The San Francisco Independent Film Festival (aka SF IndieFest) seeks
feature length film and video and short animation films for its second
annual festival to take place December 9-12, 1999. All films in the
festival will compete for the Audience Awards for best feature and best
animated short and for a prize (new this year) which will be awarded to the
IndieFest Staff Favorite. Early deadline with no entry fee is September 1.
Late deadline with $20 entry fee is September 17. For an entry form contact

Mumbai, India-based GRAPHITI MULTIMEDIA has completed "The Case of the
Missing Tooth" for Pepsodent, a 7-minute infomercial in which detectives
Sqeezy, a tube of toothpaste, and Bristles, a toothbrush, work their way
through a tooth maze, battle germs in a haunted house, peer into a food
cave, and are lectured by a dentist who explains to them the benefits of
good oral hygiene. Traditional line drawings were used to create the
characters, but environments were produced in 3D Studio Max. Cambridge

The Academy for Television Arts and Sciences have announced the nominees
for the 1999 Primetime Emmy Awards. The awards ceremony will be telecast on
Fox on September 12 and held in Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. The
animated nominees include the following programs:


The category for OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM (For programming one hour or
less) includes five nominations:


FUTURAMA - A BIG PIECE OF GARBAGE (FOX/Curiosity Company Productions in
association with Twentieth Century Fox).

This list of upcoming home entertainment releases includes some new titles,
but most of them are new only to DVD. Disney has just re-released ROBIN
HOOD and ALICE IN WONDERLAND; their live-action RETURN TO OZ, which
includes some stop-motion by Will Vinton Studios, will be released on DVD
and VHS on August 10. Touchstone's WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? will be
released on DVD on September 28. Warner Bros. has just released 1999's
animated THE KING AND I on both VHS and DVD; WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE

Vancouver, Washington-based Hash, Inc. has released an update to Animation
Master 99, the 3D animation software program. In addition to carrying a low
price tag, Hash offers many features found in higher priced packages and is
supported by many animators as a low cost package that is capable of good
work. New to version 7.1 are advancements in new real-time hardware
technologies, enhanced rendering tools, and overall workflow performance
enhancements. The upgrade is free to owners of Animation Master 99. For
more information visit www.hash.com.

French company Infogrames Entertainment has released 'Bugs Bunny Lost in
Time' for Sony PlayStation. In this video game Bugs encounters old nemeses,
including Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Witch Hazel, Rocky
and Mugsy, Merlin the Wizard, the Bull, and Daffy Duck in settings ranging
from the Stone Age and Pirate eras all the way forward to Dimension X.
Suggested retail price is US$39.95.

Don't miss out on your chance to save by registering your exhibit early for
Animation Expo 2000. The deadline for registration at the Early Bird rates
is July 30, 1999. ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Expo 2000 will be held at the
Glendale Civic Auditorium in Glendale, California, USA on March 3 and 4,
2000. This 7th annual animation trade and technology show focuses on the
recruitment of animation related talent and personnel, demonstrations of
computer technology, animation related products and services, and the sale

* Wednesday, July 21, 7 pm. Beverly Hills, California, USA.


Ray Harryhausen, director Nathan Juran, and genie actor Richard Eyer will
be on-hand for the screening of a newly restored print of THE 7TH VOYAGE OF
SINBAD. Tickets (donations) are $20, which includes a souvenir booklet.
Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 8949
Wilshire Blvd. For more information contact The Argonaut Foundation, 10153
1/2 Riverside Dr. #290, No. Hollywood, CA 91602. Tel: 818-890-4492; fax:

Director John Adams has signed to be represented by Santa Monica,
California-based AREA 51 Films. Prior to launching his commercial directing
career last year, Adams was director of broadcast production at DDB
Needham, Dallas.

The Attik/San Francisco has also named Ian Renton Studio Manager. Renton
will oversee the day to day operation of the studio. He is also responsible
for insuring that all equipment works correctly, handling briefings with
clients, and shepherding design projects from inception to completion. He
comes from The Attik's Huddersfield, UK office where he was Digital Artwork
Manager/Studio Manager.

