Five European short films have been selected to compete for the 13th Cartoon d'Or award to be handed out at the awards ceremony September 20 2003 at Cartoon Forum, which takes place Sept. 17-20 in Varese, Italy.

The films were chosen by a jury from a field of 25 projects that won prizes at Cartoon's partner European festivals (Annecy, Bristol, Brussels, Espinho, Fredrikstad, Genzano di Roma and Utrecht). Jury members were Mark Baker, Jannik Hatrup, Corinne Jenart and Antonio Zurera.

Film Roman Inc. won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 4th Latin Grammy Awards, held September 3, 2003 in Miami. The award was for FRIJOLERO, from Surco /Universal Music Latin artist Molotov.

It is the first Grammy for the 19 year-old studio, which has already won 18 Emmys and produces the hit series THE SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL, FREE FOR ALL and X-MEN: EVOLUTION. IDT Media’s Digital Production Solutions recently acquired a majority share of Film Roman.

Soho-based Clear has won the Best Special Effects Award at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for their work on the Queens of the Stone Age’s GO WITH THE FLOW. Directed by Shynola through the Director's Bureau LA, video is set in a desert with trucks playing chicken while a party of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll rages. This is the second time in three years that Clear has won this award, previously winning for Robbie William's ROCK DJ. The awards ceremony took place in New York City on August 25, 2003.

Disney's Toontown Online (www.toontown.com), the first massively multiplayer 3D online game created for kids and families, has received the official All Star Software Award and Seal of Approval for the year 2003 from CHILDREN'S SOFTWARE REVUE (CSR).

Hank Azaria will be awarded this year's Primetime Emmy Award for animation voice over performance for his work on THE SIMPSONS as the bartender character, Moe.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on August 18, 2003, the selected animation categories winners of the 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Juried awards do not have nominations and are selected by members of ATAS' animation peer group, which may choose more than one winner in a category or none.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences wants its official screen credit forms now, before the Dec. 1, 2003 deadline.

"We're trying to encourage the studios and production companies to submit the forms as early as possible this year," said credits coordinator Torene Svitil. Forms must officially be submitted to the Academy no later than 60 days after the opening of the qualifying Los Angeles release, or Dec. 1, whichever comes first.

After winning the Grand Prize for Best Short Film at the 52nd Melbourne International Film Festival on Aug. 8, 2003, DESTINO repeated the honor two nights later at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. The recently completed Disney project, which picks up where Salvador Dali and Walt Disney left off 57 years ago, will now play at festivals in Venice (Aug. 27-Sept. 6), New York (Oct. 4-20), Chicago (Oct. 2-16) and Montreal (Oct. 9-19).

The recently completed DESTINO, which surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dali and Walt Disney aborted in 1946 leaving behind unfinished fragments, storyboards, sketches and an original score, won the Grand Prize for Best Short Film at the 52nd Melbourne International Film Festival, Aug. 8, 2003.

Mark Fleischer, grandson of the legendary cartoon mogul Max Fleischer and president of Fleischer Studios, will be presented with the key to Miami-Dade County in Florida at 10:00 am on August 14, 2003. The ceremony will take place at the historic Miami building Fleischer Studios occupied in the 1930s and 1940s. Fleischer was one of the first major businesses to move to the Miami area, producing some of the world’s most beloved animation series and features.

The 5th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenwriting contest announced its quarter and semi-finalists on August 7, 2003. Out of 2,947 entries, the panel of industry judges whittled down the list to 126 semi-finalists with 321 making the quarter finals list. Sponsors of the contest include Screenwriting Expo, Screenplay.com, Ink Tip and FILMMAKER MAGAZINE.

G4, the Comcast-owned TV network about video games and the gamer lifestyle, announced the winners of its first video game “Glow Awards” July 30, 2003 at G-Phoria, the network's location-based and televised mega-event held at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, celebrating the massive phenomenon of video games. Presented by EB Games and Jeep, the show was hosted by actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy, who announced awards in key categories. A 90-minute special taped at G-Phoria airs on G4 August 8 at 8:00 pm.

ASIFA-Hollywood has put out a call for volunteers interested in serving on the nomination committees for the 2003 Annie Awards. The categories include home entertainment, short subject, television commercial, television production, television production produced for children, character animation, character design (feature and TV), directing (feature and TV), effects animation, music (feature and TV), production design (feature and TV), storyboarding (feature and TV), voice acting (feature and TV) and writing (feature and TV).

The inaugural HypeFest, a new festival launched July 26 - July 27, 2003 at CineSpace in Hollywood to unite and showcase independent filmmakers with commercial communities, concluded its weekend-long screenings and festivities with an awards show and live performance by the band Camper Van Beethoven. More than 80 original short-subject works from filmmakers around the world were screened amongst the many mixers and networking opportunities.

Animation studio Film Roman, Inc. has received a Latin Grammy nomination in the Best Music Video category for FRIJOLERO, the gritty, urban anger song from Surco/Universal Music Latin artist Molotov that explores issues of Mexican/American racism and intolerance. The video was created using software created by Texas-based computer artist Bob Sabiston (WAKING LIFE), which allows artists to paint over digital footage using interpolated rotoscoping.

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM (For Programming Less Than One Hour)

AS TOLD BY GINGER "And She Was Gone"

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo Productions
Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, Executive Producer
Eryk Casemiro, Co-Executive Producer
Emily Kapnek, Co-Executive Producer/Writer
Cella Nichols Harris, Supervising Producer
Jim Duffy, Supervising Producer
Maureen Iser, Produced by
Mark Risley, Director
Jeffrey Perlmutter, Supervising Assistant Director

Nominations for the 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on July 17, 2003 and Nickelodeon won the most primetime Emmy nominations for animated shows with four, narrowly edging out FOX with three. THE SIMPSONS and FUTURAMA were again nominated for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour) along with Nick's AS TOLD BY GINGER and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, while DISNEY'S KIM POSSIBLE on the Disney Channel rounded out the category.

Writers of the "Jimmy" episode of STATIC SHOCK won the $10,000 HUMANITAS Prize for Children's Animation on July 10, 2003 during a luncheon ceremony at the Universal Hilton Hotel, in Universal City, California. Eleven winning writers, representing a diverse slate of work, won these prestigious prizes and $105,000 were awarded in eight categories for film and television writers whose work "entertains and enriches the viewing public."

Five animation writers are among the 41 scribes named finalists in seven categories for the 2003 HUMANITAS Prize. The writers, selected from a pool of 353 entries, will be competing for $105,000 in prize money to be handed out at the annual luncheon on July 10, 2003 at the Hilton Universal Hotel in Universal City, California. Competing for the $10,000 prize in the Children's Animation Category are:
"Jimmy" episode of STATIC SHOCK- Teleplay by Dwayne McDuffie, story by Alan Burnett and Dwayne McDuffie (Warner Bros. Animation for Kids' WB!)

Kimberly Miner from Rochester Institute of Technology won the Gold Medal for her film, PERPETUAL MOTION, in the animation category in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 30th Annual Student Academy Awards competition June 8, 2003. She was among 11 winning film students from nine U.S. universities participated in several days of industry-related activities and social events prior to the awards presentation ceremony at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

With thousands of fans and nominees tuning in from more than 90 countries and 185 parties worldwide, The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences honored the world's best Websites June 5, 2003 in the first Webby Awards announcement to take place completely online. Nick.Com, www.nick.com, won a Webby for best TV site. 2003 People's Voice Winners included CartoonNetwork.com, www.cartoonnetwork.com for Television and Disney's Toontown Online, www.toontown.com, for Youth.