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AWN Headline News

Pitch Headline News

American Dad Short in Theaters Before Fever Pitch

Crossing over from small screen to big screen fans, 20th Century Fox has been exercising some synergy, releasing AMERICAN DAD: INSIDE THE CIA, a never-before-seen short, running exclusively before the film FEVER PITCH, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. The three-minute short, which is a take-off on CIA training films from the 50s, is screening before the Fox film, FEVER PITCH, holding in seventh place at the box office in the U.S. in its fifth week of release while the Fox TV series, AMERICAN DAD, premiered May 1 9:30 pm on FOX.

Headline News

Animator/director Ed Friedman Passes Away at 92

Animator/director Ed Eddie Friedman passed away on April 29, 2005, at the age of 92 in Los Angeles, due to complications from a stroke he had suffered a stroke about a year ago. From 1933 until 1989, Friedman worked for Iwerks, Mintz/Screen Gems, John Sutherland, Disney, UPA, Format, Bagle Productions, Ed Graham and Filmation.

Dreamworks Headline News

DreamWorks ‘Animation Now’ at Lincoln Center

By Guest (not verified) | Monday, May 2, 2005 at 12:00am

Forty-five years ago, when Walt Disney had a new animated feature to plug he used his Sunday night TV series to give his audience a look at the film and share some secrets of its making. When DreamWorks Animation SKG wanted to let the world know theyve arrived as a publicly owned company spun off from the original DreamWorks with five films scheduled for release between now and 2007 they went Walt one better.

Imax Headline News

Harry Potter 4 Headed to IMAX Day-and-Date

IMAX Corp. and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theatres on November 18, 2005. The film is based on the best-selling J.K. Rowling book and is the fourth installment of the tremendously successful HARRY POTTER film series, which has grossed a total of more than $2.6 billion around the world. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be digitally re-mastered into IMAX's format through the company's IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology and released to the worldwide IMAX theatre network.

Festival Headline News

Send Your Films to Poland

12th International Film Festival "ETIUDA&ANIMA 2005"Cracow, PolandNovember 18-24, 2005Deadline: October 15, 2005

12th International Film Festival "ETIUDA&ANIMA 2005" will feature an international student and short film competition. The following prizes will be awarded at Anima 2005 competition: Grand Prix Golden Jabberwocky, Silver Jabberwocky, Bronze Jabberwocky, Special Golden Jabberwocky for the Best Animated Student Etude of the Festival. The jury also reserves the right to award Honorary Diplomas.

Series Headline News

Avatar, Foster’s & Peppa Win at Cartoons on the Bay

Cartoons on the Bay handed out its Pulcinella Awards on April 30, 2005, with AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER, FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS and PEPPA PIG all taking home two awards each. The event wrapped on Sunday with the awards shows having to turn away people because it was over capacity.

Wars Headline News

Alienware Creates First-Ever Star Wars PC

Alienware announced the availability of the new Alienware Aurora: Star Wars Edition, the first-ever officially licensed STAR WARS PC. Aurora: Star Wars Edition systems are based on AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processors and packed with exclusive STAR WARS content such as desktop skins, fan club membership and movie soundtrack samples. The systems are available in two versions, Dark Side and Light Side, which feature breathtaking STAR WARS artwork on the cases.

Animation Headline News

Latest Animation World Magazine Acrobat Hits the Net!

With the theme of feature films, the latest Acrobat version of Animation World Magazine is now available for download. Karen Raugust tackles the production of indie animated features. Phillipe Moins reports about the European scene. Chris Panzner kicks off his series on commissioned work, while Rick DeMott writes about the early 2004 Oscar buzz.

Headline News

Gizmondo Confirms Massive Retail Presence for French Launch

Gizmondo Europe Ltd, subsidiary of Jacksonville, Florida-based Tiger Telematics Inc., can confirm the new multi-entertainment handheld will be stocked by more than 700 stores across France for launch on May 19, 2005. The retailers confirmed for launch are Antares, Virgin Megastore, PC City, 3 Suisses (VPC), Leclerc, Madison Nuggets, Cora and Surcouf handled by three distributors Innelec, Erbel-Disca 7 and Sodifa, while Darty and Boulanger will be supplied directly by Gizmondo France. Gizmondo France will also be working with leading distributor, DIES, for Belgium and Luxemburg.

Film Headline News

Dusty Film Festival Presents More Than 100 Films

The 16th annual Dusty Film Festival showcases more than 100 films by graduating seniors from School of Visual Artss Film, Video and Animation Department and offers them a chance to present their films on the big screen and in front of a large audience. The festival includes a three-day viewing of short films, videos and animations; a Screenwriters Night, where professional actors read excerpts of screenplays by graduating seniors; and an Awards Ceremony and Gala Reception with notable presenters from the film industry.

Headline News

Rendercore Releases Remote Rendering Solutions for Maya 6.5

Rendercore Inc., a leader in remote rendering solutions, announced complete integration and support for the latest version of Alias Maya 6.5 on Rendercore's state-of-the-art render farm, based in downtown Los Angeles, California.

Headline News

Cartoonist Emil Samuel “Zeke” Zekley Dies at 90

Cartoonist Emil Samuel Zekley (aka Zeke Zekley), 90, died April 28, 2005 at his Beverly Hills home, with his family at his side, after a long illness.

He drew BRINGING UP FATHER/MAGGIE AND JIGGS, PEACHY KEEN, DUD DUDLEY, MCDONALDLAND MAGAZINES, THE SQUIRRELS CLUB MAGAZINE for Glendale Federal Savings and AT EASE magazine for the U.S. Army.