Cartoon Network, the 24 hour all-cartoon cable service, has announced
several highlights on its fall schedule. These include: a TINY TOON
MARATHON on Sunday, September 19, 12-8 pm; the premiere of new series MIKE,
LU & OG, created by Chuck Swenson, Mikhail Aldashin, and Mikhail Shindel,
on November 12; the premiere of new series COURAGE, THE COWARDLY DOG,
created by John R. Dilworth, on November 12; the television premiere of the
feature-length SCOOBY-DOO AND THE WITCH'S GHOST on November 27 at 8 pm.

The Annual Society for Animation Studies (SAS) Conference will be hosted by
Griffith University and will feature papers by Maureen Furniss on motion
capture, Chris Robinson on Estonian animation, Richard Leskosky on
animating between the lines, Jean-Paul Goergen on hand-drawn sound in
Germany in the 1930s, Suzanne R. Williams on the aesthetics of computer
games, Marilyn Carney on Australian women animators, Bryan Barker on the
impact of CinemaScope on animation production, Cathyrn Vasseleu on "Time

Cartoon Network is forming Cartoon Network Studios, an independent
production facility to develop and produce original animated programming
for the 24-hour, all-cartoon cable channel. The new, Los Angeles-based
facility, due to begin operation by the end of the year, will give Cartoon
Network more control over series development, production, and
administration procedures. Among the series that the new studio will
produce are the currently airing THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, JOHNNY BRAVO, and

In 1992, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS) first launched its 24 hour
all-cartoon cable service, Cartoon Network. Next spring, Turner will launch
a second all-toon service, Boomerang. When Cartoon Network debuted seven
years ago, it could have been called the Hanna-Barbera Network because its
programming consisted almost exclusively of the classic Hanna-Barbera
library, which was also owned by Turner. But recently new shows such as THE
POWERPUFF GIRLS and DEXTER'S LABORATORY, produced by Cartoon Network

MTV: Music Television will premiere its newest animated series, MTV
DOWNTOWN, which was created by New York-based School of Visual Arts alumnus
Chris Prynoski, on Tuesday, August 3, 1999 at 10:30 pm ET/PT, 9:30 pm CT.
The 13-episode series will air regularly on Tuesday nights. MTV DOWNTOWN
focuses on the shy and thoughtful Alex, and his wild and crazy sister,
Chaka. Many of the characters and situations are based on interviews with
people around Manhattan.

Hollywood-based Super 78 used Adobe After Effects 4.0 to design the 2D
graphics for a :30 spot, "Wanna Bet?," for YouBet.com, a new thoroughbred
horseracing on-line wagering service.

ASIFA-Hollywood's ANIFEST '99 is a free 2-day festival of animation. Events
include a hands-on animation experience for kids; a stage show by voice
artist Lucille Bliss and others; SIMPSONS comic book artist Phil Ortiz,
Warner Bros. Feature Animation director Tom Sito, storyboard artist Bob
Miller, plus other professionals will also offer individual animation
industry insight through engaging stage presentations; demonstrations from
animators, storyboard artists and character layout artists; and a silent

Disney's TARZAN finished seventh in the US weekend boxoffice race, grossing
an estimated $7.4 million for a total of $143 million; Warner's THE WILD
WILD WEST, with digital effects by ILM, finished fifth, grossing an
estimated $10 million for a total of $94 million; Lucasfilm's STAR WARS I:
THE PHANTOM MENACE finished eighth, grossing an estimated $5.3 million for
a total of $394.9 million; Buena Vista's MUPPETS FROM SPACE finished tenth,
grossing $5.1 million for a total of $7 million; and Trey Parker's SOUTH

A.D.V. Films is releasing the following titles in the US. CITY HUNTER: BAY
CITY WARS, and SORCERER HUNTERS VOLUME 5 - FORBIDDEN DESIRES, are being
released on October 12, while SAKURA WARS 2, SAKURA WARS DVD, and VARIABLE
GEO, are being released on October 26. All of these titles will be released
in both English dubbed and Japanese with English subtitles. A.D.V.'s
Softcel division, which specializes in titles with nudity, sex, and adult
situations, is releasing CAN CAN BUNNY and COUNTDOWN: AKIRA on September

Torrance, California-based Expanded Entertainment, which produced the
Tournee of Animation and Animation Celebration in recent years, and
compiled and distributed tapes of award-winning animated shorts, has sold
its inventory to Chicago-based Facets Video, which also handles The Whole
Toon Catalog. The titles include four Animation Celebration volumes,
British Animation Invasion, six International Tournee of Animation volumes,
The World's Greatest Animation, and several other titles. Once Facets'