D.FILM and The New Venue in association with Atom Films and Evan's Star
Wars Cinema present a new online Star Wars-inspired filmmaking contest. To
enter, send in a short script for a Star Wars spoof. Short means very short
- a story that can be told in two minutes or less. A panel of celebrity
judges (headed by a prominent member of the original Trilogy cast) will
review the scripts. At the end of April, the judges will select a script,
and hand it over to a team of innovative digital filmmakers, including

The California Sun Festival, which took place at California State
University Northridge on April 10 - 11, handed out the following awards:


The Golden Sun (Best of the Festival) went to Hannes Rall, Germany, for
"Der Rabe" (The Raven), an 8-minute film freely adapted from the poem "The
Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe.


The Silver Stars (Best in each Category) went
to:


Traditional Animation: Andrea Guaraldo, Italy, for "Soffioni"


Computer Animation: Heiko Lueg, Germany, for "Sandland"

TOPIX/Mad Dog has completed the animation for "Stick People," a :30 spot,
with a :15 lift. The colorful, playful spot, which promotes Crayola Color
Wipeoffs, removable water-based magic markers, for TBWA/Chiat Day (Toronto,
ON) and Binney & Smith Canada (Markham, ON), rolled out throughout Canada
March 15th and will continue to air through the end of the year. In it, a
boy's stick figure drawings come to life. "With Photoshop I drew the
figures, frame by frame, so that it's a bit like cel animation, but not

Tricky Pictures has created "One and Only," a promo for the new Noggin TV
network. Noggin is an educational channel that is a joint venture between
Nickelodeon and Children's Television Workshop, and is currently subscribed
to by nearly two million homes. The spot uses mixed-media and incorporates
faces of real children with painted bodies in an outer space scene where
the Noggin logo doubles as a planet being explored. The kids plant a flag
on the planet, which doubles as a face. Ann Marie Fleming designed and

Yale University's Child Study Center, a division of Yale Medical School,
has chosen New York's School of Visual Arts' Animation Department to create
an animated film for use in autism research studies. The animation will
test the brain systems involved in social understanding, allowing
investigators to test specific hypotheses about autism. The animated
experiments will portray human interaction with geometric shapes. Reeves
Lehmann, Chair of the School's Film Video and Animation Department, is the

We've all heard of a smoking jacket, but a smoking hat?...

This Week's Special Features In AWN's Ever Expanding Store: A compilation of shorts by ASIFA-East '99 award winner John Schnall...

AWN will soon be launching a brand new web animation showcase, and we're looking for you!

Will Vinton Studios is one of the world's leading stop-motion studios and specializes in developing original characters and bringing them to life with engaging personalities. Currently producing two prime-time television series, plus commercials and special projects, this studio is looking for an experienced STOP-MOTION ANIMATOR with the ability to demonstrate skills. The candidate will animate stop-motion puppets on miniature sets for any number of exciting projects from TV series to television commercials. This job is based in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Florida school is looking for experienced personnel for new Computer Animation Degree program...

* Tuesday, April 27, 7:30 pm. San Francisco, California, USA.


ASIFA-San Franciso presents "Basic Principles of Traditional Character
Animation" with Mark West at the Exploratorium's McBean. Admission is free.
This evening's event is the first in a proposed educational series by
ASIFA-SF, designed for people with a limited knowledge of animation
techniques. Mark West will present an illustrated lecture demonstration,
using film clips to illustrate his points. West has been working as an

* Tuesday, April 27, 7:45 pm. San Francisco, California, USA.


SF ACM/SIGGRAPH sponsors a presentation on animating paintings in WHAT
DREAMS MAY COME. Scheduled speakers include Nicholas Brooks, Visual Effects
Director; Ed Davis, Lunarfish; Mike Schmitt, Giant Killer Robots; Laura
Kelly, LA-based effects team member; Pierre Jamin and Peter Litwinowicz of
RE:Vision FX. The presentation will be preceded by a social 'hour' from
6:30 pm to 7:45 pm. Where: Fort Mason Center Landmark Bldg. A, Marina Blvd.

* Friday, May 7th, 7:30 pm. Los Angeles, California, USA.


The Film Department of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will present "A
Taste of Tashlin: Early Hollywood Cartoons," cartoons by Frank Tashlin
which he made before turning to live-action and going on to direct several
of Jerry Lewis' best films. The program includes PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT,
PORKY IN THE NORTH WOODS, PORKY'S ROMANCE, THE MAJOR LIED TIL DAWN, THE FOX
AND THE GRAPES, SCRAP HAPPY DAFFY, PORKY PIG'S FEAT, A CORNY CONCERTO,

* Tuesday, May 18th, 7 pm. Rochester, New York, USA.


The RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) Computer Animation Spring 99
MFA screenings will take place in the Carlson Auditorium. For more
information contact Marla Schweppe at mkspph@ritvax.isc.rit.edu

* Sunday, May 23rd, 2 pm. Rochester, New York, USA.


The RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) Film/Video/Animation Honors
Show will take place at the Cinema Theatre. For more information contact
Marla Schweppe at mkspph@ritvax.isc.rit.edu

"Find and be found" in the new Career Connections...


At long last, AWN has built a brand new Career Connections, complete with a new Talent Pool resume database with multiple search capabilities, and a new Job Posting database. Join the thousands of animation professionals who've used the Talent Pool to "find and be found." There is no quicker, more direct way to reach the animation community than through the Job Postings database in Career Connections. Thousands of qualified job seekers browse through the Job Postings database every week.

Over 400 schools at your fingertips...in the new AWN Animation School Database

Come have a sneak peek at the new 3D Studio Max 3.0 at Santa Monica, California based DH Institute of Media Arts...

Silicon Graphics, Inc., the 17-year-old high-tech company known for
breakthrough graphics in movies such as JURASSIC PARK, is changing its name
to SGI. The change is part of a major branding shift, which also includes a
new logo, national advertising and consolidation of hundreds of separate
product brands. SGI decided to change its name after a branding consultant
found that while the company's products were perceived as innovative and
visionary, the company was viewed as a niche-oriented, high-performance 3D

ASIFA-EAST 1999 Awards ceremony was held Monday, April 12th. The following
awards were handed out:


STUDENT FILMS


Second Honorable Mention

BETWEEN THE LINES by Jamie Maxfield


First Honorable Mention.

HEADQUARTERS by Jason Donati


Third Place

SMILE by Alex Hart


Second Place

A LETTER FROM THE WESTERN FRONT by Daniel Kanemoto


First Place

STRANGE REALITY by Jusuf Santoso


COMMERCIALS AND PROMOTIONAL FILMS


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