New York-based SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION produced the 3D animation and visual

FXs for the newest Proctor & Gamble's Millstone Coffee spots. The 30 second

and two 15 second commercials entitled "Own the Mug" features a ceramic

coffee cup morphing into a boat. The spots were produced for New York ad

agency D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles. Tony Robins directed and Simone

Pillinger produced the commercials for Spontaneous Combustion. The spots

will continue to air through April 2000.

Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG provided the CG images for "Flying Ball" for

Sears' new Poke-Mart. The 30 and 20 spots were produced for Young &

Rubicam. POKEMON hero, Ash, throws the famous Poke-ball which leads

children like lemmings to Sears' Poke-Mart section to catch all the new

Pokemon products. Diana D'Amelio produced and Patrick Coffey animated the

tags for TOPIX/Mad Dog.

RING OF FIRE provided the fx for the newest Ericsson T-28 mobile phone ad

entitled "Aliens." Ring of Fire produced the spot for Stockholm ad agency

Hall & Cederquist. The international 30 second spot beams down aliens to a

man deserted on an island. The aliens mistake the phone for intelligent

life (like most humans do in Los Angeles) and wonder whether or not the

device will taste like chicken. Jerry Spivack was Creative Director for

Ring of Fire and Kevin Prendiville served as Visual Effects Supervisor.

New York-based EYEBALL created 10 second ID tags for seven USA Network

shows including: BAYWATCH, LA FEMME NIKITA, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS and LAW

AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT. A circular frame opens around footage from

the USA program as the tag line "You Are Here" appears amidst flag stripes

and flashes. Brighter colors were used for the more light-hearted shows,

while a grittier mood was created for the more serious dramas. Daniel Fries

was the Creative Director at Eyeball.

Popeye the Sailor makes his newest appearance in the Toronto-based

TOPIX/MAD DOG, Chuck Gammage Animation and Generator Film produced spot for

Campbell's Soup. The 30 second spot for new Chunky Prime Rib features

integrated 3D animation, live-action and cel animation. Our hero Popeye

opts for a can of Chunky soup over his standard spinach to save the lovely

Olive Oyl. The spot was produced for Toronto-based ad agency Young &

Rubicam. TOPIX/Mad Dog producer Anne Deslauriers oversaw the 3D animation

New York-based IXL DIGITAL VIDEO GROUP, a subsidiary of the Internet and

video solutions company iXL, Inc., produced four distinct openings for the

new 20/20 weekly line-up. Each version of the news show is on four separate

nights and features different hosts. The openings mirror the style of each

version of the show and feature different takes on the 20/20 and ABC News

logos. iXL's veteran Designer and Animator Ron Wissing worked closely with

ABC'S Art Director Kelly Clauson on the concept for the openings.

Florida, U.S.-based AARGH! ANIMATION, Inc., one of the largest independent
cel animation houses, has produced a series of national spots for Cold-Eeze
cold medicine that combine live-action with cel animation. The cel
animation was directed by Mark Simon and Dave Kallaher of AARGH! Now
running and continuing through the cold season, these spots, three :10
spots and two :30 spots, are running in heavy rotation on major U.S.
networks. The spots feature live-action actors whose sneezes morph them
into animated characters.

London-based production company AKA PIZAZZ and Internet designers EDWARDS
CHURCHER have announced the arrival of the world's first fully interactive
animated commercial for Compaq. Following on from AKA's recent animated TV
campaign for Compaq, the interactive Web version of "Bird" was created by
Neil Churcher, James Stone, and Javier Garcia Flynn of EDWARDS CHURCHER.
The spot is now available on the Compaq website. The commercial features a
fully interactive, realtime animation in which one's cursor movements

Director/designer Jerry van de Beek and co-designer Betsy de Fries of
LITTLE FLUFFY CLOUDS, the San Francisco digital animation and design
studio, finished an all CGI commercial for Lugz athletic shoes entitled
"Annakii." The 30-second spot features a video game like scenario, replete
with a hip-hop soundtrack, where the hero moves through a futuristic New
York City.

To introduce KELLOGG's new Cereal & Milk Bars for Leo Burnett
International-London, England, TOPIX/MAD DOG completed the 3D animated
product demo and box sequences, and integrated them within 2D animation for
a vibrant :30 spot. The commercial began its global run in the UK, France,
and Ireland in October. The spot will make its debut in Germany, Mexico,
Iceland, Belgium, and possibly Canada in the new year.

