Bang Zoom! Ent. was tapped recently to develop and produce a fun, new Web-based show, MANGA MINUTES for Manga.com.

Manga.Com is the official site of Manga Ent., publisher of anime titles such as ASTRO BOY, GHOST IN THE SHELL, NINJA SCROLL, BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, and more. Bang Zoom! will produce 24 episodes of the show in total, which recently was ranked as high as #5 on the iTunes "Arts & Entertainment" chart.

Fifteen episodes are now available on Manga.com at www.manga.com/channels/manga-minutes.

Last Thursday's Oscar VFX bakeoff pitted the seven remaining semi-finalists, and the nominees will be announced tomorrow morning along with the rest of the contenders for the 81st Academy Awards. You can read Tom McLean's informative report with links to our exclusive breakdown clips on AWNtv: Best of luck to those vying for the three coveted spots. Meanwhile, MK12, which was tapped by Marc Forster for the illustrious QUANTUM OF SOLACE main title sequence, tells VFXWORLD all about that singular motion graphics challenge, and they provided a nice clip that you can view as well.

Nexus Productions have signed the French directing duo FX & Mat.

FX & Mat are attracting international acclaim with their amazing and diverse animations. From the pretty whimsy of their recent spot for the Royal Bank of Canada to the brooding intensity of their first short, EN TU BRAZOS, in which they bring to life and give feline grace to the tango dancing couple at the heart of this love story, FX & Mat are pushing creative boundaries and taking a chameleon-like approach to their work.

CITY OF EMBER On DVD

Japan's largest animation studio, Toei Animation, will turn its Hong Kong joint venture into a wholly-owned subsidiary, per VARIETY.

Toei will buy the shares of Toei Animation Enterprises from its local partner, Animation Intl., a content production company based in Hong Kong.

Last week, Tokyo-based animation house GHD also announced plans to expand into China, with a specialty channel that will broadcast cartoons into China via the Internet and TV. Dedicated to anime, the channel is called Gonzo and will be on a demand service provided by Chunghwa Telecom Co.

Keanu Reeves is attached to star in a live-action adaptation of Japanese anime TV series COWBOY BEBOP for Twentieth Century Fox, according to VARIETY.

Reeves would reunite with THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL producer Erwin Stoff (through his 3 Arts banner) and would play the role of Spike Spiegel, an adventurous bounty hunter traveling through space circa 2071. Spiegel and his fellow bounty hunters travel via spaceship, the Bebop.

Screenplay is being penned by Peter Craig and Joshua Long is exec producing.

NVIDIA has launched two new graphics solutions for the enthusiast gamer, the GeForce GTX 295 and the GeForce GTX 285.

The GeForce GTX 295 is the world's fastest dual GPU solution. Featuring the power of two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 GPUs on a single card, the GeForce GTX 295 delivers unrivaled graphics performance in the hottest games including FAR CRY 2, MIRROR'S EDGE, and CALL OF DUTY 5: WORLD AT WAR.

Big Machine Design (BMD), a full-service creative services studio, has completed a new show open for the hit, nationally syndicated program LIVE! WITH REGIS AND KELLY.

To view this work, see: http://bigmachinedesign.net/misc/regiskelly.mov

New York-based commercial production company Zero 2 Sixty (0:2:60) and their design, effects and post partner Guerilla FX (GFX), have signed director/cinematographer George Billard for exclusive U.S. spot representation and for the creation of interactive content.

Rushes has recently completed work for the opening titles and logo of ITV1's latest drama DEMONS, a modern-day take on the mythology surrounding Dracula and the Van Helsing family, starring Phil Glenister, Mackenzie Crook and Christian Cooke.

Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, will receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the field of computer graphics for the motion picture industry.

The award, an Oscar statuette, will be presented to Catmull at the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentations on Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Beverly Wilshire.

Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and John Lasseter are working with animation house Studio Ghibli to increase the exposure of Hayao Miyazaki's feature PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA when it is released in the U.S. this summer, according to VARIETY.

The producers will try to boost the number of screens the film is shown on and increase the box office haul beyond the take for 2002 release SPIRITED AWAY, which was highly lauded but only made about $10 million on about 700 screens in 2002 and 2003.

Break tackles and convert on fourth down as American football comes to Japan in EYESHIELD 21, the hit football manga and anime series. The first eight episodes will be available for ad-supported free streaming to all users on January 2, 2009, while Crunchyroll Anime Members can enjoy a higher quality ad-free experience. More information and/or to become a Crunchyroll Anime Member can be found at www.crunchyroll.com/preorder.

Two animes are the lone home video releases of December 30 -- NURSE WITCH KOMUGI and WELCOME TO THE NHK.

WELCOME TO THE NHK: Season One, Part One and Two on DVD

Making It Look Great 5: Design, Production and Workflow Techniques for Adobe After Effects: provides seven hours of in-depth video training for Adobe After Effects and After Effects plug-ins from Motionworks.

4Kids Ent. has revealed its new lineup of programs for TheCW4Kids, its five-hour children's program block airing Saturday mornings (7 a.m.-Noon) on The CW television network, effective January 3, 2009.

Across multiple movie genres and filmmaking techniques, this year's holiday blockbuster movies demonstrate the wide-range of entertainment that is shaped with Autodesk software. Filmmakers are using Autodesk's animation, visual effects and color grading tools to enhance their creative process and enable sophisticated storytelling.

Toy company Spin Master and Universal Pictures have entered into a development deal to produce a film based on the popular strategic game and anime series BAKUGAN BATTLE BRAWLERS.

3Dconnexion's line of 3D mice is now supported by e-on software's Vue 7 xStream and Vue 7 Infinite, advanced solutions for creating, animating, rendering, and integrating natural 3D environments. 3Dconnexion 3D mice complement the Vue 7 workflow, providing visual effects studios, animators, illustrators, architects, matte painters, and computer graphics professionals with a high-end 3D scenery solution that enhances design performance and productivity.

Suite Imagery has announced the completion ActionBacks: Wedding Motion 8 in high definition. This volume is the 54th in the line of royalty-free stock animations by Suite Imagery. Wedding Motion 8 consists of 20 fresh looping video backgrounds for use in wedding videography and editing.

The motion graphics can quickly add elegance and value to wedding productions with enhanced visuals for title screens, photo montages and picture in picture effects. This collection is available for download at www.ActionBacks.com for $49.95 in either SD or HD formats.