* Thursday, April 6 - Sunday, April 16, 2000. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Big Idea Productions, producers of the popular children's video collection

"Veggie-mania," is looking for a VICE PRESIDENT of PRODUCTION. . . Wam!Net

is seeking a PRODUCTION MANAGER to be responsible for managing a large

scale render farm and supporting production from Visual Effects Studios,

post-production facilities and design/engineering groups working remotely

via the company's network. . . New Zealand's Weta Digital seeks world-class

* Thursday, March 9, 2000 - Saturday, March 11, 2000. Madrid, Spain.





Cartoon, the European producers organization, will present a seminar on

"how to negotiate with the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and Japan."

Discussions will focus on the structures, customs and constraints of the

fore mentioned markets. After an introduction on each country, the various

policies on international co-productions will be discussed. A question and

After UPN put DILBERT on an indefinite hiatus which starts March 14, the

producers of the cartoon series announced it would broadcast an episode of

the show along with rare outtakes on the Net. The 22-minute previously

aired episode entitled "The Merger" will air commercial-free on the Web

from February 17 - 29, 2000. Columbia/TriStar, who produces the show, will

become only the second major studio to enter into the Netcasting arena. In

November of 1999, Warner Bros. simulcast parts of an episode of "The Drew

RING OF FIRE expands its flames with six new artists. Joining the

Hollywood, California-based visual effects and design studio are Infero

artists ALI LAVENTHOL and ALAN LATTERI, visual effects/digital composite

artist JEREMY ALCOCK, CGI artist JOHN JENKINS and producers JILL HEINRICH

and KIMBERLY EVANS. Before Ring of Fire, Laventhol was a freelance Flame

artist working at Rhythm & Hues. Latteri comes to Ring of Fire with credits

on X-FILES: THE MOVIE, STAR TREK IX: INSURRECTION and GODZILLA. Coming from

Bill Plympton has updated his

appearances page.

In March, "Surprise Cinema"

will be appearing in various festivals and other events in the US, Canada,

Belgium, Germany and Australia. Bill will be appearing at the Zagreb World

Festival of Animated Films in Zagreb, Croatia, June 12-25, 2000.

* Friday, February 18, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.



Cinema Village, the city's venue for alternative animation, will be

presenting the U.S. theatrical premiere of KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS from

French filmmaker Michel Ocelot. Based on a West African legend, this film

follows a miraculous infant who singlehandedly saves his small village from

a sultry yet evil wizard. Featuring an original score by Senegalese music

artist Youssou N'Dour, KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS offers a unique spin: an

* Thursday, April 6 - Sunday, April 9, 2000. Brisbane, Australia.



The Third Brisbane International Animation Festival represents Australia in

an international animation festival alliance with Ottawa, Holland, Fantoche

and Anima Mundi. It is Australia's only festival dedicated exclusively to

animation in all o

Riding the wave of the box office success of STUART LITTLE, Columbia/Sony

Pictures has announced a sequel to the tiny toon. Shooting on the new film

could start as soon as this summer. The intended release date for the flick

is Christmas 2001. Producer Doug Wick is set to return, however actors,

director and screenwriter have not yet been confirmed. Sony Picture

Imageworks, who comprised the effects for the first flick, are expected to

return on the sequel. The first STUART LITTLE was directed by Rob Minkoff,

Three new Scandinavian markets surrendered their airwaves to Pokemania.

Worldwide sensation Pokemon was recently sold to TV4 in Sweden, TV2 in

Denmark and TV2 in Norway. The show will hit the new territories in January

and February 2000. The international distributor, Lacey Entertainment, also

announced the sale of the Pikachu-vehicle to ATV in Turkey and Noga

Communications' Children's Channel in Israel.





The Pokemon phenomenon began in America in 1998 with the release of the

On Friday, January 14, 2000, Walt Disney International-Latin America

announced the launch of the Disney Channel Latin America and an exclusive

satellite television distribution agreement with Galaxy Latin America, LLC

for DIRECTV service in Spanish-speaking Latin America. "Launching the

Disney Channel in Latin America in 2000 is an exciting initiative for the

Walt Disney Company," said Diego Lerner, president and managing director,

WDI-Latin America. "As we have in other parts of the world, we will now

South Africa-based Triggerfish Animation, a leading stop-frame animation

company in South Africa, is currently shooting animation sequences for the

South African SESAME STREET, using an assortment of different materials

including local contemporary art work, creating a unique African feel to

the production. In addition, Triggerfish is shooting a 30-second commercial

using 7 plasticine characters for a new product being launched in South

Africa and Australia called Slo Jo -- a fruit smoothie.

Several animation studios in Santiago, Chile, including Arce Studios, EMU

Ltd., ROOS Film S.A., and Trimedia S.A. have formed a partnership to

promote the animation business in Santiago. The partners are looking for

co-producers and/or investors for their products. Alvaro Arce, President of

Arce Studios, worked in the animation industry in the United States for

many years at Hanna-Barbera, The Walt Disney Company, and others. Alvaro

has several original series currently in development. Arce Studios is now

Toronto-based DECODE ENTERTAINMENT has announced DOMINIQUE BAZAY and

CAROLINE DORRIS to its recently formed international distribution

division. As Director of International Sales, Bazay, who will be based

in Toronto, will head distribution activities and sales to Scandinavia,

Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and South Africa, among other

territories. Bazay previously served in sales for BBC Worldwide

Americas, Paragon Entertainment, and the CBC. Dorris will also serve as

Early in December 1999, Macromedia, a leader in digital and Internet software, announced it had completed its acquisition of Andromedia Inc., a leading provider of eMarketing software solutions for e-commerce. Macromedia previously announced a definitive agreement to acquire Andromedia on October 7, 1999. As part of the merger, Macromedia will obtain all of the outstanding stock in Andromedia. The company will issue 5.2 million shares of stock in connection with the deal and will incur one-time charges from the merger of up to $5 million in its fiscal third quarter.

Brazil's Justice Ministry has banned six video games it considers too

violent for the public. This ruling comes on the heals of last month's

deadly shooting rampage in a movie theater by a medical student. "The games

are considered violent and [are] affecting people who play them,

particularly children," a ministry spokeswoman said. "As for DUKE NUKEM,

the ministry regulation says its virtual world may have motivated Mateus da

Costa Meira to stage the cinema shooting on November 3 in Sao Paulo." All

This week's updates to the Calendar
of Events includes the World Animation
Celebration in the U.S., and Anima Mundi 2000 in Brazil. The Calendar of
Upcoming Events is a constantly changing reference source for what's
happening around the World of Animation. Use it to stay abreast of
animation related activities across the globe. If you know of animation
related events that we don't have listed, send an email with the pertinent

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.

December 19-20, 1999, 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 and a series of films on the subject
of "Art & Animation" in Turin, Italy. The meeting aims to heighten
awareness of animation as an art form with a particular stress on
independent research, experimental and artistic short films. The event is

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