The Zimbabwe International Film Festival (ZIFF) is back for its 9th edition. The event screens feature films, documentaries and short films from any genre. The films will be up for 11 coveted Mweya awards at the annual Closing Night ceremony on Saturday Sept. 2, 2006. In 2006, the festival will be bringing audiences in Harare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo the best in world cinema. For more information, visit www.ziff.co.zw.

From December 1-5 Autodesk will host a series of 3December events to celebrate 3D artists and their work. For the tenth consecutive year, these events provide Autodesk 3D software users with the opportunity to share their art, learn and network with their peers. 3December 2008 will include 3D art contests, live events in numerous cities around the world, and a virtual celebration on Autodesk's online user community -- the AREA. Autodesk will host live events on December 3 in London, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. Live events will also be hosted in New York City and Las Vegas on December 2 and Melbourne on December 5. In New York, free MasterClass Tips & Tricks sessions for Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox software will be offered by Derald Hunt and Erik Paynter from Turner Studios, renowned 3ds Max VFX artist Allan McKay, and Bill Harper from The Dreamhive. At the New York evening event, Harper will also offer a demonstration of Mudbox modeling techniques, while other high-profile artists will present tips and tricks for Maya and 3ds Max. The program line-up for the London event includes presentations by artists from Double Negative and The Mill. Registration is required for these events. For more information, or to register, visit: http://area.autodesk.com/3dec. Approximately ten Autodesk Animation User Group Association chapters will hold meetings in conjunction with 3December, including Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Oklahoma City. This year's Los Angeles meeting, at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, features Blur Studio discussing the cinematic pipeline used to create Warhammer Online. The user group chapter in Oklahoma, based at Digital Tutors, also promises a stellar line up of guests for its meeting, including Greg Punchatz, senior creative director at Janimation. Autodesk's AREA community website will serve as an online venue for the weeklong celebration. The site will offer free content including, tutorials, demonstrations and show reels. With the support of HP, Intel, and Wacom, Autodesk will also offer videos and images of 3December events online. Artists can register to become a member of the AREA community free-of-charge year-round at http://area.autodesk.com. During 3December, Autodesk will launch two contests, which will run until the end of January 2009. The "Alien Landscapes" contest invites artists to use Maya, 3ds Max, Mudbox and/or Softimage|XSI software to design an alien landscape. The grand prize winner will receive an HP DreamColor LP2480zx Display, courtesy of HP and a Dual Quad Core Intel Xeon based HP xw8600 workstation, courtesy of Intel. The winner will also receive one license of Mudbox 2009 software, as well as his or her choice of one license of Maya Complete 2009, 3ds Max 2009 or Softimage|XSI software. To celebrate the event's tenth anniversary, the "3December Logo Design Challenge" requires artists to design a logo for 3December using Autodesk SketchBook Pro software. Among other requirements, the 2D design submitted must be transferrable to 3D and easily animated. The grand prize winner will receive a Wacom Cintiq 12 tablet, provided by Wacom. On December 1, more information, including contest terms and conditions, are to be available at http://area.autodesk.com/3dec.

AnimationMentor.com will host a free webinar discussion between Animation Mentor chief executive officer and co-founder Bobby Beck and Don Hahn, acclaimed producer for The Walt Disney Studios, about the life and influence of Disney mentor, teacher, and artist Walt Stanchfield. Open to animators and animation enthusiasts alike, the webinar celebrates the launch of the new book, DRAWN TO LIFE: 20 GOLDEN YEARS OF DISNEY MASTER CLASSES, the complete series of animation lectures by Walt Stanchfield.

Webinar Details
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2009
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Pacific
Register: http://www.animationmentor.com/webinar/

About Don Hahn, The Walt Disney Studios
Don Hahn is a two-time Academy Award nominee and film producer responsible for producing some of the most successful Walt Disney Animated films of the past 20 years, including BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and THE LION KING.
To learn more about Hahn, visit http://www.donhahn.com/.

About DRAWN TO LIFE: 20 GOLDEN YEARS OF DISNEY MASTER CLASSES
Published for the first time, DRAWN TO LIFE is a two-volume collection of the legendary lectures from longtime Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. For over 20 years, Walt helped breathe life into the new golden age of animation with these teachings at the Walt Disney Animation Studios and influenced such talented artists as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Glen Keane, and John Lasseter. This book represents the quintessential refresher for fine artists and film professionals, and is a vital tutorial for students who are now poised to be part of another new generation in the art form.

Scr(i)pt magazine's Open Door Screenwriting Contest is sponsored by the production house Benderspink (AMERICAN PIE, CATS & DOGS). The contest features a grand prize of $3,000. The top three scripts will be read by Benderspink. Software and prizes supplied by Final Draft, InkTip, the Writers Store and Script P.I.M.P.'s Writer's Database. Previous winner Brian Winfrey sold his script to Disney for mid-six figures. The entry fee is $45. For more information visit http://www.scriptmag.com/pages/contest.shtml.

The Radmin Co and FILMMAKERS MAGAZINE presents the 4th Annual 2004 Screenwriting Competition. First prize is $ 5,000, second prize: $1,000, third prize: $ 500, fourth prize: $ 250 and fifth prize: $100. Top ten finalists will receive Script Notes and consideration for representation as well as five minutes to pitch their winning scripts to producer looking for and accepting scripts written by unproduced/unrepresented writers. Top five will each get three pitches. Top 20 finalists will win a free admission pass to The Screenwriting Expo as well as having their scripts read by The Radmin Co, industry professionals, production companies and literary agents. Top 50 scripts will be read by The Radmin Co for consideration for representation. Entry fee is $39 if postmarked by September 30, 2003, $49 if postmarked by January 31, 2004. The Radmin Co is a Beverly Hills-based literary management and development company. For more information visit www.filmmakers.com/contests/2004/screen/index.htm.

Stopmotionfilm.de hosts the second Morph 2003 to highlight the best in short stop-motion films. The length should be two minutes and it doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a professional. For more information, visit www.stopmotionfilm.de.

Supported by the Writers Guild of America, west, Scriptapalooza TV Television Writing Competition is dedicated to helping emerging writers get their feet in the door. It accepts one-hour Spec Scripts, half-hour Spec Scripts and Original Pilots. The winners in each category will be considered by Scriptapalooza's outstanding list of participants. Visit www.scriptapaloozaTV.com for details or call (323) 654-5809.

At the 2003 Virtuality Conference, Franz Cerami announced the new Miss Digital World, a beauty contest for digitally created women. The contest

Chris Wehner, editor-n-chief of SCREENWRITER'S MONTHLY, author of SCREENWRITING ON THE INTERNET: RESEARCHING, WRITING & SELLING YOUR SCRIPT ON THE WEB (2000) and WHO WROTE THAT MOVIE? SCREENWRITING IN REVIEW: 2000-2002 will be conducting an online writing workshop entitled, "Writing The Screenplay 101." Classes meet every Monday for four weeks from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm (MST). Students will accomplish at least 10 pages, not exceeding 30 pages, of script development. Students will learn the basics of screenwriting and ascertain enough knowledge to continue writing their screenplay and finish. For more information, visit http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/store/intro_screenwriting.html.

RealTexture will be offering an Xmas contest where participants can win a coupon for realtexture products, the "Weihnachtsmannspiel Deluxe" t-shirt and the brand new "Weihnachtsmannspiel Deluxe" game. Participants must create cool and impressive Christmas related stuff. At the beginning of the contest, RealTexture will offer a small package with a selection of our products for download. The three finest pieces done with this material will be awarded prizes listed. Industry Graphics develops the RealTexture