Writers Boot Camp, the industry leader in training film and TV writers, will be holding the only Saturday morning session of its renowned six-week Basic Training course of the year. It's six consecutive Saturday mornings, beginning on March 29 at its Santa Monica, California headquarters. Classes will be from 10 a.m. until about 12:30 p.m. (instead of the traditional weeknight class). You learn developmental and brainstorming tools, with assignments and deadlines, feedback and support -- and will complete a rough first draft of your film or TV spec script, all in 6 weeks. All you need to start are a single-sentence idea, and 10 hours of available time to write each week. Writers Boot Camp alumni work at the top levels of the entertainment industry, and have written screenplays that earned more than half a billion dollars in box office, including OCEAN'S 13 and BLADES OF GLORY. Alumni have also created (BURN NOTICE), and directed (WEST WING, HOUSE, MAD MEN) some of the top shows on TV, and have been staffed on more than 70 different shows, including an alum who is now the Executive Producer of GREY'S ANATOMY. This year, one alum won two Tony awards, including one for Best Story for a Broadway Musical (SPRING AWAKENING) beating out another WBC alum in that category. If you or someone you know in the Los Angeles area would like to take advantage of this once a year Saturday class, call ASAP. When the class is full, it will be another year before another Saturday class is held again. And, for all Animation Army members and referrals, if you register by March 24, you'll save $100 off the regular $995 fee -- just $895. For more information on this and other WBC coursework -- including live classes in Los Angeles and New York, and online coursework, check out www.writersbootcamp.com, or contact Mike Brennan at (800) 800-1733, x308, or at: mbrennan@writersbootcamp.com.

Attend a five-hour workshop

lead by three prolific children's book illustrators who have now also become authors. This valuable session will offer one-on-one interaction providing insight for those aspiring to illustrate and even write their own children's book.

(1pm - 2:30pm) Panel with Creators
(2:30pm - 3pm) Q & A
(3pm - 6pm) Workshop Seminar

Presenters/Instructors:

Dan Krall
Dan Santat
James Burks

Topics Covered:

• Layout & Design Tips
• The Best Way to Write Your Book

• Pitching Your Project

*Self publishing.

*Getting an agent

*Process of Illustration

Bring note-taking materials!

Writing Animation For Television and the Web

X 430.5 Film & Television 3 units $520

Whether on TV, film, or computer screens, animation is a fully creative universe without limits on sets, costumes, or special effects. All it takes is your imagination--plus it's a growing field that is friendly to new talent. One day you can be creating a script about talking trucks, the next day an action show about angst-ridden superheroes or maybe a series of webisodes that are the hottest thing on the internet. This course teaches you how to think like an animation writer, starting with the all-important strategies for writing visually, and then guides you through the entire TV and Internet animation script writing process, including the building blocks of good writing: story structure, character development, and sharp dialogue. Honing in on your spec script, you learn how to find the voice and style of a particular show, pitch stories, create solid outlines, write the first draft, and deal with notes and changes, and by the end of the course, have in hand a polished sample script. Guest speakers include show runners, producers, and executives who discuss the business side of animation: how to break in, what agents do and don't do, the process of getting your script from page to the TV or computer screen, how to hook up with artists that can make your vision visual, and most of all, how to have a satisfying career in a field where your imagination is free. Enrollment limited to 16 students. $55 nonrefundable; no refund after April 15. One previous screenwriting course or equivalent experience is helpful but not necessary. Internet access required to retrieve course materials.

Instructor: Brooks Wachtel

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.

The Los Angreles Chapter meeting of SIGGRAPH will feature "making of" presentations of the visual effects in X2: X-MEN UNITED , as well as a special screening of the movie at Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Academy of Motion Picture Artists & Sciences, 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. Artists from Cinesite and Rhythm & Hues will be on hand to discuss the creation of innovative effects from Nightcrawler's teleportation to Storm's tornados. Event is sponsored by Side Effects Software, whose Houdini 3D software was used extensively throughout the film. Speakers scheduled to appear: Doug Bloom Tornado Effects Lead Rhythm & Hues Mike O'Neal Lead Effects Animator Rhythm & Hues Greg Anderson CG Supervisor Cinesite Arnon Manor CG Supervisor Cinesite Craig "X-Ray" Halpern CG Effects TD Cinesite Meeting is free for members and $10 for non-members. For more information visit: www.la.siggraph.org

