Confidential, extensive explorations of how visual effects and digital animation were achieved in films such as X-MEN 2, THE MATRIX RELOADED and FINDING NEMO; will be part of the 5th Annual VES 2003: A Festival of Visual Effects line-up at The Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood from June 27-29, 2003. Presented by the Visual Effects Society (VES), the festival offers detailed, frequently proprietary, looks at the visual effects process through viewing certain segments of the works featured.

While the VES usually will focus on the big summer effects releases and TV series, this year the society is featuring music videos, titles and shorts as interesting aspects of visual effects.

Filmstock is an annual film festival produced by Zero Balance. Conceived and developed by Neil Fox and Justin Doherty, the festival remains their baby and each year they go all out to bring the best two weeks of film they can. Not without some valuable assistance, and that is provided by business partner and financial director Damian Blow, the third man in the Zero Balance clan. For more information, contact tel.: +44 (0)1582 752908, fax: +44 (0)1582 423347, e-mail: Contact@filmstock.co.uk, or Web: www.filmstock.co.uk.

The International Trade Fair for Motion Picture Technology is a bi-annual international meeting point of the film sector. In 2002, 3,127 visitors from 49 countries attended the event. Participation in the film industry's specialist trade fair is expected from the fields of camera and grip technology, production of film stock, lighting and sound, post-production and digital film editing, set decoration and accessories, technical aids, as well as services, institutes, organizations and publishing houses. Leading developers, producers and suppliers like ARRI, Band Pro, Chrosziel, Dedo Weigert, Eurotech, FGV Schmiedle, Gecko-Cam, Grip Factory, Kodak, Licht Technik Hagenbach und Grill, Movie-Tech, Panther, P+S Technik, Power Gems, Preston Cinema Systems, Sachtler, Tamuz and Videor Technical will be presenting their latest range of products. Again in 2004, the cinec award will be presented for outstanding achievements in different fields of the film sector on the trade fair. The award will be presented by the Bavarian Society for Advancement of Film Technology (FGF), whose members are renowned companies and organizations of the film industry. For more information, visit http://www.cinec.de.

The 6th Annual DVD Awards is the premiere awards ceremony for the DVD industry. Hosted by famed film critic Leonard Maltin, the event celebrates the art of making DVDs. This year the event will feature a Viewer's Choice Award. DVD publishers, film studios, production companies, mastering facilities and individual producers are invited to participate in the awards program honoring the best in DVD. For more information visit www.recordingmedia.org/dvd-awards.html.

The 6th Annual First Boards Awards will honor international emerging talent in the commercial production industry. Winners and runners up will be celebrated at the First Boards Awards party in New York and profiled in the April issue of Boards Magazine.

Talent entered can only have been working in their craft for since January 1st 2003. Awarded categories include Directors, Editors, Composers, Animators, Creative Teams and Designers.

Cost per entry is $300. To enter online, please visit www.beam.tv/awards/firstboards. For complete entry and eligibility details, or to enter by mail please visit www.boardsmag.com/firstboards or contact Christine Collins at 416-408-2300 x 229.

The Reel to Real International Film Festival for Youth is an annual, competitive, international event. A non-profit media arts and education society, Reel to Real is dedicated to showing the best in culturally diverse, non-stereotypical and humanistic programming for children and youth. Reel to Real International Film Festival for Youth seeks films that are imaginative, evocative, innovative, inspiring, entertaining and suitable for children, 6 and up, and youth, 13 and up. For more information, visit www.r2rfestival.org.

The Oscars! Every February Oscar Fever hits the entertainment community and film fans around the world, building to the crescendo of the annual Academy Awards Presentation a month later, when hundreds of millions of cinema lovers glue themselves to their television sets to learn who will receive the little golden statuette.

INDAC, the International Nights & Days of Animation - Cologne started seven years ago as a small
animation evening. Since then, it has grown into a festival that welcomed 3500 participants in 2001. This year, INDAC will expand its activities to the cities of D

The International Forum for Animation Technologies (FITA) is held every year in Angoul

The Oscars reward the previous year’s greatest cinema achievements as determined by some of the world’s most accomplished motion picture artists and professionals. The Academy’s roughly 6,000 members vote for the Oscars using secret ballots, which are tabulated by the international auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. The auditors maintain absolute secrecy until the moment the show’s presenters open the envelopes and reveal the winners on live television.

And the Oscar Goes To...

Awards are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in up to 25 categories. Members select winners from as many as five nominees in each category, which are determined by members of the relevant Academy branch. (For instance, only film editors may nominate for the Achievement in Film Editing award.) The only exceptions are the Best Picture category, for which nominees are selected by the entire membership, and the Best Foreign Language films, which are nominated by a committee of members drawn from all branches.

In addition to the regular annual awards conferred by the membership, the Board of Governors is empowered to bestow Scientific and Technical Awards, Honorary Awards, Special Achievement Awards and other honors. Learn more about all the awards here.

Broadcast rights to the annual Oscar telecast provide the majority of the revenue for the organization’s rich and varied year-round activities.