On December 2, 1999, USA Networks' Live Telecast of IMPROV-ICE, debuted

graphics done by Pinnacle Systems' Rocket for FXDeko. Rocket for FXDeko is

a template-based tool that allows the generation of real-time 3D elements

which can be automatically updated by live data streams. Rocket integrates

with Pinnacle's award-winning FXDeko character generators and adds further

dimension to live broadcasts including textured, reflective and transparent

* Tuesday, January 25, 2000. Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.

Canadian Drawn, a screening of animation from the Canadian Film Board, will

be presented at 7:30 pm. The event highlighting the amazing work of the

Film Board will be held at Macquariam, 1800 Peachtree St. NW. This

screening is sponsored by ASIFA-Atlanta, a social organization for people

interested and professionally involved in animation. For information

contact Joni Strandquest at (770) 457-3455.

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

ZDTV, a 24-hour cable television channel about computing, technology and the Internet, will have Atari founder Nolan Bushnell on BIG THINKERS. Hosted by Mark Eddo, BIG THINKERS features in-depth discussions with the most visionary and influential men and women working in the high-tech industry today. The episode with Bushnell, the creator of PONG, will air January 5, 2000 at 10:30 pm. These interviews, plus additional footage not shown on air, will be available in streaming video on the show's companion Web site.

Twenty 2D/3D animation and special effects companies from Quebec, Canada

have formed a union in order to better promote the award winning work done

in the region. Called Quebec Animation, the association is supported by the

Quebec Minister of Industry and Commerce, the Quebec Minister of

Communications and Culture, the Quebec Minister of International Relations,

the Montreal Bureau of Cinema, and the Canadian Service Center in

Multimedia Applications (CESAM). The association sets up a focal point for

* Thursday, January 13, 2000. Westwood, California, U.S.A.

The Women In Animation Writers' Group begins a new series of seminars at

Saban Entertainment at 7:30 pm. Have you always wanted to write for

animation, but you don't where to start? What's the difference between

writing for animation and live-action? What are some of the techniques for

writing gags? Join us and find out! For more information please contact

Jean Ann Wright at (818) 360-8321. RSVP required.

"Spike & Mike" fest organizers, Mellow Manor Prods. has teamed up with
Netcaster IFilm to bring its twisted toon vault exclusively to Cyberspace.
The two year deal will allow Net surfers the chances to see animation
shorts only previously showcased at the "Spike & Mike's Classic Festival of
Animation" and "Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation."
BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD-creator Mike Judge, SOUTH PARK's Trey Parker and Matt
Stone, TOY STORY's John Lasseter, and the NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS'

* Saturday, December 18, 1999. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.



John Canemaker, animator/author/director of the animation program at NYU
Tisch School of the Arts, will be in Los Angeles this month to sign copies
of his latest book on animation history: "Paper Dreams: The Art And Artists
Of Disney Storyboards." Canemaker will be available at 2 pm at the Howard
Lowery Gallery, 3812 W. Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank, where he will sign
"Paper Dreams" and copies of any and all of his many books on animation.

The Classical and Computer Animation Graduating Class of Vancouver-based
VanArt School is holding an Open House on Thursday, December 9, from 6:00 -
7:30 pm. VanArts is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at 837
Beatty St. Please RSVP to Leslie Bishko: Tel.: (604) 682-2787; Email:
bishko@vanarts.bc.ca. For more information on the school, visit the
VanArts website.

For the first time on video!! The best of Zagreb Film, plus Rembrandt
Films' greatest hits, the Best of Bulgaria, and a second volume of Trnka
Shorts.



THE BEST OF ZAGREB FILM IN FIVE ONE-HOUR VOLUMES: In four decades Zagreb
Film produced 600 animated films that won more than 400 international
awards. The studio quickly became famous for a unique animation style that
became known as the Zagreb school. One of the studio's pioneering
distinctions was that its filmmakers wrote, designed, and directed their

Monday, December 13, 1999, AtomFilms, a leader in next-generation
entertainment, announced that it has inked a deal with investors totaling
US$20 million in financing. This signing marks the end of a second round of
strategic financing led by Chase Capital Entertainment Partners LLC and
Chase Capital Partners, and joined by Arts Alliance, Frank J. Biondi Jr.,
general partner at WaterView Partners and former chairman and CEO of
Universal Studios, Intel Corp., and Trans Cosmos USA Inc. "This round of

Boston-based Olive Jar Studios, Inc., an animation, special effects and
theme park attraction production house, has opened a branch in Los Angeles,
California, U.S.A. The new west coast facility will house both stage and
production space. Olive Jar specializes in film techniques that include
mixed-media, stop-motion, CGI, cel, drawn, and live-action/special effects.
Executive producer Matthew Charde said, "Our presence in Los Angeles will
be a tremendous asset to the business since we will be more fully able to

* Monday, January 10, 2000 - Saturday 29, 2000. New York, New York, USA.



After the crimson dust clears from the apocolyptic Armegedeon of Y2K, go
enjoy some animation at the School of Visual Arts' "Animation Dreams:
Millenium Nightmares" exhibit. Films presented at the screening center
around the theme of the students' most horrific nightmares. The exhibition
will also feature 3D character models, storyboards, animation cels,
background drawings, murals, video tests of films, and a reel of

Vivid Animation, a new high-end CGI animation studio specializing in
sophisticated digital characters and animated effects for commercials and
interactive media, has been formed by Jeff Lotman, CEO. "Vivid Animation
opens its doors with a trio of world-class digital animators as its
creative nucleus," said Lotman, CEO. This nucleus, all of whom come from
senior positions at Digital Domain, includes Animation Supervisor, Stephane
Couture, Digital Effects Supervisor, Gonzalo Garramuno and Vivid

As we reported previously [AF 11/16], U.S. District Court Judge Terry J.
Hatter Jr. had ordered Disney to stop using its Go Network logo until after
a trial on the matter next year, agreeing with the plaintiff GoTo.com that
Disney's logo was confusingly similar to its own. Now however, it looks as
if the green and yellow traffic light logo of Disney's Go.com has gotten a
stay of sentence at least until December 19, 1999. Soon after the initial
ruling, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the

The Harvey Entertainment Company has announced an agreement with Canada's
Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. to produce the first all-CGI direct-to-video
film based on Harvey's Casper, the Friendly Ghost franchise. Production,
which has already started, will be funded by Harvey Entertainment, with a
release to the home video market scheduled for Christmas 2000. A previous
live-action/CGI Casper direct-to-video feature, CASPER, A SPIRITED
BEGINNING, sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Alisha Serold, Executive

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.

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.

WALT DISNEY INTERNATIONAL-LATIN AMERICA gets 11 new executives to help
Diego Lerner, president and managing director of Walt Disney
International-Latin America, increase the business opportunities for Disney
in Latin America. The new structure for Disney Latin America will consists
of four territory offices. Walt Disney International-Argentina, based in
Buenos Aires, will handle Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and be headed by
Lerner. Walt Disney International-Andean Region, based in Santiago de