Anime Supercon (ASC) is now Animation Supercon, as it returns for a 4th year to an all new, bigger & better location; the Doubletree Miami Airport Hotel and Convention Center. Animation Supercon will replace Anime Supercon as the shows focus shifts to encompass the entire animation world, and not just Japanese anime. Set for October 2-4, Animation Supercon is a three day festival and convention dedicated to Animation, Cartoons, Anime, Comic Books and Video Games. Animation Supercon will feature celebrity guests, artists, animators, writers, vendors, Q&A's, parties, costume contests, anime programming, cosplay, panels, photo shoots, live music, video games and more as it takes over 100,000+ square feet of the Doubletree Miami Airport Hotel and Convention Center. This year's event will also host the inaugural Supercon International Animation Film Festival (SIAFF) which will feature animated films and shorts from across the globe. The event kicks off at 3:30PM, Friday, October 2 and the fun continues almost around the clock until 6:00PM, Sunday, October 4. Over the weekend-long event, attendees will have a chance to meet and converse with celebrity guests and artists from all corners of the industry. Our initial guest list includes two very special cast reunions from Futurama and Pinky & The Brain. Our first round of guests includes: Billy West: Star of Futurama (Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, Dr. Zoidberg), Ren and Stimpy (Ren and Stimpy), Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd), Doug (Doug) and The Woody Woodpecker Show (Woody Woodpecker). John DiMaggio: Star of Futurama (Bender, Flexo, Elzar), Gears of War (Marcus Fenix), Chowder (Shnitzel), Final Fantasy XII (Gilgamesh, Migelo), Samurai Jack (The Scotsman) and Princess Mononoke (Gonza). Phil LaMarr: Star of Futurama (Hermes Conrad, Rev. Lionel Preacherbot), Samurai Jack (Samurai Jack), Family Guy (Ollie Williams, The Judge), Transformers: Animated (Jazz, Omega Supreme, Jetstorm), Mad TV, Justice League (Green Lantern), Static Shock (Static) and Final Fantasy XII (Reddas). Maurice LaMarche: Star of Futurama (Kif, Morbo, Calculon, Lrr, Donbot, Hedonist Bot), Pinky and The Brain (The Brain), Tripping the Rift (Gus), Xiaolin Showdown (Master Fung), Inspector Gadget (Inspector Gadget), Tiny Toon Adventures (Dizzy Devil), Transformers (Six Gun) and The Critic (Jeremy Hawke). Rob Paulsen: Star of Pinky and The Brain (Pinky), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Raphael), The Tick (Arthur), Animaniacs (Yakko), Transformers (Air Raid, Slingshot), GI Joe (Snowjob, Tripwire) and Fraggle Rock (Boober, Sprocket). Allen Bellman: Golden Age Comic Book artist for Timely / Marvel and Lev Gleason. Mr. Bellman's credits include Captain America, The Patriot, Let's Play Detective, The Human Torch, The Sub-Mariner, All Select Comics, Marvel Mystery Comics and All Winners Comics. Nakia Mann: Comic Book Artist of Zoom Suit and Codename: Power. Other guests include: Manny Aguilera (artist), Wendy Lo (designer / writer), Kill Miss Pretty (musical guests), Deleon Walters (artist) and Joel Estrada (artist). More guests will be announced shortly. For more information and updates visit: www.animationsupercon.com The convention hours of operation are: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2: 3:30PM -- 2:00AM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3: 11:00AM -- 2:00AM SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4: 11:00AM -- 6:00PM Tickets are currently available online and at select vendors. General Admission (3) Day Weekend Pass: $20 if reserved between now through July 25, 2009 $30 if reserved between July 26 and August 31, 2009 $35 if reserved between September 1 and September 30, 2009 General Admission at the door is $40 for a weekend pass. Single day passes will be $20 for Friday or Sunday and $25 for Saturday. Children under 10 receive free admission. Parents, Police officers, Fire Fighters and Military receive a $10 discount. Special V.I.P. tickets are available as well. The Double Tree Miami Airport Hotel & convention center is located at 711 NW 72nd Ave, Miami, FL 33126. The Double Tree has over 100,000 square feet of total convention space to accommodate the growing attendance of Animation Supercon. Discounted room rates for convention are available. See our website www.animationsupercon.com for details.

