Cambridge Animation Systems, the exclusive developer of Animo software, has signed a five-year sponsorship with the Broadcast Educators Association of Canada (BEAC) to award the best student animator and his or her college or university. The total value of the sponsorship is more than CA$100,000. Under the annual program, students will create animation clips up to 60 seconds in length using traditional or digital animation processes. A panel of experts will judge the clips.

If you missed the extended June 18th deadline to enter the
competition at the World Animation Celebration you should send an
e-mail to: wacfest@aol.com and explain how quickly you can get your
entry to Los Angeles. The pre-selection process begins on June 18
and continues all week long! The final judging of the selected
entries for the World Animation Competition will take place by the
grand jury as part of the 7th World Animation Celebration event on
August 7-11, 2001. The GRAND JURY is comprised of the following

Nickelodeon has signed a new SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS licensing deal with the fast food chain Burger King, launching on June 11. Big Kids Meal and Kids Meal customers will be able to collect seven SpongeBob toys designed to be used both on land and in the water. The four-week SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS promotion will be supported with in-restaurant merchandising, the first kids merchandising created by Draft Worldwide Chicago, as well as Web-based marketing and national kid-directed television advertising.

Universal's SITTING DUCKS, a new CGI children's animated series, has been licensed in multiple international territories. ITV has secured rights to the show in the U.K., with other licenses going to France's TF1, Australia's ABC, Mexico's Televisa S.A., Portugal's TVI and Star TV in Greece. Cable rights to SITTING DUCKS have been acquired by Canada's YTV and by the Nickelodeon Channel in Australia. In the Netherlands, the show will be shown exclusively on the SBS group of channels.

The Oscar winner for best short animated film, FATHER AND DAUGHTER, has won the coveted grand prize at the International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy. In an elaborate and festive closing ceremony held on Saturday, June 9, 2001, the awards were handed out by the festival’s artistic director, Serge Bromberg.



The Short and Feature Fiction Films jury, made up of Ron Diamond, USA, Florence Miailhe, France, John
Dilworth, USA, Françoise Reymond, France and Oscar Grillo, Argentina has awarded:

"Annecy

TOPIX has recently completed the online and CGI for a 30-second spot promoting Colgate-Palmolive's household cleaner, Fabuloso. Featuring a Carmen Miranda look-alike, "Conga" was developed through ad agency Young & Rubicam (Mexico City, Mexico), and debuted in Mexico and Uruguay in May, with a debut in Panama, Ecuador and Columbia set for June and July. After cleaning her dishes with Fabuloso, a Brazilian bombshell and two trumpet players jump from the clean plates, inspiring Mom, son and the family dog to dance a conga line around the kitchen.

Last month Cartoon Network set new May total day ratings and delivery network records, posting double-digit ratings and delivery growth across households and all key kids demographics. Total day ratings grew 10% in households (1.1) as well as 10% for tweens 9-14 (1.1) and kids 2-11 (2.2), and 19% in kids 6-11 (1.9). Total day delivery increased 18% in households (767,000), 26% in tweens 9-14 (191,000), 31% in kids 6-11 (315,000) and 28% in kids 2-11 (616,000).

New Line Cinema has signed an extensive deal with fast-food giant Burger King to promote THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. The agreement represents the single largest promotional arrangement for New Line and one of the largest programs ever launched by Burger King. The program will span more than 10,000 restaurants worldwide and will run longer than the first film runs in theaters.

On June 1, 2001, Hank Ketchum, creator of the DENNIS THE MENACE comic strip, died at his Pebble Beach, California home. He was 81 years old, and had suffered from heart disease and cancer, according to his publicist, Linda Dozoretz. Ketcham began his famous comic strip in 1951, drawing inspiration from his 4 year-old son. This past March marked his 50th year of publication, with the strip running in 1,000 newspapers, 48 countries and 19 languages. A television show based on the strip ran on CBS from 1959 to 1963. Ketcham was born March 14, 1920, in Seattle, Washington.

* Thursday, June 14, 2001, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.