Open Headline News

Radiant Media to Create HypeFest 2005 Open

Radiant Media has been selected to create the HypeFest festival's 2005 show open that will run prior to each screening at the event, which takes place in Hollywood, July 29-31, 2005.

"HypeFest links independent ideas with commercial creativity and Radiant's concept and company attitude reflects that idea in a truly complementary fashion," said HypeFest Festival co-director Jessie Nagel. "Choosing the right creative team for our open is always a fun and difficult challenge. Each year we see such great work, and Radiant's concept is no exception."

Macfarlane Headline News

Primetime Animation Blossoms May Day on FOX

Fox Broadcasting Co. has arranged a great many varieties of animated sitcoms into a great bouquet to be presented to viewers on May Day, May 1, 2005, with the return of FAMILY GUY at 9:00 pm, debut of the AMERICAN DAD series, airing at 9:30 pm, KING OF THE HILL at 7:00 pm and, reportedly, 350th episode of THE SIMPSONS at 8:00 pm.

Software Headline News

e-on Optimizes Vue Line for Tiger

e-on software announced its successful Vue line of products has been optimized to support Mac OS X Tiger. e-on software also announced the immediate availability of the free MetaVue plug-in for Spotlight. MetaVue will enable Mac OS X Tiger users to manage their Vue resources with unprecedented efficiency.

Headline News

Digital-Tutors Releases Maya Advanced: Building Advanced Shading Networks

Digital-Tutors announced the worldwide availability of MAYA ADVANCED: BUILDING ADVANCED SHADING NETWORKS training kit, the first release in a collection for advanced artists and latest release in a library of industry leading training resources for emerging digital artists. Digital-Tutors offers more than 2.5 hours of comprehensive project-driven training, giving users a step-by-step guide through the intricacies of building advanced shading networks in Maya.

Game Headline News

Students: Game Playing More Than Halo 2 & World of Warcraft

In its first national student survey on videogame preferences, The Art Institutes system of schools recently polled more than 1,000 Game Art & Design, Animation and Visual & Game Programming students from throughout its 31 schools on everything from favorite computer and console games to game purchasing behavior.

Headline News

Upcoming Sims 2 Takes Full Advantage of New Mac OS X Tiger

Aspyr Media Inc. announced that THE SIMS 2, Electronic Arts' sequel to the hugely popular Sims, will work with several of the new features in Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" to create a much improved gaming experience. THE SIMS 2, set for release in June, makes extensive use of the OpenGL technology to bring the most vivid, lifelike animations ever to the SIMS franchise. The title also benefits from the new .Mac services, which allow the player to share their own SIMS families with friends via their .Mac iDisk.

Headline News

Blue's Clues Animator Killed In Car Crash

BLUES CLUES animator Paul Beard died April 22, 2005, from injuries suffered the previous day in a two-vehicle crash southeast of Kansas City, Missouri, reports THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS. He was 27 years old.

Beard, a 2000 graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, was a passenger in a Ford Explorer driven by his girlfriend, Elizabeth Smail, when she lost control and swerved into oncoming traffic on state highway 13. A second Ford Explorer struck the passenger-side door, where Beard was sitting. Smail was injured, but survived.

Headline News

Samsung & Microsoft On HDTV for Next-Gen Xbox

Samsung Electronics and Microsoft Corp. announced an alliance to elevate gaming to the next level through high-definition technology. Microsoft has chosen Samsung as the exclusive HDTV worldwide marketing partner for the next-generation Xbox high-definition gaming platform. The announcement was made during the Home Entertainment Expo at the New York Hilton.

Online Headline News

Cisco, Macromedia Acquire Strategic Stakes in Indiagames

TOM Online Inc., China's leading wireless Internet company, announced that Cisco Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc. will acquire strategic share interests in Indiagames Ltd., a leading global publisher of mobile games majority owned by TOM Online. This move enhances the India-based mobile games publisher's position for global growth.

Animation Headline News

BAF Calls for Entries

Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) 2005Bradford, U.K. November 16-19, 2005Deadline: July 8, 2005

Bradford Animation Festival (BAF) is the U.K.'s largest and longest-running animation festival. The event hosts master classes, seminars, extensive screening programs and special events. The festival concludes with the BAF Awards, a celebration of the very best new animation from around the world and the only annual awards for animation in the U.K. For more information, visit www.baf.org.uk.

Movie Headline News

Seinfeld’s Animated Bee Movie Attracts A Swarm Of Talent

DreamWorks Animation has assembled a top-tier roster of voice talent for its upcoming computer-animated comedy, BEE MOVIE, which will star the films co-writer and producer Jerry Seinfeld. Starring opposite the famed comic will be Academy Award-winner Renée Zellweger (COLD MOUNTAIN, CHICAGO). BEE MOVIE is slated for release on November 2, 2007, following the May 18, 2007 release of the third SHREK movie.

Short Headline News

MECAL 2005 Wants Your Shorts

VIII International Short Film Festival of Barcelona MECAL 2005Barcelona, SpainSeptember 10-18, 2005Deadline: June 30, 2005

MECAL 2005 is international and contains three principal sections: short films, documentaries and obliquas section. Entries can have originated from 16mm. or 35mm film, digital or Betacam, but must be converted to DVD, VHS-NTSC or PAL for submission. For more information, visit www.mecalbcn.org.

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