5D|09 The Immersive Design Conference will take place October 1-3, 2009 on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, co-produced by the Art Directors Guild and the University Art Museum.

Last year’s event, which united 1,000 diversified entertainment industry professionals and students, explored the latest ideas in the practice of immersive design from such speakers as Henry Jenkins (MIT), Gore Verbinski (director), Paola Antonelli (MOMA), Mike Benson (ABC Ent.) and Sebastian Sylwan (Autodesk), among others.

For more information about 5D visit: www.5dconference.com.

STAR WARS: In Concert, a unique multi-media event featuring music from all six of John Williams' epic Star Wars scores, begins its worldwide arena tour on October 1, 2009 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Narrated live by Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films), the production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall, high-definition LED super-screen -- one of the largest ever put on tour. The live music and film elements are synchronized in order to create a full multi-media, one-of-kind STAR WARS experience. "We've taken the key themes from the music and cut together all the images that fit with each theme, so you can really get a sense of how the music played into the images," said George Lucas, creator of the STAR WARS Saga. "The whole soundtrack is a testament to John Williams' creativity and his extraordinary ability to enhance the emotional aspects of the films." "Creating the music for the STAR WARS films has been an exciting and wonderful experience for me, and I therefore have derived particular pleasure in assembling a compendium of themes from all of the films to be presented in STAR WARS in Concert," said Williams. "The editors at Lucasfilm have created original film montages to accompany each of the musical selections, and in the process, I believe that a singular and unique STAR WARS experience has been born." "This event has been crafted to present STAR WARS from many points of view; for the first time, the full dramatic sweep of Williams' iconic scores can be heard performed live in one evening," said Another Planet Touring Producer Spencer Churchill." "The show is a new way of experiencing the epic scope of the saga." Accompanying the concert is an exclusive exhibit of STAR WARS costumes, props, artifacts, production artwork and specially created behind-the-scenes videos from the Lucasfilm Archives. Many of these pieces are leaving Skywalker Ranch for the first time. The exhibit features many classic fan favorite artifacts, as well as several new and never-before-seen items, including: -- Full costumes for Jedi Masters Kit Fisto and Plo Koon will be on display. -- For the first time ever, pages from John Williams' original hand-written sheet music for STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE will be exhibited for the public. -- Also on display will be various never-before-seen props from the films, including blasters and helmets from Coruscant, Tatooine and other iconic STAR WARS locations. For more information, please visit www.StarWarsInConcert.com.

MetroCAF is the annual NYC Metropolitan Area College Computer Animation Festival organized by the New York City chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH. Started in 2003, MetroCAF has grown into the most important local festival of its kind. It provides an exciting opportunity for all students in the NYC metropolitan area to show their work to not only their fellow students, but also to professionals in the field of computer graphics. Plans are under way for the festival to tour the network of ACM SIGGRAPH Professional and Student Chapters so this could mean international exposure for your computer-generated pieces. SHOWTIME: October 1st, 2009 7PM - FIT Haft Theater - NYC DEADLINE: June 1st, 2009 (postmarked) This seventh edition of the festival is open to all students who attend college in the NYC metropolitan area, and who have produced computer animation, visualization or visual effects within the course of your studies (in other words, you haven't been paid for it). Schools are considered to be within the NYC metropolitan area if they are located within a 75-mile radius of Times Square in Manhattan. Website: www.metrocaf.org/2009 Contact: metrocaf@siggraph.org

Don’t miss out on attending the GPU Technology Conference, taking place Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in San Jose, CA. Hosted by NVIDIA, this conference is sure to be the most significant event in 2009 dedicated to application development on the GPU.