The Art Institute of Los Angeles is holding an exhibition of its winter 2001 graduate portfolios. Artwork from approximately 40 soon-to-be graduates in the design, and media art departments will be on display at The Museum of Flying, 2772 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, June 14, 2001, from 11 am to 2 pm For more information: Tel.: (310) 752–4700; or Web: www.artinstitutes.edu.

* Friday, June 8 – Thursday, June 14, 2001, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

* Wednesday June 13, 2001, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.



On Wednesday June 13, 2001 at 6:30 pm, Women In Animation Los Angeles will present "Networking, Creating Relationships That Work!" at Klasky-Csupo’s Hollywood studio. The event is hosted by Kelly Ellezy, co-owner of Red Gypsy Animation visual effects studio, and Pamela Thompson, a career coach. The event is free for WIA/LA members; $10 donation for non-members. For more information: Tel.: (310) 535-3838.

* Thursday, June 14, 2001, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.



The Art Institute of Portland will be having a Graduate Portfolio Review on June 14, 2001 from 4 to 8 pm. The school is located at Parkside Center, Suite 150, 2020 SW 4th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97201. Works on display will include computer animation, graphic design, multimedia/Web design, interior design and apparel design. For more information: Tel.: (503) 944-6651.

On May 24, 2001, Fox Interactive announced the appointment of Michael R. Heilemann as director of technology. Heilemann will report to Michael Pole, senior vice president of product development, and will direct Fox Interactive's software development efforts and technical research and development. Additionally, Heilemann will oversee the company's relationships with its hardware partners Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. Heilemann comes to Fox Interactive from Electronic Arts Canada, where he was a senior software engineer.

The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were presented on May 18, 2001 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.

In association with the International Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival, monsieurcinema.com awarded the first award for Best Web Film at Cannes 2001. The seven films in competition were: CUB by Steve Whitehouse, Canada; GOTCHAAA! by Eric Gosselet and Fabien Brandily, France; IN A GROVE by Hiroyuki Watanabe, Japan; LE SECRET MINCEUR by Stéphane Ricard, France; MARCELLE (episode “Les Plaisirs De La Route”) by Guillaume Joire, France; THE BIRTH OF STAINBOY by Tim Burton, USA; and THE SVUOTCHER by Flavio Della Rocca and Mattia Pasquini, Italy.

Exploding into the top spot at the box office this Memorial Day weekend was Buena Vista’s PEARL HARBOR, which made a triumphant nationwide debut, grossing $75.1 million. The 3-hour, action-packed movie is set during the time of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, where two friends (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) are caught up in the events that draw the United States into World War II. DreamWorks' CG-animated film SHREK more than withstood the heavy bombardment, slipping down one notch from first to second with $54.2 million during its second weekend.

Hoping to ride the coattails of the popular CBS television series, CBS Consumer Products and Infogrames have announced SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK INTERACTIVE GAME for the PC. Slated for a Fall 2001 release, the game is currently under development by Magic Lantern Playware, a creative business unit of Gold Creek Technology. The game features the real-life cast from the SURVIVOR television series, in-depth character interaction, immunity challenges, tribal councils and other elements from the show.

The 34th annual WorldFest, The Houston International Film Festival, concluded on April 28, 2001. This year, the festival received more than 4,300 total entries, with all animation categories receiving over 30 entries each. Ray Pointer, president of Inkwell Images, Inc., received the Gold Award in the entertainment category for his documentary, MAX FLEISCHER'S FAMOUS OUT OF THE INKWELL. This is Pointer's third win in a row, having won the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards for producing the successful KEN SOUTHWORTH ANIMATION INSTRUCTION series.

Gerry Legros has been appointed vice-president / head of production at Calibre Digital Pictures. After earning a television broadcasting degree from Mohawk College, Gerry became floor director and cameraman for CityTV's weekend news team. He juggled this dual role with a position at Magnetic North as a videotape operator for two years before a brief stint at Command Post. He then spent six years at Dome Productions as supervisor of the central equipment room, wrangling gear for a variety of departments.