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.

BLOOP.tv, a syndicated science-fiction Web cartoon series, announced their launch on more than 40 science-fiction, cartoon and general-interest entertainment Websites, including Time Warner Cable's Road Runner networks, GALAXY.tv, BMonster.com, TOONORAMA.com and MEDIAJONEZ.com. According to company founder Steve Conley, BLOOP.tv was created specifically for web distribution with an eye toward the mainstream movie-going audience. The character designs and stories were built with the limitations of web animation in mind.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE, the third and last installment of Augenblick Studios' Flash animated DIGNIFIED DEVIL adventure series, premiered Tuesday, May 1, 2001 on Hypnotic. This time: Abandoned and reeking of vomit, gin-soaked Franklin Raine ponders life's mysteries.



You can discover AWN Animator Affiliate Aaron Augenblick's work in the Animation Showcase.

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.

Sharon Katz, creator of HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH (Audience Choice Award, Chicks 'n Flicks Film Festival), has finished her newest animated short, THE ANGEL'S FOOT CAKE / DER FUS TORT. In the film, Drinkeleh Fresserkeh decides to make a cake in the shape of an Angel's foot. The Angels take umbrage and the fun begins in this delightfully raucous modern Yiddish animated tale. The film premiers April 29, 2001 at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival.

Lombard, Illinois' Big Idea Productions, a family media company, is
having an OPEN CALL for 3D ANIMATION DIRECTORS, 3D CHARACTER
ANIMATORS, ART DIRECTORS, ANIMATORS, CONCEPT ARTISTS and MODELERS. . .
Halifax, Canada's Collideascope Digital Productions, Inc., a new
media and convergence company, is looking for an ANIMATOR and 2D
ANIMATOR. . . Wiesbaden, Germany's Die Kolonie GbR, a talent and
recruiting agency, is looking for a TV-DESIGNER & ANIMATOR 2D & 3D. . .
Bregenz, Austria's KE Consult is looking for a FLASH SPECIALIST to

We've started compiling information about new short films for our AWN
readers, appropriately titled "Where's My Shorts?" Lest we get too
jovial, each week, we'll provide a brief compilation of new short
films premiering during that week, either at a festival, exhibition,
screening or online. They could be gems, they could be industrial
effluent, we hazard no guess. However, we can tell you that the
works are supposedly "new," which gives us hope that someone,
somewhere is doing something besides lying around their den, eating

SHIRLEY TEMPLE, the first installment of Augenblick Studios' Flash
animated DIGNIFIED DEVIL adventure series premiered Tuesday, April 17
on Hypnotic.
A new episode will debut each week. Many have mistaken Franklin Raine
for the devil, dignified or not. Appearances are
deceiving though. He's not the devil. He's actually a pretty nice
guy. A drunk and a drifter, Frank is always somewhere he shouldn't

UNDERGRADS, a new animated series, will premier on MTV this Sunday, April 22, at 8 pm. Co-produced by Toronto’s Decode and MTV Animation, the series launch also includes a Website featuring Flash animated series out-takes, interactive animated games, character home pages, downloadable applications, weekly video clips, message boards and a chat area. Decode, which also owns the international television and video distribution rights, is launching a companion UNDERGRADS Web page for the international market.

Barcelona, Spain's Acció is looking for a 2D ANIMATOR to work on
feature films. . . New York, New York's C-Traze Studios, a TV film
production company, is looking for a SALES ASSOCIATE. . . Miami,
Florida's Demand Creation, Inc. is looking for a CONTRACT ANIMATOR to
create 25 to 50 new clips per month. . . Greensburg, Pennsylvania's
DreamForge Intertainment is looking for a MODELER/TEXTURE ARTIST to
work on an action/adventure Xbox title. . . North Hollywood, California's

On April 4, 2001, Cambridge Animation Systems, makers of Animo software, announced the upcoming release of Swiffworks, a new plugin that delivers Macromedia Flash format output to Alias|Wavefront's Maya users. The newsoftware is based on the Maya scene interpreter developed for Cambridge's Inkworks plugin, used in the feature film RUGRATS IN PARIS. The new plugin allows users to choose Swiffworks material or use the default Phong material provided by Maya.

Toon Boom Technologies, a leading supplier of 2D animation software for major film and television studios, announced Toon Boom Studio 1.0, a new software program the brings high-end 2D animation tools and capabilities to the Web. Targeted at Web designers, advertising agencies and other online content creators, the software is designed to simplify the creation process by automating traditional animation tasks. The new software derives its high-end features from Toon Boom Technologies' acknowledged expertise in the animation market.

Salt Lake City, Utah's Acclaim Studios Salt Lake is looking for a
CHARACTER ANIMATOR ... Kirkland, Washington's Big Fish Promotions is
looking for a SR. SOFTWARE ENGINEER ... New York, New York's Blue's
Clues is looking for a POST PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT COORDINATOR ...
Toronto, Canada's Cuppa Coffee Animation is looking for a PRODUCER ...
Century City, California's EMA Multimedia, Inc. is looking for a WEB
DESIGNER ... Halifax, Canada's Fatkat Animation Studios is looking for
an ANIMATION / INTERACTIVE (FLASH) SCRIPTWRITER ... San Rafael,

On March 26, CartoonNetwork.com launched TOONAMI REACTOR, a 12-week offering of popular TOONAMI anime programming on-demand. The introduction of TOONAMI REACTOR is designed to showcase the full potential of interactive entertainment using broadband technology. In addition to the anime video content, exclusive information about the characters and storyline is displayed simultaneously on a split screen for Reactor participants using a broadband connection.

Beverly Hills, California's Batia and Aleeza, Inc. are looking for a WEB SITE DESIGNER...Bangalore, India's E-3Dimensions is seeking a CHARACTER ANIMATION EXPERT ON MAYA...

Zeros & Ones, Inc., a Santa Monica-based holding company with operations in content, technology and production, has launched Zeros & Ones Studios. The new studio will focus on cutting-edge digital animation production that will maximize the potential of Flash and other 2-D tools in the creation of media that plays across all platforms. Newly appointed VP-Managing Director Tim Rummel, has put together a team headed by Michael Adamo, co-founder of New York-based AMPnyc Animation.

Cornerstone Animation has signed a deal with Colorado Springs-based Focus On The Family to create the animated sequences for a 48 volume videotape series entitled, YOUR CHILD. The series will serve as a general guide to child rearing and will feature 3 minutes of animation on each fifteen-minute tape. The animation will be traditional however some manipulation will be done in Flash. "We commend Focus On The Family for utilizing the magic of animation to entertain while informing the target audience," said Cornerstone's CEO Larry D. Whitaker Jr.

Chicago, Illinois' Columbia College, film and video department, is looking for an experienced ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR, TENURE TRACK and/or an experienced INSTRUCTOR with an MFA/MA degree in art/design to teach and oversee storyboard and concept development classes and senior-level production studio classes. . . Hong Kong, China's Full Action Ltd, an animation services company, is looking for an ANIMATION SUPERVISOR. . . Brooklyn, New York's Loop Filmworks is looking for a STORYBOARD ARTIST/ILLUSTRATOR, preferably with an animation background. . .

Looseleaf Productions, a New York City-based animation studio specializing in Flash animation production, just opened an online art gallery. You can view the first five entries at: http://www.looseleafproductions.com. They will be adding more images periodically, so please come back. And remember: Don't touch the paintings. Looseleaf Productions' gallery on AWN includes 21 images, plus a trailer for "The Space Program," episode 1.

Looseleaf Productions is a New York City-based animation studio specializing in Flash animation production, including Web cartoons, Website design and online games.