This one-of-a-kind event will allow developers, engineers, researchers, and business executives to see first-hand how GPUs are being utilized to solve the world’s most important computing challenges. The conference will feature senior programmers, researchers and thought-leaders from across a vast range of fields presenting a multitude of technical sessions, tutorials, panels, showcases and moderated roundtables on everything from interactive ray tracing and 3D digital entertainment, to seismic processing and computational finance. To view the schedule, visit: https://nvidiagtc.wingateweb.com/scheduler/schedule/eventDayView.jsp or follow @nvidiadeveloper on Twitter.

A wide range of NVIDIA customers and partners will be attending the conference, including:

•Adobe
•Allegorithmic
•Apple Inc.
•Autodesk
•BorisFX
•Chevron
•Harvard University
•Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
•Lucasfilm
•Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab
•mental images
•Oak Ridge National Laboratory
•RTT USA
•Schlumberger
•The Portland Group
•Tokyo Institute of Technology
•University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
•Walt Disney Animation Studios

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 1-2:30 p.m., hear th

Celeste Prize is a unique international contemporary arts competition in which artists decide who wins the 40,000 Euro (US$50,000) award money. The 46 finalists are chosen by a panel of international art critics: Mark Gisbourne, Adrienne Goehler, Victoria Lu, Claudio Sinatti and a panel of consultants with experience in audiovisual performance. These 46 finalists themselves choose the ultimate winners in each category. Exhibition and awards ceremony to be held in Berlin, Germany, September 2009. Artists may enter work in Video, Animation, Performance, Live Media, Live Audio Video Performance, Painting, Photography, Installation, Sculpture, or DJ/VJ Set. Awards: Photography & Digital Graphics Prize: 8,000 Euro (US$10,000) Video & Animation Prize: 8,000 Euro (US$10,000) Installation & Sculpture Prize: 8,000 Euro (US$10,000) Live Media Prize: 8,000 Euro (US$10,000) Painting Prize: 8,000 Euro (US$10,000) Entry fee: 80 Euro (US$100) Deadline: June 30 2009 Register & apply online at http://www.celesteprize.com. Celeste Prize is organized by the non-profit cultural association Associazione Culturale L'Albero Celeste.

Delcam will hold its 2009 ArtCAM User Group Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Kansas City, from 30th September to 2nd October. The event will open with a special networking evening at Hallmark Cards, one of the largest ArtCAM users in North America. This will be followed by two days of workshops on the latest versions of the software. In today's economy, everyone is looking for ways to be more competitive and more profitable. With this in mind, Delcam has decided to focus on ways of improving skill level and productivity at the meeting. The first day will be a general session covering core modelling functionality, 2D & 3D design styles, tips and tricks and what's to come in the 2010 version of ArtCAM. "Already used by many signmakers, cabinet-makers, and furniture manufacturers, this new version is set to further increase the use of ArtCAM in the three-dimensional world," said Ed Powell, ArtCAM Product Manager. ArtCAM 2010 will include a new modernised graphical user interface, direct interactivity and improvements to the core performance by utilizing GPU Acceleration and CPU multi-threading. As with previous versions, ArtCAM development continues to be designed around simplifying the workflow so that even beginners to CNC technology can start using the program as quickly as possible. More advanced users will appreciate the direct 3D interaction and the ability to customise their favourite toolsets. The use of multi-threading will enhance the toolpath calculation performance making ArtCAM even faster and more efficient. In addition toolpath strategies can now be associated with vector layers, making it easier to machine complicated nested patterns. The second day will be focused to specific industries and the related software. "We believe the second day split is the best way for our delegates to effectively make use of the time they have available," said Mary Shaw, Delcam Marketing Manager. "This year during this time we will be looking at the most practical combination of techniques and ideas to transform and improve what you can do with ArtCAM." "Both new and experienced users are often amazed how much they can learn by attending the User Group and learning from real world experience and expertise that is available," added Ms. Shaw. "As well as learning from the Delcam ArtCAM team, probably the best reason to attend a User Group is to meet other users of ArtCAM and learn from them." Like the online forum, the User Group is an opportunity to catch up with friends, find out about other equipment and materials and be inspired by the different uses and applications on show from ArtCAM customers. "Delegates will learn a lot about what is possible for them to achieve and be motivated when they return to their businesses to make ArtCAM an even more productive part of it," said Ms. Shaw. Once again, there will be a design competition in conjunction with the User Group. "We will once again be opening up the floor to our users to show us some of the excellent projects they've been working on," explained Ms. Shaw. Categories will be judged based on industry and product type with the prizes and winners being announced during the User Group. Entries for the competition can be submitted at www.artcam.com/promos/ug2009/index.htm For more information on the ArtCAM User Meeting, call the Delcam North American office at 1 877 335 2261 or email Jackie at jackie@delcam.com.

