The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), the international association of the leading Internet-based cinema journalists, has released its choices of the Top 100 Animated Features of All Time with TOY STORY placing first according to a vote of the 138 reviewers.
Creative editorial company Lost Planet has added editors Saar Klein and Peter Mostert. Kleins notable feature film credits include THE THIN RED LINE, which earned him an Academy Award nomination; the 2000 film ALMOST FAMOUS, which won him an ACE award and another Academy Award nomination; and the 2002 action film THE BOURNE IDENTITY.
ICE AGE, LILO AND STITCH, THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE and SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON received nominations in both best sound editing and music in animated features from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, which will present its Golden Reel Awards at the Century Plaza Hotel March 22 during the group's 50th annual awards banquet. TV series CSI, FASTLANE, JOHN DOE and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS took two noms each as well.
And the nominees are
Best Sound Editing In Domestic Features: Sound Effects/Foley
The animated adventures of MR. BEAN is heading to Scandinavia. The 26 x 30-minute series has been sold to SVT, Sweden and YLE, Finland by Fremantle International Distribution, which distributes both the original live-action series and the animated series. SVT will start to broadcast the series on December 23, 2002 and it will run through early February. The series launch date on YLE is still to be announced. MR.
In the wake of last week's announcement of the departure of Michael Hirsh, CEO of Nelvana, Corus Entertainment Inc. announced that it will combine the operations of Nelvana and its television division into one integrated business unit under the leadership of Paul Robertson. "As president of Corus Television, Paul has consistently delivered outstanding financial results and programming schedules, always with customer service as a top priority," said John Cassaday, president and CEO of Corus Entertainment.
Cartoon Network has added Hungarian and Romanian to its language services making it available in no less than eleven languages in Europe. Starting out as a pan-European channel in 1993, Cartoon Network now has seven dedicated regional channels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa where it can be enjoyed in English, Danish, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.
After successful screenings in San Francisco and New York, the 6th Annual RESFEST will come to Hollywood's Egyptian Theater October 30-November 3, 2002. Showcasing innovative digital films, music videos and animation, the directors of RESFEST created seven thematic shorts programs from over 1,500 submissions. Notable animation screenings include Robert Bradbrook's Cartoon d'Or winning film HOME ROAD MOVIES and the U.S. premiere of Phil Mulloy's THE INVASION.
Cinar's library of over 2,200 half-hours of family programming will soon be traveling to new territories thanks to a distribution agreement with VGI Entertainment Ltd., a UK-based distribution company. Under the terms of the deal, VGI will distribute Cinar titles such as CAILLOU, ARTHUR, MONA THE VAMPIRE and THE BUSY WORLD OF RICHARD SCARY in sub-Saharan Africa. "We are very pleased to add VGI's expertise and knowledge to the Cinar team," said Louis Fournier, head of distribution for Cinar. "We are confident that our fascinating cast of characters will find a welcome home in Africa.
CineGroupe has joined with Fox Kids Europe (FKE) to distribute its new animated TV series PIG CITY. The series is a co-production of CineGroupe and AnimaKids (France), in association with Merchandising Munchen and Fox Kids France. The agreement with FKE includes the television, home video and merchandising rights to the series across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. CineGroupe will continue to distribute the series in Canada, the U.S., Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Animakids will handle the rights in France and Merchandising Munchen in Germany.
On October 6, 2002, MIPCOM Junior wrapped up its 10th year with the market reaching its all-time high in number of buyers. According to organizers, 433 buyers of childrens programs from 53 countries attended the two-day event, with animation remaining the favorite category and scoring the highest number of screenings. The total number of buyers represented a 19.3% increase compared to last year.
If you live in Los Angeles, don't miss this final opportunity to check out two amazing animation exhibits: "Oscars In Animation" at the Academy and "William Kentridge" at LACMA. The "Oscars in Animation" exhibition, currently on display at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, showcases animated films that have been nominated for or have won an Academy Award. "Oscars in Animation" features rare and original animation art spanning seven decades -- from 1932, when the Academy awarded the first Oscar for animation, to the present day.
On Sunday, October 6, 2002 MIPCOM Junior's "Talking With" sessions will host Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop. He will be interviewed by George Winslow, director of special projects, Reed Television Group. "Talking With" is an informal interview session that offers market participants an opportunity to interact with major players in the TV industry. Knell will unveil the story of the organization that revolutionized television with the legendary SESAME STREET and tell how its mission to create educational and challenging content for children is carried out.
Germany's EM.TV found success with its first installment of the whimsical series FAIRY TALE POLICE DEPARTMENT (FTPD), which has sold to broadcasters in France, Italy, Spain, Latin America, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Africa and the Ukraine. Therefore, EM.TV will be bringing another round of FTPD to this year's show. The second series of FTPD (13 x 24-minutes) follows a special unit of the secret service that fights crime in the fairy tale world. FTPD agents Johnny Legend and his partner Chris Anderson ensure that all fairy tale favorites really do live happily ever after.
