Hosted by Alias, SIGGRAPH LA will be holding a

StoryBoard Pitch Night will feature the David Williams, whose projects include storyboards and key animation on THE WILD THORNBERRIES MOVIE and RUGRATS GO WILD, and board artist on LAND BEFORE TIME 11. This month's pitch list includes Ed Monegan, Christa Percival, Ramael Slater, Tyree Dillihay and Linda Lee. The event will run from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at The American Animation Institute -- 4729 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood. For more information, contact Christa Percival at tel: (323) 664-2711; or e-mail: frankenchrista@earthlink.net.

The California State University, Fullerton chapter of The Pencil Mileage Club is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of drawing and painting with an emphasis on applications to the commercial arts of film and print, and on November 22, 2003, the PMC will present

The 25th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema highlights films from around the world. As part of this year's event, the San Francisco Film Society will present a selection of award-winning films from the 46th San Francisco International Film Festival. The 46th San Francisco International Film Festival Awards section of the Havana Film Festival will include LOST BOYS OF SUDAN, Golden Gate Award Best Bay Area Documentary Feature; THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, Golden Gate Award Best Documentary Feature; HEART OF THE SEA: KAPOLIOKA∂EHUKAI, VIRGINMEGA Audience Award Best Documentary Feature; WHALE RIDER, VIRGINMEGA Audience Award Best Narrative Feature and THE MAN OF THE YEAR, SKYY Prize for best first feature. For more information, visit www.sffs.org.

The Western Show is dedicated to the technological advancements that will drive bottom lines for the cable, Internet, telephone, computer, satellite, broadcast, motion picture or new media industries. This, the 36th edition of the event, will be the last. The National Show has grown so much that the National Cable & Telecommunications Association decided there was only need for one show. The Western Show is allows people to network in timely educational seminars, interactive roundtables and CableNET '03, a gathering of demonstrations by companies from various industries as part of a educational exhibit. The 2003 program will cover the latest developments in these areas: digital cable services, high-speed Internet, video-on demand, HDTV, digital rights, security, retail CPE and POD, sports programming --

David Ehrlich (professor of animation history at Dartmouth) presents a fascinating look at Russian animation, focusing on the work of the great Fedor Khitruk: After a 1961 visit to the Zagreb Animation Studio, whose artists were tremendously influenced for example by UPA artist John Hubley, Fedor Khitruk enthusiastically returned to Moscow to direct work whose innovative graphics completly broke with classical Soyuzmultfilm technique. He pioneered a radical departure from Russian state-sanctioned Disneyesque kitch. David Ehrlich will feature a selection of Khitruk's greatest films (including "Story Of A Crime", "Man In A Frame", "The Island", as well as shorts by his proteges Yuri Norstein and Eduard Nazarov. (Total running time: approx. 75 min.)

Squeeze Productions and The Toronto Animated Image Society present the Animators' Pub. The event offers an opportunity to meet friends and colleagues in the animation scene for conversation and some drinks. All animators are welcome and admission is free. The gathering will take place the The Bishop and the Belcher Pub, Queen Vic Room, basement, 361 Queen Street West, Toronto from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. For more information, e-mail: Tais@bellnet.ca or visit http://www.awn.com/tais.

The JibJab Brothers will be holding a signing of their new children's book GRUMPY SANTA. The book will be available at any Barnes & Noble or Borders this Christmas. Gregg and Evan Spiridellis will be signing copies at the Toys R Us on 1514 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 at 4:00 pm. For more information, visit www.jibjab.com.

On the occasion of Grant Munro's 80th birthday and the release of a new DVD, Cut-Up, The Films of Grant Munro, The Museum of Modern Art pays tribute to this seminal but under-recognized animator. Working from within the historic Animation Unit of the National Film Board of Canada from 1945 through the early 1970s, Munro directed, produced, shot, edited and even acted in some of the most significant hand-drawn and pixilated animation ever made. A frequent collaborator with Norman McLaren, Munro brought a wicked wit and sublime grace to the art. Grant Munro Rediscovered Retrospective program will feature two unreleased, recently re-edited films -- ON THE FARM (1951/2003) and SIX AND SEVEN-EIGHTHS (1959/2003) -- as well as George Dunning's THREE BLIND MICE (1945), Norman McLaren's NEIGHBORS (1952), Stanley Jackson's THE BALLOTT-O-MATIC (1953), Munro and McLaren's CANON (1964), Munro's TOYS (1966), Munro's BOO HOO (1975), and MCLAREN ON MCLAREN (1983). The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. For more info call: (212) 708-9847 or visit www.moma.org.

The International Festival of Cinema and Technology will showcase a wide variety of independent cinema including dramas, comedies, documentaries, features, experimental films and animation. As the International Festival of Cinema and Technology's goal is to screen a variety of films, which include new technologies, animated projects make up a large part of the line-up. The festival features more than 40 animated projects featuring a variety of new animations created using a variety of new software and incorporating new talents and rising stars in the animation industry. Animation segments at the festival include "The Character: Visionary Future," "The Inanimate- Animated!" "Animation's Focus on the Character," and "Focus on Time." The event will take place at the Remote Lounge Screening Room, 237 E. Bowery Street, starting at 6:00 pm. The final night of events will take place from 7:00 pm-11:00 pm at the Tribeca Grand "Grand Screen" located at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, Two Avenue of the Americas. Tickets are $10 for each evening. For more information, visit www.ifct.org or call (877) 277-2209.