TROLLBACK & CO., a newly formed visual effects and design studio, finished
a new spot for ROWECOM, a start-up internet service company. The commercial
features a fast-paced mix of books, maps and other layered images in conjunction with
live action footage by director Elena Colombo. The spot was produced for the
creative team at Boston-based McKay Communications. The spot started airing October
18 on CNBC North America and Europe (including the United Kingdom).

INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC just finished up the new Will Smith video WILL2K for
Columbia Records and Sony Pictures. Robert Caruso directed the vid that sends
mega-star Will Smith on a Millenium eve time traveling spree. The futuristic
effects were created with ILM's newest motion capture software.



Read Heather Kenyon's interview with ILM's Seth Rosenthal in Animation
World Magazine.

New York animation studio, DMA with director Tony Caio finished up two
'60s-style spots for Zowie Intertainment, Inc. new fantasy game ELLIE'S
ENCHANTED GARDEN. The commercial, featuring psychedelic-spinning wallpaper
flowers and highly stylized gardens appearing around live-action actors, is
aimed at attracting young girls to computer games. The spot started airing
on Nickelodeon and other kid-friendly networks in early November.

J.J. SEDELMAIER PRODUCTIONS, with J.J. Sedelmaier serving as director, has
produced a second Milton Bradley/Parker Brothers "Family Game Night"
30-second spot. The commercial features classic board games like Monopoly,
Clue, and Scrabble. This incarnation is entitled "Special Night" and
features the same child-like crayon style from the previous Milton Bradley
spot.

THE MILL, a London-based post house, recently finished up a new Daewoo car
spot. The 30-second commercial, entitled "Aerial Fantasy," is directed by
Daniel Barber of Rose Hackney Barber and produced by Duckworth Finn Grubb
Waters. The Mill's Flame artist Jason Watts set the piece to a base-booming
mix of rock and rap music. The spot features the new Daewoo "Lanos"
thrashing the world's largest skateboarding half pipe. The spot will air
around Europe in November and arrive in England come January 2000.

London-based HRA has completed "Eddie Spaghetti," a :30 for Heinz
spaghetti and agency Leo Burnett, Chicago. The spot depicts the journey of
a piece of spaghetti from plate to boy's mouth, inside of which a party is
in progress. The ad, directed by Kim Burdon, features 3D computer
animation, traditional cel animation, live-action, and puppetry.

Copenhagen, Denmark-based A.FILM has finished a :40 spot for Daloon Spring
Rolls, Denmark's largest Chinese frozen food manufacturer. In the spot,
which unveils a new product called Funsters, a dragon, called "daloon" in
Danish, presents the product like a wise and distinguished old man, but the
children's crazy antics off-screen cause him to lose his cool. The CGI spot
was animated using 3D Studio Max with a few live-action props. Craig Frank
directed. The word from Denmark is that after the spot aired for three
weeks, the product sold out.

Hollywood, California-based ACME FILMWORKS has completed two :30 spots. In
"The Challenge," a live-action commercial for commemorative Pepsi cans that
promote the return of the Cleveland Browns to competition, images of
football plays appear in the stormy sky above Cleveland Browns player Chris
Spielman who asks the viewer, "So are you ready to be a Browns fan?" The
visual effects were composed, layered and rendered using Adobe Photoshop
and After Effects. Scott Ingalls directed the spot for Dallas, Texas-based

West Hollywood, California-based RING OF FIRE completed the visual effects
for two spots for the new Infiniti I30 luxury sedan and agency TBWA
Chiat/Day. For "Rain" Ring of Fire added time-lapse clouds, individually
rotoscoped each raindrop and added visual enhancements to the car and its
environment. For "Aspens" they created the mirror's reflection, composited
clouds and birds in trees, and added shadows to the trees.

Copenhagen, Denmark-based A.FILM has completed "Jumbo Book," a :30 for
Disney Scandinavia. The spot touts JUMBO, a collection of Donald Duck
comics. The spot mixes 2D animation and live-action. In the spot, a
live-action maid stumbles across all sorts of 2D animated figures including
Donald Duck's beak, Uncle Scrooge's hat, etc. The figures tease and provoke
the maid into opening a closet from which spill hundreds of Donald Duck
comic books, burying the maid. Live-action was directed by Michael Hegner
and animation was directed by Craig Frank.