The 2009 New York Anime Festival, an anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture convention from the creators of New York Comic Con, will take place September 25-27, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan, and attendees, professionals and press can all register now at newyorkanimefestival.com. And, for the first time, NYAF will offer all attendees who register online two complimentary weeks of premium online service on crunchyroll.com, the digital world's #1 destination for anime and Asian video content. Online attendee tickets are available now at the following, discounted prices. Friday tickets are $35, Saturday tickets are $40, Sunday tickets are $35, and Weekend tickets (good for all three days) are $55. At the Javits Center, all tickets will be priced $5 higher. Additionally, attendees who purchase their tickets online will be able to bypass the registration lines on-site. The New York Anime Festival encourages attendees to register online to save time and money. And, new for NYAF 2009, all attendees will also be able to receive two free weeks of premium content from crunchyroll.com through a special offer located in NYAF's registration confirmation e-mail. Crunchyroll is an online video service and community that offers licensed, legal full-length episodes and movies of the very best in anime and Asian entertainment. Beyond attendees, the New York Anime Festival also welcomes all those making their living in the anime and manga fields as well as reporters across the full spectrum of the press. NYAF provides both press and professionals with complimentary passes, available now at newyorkanimefestival.com. The New York Anime Festival will announce guests, VIP packages, contests, and programming throughout the spring and summer. Additionally, fans unable to wait until September can expect several meet-ups sponsored by NYAF at Manhattan's Kinokuniya Bookstore -- the largest Japanese bookstore in the USA -- in the months prior to NYAF 2009. For more information about the New York Anime Festival, visit the show's official website (www.newyorkanimefestival.com) and blog (www.mediumatlarge.net).

The Jamaica Digital Arts Festival was formed to create a new opportunity to unleash and showcase some of the nation's productive energy and to develop a critical mass across all social divides to push this creativity for societal benefit. This festival is intended to kick-start national interest in a cultural industry based on the creation of digital arts products. This year, the opportunities for learning will be even bigger and better than 2007. Seminars will be delivered by experts from Jamaica and the Caribbean in cutting edge areas such as: Jamaica and the animation industry -- what prospects; A close look at the RED Camera Technology and Fine Art; The Future of Digital Sound Reproduction; Your Digital Camera and you and much more. Categories will be as follows: * Short video/films - up to 15 minutes. May be narrative, dramatic or animation * Long video/films - 15 minutes & over. May be narrative, dramatic or animation * Web design * Digital art - 3D art, animation, VR, games, etc. * Photography * Music Entries must have a development related focus in one of the following areas: * Tourism / Hospitality / Entertainment & Music / Community Development / Agriculture / Education & Training Within the categories there will be two classes -- professionals and students/hobbyists. Admission Free, See You There!

The First Annual Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival runs September 18 through 20, 2009. The complete festival schedule will be announced in August. Tickets will be made available online as well as in designated ticket venues. For more information on the festival, including descriptions of films and events, please visit www.mifff.org. MIFFF produces the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival, the premier Pacific Northwest weekend-long event devoted towards independent and international genre film making. The event was created to offer exposure to films that traditionally are overlooked by the festival circuit from genres including animation, fantasy, horror, and science fiction. The festival will feature an amazing selection of fantastic cinema from around the globe -- with the possibility of artists presenting the works themselves. U.S. and world premieres will play alongside global festival favorites and select retrospective titles. MIFFF is registered as a Washington State non-profit. MIFFF's mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary genre movies from across the globe.