The SFWEB3D presents X3D Unreal and for Real: Making Content in X3D. X3D and Realtime3D are fast becoming the next phase of digital media for the Web, corporate intranets, hand helds, phones and beyond. This month's meeting is a special "hands on look at making X3D content." First, Dave Arendash of Manyone.net, the new owners of the Flux X3D browser, will show us how to make X3D and VRML scenes and worlds using the UNREAL game engine and editor. Arendash has created an exporter that will convert Unreal levels and worlds into X3D. Second, Joe Williams who works on the X3D spec, will take those interested in the nuts and bolts code of X3D into examples of how to make x3d content with just code via notepad or any text editor. The free event will run from 7:00

Sin City now has its own convention dedicated to the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, imaginative art in all its guises and influence on technology. From rockets-to-the-moon to your garage band podcast, traditional art to CGI and digital graphics, movie magic, independent film to imaginative literature old and new. Robert J. Sawyer is the author guest of honor and internationally known master of gothic art Brom is the artist guest of honor. Oscar-winning vfx technician Joe Viskocil will be the media guest of honor.

Check out demonstrations of the leading software and pick up pointers from the pros. There will be movies, panels and demonstrations, things to buy and things to try and parties.

Get everything for a $50 membership through www.xanadulasvegas.com.

IDEAlliance, a leading industry association dedicated to fostering XML and other information technology standards, will host the XML Conference and Exposition 2004, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The theme of this year's conference is "XML -- From Syntax to Solutions." Presenters will include industry titans such as Microsoft, DaimlerChrysler, IBM and Oracle, as well as renowned industry analysts and smaller firms working on the cutting edge of XML technologies and solutions. XML 2004's educational programs will cover a wide array of critical XML topics. Educational "tracks" will include: B2B, case studies, client applications, core technologies, government, graphics/multimedia, integration, knowledge management, late breaking news, product presentations, interoperability demonstrations, publishing, storing XML, town halls, vertical industries and Web services. For information on exhibiting at XML 2004, visit www.xmlconference.org/xmlusa/2004/exhibits.html.

The Xth Edition of the Image Workshop "Zero on Behavior",Coordinated by the CGAI and the Master in Digital Creation and Communication, feature this year an amazing program of recognized international lecturers, an overview of the state of the art in 3D computer graphics and its role in media:


-Gabriel White (Digital Artist 3D.MillFilm, UK)


-Mike Milne (Director of Computer Animation.
Framestore CFC, UK)


-Juan Buhler (Lead Effects Animator. PDI/Dreamworks, San Francisco,USA)


-Juan Tomicic (Daiquiri/Spainbox, Spain)


-Juan Nouche, Alberto Taracido, Javier Reigada y David Caeiro (Dygra Films, Spain)


-Isaac Kerlow (Director Digital Production and Talent, Technology and New Media. Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles, USA)



The aids to the digital creation in Europe, Spain and Galicia will be discussed with :


-Ignacio Otero, Director of the Audiovisual Production and Social Communication, Xunta de Galicia.Spain.


-Jesus Hernadez, Mediadesk Spain.



There will be screenings every day affter the conferences:

Shrek,
Episode II: Attack of the Clones,
The Living Forest,
Walking with Beasts and
Black Hawk Down, among others.

http://mccd.udc.es/mundosdigitales or

http://www.cgai.org

X|Media|Lab is a one day international conference on creativity, business, and technology of new media content (general admission); followed by the 2-day X|Media|Lab, an elite hands-on workshop for comanpanies and project teams working on their own project ideas (selected projects only).

X|Media|Lab (and the Pro Day Conference) will take place June 15-17th at the Singapore Exhibition Centre alongside the huge Broadcast Asia trade show which also includes summits on Digital Broadcasting, Digital Cinema, Interactive Television, Mobile Content, Animation, Computer Graphics, and Games.

The theme for the first X|Media|Lab in Singapore is primarily for companies and project teams developing animation, graphics, and games projects. Eight projects will be selected to participate in the Lab.

X|Media|Lab focuses exclusively on helping create successful commercial media projects by working on the creative, technology, and business propositions and increasing the chance of the projects getting commercial funding, and succeeding in the marketplace.
Nominate your project team now for inclusion in the Lab and become part of an elite network of new media superstars.