Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub and Cliff Curtis have joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's THE LAST AIRBENDER for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Shyamalan, Sam Mercer and Frank Marshall are producing with principal photography to begin mid-March 2009.

The casting of THE LAST AIRBENDER has come under significant scrutiny, as Caucasian actors were hired in initially for the main characters, who in the animated series are of Asian descent and culture.

The first feature-length film from 3D Entertainment's filmmakers Jean-Jacques and Francois Mantello (the Mantello Brothers), OCEANS 3D - INTO THE DEEP (working title), has been acquired by Wild Bunch, a Paris-and London-based sales, distribution and production outfit.

The film is set to become the first ever documentary to be both filmed and released in Digital 3D. The deal marks the first collaboration between the two companies. Under the terms of the agreement, 3D Entertainment retains the rights (all-media) for the U.S. and Canada.

FitzRoy Media has new licensing agent appointments in France, Brazil and The Philippines for its leading U.K. girls' brand SECRET WINGS, in addition to new licensing deals in two territories.

BLG, Brand Licensing Group of Sao Paulo, recently named licensing agents in Brazil for Secret Wings, have secured their first licensee for notebooks and stationery-related items, Sao Domingos. Fitz Roy's agents in The Philippines, Empire Int'l Merchandising Corp., has signed new licensee Asian Business Paper & Printing Corp. for notebooks and stationery-related items in the region.

Submissions for the annual Into the Pixel art exhibition are open for the 2009 exhibit. Now in its sixth year, this is the only juried digital art exhibition that brings together experts from the fine art world and the interactive entertainment industry.

Toei Animation has appointed Wild Pumpkin Licensing International as the new merchandise licensing agent for DIGIMON DATA SQUAD in Australia and New Zealand.

The nominees for the third annual ELAN Awards were announced Wednesday at a press conference. The awards will be given out April 25 at the Fairmount Hotel Vancouver. Tom Kenny will host.

The 3rd Annual ELAN Awards opened the online voting for their three Honorary Awards on IGN.com and your vote is needed to determine the winners.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall are set to leave Universal Pictures, per VARIETY, and will have a first-look deal at Columbia Pictures that starts April 1.

The frequent Steven Spielberg collaborators, who started their company in 1991, will be at Columbia for an 18-month term. Their last Universal film was THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.

Los Angeles-based creative studio DUCK has recently signed award-winning director Natasha Rand.

The Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, is accepting entries for the 2009 festival, to be held Oct. 31-Nov. 7. Featuring the best in independent, innovative and influential film from around the world, the annual festival presents a full range of cinematic creativity from both award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Features, documentaries, professional and student shorts, both live action and animated, will be considered. All entries must be postmarked by July 6.

3ality Digital, a developer of advanced live-action 3D entertainment technologies, has named Gari Ann Douglass to the post of Chief Operating Officer.

Ahead of the MIPTV market, The Jim Henson Company has finalized a new slate of broadcast deals for its animated preschool property SID THE SCIENCE KID.

Toronto-based producer and distributor Tricon Films & Television has signed a series of major international deals for the series SANCTUARY, whilst at the same time preparing for production on season two. The show was recently commissioned for a second season by Sci Fi Channel in the U.S. and by the Space channel in Canada.

Among the 1,800 films submitted to the 16th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film is the short animated film Oscar winner LA MAISON EN PETITS CUBES from Japan.

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas have been hired by New Line Cinema to turn Richard Doetsch's upcoming novel THE THIRTEENTH HOUR into a screenplay, according to VARIETY. Michael De Luca is producing.

Brandt and Haas (WANTED, 3:10 TO YUMA), recently adapted Robert Ludlum's THE MATARESE CIRCLE for MGM and director David Cronenberg and likely will star Tom Cruise along with Denzel Washington. They are also working on a new BEVERLY HILLS COP installment for Eddie Murphy and director Brett Ratner at Paramount.

Diego Lerner has been named president, The Walt Disney Company, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

After proving a hit on CBBC, porcine pair Pinky and Perky have landed a daily slot on BBC1. THE PINKY AND PERKY SHOW has been running on CBBC since November 3 of last year and has recently been pulling in the highest ratings on the channel. The entire first season will start airing on February 27 daily at 3.40 p.m.

Nordic and Eastern European licensing agency Kidz Ent. has been appointed by Aardman Animations to represent its hit animated series SHAUN THE SHEEP and preschool property TIMMY TIME.

The first toy deals have already been secured for TIMMY TIME for the Nordic region, with Top Toy and distributor AMO and products are scheduled to launch at the end of this year. Other consumer product deals are in the pipeline, buoyed by strong TV broadcast across the region. TV is also confirmed in most Eastern European markets.

Ten teams from animation programs spanning North America will engage in a "24/4" cartoon-creating competition prior to the start of the fifth Kalamazoo Animation Festival International (KAFI) scheduled for May 14-17 in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Earning spots in the competition for the 2009 "Cartoon Challenge" are four- and five-person teams from:

-- San Jose State University in California.
-- College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
-- Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.
-- South Dakota State University.

SPONGEBOB VS. THE BIG ONE: BEACH PARTY COOK-OFF has shipped to retail stores throughout North America exclusively for Nintendo DS from THQ. Based on Nickelodeon's upcoming episode airing in April, SPONGEBOB VS. THE BIG ONE, the new SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS cooking game offers a full menu of quirky and innovative dishes that can only be prepared SPONGEBOB-style.

SPONGEBOB VS. THE BIG ONE: BEACH PARTY COOK-OFF is rated E for everyone and is available at the suggested retail price of $29.99. This game is also expected to be available in Europe and Australia later this month.

AUSTRALIA, WATCHMEN MOTION COMIC, WONDER WOMAN and BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA hit Blu-ray and DVD on March 3, along with the DVD releases of SPONGEBOB VS. THE BIG ONE and volumes of CHOWDER and THE SMURFS.

AUSTRALIA on DVD and Blu-ray