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the sole West Coast and final U.S. venue of South African artist William Kentridges haunting drawings and animated films. The exhibition remains on view through October 6, 2002. This is the first American retrospective of Kentridge's work and includes eleven animated films, more than 60 drawings, two sculptural installations and video presentations of theater and opera productions designed and scripted by Kentridge.
A new 13 x 10-minute series being billed as the first CG series from Africa is currently in pre-production at Johannesburg, South Africa studio AnimMate. "The series will be entirely produced by African talent in South Africa," Tanja Botha of Johannesburg-based Animation Africa, which is distributing the series, told C21 MEDIA. "It's a first for Africa.
The Art Institute Online, a division of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, will offer a bachelor of science in Game Art & Design beginning in fall 2002. The Art Institute Online currently offers programs in graphic design and multimedia and Web design in an interactive, faculty-facilitated, asynchronous format that allows students to log in to complete their classes 24 hours a day, seven days a week at their convenience, making it ideal for students with irregular schedules or those who live in areas far from a brick-and-mortar school.
Program distribution anddevelopment company CABLEready has inked a deal with Tokyo's SSAProductions for key international TV rights to SLAMMIN' SAMMY, ananimated one-hour biography of Sammy Sosa, the Dominican-born MajorLeague Baseball star. The deal includes all of South and CentralAmerica, the Caribbean (except the Dominican Republic), Asia'sPacific Rim, Europe, Canada and Africa. SLAMMIN' SAMMY -- THE SAMMYSOSA STORY traces Sosa's life from the hardships of his youth as a
Hallmark Entertainment has named Michael R. Oesterlin as director, International Sales where he will oversee Hallmark Entertainment programming sales throughout French-speaking territories, Turkey and Russia, and video worldwide. Before joining the company, Oesterlin was a sales executive for Warner Bros. International Television. While there, he was responsible for selling Warner Bros. programming to Free TV broadcasters throughout Africa, Israel, the Middle East and Turkey.
TAKALINI SESAME, the South African version of the popular children's series SESAME STREET, will be introducing an HIV-positive role model into the Muppet cast. The ASSOCIATED PRESS has reported that, at the urging of the South African government, representatives of the Sesame Workshop have decided an HIV-positive Muppet character will join the series in September 2002. "We want to build hope and address the issues of stereotypes against HIV," said Yvonne Kgame of the South African Broadcasting Corp., which airs the program.
He's no Michael Jordan, but Brendan Fraser (THE MUMMY, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE) has signed on to be the live-action star in Warner Bros. Pictures new live-action/animation feature film LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION (what no SPACE JAM II?). Production is scheduled to begin on July 29, 2002, in southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada, with animation production at the Warner Bros. Animation facilities in Sherman Oaks, California.
TV-Loonland subsidiary Loonland Animation in Budapest has created and donated a short film in support of UNICEF. "Cartoons for Children's Rights" is a UNICEF broadcast initiative that aims to inform people around the world about child rights. So far, the effort has forged partnerships with nearly 70 animation studios in 32 countries that have developed 30-second non-verbal public service announcements (PSAs). UNICEF distributes the PSAs to broadcasters for the cost of the tape.
Fremantle International Distribution (FID) will be launching a second series of the animated adventures of BILLY THE CAT at NATPE 2002. Based on the books created by Stéphane Colman and Stephen Desberg, BILLY THE CAT is the story of a boy who is transformed into a cat as punishment for being cruel to animals. BILLY THE CAT has already been well-received by broadcasters worldwide, with sales of the first series to the U.S., the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Benelux, Australia, Latin America, South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
BartSoft Inc., based in Mississauga, Ontario and specializing in flash animation, web design and multimedia programming is looking for a SALES REP/AGENT . . . Columbus, Ohio's Columbus College of Art & Design is looking for an ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER ANIMATION . . . Sherman Oaks, California's David Evans Center for Conflict Resolution is looking for a CARTOONIST to draw a comic strip . . . Manila, Philippine's ImagineAsia, Inc. is looking for a CG SUPERVISOR . . .Saint James, New York's Inky Dinky Animation Studios is looking for a 3D ARTIST AND ANIMATOR . . .
Art Institute San Francisco is looking for a part-time INSTRUCTOR IN MOTION & LIGHTING AND TEXTURE MAPPING and a 2D/3D ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR . . . Los Angeles, California's BigRedShoes.com is looking for a ANIMATION AGENT . . . Bangalore, India's Colorcanvas Inc. is looking for a ANIMATION AGENT . . . New York, NY's Curious Pictures is looking for INTERNS for traditional cel animation as well as for Flash character animation . . . Valencia, Spain's Dos Produccions Cinematograficas is looking for a 3D CHARACTER ANIMATOR for an upcoming CGI feature film . . .
Stephen Johnstone has been promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president and general manager, Cartoon Network Europe, Middle East and Africa. Johnstone started with Turner eight years ago in the advertising sales division before moving into television channel management. More recently, he has held the post of head of interactive for Turner's entertainment networks. In his new roles, he will manage Cartoon Network's TV channels, interactive services and off-channel commerce.
