Entertainment Rights Plc. announced an agreement with Kidtoon Films which will see global brand SHE-RA, PRINCESS OF POWER appear in U.S. movie theatres, in the feature length animated movie SHE-RA, PRINCESS OF POWER, THE SECRET OF THE SWORD.

Sony Computer Ent. America announced its lineup of new software titles due out this year for PSP and PlayStation 2.

Alliance Atlantis International Content Distribution announced that agreements have been reached in Canada with Adorable Kids Inc. to develop sleepwear and underwear and Calego Int’l to develop a line of bags, backpacks and other accessories, for its preschool stop-motion animated property, LUNAR JIM.

Brainwash Movie Festival 2006
San Francisco, California, USA
July 7-8, 2006
Deadline: May 10, 2006

LACDA Digital Art And Photography Competition 2006
Los Angeles, California, USA
June 8-July 1, 2006
Deadline: May 21, 2006

LACDA announces our juried competition for digital art and photography. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of 2D artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable.

MAGIC CELLAR, the first animated series to be based on African culture, has been awarded the Platinum REMI Award at WorldFest. The award to MAGIC CELLAR was presented in Houston, Texas on April 29, 2006. Present to receive the award were Firdaus Kharas, director and executive producer of Ottawa, Canada and Adeelah Carrim, producer, of Johannesburg, South Africa. The show is a joint venture between Canada and South Africa.

The Banff World Television Festival announced the nominees for its PLAYBACK-sponsored Best Canadian Award. As finalists, the 18 Canadian nominees not only stand to win in their own genre categories, but are also vying for the Best Canadian Program title. Nominees will be screened by an independent jury of Canadian television professionals with the winner announced at the 2006 Banff World Television Festival.

Electronic Arts has marked the release of BLACK & WHITE 2: BATTLE OF THE GODS and 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP.

Developed by UK-based Lionhead Studios, BLACK & WHITE 2: BATTLE OF THE GODS has begun to ship to retail outlets and the EA downloader at www.downloader.ea.com.

Geneon Ent. has released VIEWTIFUL JOE VOLUME TWO, STARSHIP OPERATORS VOLUME THREE, SAIYUKI RELOAD GUNLOCK – VOLUME ONE and KANNAZUKI NO MIKO – SOLAR PRINCESS VOLUME ONE on DVD.

Based on Capcom’s wildly popular videogame franchise, the vibrant and fun combination of Japanese and American comic-style character design has ranked #1 in its Saturday timeslot for kids 6-11 and boys 9-14 on Kids’ WB! since its November sweeps week debut. Featuring character profiles and conceptual images, the VIEWTIFUL JOE VOLUME TWO DVD will sell for $19.98.

23D Films, an animation design studio, and Weller/Grossman Prods., an award-winning television production company, will jointly produce live-action/animated PALOOZAVILLE, a 20-part signature series staring its creator, John Lithgow. The program will broadcast on Mag Rack’s ‘Kids Club’ video on-demand presentations.

“A palooza is an invitation to a creative adventure, an activity that keeps kids from uttering those terrifying words, “I’m bored!” according to creator John Lithgow.

NAB announced the winners of the fourth-annual Awards for Innovation in Media (AIMs). Attendees at the NAB2006 exhibition voted April 24 and 25 for the technological innovations that best addressed current and upcoming issues in the electronic media industry by boosting efficiency, increasing user flexibility and creativity, and lowering cost.

IDT Ent. is gearing up a full slate of projects, including its first theatrical CG feature EVERYONE’S HERO, to take to Cannes. Executives attending the event include: Neil Braun, president, feature films & television; John Hyde, coo; Andrew Berman, evp, IDT Ent. Sales; and Patti Rose, director, IDT Ent. Sales.

For May 2006, YTV will be premiering its new series THE AMAZING ADRENALINI BROTHERS, along with a host of other special programming.

Topping the highlights in its May lineup, TELETOON will premiere the first anime series to come out of Canada — SPIDER RIDERS. The series will launch Sunday, May 7, 2006, at 10:00 am with a 90-minute special, SPIDER RIDERS: THE INNER WORLD.

SPIDER RIDERS is an action-adventure series for kids 6-12, based on the book SHARDS OF THE ORACLE by Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti, published in December 2004. Toronto's Cookie Jar Ent. and Japan's Yomiko co-produce the series. Japanese animation company BeeTrain, a division of IG Prod., is doing the animation.

Red Bank International Film Festival 2006
Red Bank, New Jersey, USA
October 13-15, 2006
Deadline: June 1, 2006

Red Bank - The Jersey Shore town that local filmmaker Kevin Smith made famous is set to host the 6th Annual Red Bank International Film Festival. With one of its main sites being the historic Count Basie Theatre — a venue with more than 1,000 seats, a brand new state of the art sound system, and an enormous screen — the festival is a showcase for any film.

AOL has launched KOL Jr. (www.koljunior.com/), a website for kids 2-5. The site contains original cartoons, games, music, bedtime stories and other fun, interactive features designed to help parents introduce the Internet to their young children. The launch of KOL Jr. also marks the debut of a brand new cartoon called PILAR'S ADVENTURES, which covers topics that engage preschoolers' imaginations while helping them deal with everyday life experiences.

DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival 2006
Washington D.C., USA
September 28 - October 7, 2006
Deadline: May 15, 2006

11th Annual Not Still Art Festival
October 7, 2006
New York, New York, USA
Deadline: June 15, 2006

Not Still Art Festival is an international screening of abstract and non-narrative electronic motion imaging with music/sound design. The Not Still Art Festival was first organized in 1996 by video artist, Carol Goss, to provide a forum for video artists, electronic animators, musicians/sound artists working in non-narrative forms.

Woodstock Film Festival 2006
Woodstock, New York, USA
October 11-15, 2006
Deadline: July 10, 2006

In a major initiative to nurture and encourage emerging Korean-American filmmakers, the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) announced the launch of its inaugural KOFIC Filmmakers Development Lab.