After 6 years, the organizers of the Oslo Animation Festival have moved
operations to Fredrikstad, Norway. Complete with a new name, the Nordic and
Baltic Animation Festival invites both animators and spectators on May 3-5,
2000 to take part in an event dedicated to promoting the screening and
better understanding of animation. This year's festival presents: Nordic
and Baltic films in competition, Nordic and Baltic Panorama, International
highlights, a Focus on British animation, Animation as Music, a Celebration

Toronto-based Nelvana Limited, an integrated family entertainment company,
has formed a multi-layered partnership with German-based production house
RTV Family Entertainment AG, a leader in children's programming in Germany.
The agreement includes a significant distribution deal for current and
library programs and a 3-year deal for future productions and
co-productions. Through the deal, RTV will bring Nelvana's library of shows
to TV, home video, and merchandising venues across Germany, Eastern Europe,

* Saturday, December 11, 1999 - Sunday, April 2, 2000. Valence, France.



Folimage, the creators of the 1995 Cartoon D'Or winner LE MOINE ET LE
POISSON (THE MONK AND THE FISH), will feature an exhibition of their
world-famous work. The event will take place from 2 pm - 6 pm every Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. An additional screening at 9 am - 12 pm will
be held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. For more information contact
4, Place des Ormeaux, 26000 Valence, France; or Tel.: ++ 33 4 75 79 20 80.

* Friday, December 12, 1999. London, England.



The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College will be
highlighting the unique graduate work done in their film, video, and
animation department since 1995. One can share in the rare chance of seeing
the cream of the crop from the school's library of productions. The
reception starts at 6pm to be followed by themed screenings at 6:30 pm,
7:30 pm, 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm. Due to limited seating the college requests a

* Sunday, December 19 - Monday, December 20, 1999. Turin, Italy.



ASIFA Italia, with the help of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the
Regione Piemonte and the Comune di Torino, together with the support of
Young Artists Circle and the British Council and Pro-Helvetia, is
organizing a meeting with a series of films on the subject of "Art &
Animation". The meeting aims to heighten awareness of animation as an art
form with a particular stress on independent short films of research,

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).

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.

Sega Dreamcast, the most advanced videogame system to date, has gone platinum.
Sega of America, Inc. announced that the 128-bit, Internet-ready videogame
system has sold one million units in North America since its launch on
September
9, 1999. This milestone came six weeks ahead of corporate predictions and
before
the after-Thanksgiving holiday shopping frenzy. The platinum mark for
Dreamcast has broken sales records by other high-profile consumer and
electronic products.

The Reed Midem Organization, organizers of Milia 2000, have entered into a
far-reaching agreement with the Interactive Software Federation of Europe
(ISFE)
-- who include members from interactive industry organizations like AISI in
Italy, ELSPA in the UK, NVPI in the Netherlands, SELL in France and VUD in
Germany -- to co-produce the Interactive Entertainment and Online Games
conference for the THINK.TANK Summit. THINK.TANK will be a new two-day
conference and networking event for the interactive content industry held in

Imagina 2000 with FIFI (Festival International du Film de l'Internet) have
opened their competition to animation created specifically for the

In preparation for the 14th World Festival of Animated Films, Zagreb 2000 has started taking entries. Entry forms must be received by February 1, 2000 and films on VHS (for selection only), BETACAM SP PAL, or film prints must be received by March 1, 2000. Please, send VHS tapes to Zagreb Film (Animafest) Vlaska 70 10,000 Zagreb, Croatia. The festival will be held June 21-25, 2000.



For more information contact Zagreb Film (Animafest) at Vlaska 70, 10,000
Zagreb, Croatia, Europe. Tel.: ++385-1-4666 439 4613 689, Fax: ++ 385-1-4557

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: The Soldier's Tale: Sunday, February 09, 2003, London, UK . . . Filthy Fest: New York's Dirtiest Animation: Friday, February 14, 2003, New York, New York USA . . . Reg Hartt Presents A Tribute to Chuck Jones: Saturday, February 22 - Saturday, March 29, 2003, Toronto, Ontario Canada . . . Information Session: Max the Mutt Animation School: Wednesday, February 26, 2003, Toronto, Ontario Canada . . . Neal Adams at ArtExpo in NY: Saturday, March 01, 2003, New York, New York USA . . .

At Licensing Expo 2008, 4Kids will capitalize on its role as a global leader and look to develop extensive licensing programs for both its all-new, unique multi-platform properties as well as for its well-received favorites. 4Kids highlights will include:

A focused licensing and merchandising program for the Chaotic Trading Card Game, the first multi-platform, collectible trading card game that is quickly become a major sensation both at retail and online;

The Moondance International Film Festival has selected, the
traditionally-animated BEELINES, by Rachel Bevan Baker, from Edinburgh,
Scotland, as this year's winner in the animation division. Moondance 2000
takes place in Boulder, Colorado, January 14-16, 2000. Entries from female
screenwriters and filmmakers from any country were welcomed to the competition.
For more information e-mail: mermaid7cs@aol.com; or write: Moondance
International Film Festival, 970 Ninth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.

Varga Holdings, one of Europe's leading animation and special effects
production houses, has completed its extensive restructuring. Group CEO Andrs Erkel and
Group Managing Director Jan Sawkins announced Varga Studios has been renamed
Varga Budapest Ltd. and Varga tvc Ltd. has been newly named Varga London Ltd,
while Varga Commercials' name remains the same. The new structure is Varga's
strategy to unify the company and create a standard corporate identity
under one Varga logo. In addition, the Budapest and London branches of the company

November is another packed, globe trotting issue as Animation World takes a
look at the exciting arena of animated feature films. Heikki Jokinen
reveals the health of the European feature market and its high hopes for
the future. Ilene Gannaway takes us inside the production of Sony
Imageworks' next wower, "Stuart Little." From story to technical
innovations, Ilene gives us the inside scoop on how Imageworks is turning a
CGI mouse, into one of the family. Andrew Osmond debates whether or not

TVFI, a trade association supporting the international sale of French TV
programs, presents a French Animation Evening in Los Angeles, with a
screening of "La France s'Anime" ("France Gets Animated"), followed by a
French party. "La France s'Anime: 19 Projects for the Year 2000 " is a
compilation of French TV series pilots including: "Les Aventures d'Ooki"
(Les Films de la Perrine), "Chris Colorado" (AB Productions), "Les Mysteres
de Babel" (Praxinos), "Mars Brothers" (France Animation), "Allo la Terre

In the last few years, animation has played a thrilling role in bringing
many theme park attraction 'visions' to life. Take for example the popular
Terminator 2 3D ride at Universal Studios, or the new Spiderman attraction
completed by Kleiser-Walczak Construction Company. One player in the game
of theme park animation is Iwerks Entertainment, a huge ridefilm company
whose clients include Universal Studios, Disney, and the IMAX Corporation.
Exactly 2 years ago they announced they would team up with visual effects

The 5th Cartoombria International Animation Festival will happen in
Perugia, Italy, December 2-5, 1999. Although there will be no competitive
section, the artistic committee of the festival has put together a number
of retrospectives, exhibits, workshops, screenings, premieres and artist
tributes. The festival will provide an international forum for a wide range
of animation including feature films, TV serials, animated drawings, logos
and advertising spots, and experimental videos made by international

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.