WIA is hosting a meeting with Amy Friedman, creative director/vp of development at Noggin/The N and Tanya Young, development manager at Noggin/The N. Amy Friedman is responsible for steering the overall brand identity, educational mission and development of programming for both Noggin and The N. Amy is also the exec producer of the network's original series, A WALK IN YOUR SHOES. Tanya Young is the gateway to pitching and developing a show at Noggin/The N. She prepares creators by sharing info about Noggin's brand identities, the ages of Noggin's audiences, and the specific genres of shows Noggin is looking for. Tanya evaluates written proposals and sets up pitch meetings with Noggin's team of development executives. Once deals are made, Tanya gets contracts executed and payments sent out to creators. The event will take place at Little Airplane Productions, 86 Franklin St., 5th Floor (between Church and Broadway) from 6:30 - 8:00 pm. RSVP at LGOLDEE@aol.com by noon on March 8.

The Animation Co-op Project Pitch Session's purpose is to expose those with projects in the works to those who may be interested in contributing to those projects. To attend, you must RSVP to RSVP@animationcoop.org by March 3, 2004. Space is limited, please do not RSVP if you are not certain that you can attend. The event will take place at 2340 Overland Avenue, West Los Angeles at 8:00 pm. For more information, visit www.animationcoop.com.

The 4th Annual Durango Film Festival is dedicated to celebrating the art of cinema, enjoying flickering images on the screen and honoring the talented filmmakers for their passion, vision and work. Located in historic downtown Durango nestled in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of southwest Colorado, the juried 9-day festival presents independent narrative features, documentaries, animation, shorts, experimental, children and regional films, showcasing the work of filmmakers that embody the passion and distinctive voices in independent film. Also featured are speaker panels, educational salons, panels comprised of directors and producers of films in competition. For more information, visit www.durangofilmfestival.com.

The Interactive Academy's DICE Summit was created to explore approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment. D.I.C.E. is solely focused on the creative endeavor inherent in game development. Speakers concentrate on the challenges of various aspects of game design and creation and offer solutions to help developers maintain the creative edge in this rapidly evolving industry. The DICE Summit also serves as the home to the Academy's annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony. These peer-based awards are dedicated to recognizing the outstanding products, talented individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the $30 billion worldwide entertainment software industry. For more information, visit http://www.interactive.org/dice.

Distinguished painter/animator/teacher Glenn Vilppu will give a lecture on his work and human figure drawing workshops. Lecture is open to all SCAD students/faculty/staff and alumni. The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm in the Trustees Theatre. Vilppu will also be giving workshops on March 5 and 6 to students at the O-House ballroom.

Vilppu has taught at UCLA, The American Animation Institute, DHIMA, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Loveland Academy of Art, Ringling College of Art and Design, DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Rhythm + Hues among others. He is the author of several books including THE VILPPU DRAWING MANUAL, and the VILPPU SKETCH BOOK. More information on him can be found on his Website at www.vilppustudio.com.

(Los Angeles, CA -- Wednesday, March 3, 2004)
dhima | DH Institute of Media Arts, Los Angeles,
CA (US branch of Digital Hollywood, Japan)
will present a special guest lecture by Mike Disa / professional Animator with fifteen years of industry
experience who lectures, teaches, and consults on the animation processinternationally.
Mike Disa will lecture about the thirteen fundamentals of physics and the acting take, how each applies in 2D and how it is different in 3D.
The lecture will start at 7pm and run for about 2hrs.
The lecture is open to the public and free of charge.


For information: http://www.dhima.com or
Contact: info@dhima.com
Phone: 323.904.1135
RSVP: info@dhima.com
Map: http://www.dhima.com/images/map.gif
Driving directions: http://maps.yahoo.com/dd

The Armory Center for the Arts continues the "Get a Life in the Arts" lectures for high school students. This series presents speakers who work in artistic careers. Lorraine Cleary Dale discusses her career as a visual artist and art teacher. She will also provide high school students with an overview of how they can begin to prepare, plan and apply to local art schools. Lorraine creates a wide variety of works, including drawings, paintings, sculptures and installation and has been making and exhibiting her work for the last 15 years. Admission is free. The event takes place at Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Old Pasadena at 6:30 pm. For more information, call (626) 792.5101 x140 or visit www.armoryarts.org.

The 11th Flashforward conference and Flash Film Festival, the oldest and largest Flash user conference in the world, shares the latest in design, development, education and inspiration. Confirmed speakers include: Beau Ambur, Bill Buxton, Mike Chambers, Jeremy Clark, Brendan Dawes, Marcus Dickinson, Kelly Goto, Branden Hall, Kristin Henry, Sas Jacobs, Brad Johnson, Phillip Kerman, Joey Lott, Nader Nejat, Erik Natzke, Andries Odendaal, Tim O'Reilly, Robert Penner, Rich Shupe, Craig Swann, Josh Ulm, Samuel Wan, Guy Watson and many more. Flashforward 2004 features: four half-day in-depth Flash workshops, 24 one-hour seminars, 20 Q&A sessions, 17 "Ask the Experts" sessions and 11 technology showcase seminars. The Flash Film Festival will feature a Macromedia keynote, exhibition area, Flash authors' book signing, networking receptions and exclusive conference workbook with speaker notes. For more information, visit http://www.flashforward2004.com.

Maxis chief designer and co-founder Will Wright, creator of THE SIMS, will kick off a new "Legends of the Game Industry" Speaker Series being hosted by The Art Institute of California - San Francisco (www.aicasf.aii.edu). The free event will be held from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at 1170 Market Street (at 8th). He will share his motivation and inspiration in creating the SIMS franchise, along with new developments and sequels. He also will share his thoughts on how the game industry has changed in the last 10 years, new areas of inspiration for budding game artists and designers, and ways that the next generation of game developers can create compelling games and story ideas. The session will conclude with a Q&A session from the audience. For more information or to RSVP, contact the Institute by calling (415) 865-0198 or e-mailing aisfadm@aii.edu. Walk-ins will be seated on a space-available basis.

CATNAP, Chicago Area Toon Novices and Professionals, moves to a new meeting location in February. We will be at the Loop Campus of the Illinois Institute of Art, 180 N. Wabash Ave., Room 234. Attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the location by using public transportation. This month's featured presentation will be by Ron Fleischer and John Griffin on the preproduction steps required to send the film "Lemmings" out for final animation work. The meeting is scheduled from 1 to 4 pm. Attendees are encouraged to bring work for screening and discussion.