The World Education Market will be a first-of-its kind annual event for all key players in education to meet on a world stage, buy and sell products, systems and know-how, share ideas and create dynamic business partnerships and joint ventures. Key decision-makers in colleges, universities, school systems, governments and international agencies, as well as publishers, multimedia developers, and the telecommunications and television industries will all be present.

WAC will showcase more than 800 films, including the best in both classic and contemporary animation. As the main attraction, WAC will present awards to the best new animated works from around the world. The World Animation Celebration will present a trade show, an international business conference, world and American film premieres, seminars, symposiums, tributes, salutes to new European animation, special programs on new computer animation and a survey of the world's best animated commercials. Cash prizes, awards and commissions will be presented to winners in categories that include feature and short films, television series, television specials, commercials, public service announcements, educational films, experimental animation, computer animation, and animation intended for children.

The 24th International Festival of animated film is now accepting entries for animated short films, television series, commissioned films and student films. Entry forms are now available on the festival web site. The three selection committees will gather in Annecy March 2-12, 2000 in order to choose the 5 features and 10 programs of shorts which will compose the official competition together with the 3 or 4 school and graduation film programs and the 8 TV & commissioned film programs, representing in total more that 30 hours of viewing. After honoring Japanese Animation in 1999, the festival will celebrate a century of animation, in an unprecedented tribute to all forms of the art. The festivities even include the participation of Richard Williams. The triple Oscar-winning animator, regarded by many in the industry as a modern master, will offer a three-day Animation Masterclass on the principles of animation, June 3-5, 2000. The MIFA expo (International Animated Film Market) will be open June 7-10, 2000, and feature a sizable new technologies area. The MIFA conference themes and speaker names will be available soon on the festival web site. Participation forms for the scientific conference NPAR 2000 (First International Symposium on Non Photorealistic Animation and Rendering, June 5-7, 2000) will be ready in February.

The 20th annual trade show is dedicated to the multi-billion dollar worldwide business of consumer product licensing, marketing, and merchandising. Last year's event had more than 16,000 in attendance. With more than 35 companies outside the U.S., the exhibition is truly an international event.

In its 17th year, the Showbiz Expo and Conference is a major spot for companies to showcase their production products and discuss the future of the entertainment industry. Among this year's seminars will be "Digital Hollywood: Bringing Entertainment Project Management into the New Millennium." The event will be hosted by Creative Planet and feature a look at how new technology will transform the efficiency of entertainment production. Another seminar of interest is "Storyboards For People Who Can't Draw." The discussion will be lead by James O. Fraioli, the author of STORYBOARDING 101. On Saturday, the expo will hold "Compositing Live-Action and Animation." The seminar will be moderated by Mark Simon, author of STORYBOARDS: MOTION IN ART and owner of AARGH! Animation Inc. On Sunday, there will be a seminar entitled "Live-Action Special Effects." Various other seminars will center on production, direction, scriptwriting and much more.

IITELMIT 2000 is a conference created to highlight the opportunities for businesses from around the globe in Indonesia. The Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Investment and State Enterprise Development of the Republic of Indonesia will take part in the organization of the event. The expo gives an opportunity for international businesses to showcase their products in front of an Indonesian audience. The conference sessions will focus on defining objectives, examining opportunities, applying technologies and proposing solutions to business problems.

SIGGRAPH 2000 is the foremost conference and expo on computer graphics. This year's event will feature an art gallery of some of the best digital work being created in the world. The event gives students, educators and artists a chance to communicate with the international computer graphics industry. The computer animation festival has the following categories: entertainment, visualization, education, art, non-narrative and experimental. The expo will feature in-depth labs, programs, seminars, forums, workshops and discussion on the industry of visual effects. The keynote address will be given by Ray Kurzwell, the author of THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES: WHEN COMPUTERS EXCEED HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.

The 3rd Annual Disney Institute Animation Event will give animation fans a chance to participate in the creation of a short animated film. For the first time an original score has been commissioned for the event. Hosting the event will be John Culhane, an acclaimed animation scholar and the inspiration for the "Mr. Snoops" character in THE RESCUERS. Guests will stay 6 days and 5 nights in a bungalow at the Disney Institute. Animation workshops and team animation sessions will guide participants through the animation process from story to soundtrack. A Disney animated film screening will happen nightly, followed by commentary. The newly trained animators will be given a copy of their work to take home with them. The price for the event is US$1,299 per person for double occupancy or $1,685 per person for single occupancy.

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Auction Extravaganza will feature original comics artwork, signed prints and comics, rare collectibles, toys and much more. The auction begins in July on eBay and climaxes at Wizard World. The CBLDF Auction Extravaganza is orchestrated by CHAOS! COMICS publishers Brian and Francisca Pulido, and sponsored by eBay and WIZARD. Many comics creators and publishers have donated work from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Adrian Tomine, Judd Winick, Steve Lieber and Billy Tucci.

Cartoon Forum is the annual European animation co-financing event, organized by Cartoon, the European animation union. The organizers have chosen 79 projects eligible for funding consideration. The selected entries can be viewed at Cartoon's Web site www.cartoon-media.be. The annual Cartoon d'Or prize will be given during the closing session. The five candidates are: BZZ by Benoit Feroumont, Belgium; PONPON by Fabien Drouet, France; PASSPORT by Siri Melchior, U.K.; THE SUSPECT by Jose Miguel Ribeiro, Portugal; and THE MAN WITH THE BEAUTIFUL EYES by Jonathan Hodgson, U.K. These European films were chosen as candidates based on their award-winning performances at selected European animation festivals. The money given is to finance a new film, suitable for television.

Animation World Magazine's article "Europe Strikes Back" by Heikki Jokinen answers all of our questions about the European Union's MEDIA program, CARTOON, the European Association of Animated Film.