* Sunday, April 11. Richmond, Virginia, USA.


PRE-1950 AMERICAN ANIMATION will feature several gems including "Porky in
Wackyland," "Bimbo's Initiation," and Betty Boop in "Snow White." Janet
Scagnelli introduces the program which starts at 5pm at the James River
Festival. TEL: (804) 355-1383. www.vcu.edu/artweb/jamesriverfest also
offers further details.

Marvel Enterprises has secured a $60 million credit line from Citibank. This lends credence to rumors that it is interested in taking over Harvey Entertainment which owns the rights to many animated and comic book characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich. Three years ago, Marvel Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy. Toy Biz, which had been a subsidiary, acquired the bankrupt Marvel Entertainment Group, then created Marvel Enterprises as the umbrella company.

PDI has named producer/director Don McBain as Visual Effects Producer for its Commercial and Feature Film Effects Division. McBain's credits include Production Supervisor for the STARSHIP TROOPERS Miniature Unit, the crash sequence for MONEY TRAIN, and line producer/production manager for 25 projects at Sony Pictures Imageworks, as well as making the independent, experimental Imax film, FIRE.

Pam Coats has been promoted from producer to senior vice president of creative development at Walt Disney Feature Animation, making her the hightest ranked woman at Disney Animation.


Coats, who produced MULAN, will direct creative development of all projects in the studio's feature animation division. Her previous credits include producing the Roger Rabbit short, TRAIL MIX-UP, and executive producing the Mickey Mouse short, RUNAWAY BRAIN. She joined Disney feature animation in 1989.

Judy Fearing has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vice president, Global Marketing and Studio Development, for Disney Consumer Products, it was announced Thursday by division Chairman Bo Boyd and President Anne Osberg.

The deadline for submissions for the 7th Annual New York Digital Salon is May 1, 1999. The competition consists of a gallery exhibition of prints, sculpture, CD-ROMs, and interactive installations; animation/digital video screenings; websites/internet-works; and a catalog of original essays on digital culture. For further information contact Kirsten Solberg, Director of the Digital Salon and Director of Operations for the MFA Computer Art Department, at (212) 592-2535 or by fax at (212) 592-2509. e-mail: kirsten@sva.edu www.sva.edu/salon

A team from HELIUM PRODUCTIONS, INC. and TWO HEADED MONSTER has created a new computer animated spot for Starburst which immerses the viewer in a simulated water environment designed for absolute believability. The animators used SGI Octanes, Side Effects' Prisms, and Pixar's Photorealistic Renderman software to create the realistic physics of water splashing and swirling. At Helium Productions, John Scheafer was creative director. At Two Headed Monster Christopher Willoughby was creative director and Ruth Schiller produced.

Big Ticket Television has teamed-up with Will Vinton Studios to produce a new Claymation and dimensional animation series entitled GARY AND MIKE, slated to air on FOX this Fall. The series will be executive produced by creators Fax Bahr and Adam Small, along with Academy Award winning Will Vinton and Tom Turpin (CEO/president of Will Vinton Studios).

George Lucas has donated $1.5 million, while Steven Spielberg has donated $500,000 to the USC School of Cinema-Television to help fund the new, yet-to-be-built Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts. The Lucas money will help build a sound stage which will be named for Akira Kurosawa.

SPIDER-MAN TO SWING WITHOUT CAMERON. Whatever expectations were created in 1990 when Stan Lee (Spider-Man's co-creator with Steve Ditko and possibly Jack Kirby) announced that James Cameron would be directing a Spider-Man film, ended for the director of TITANIC and THE TERMINATOR on Monday when THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reported that Cameron will not be directing this long dreamed of project. This announcement comes soon after the resolution of legal disputes between most of the involved companies over rights to the Spider-Man character and related properties.

Chadwick Communications, a New York-based creative media company, is looking for a CHARACTER ANIMATION SPECIALIST

ImagineAsia Studios is seeking a LIGHTWAVE/SOFTIMAGE TRAINER for a 3+ month commitment in Metro Manila, Philippines. Transportation, accommodations and meals are provided. ImagineAsia Studios is an exciting state-of-the-art digital animation studio currently in production on Columbia TriStar/Cine Groupe's "Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2". Candidate must be highly experienced in the latest versions of Lightwave/Softimage. Areas of critical focus include character modeling, lighting, texturing and animation. Strong demo reel and excellent English communication skills required.

California SUN Festival will happen April 10, 1999 at California State University Northridge. This year's festival has seen an increase in the number of entries from the international animation community, with films from Australia, Canada, China, England, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, and the USA. 57 films were chosen for screening.

Sally Cruikshank's all animated web site breaks new ground in the web animation world. Her two hilarious characters Anita and Whinsey are embarking on a new adventure - the Titanic Two!

This Week's Special Features In AWN's Ever Expanding Store: Six Hilarious X-Rated Animated Films by Tanya Weinberger and "Monica's Untold Story: An Amorality Tale," illustrated by Bill Plympton.

The Learning Channel's program SLICE OF LIFE, which features a day in the life of women in various careers, has profiled independent animator Cynthia Wells. The episode will air on April 5 at 12:30 p.m. (ET), and will repeat on June 2. The SLICE OF LIFE crew filmed a day in the making of SHADOW OF DOUBT, a theatrical short film currently being produced by Wells' The Digital Theater Group. The film stars Wells' Talullah Le Roux character who was in one of her earlier films, INTERVIEW WITH TALULLAH, QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE.

Hibbert Ralph Entertainment's half hour film "The First Snow of Winter" has
won the award for Best Children's Entertainment given by The Royal
Television Society. The film tells the story of a little Irish duck who
gets left behind when his friends and family fly south for the winter.
Director Graham Ralph accepted the award.

The Chicago International Children's Film Festival is now accepting entires
for the 16th annual Festival, October 14-24, 1999. The CICFF is the largest
competitive festival of children's films and videos in North America,
programming over 150 of the world's best live action and animated features
and shorts, created for children ages 6-13. Entries must have a production
copyright date of 1997 or later, and be dubbed in English. Deadline for
submission of entry forms and preview tapes on NTSC or PAL cassettes is

Netherlands based Magus Entertainment will hold a press conference and
present the first episode of their animated TV series, "SimsallaGrimm," at
MIP TV 99 on April 12th. MIP TV 99, the International Television Programme
Market, will be held April 12-17 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes,
France. For more information contact the MIP TV Public Relations
Department: Margot Gardett - Tel: (33-1) 41 90 45 59 or Keith Daly - Tel:
(33-1) 41 90 45 60; Fax: (33-1) 41 90 46 24.

The Matrix, a new futuristic, action movie that stars Keanu Reeves and
features state of the art visual effects, took first place at the the
weekend box office, grossing $27.6 million for the biggest opening weekend
this year, industry estimates showed Sunday.


Doug's 1st Movie, the Disney released animated feature based on the hit TV
show, finished eighth, grossing $3.1 million during its first week in
release. The movie was based on a TV show, formerly of Nickelodeon, now