discreet 3ds max 7 will utilize ATI shader technology to provide impressive realtime hardware accelerated rendering in the 3ds max viewport. Created for game developers, 3D visual effects artists and artists creating 3D cinematics, the co-developed technology by Discreet and ATI will make a realtime 3D image rendered in the 3ds max viewport appear close in appearance to the final offline rendered 3D image or animation.

Another SIGGRAPH has come and gone, and the buzz was generally positive in Los Angeles about the mix of exhibitors, exciting new toys and comfortable size. You can read all about it in our VFXWORLD overview later in the week along with Rick Baumgartner's take next week on the Electronic Theater and Emerging Technologies exhibition, and what The Pixel Priestess observed.

ESC Ent., formed by Warner Bros. in 2001 to work on THE MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS and function as an in-house vfx facility, slashed its staff on Friday the 13th and is going on hiatus.

NewTek Inc. announced the LightWave [8] Training Edition, a special offer that provides more than $400 in training materials free to new LightWave 3D purchasers. By special arrangement with the publishers New Riders, Wordware Publishing and Kurv Studios, purchasers of new licenses of LightWave will be able to receive six books, four training videos and the DVD KAZE: GHOST WARRIOR, which includes extensive extras on how the independent CGI film was produced.

Disney Pictures has released the date for Andrew Adamson's THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, reports the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Fans will be able to catch the film Dec. 9, 2005. In addition, Sony Picture Imageworks has been hired to do 400 effects shoots for the film, whose main f/x house is Rhythm & Hues. New Zealand's Weta Workshop will create the makeup prosthetics for all of the creatures.

Pixar has announced RenderMan for Maya, a new rendering solution based on Pixar's award-winning rendering technology. The RenderMan for Maya plug-in, which is entering beta testing soon, will be available on computers running Mac OS X or Windows XP. It will be priced at $995.

RenderMan for Maya enjoys complete integration with Maya. Just switch your renderer to "RenderMan" and automatically render everything in your Maya scene, including Maya materials, Maya particles and Maya fur.

This week in AWN's Forums, a member is trying to find rare animated shorts from Tim Burton. Another member asks what is the best scanner for 2D animation. Another thread is looking for members' favorite animated shorts to increase their toon knowledge. Several junior members continue to ask for software and school recommendations. Additionally, members continue to discuss Craig McCracken's new series FOSTER'S HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS.