On Friday, May 18, 2001, Film Roman announced they have formally terminated the purchase transaction with Pentamedia Graphics, Ltd. in light of Pentamedia's inability to cure a material breach in the deal. Film Roman has officially notified Pentamedia that they are in material breach of the Stock Purchase Agreement signed January 31, 2001 and the Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies signed on April 24, 2001.

MacSoft, the Macintosh label of leading video game publisher Infogrames, has signed a licensing deal with international game company Take-Two Interactive Software, acquiring rights to several high-profile titles. Under the terms of the agreement, Infogrames has acquired the Macintosh publishing rights to TROPICO and FLY! II, scheduled to ship this summer, as well as MAX PAYNE, STRONGHOLD and MYTH III. Additional titles will be announced at a later date. According to PC Data, MacSoft captured over 37 percent of the Macintosh entertainment software business in 2000.

London's Finishing School, a digital compositing, effects and 3D animation school, has recently been awarded Discreet training center status. The school will be running its now accredited 4-day 3ds Max Crammer course on May 14 - 17, June 12 - 15, July 10 - 13 and August 7 - 10 2001. Evening courses will also be available on 10 evenings over the course of 10 weeks, June 18 - August 20, 2001. The Finishing School, an Avid-accredited training center, is currently running SoftImage|XSI 201: Essentials Training, the official SoftImage course.

The 3DO Company has announced losses for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2001. Revenues for the company's fiscal fourth quarter were $19.0 million, compared to $47.3 million in the prior year's fourth fiscal quarter. The consolidated net loss for the quarter was $12.5 million, or a loss of $0.26 per share, compared to a profit of $11.5 million, or $0.26 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Revenues for the fiscal year were $82.8 million, compared to $122.2 million in fiscal 2000.

Infogrames, Inc., has announced results for its fiscal 2001 third quarter and nine months ending March 31, 2001. Third quarter revenues increased to $70.8 million, compared to $63.6 million for the same period in 2000. Publishing revenues increased to $47.0 million from $32.6 million in the prior year period, while distribution revenues decreased to $23.8 million from $31.0 million in the prior year period. The third quarter net loss decreased to $21.4 million, or $0.31 per share, compared to a net loss of $168.7 million, or $8.17 per share for the same period in 2000.

Leading independent animation house Film Roman announced increases in revenue and operating income for the their most recent quarter. Company revenue increased by 51% or $6.5 million, to $19.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2001 from $12.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000. The company attributed the increase to the delivery of more fee-for-services episodes and a movie-of-the-week special.

In a May 11, 2001 announcement, entertainment technology company IMAX Corporation reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001. The company reported a loss of $0.23 per share for the first quarter before the impact of a previously announced restructuring charge. After the impact of the restructuring charge, IMAX reported a loss of $0.46 per share. The company's comparative results for the first quarter of 2000 were: earnings of $0.06 per share before the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles and a loss of $1.92 per share after such changes.

Threat, a new digital studio providing editing, visual effects, animation and compositing services, has launched in Santa Monica. The company has established itself in a new $5.5 million facility to provide end-to-end post services for commercials, entertainment television, feature films, music videos and new-media.

In a May 9, 2001 announcement, Activision, Inc. reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for its interactive entertainment business. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, net revenues were $620 million as compared with $572 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Net income for the fiscal year was $21 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $34 million, or $1.38 loss per diluted share reported for last year.

The Harvey Entertainment Company and Classic Media, LLC have amended their prior agreement for the sale of Harvey’s library of classic characters, including CASPER, RICHIE RICH, BABY HUEY and LITTLE AUDREY, as well as certain contractual rights and agreements which relate to those assets. Signed on March 9, 2001, the prior deal was worth US$16 million plus debts associated with the characters. The parties have agreed to increase the purchase price to US$17 million, to be paid in cash at the closing, plus the assumption of certain liabilities.

After switching to a paid subscription format in March 2001, Internet entertainment company Romp.com has announced a series of strategic changes that reflect the difficulties Web entertainment destination sites continue to face as they seek profitability. In a company newsletter sent out on May 9, 2001, the company announced an end to their unsuccessful paid subscription access format, a refund for all paid subscribers, an end to daily site content updates and a move toward “developing branded film and print projects” for other distribution channels.

Santa Monica’s Side Effects Software has announced new dates for free Houdini introductory workshops and training in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Toronto. In these sessions, artists will be exposed to the power of Houdini, the award-winning 3D animation software package used in such recent blockbusters as Dr. Seuss' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, X-MEN, HOLLOW MAN and THE MATRIX. This class includes an introduction to the object, SOP (surface operator), material, composite and output editors.

Santa Monica, California's R!OT, a creative digital studio, announced that New York’s Manhattan Transfer, a part of the Livewire Television Group, became R!OT Manhattan. The company will form a synergistic relationship with the original R!OT, also a Livewire Television Group company, sharing their pools of talent and technical resources to serve the global needs of the advertising, film and television industries. Along with changing its name, the Manhattan studio will undergo a refurbishing that will include physical upgrades and high level additions to its creative staff.

In an about face to his January 2001 sworn declaration, former Stan Lee Media vice president Stephen Gordon issued a “Further Declaration” in a Los Angeles Superior Court action which retracted and corrected previous allegations made by Gordon against Stan Lee Media co-founder Peter Paul, as well as detailed a series of new accusations of fraud and libel against Stan Lee Media CEO Ken Williams.

In a May 2, 2001 announcement, Macromedia reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for its software business. For the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2001, revenues were $89.1 million as compared with revenues of $86.4 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. Pro forma net income was $8.4 million, or $0.15 diluted earnings per share during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001, compared to pro forma net income of $16.8 million, or $0.30 diluted earnings per share in the same period a year ago.

Stanford University is offering a new program called the Stanford Academy for New Media. The academy is offering week-long sessions in 3D Modeling/Animation, Web Design and Digital Video, beginning July 2, 2001. The program is for artists, educators, and high school and older students. In addition to the current offerings, the school will be adding a Maya OSX track later this summer taught by several well-known 3D artists. For more information, visit newmedia.stanford.edu.

Tigar Hare Studios has expanded its corporate offices into a new 5,000-square-foot, 20 workstation digital facility in Sherman Oaks, California. The company has also expanded its operations internationally through the establishment of a Flash division in Malaysia and an affiliation with Shanghai Digital Studio in Shanghai, China. The companies in Malaysia and China offer an additional 100 workstations and a real-time optical motion-capture system. Tigar Hare has arranged the alliance with China to create 3D animation at lower costs for U.S. producers.

After a successful 10-year run, J.J. Sedelmaier Productions -- producer of the animated favorites BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD, THE AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO, THE X PRESIDENTS, FUN WITH REAL AUDIO and dozens of commercials -- has tossed out its film stock for digital technology. "It's not like we haven't been using digital techniques for years now," said Sedelmaier. "We've used Virtual Magic (formerly USAnimation) for some time, but now we won't be using film in-house, not even for pencil tests.

Creative Planet, Inc., AWN’s parent company, announced on Monday, April 30, 2001, the release of the Animation Budget Builder, a custom add-on for the industry-standard Movie Magic Budgeting software geared for the animation industry. The add-on was designed by Catherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi, authors of the upcoming book, PRODUCING ANIMATION, and represents broadening interest in the development of Movie Magic software. "For years, Movie Magic Budgeting has been a fantastic tool for budgeting and managing the costs of physical production," said Winder.

SGI on April 20, 2001, announced their third consecutive quarter of increased revenue growth and improved operating performance. For the quarter ending March 31, 2001, the company posted revenue of $510 million, compared with $487 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2000, which represents a 5% increase. The company reported a net operating loss of $47 million for the quarter, excluding charges, compared with a net operating loss of $93 million in the previous quarter.