In its KIDS' WB! debut, the new Japanese anime series YU-GI-OH! ranked No. 1 among the broadcast competition in its time period in Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11, Boys 2-11 and Boys 6-11. The Japanese anime series follows the adventures of a young boy named Yugi, who morphs into a monster-fighting hero after piecing together the "millennium puzzle" given to him by his grandfather. YU-GI-OH! is represented world-wide outside of Asia, by 4Kids Entertainment.
ASIFA-Colorado:- Wednesday, October 17th, 2001 ASIFA Colorado welcomes Sayoko Kinoshita, director of the Hiroshima International Animation Festival. Kinoshita will be presenting "The Best of Hiroshima Festival," a show produced as part of the Denver International Film Festival. For more information contact Edward Bakst at ASIFA-Colorado, RMCAD, 6875 E. Evans Ave., Denver, Colorado 80224, U.S.A.; Tel.: (800) 888-ARTS; or E-mail: EBakst@RMCAD.edu.
ASIFA-San Francisco:
As reported on October 4, 2001 by THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Square Company Ltd., warning of losses of up to 13.9 billion yen (USD $115M) for the year's first half from weaker-than-expected revenues from its feature film FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN, had ceased funding of their Honolulu-based studio Square Pictures. Allowed to continue operations, Square Pictures has indicated that they will continue to develop CGI projects with funding from other studios, and plans to possibly develop a FINAL FANTASY sequel or prequel.
Honkworm International, a creator of online branded entertainment, has partnered with multimedia presentations developer Renaissance iMedia, to begin operations in Japan. The new office is located in Tokyo and will operate under the Honkworm name. Both parties in the joint venture anticipate rapid growth, and plan to provide services to Japanese consumer brands looking to include rich media into their campaigns and promotions.
In its KIDS' WB! debut, the new Japanese anime series YU-GI-OH! ranked No. 1 among the broadcast competition in its time period in Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11, Boys 2-11 and Boys 6-11. The Japanese anime series follows the adventures of a young boy named Yugi, who morphs into a monster-fighting hero after piecing together the "millennium puzzle" given to him by his grandfather. YU-GI-OH! is represented world-wide outside of Asia, by 4Kids Entertainment.
Spanish-based animation company BRB Internacional has secured two major European co-production partners for THE INVISIBLE MAN (26 x half hours). Italian state broadcaster RAI and French animation house Dargaud Marina are teaming up with BRB Internacional to co-produce the unique series, which is aimed at 8-12 year olds. The deal gives RAI exclusive Italian speaking rights, Dargaud Marina exclusive French speaking rights, plus some other distribution territories, with BRB Internacional and Dargaud Marina handling distribution for the rest of the world.
Plazmic, creator of the Mobile Media Platform, which enables the creation and distribution of rich mobile media to wireless devices worldwide has partnered with Walt Disney Internet Group Japan to launch an enhanced rich mobile media entertainment service on NTT DoCoMo's i-mode network. Disney-i customers can access a graphically enhanced, interactive and animated version of the entertainment service Magical Fortune using the Plazmic Media Engine, an interactive wireless media player based on Java technology.
Each week, Animation World Magazine offers new articles, special features and theme-based coverage of the art, craft and industry of animation. New this week:
- Alexeieff: Itinerary of a MasterWendy Jackson Hall reviews Giannalberto Bendazzi's latest book, Alexeieff: Itinerary of a Master,that discusses the art and life of pinscreen master Alexandre Alexeieff.
Due to concerns over ongoing world events, the panel discussions and seminars with the "Masters" will be cancelled at the 3rd annual "Week With The Masters" Animation Celebration, taking place in Trivandum, India, from October 31 to November 2, 2001. The Animation Celebration will scale up its festivities surrounding its InSea Competition film screenings, Childrens Animation Workshop screenings, MAC India Awards Ceremony and the Indian premier of "Shrek".
Hayao Miyazaki's film PRINCESS MONONOKE was the top grossing film in Japan until TITANIC was released in 1998 and broke box office records, becoming the highest grossing film in that country. This week VARIETY reported that Hayao Miyazaki's latest feature SPIRITED AWAY has set a new audience record in Japan, surpassing the mark held by TITANIC. Since its July 20, 2001 debut, SPIRITED AWAY has been seen by 16.9 million viewers, while TITANIC saw 16.8 million admissions total after its release.
Midway Games Inc. has entered into several syndication agreements whereby it will license classic video games for play on a variety of emerging gaming mediums, including Websites, handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and interactive television. Companies that have entered into licensing agreements with Midway include iWon, Heavy, RuneCraft, Index, Pocket Express and Terra Mobile-iobox. Financial terms of the licensing agreements were not disclosed. Midway announced three agreements focused on the handheld/wireless market.
This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:
Banja in the World Championship: Friday, November 23, 2001, Shibuya, Japan. Entry Deadline: Monday, October 15, 2001. The Europe-Japan Media Exchange (MEX2001) has announced the BANJA-IN-THE-WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and is accepting submissions for animated shorts (no longer than 5 minutes) featuring characters from BANJA, the free Internet-based game. Submitted works will be posted on the MEX2001 Website, and the champion and second place finalist will win the opportunity to attend the celebration ceremony to be held in Shibuya, Japan on November 23, 2001.
Computercafe has produced more than 30 visual effects shots for the feature film MEGIDDO: OMEGA CODE 2. The visual effects and animation studio provided 3D animation, visual effects production and compositing services, including modeling and animating precise computer graphic models of a variety of modern warplanes and helicopters. The studio created the opening shot of the film's climactic battle sequence, in which a squadron of F-15 fighter jets swoop out of the sky on a bombing run. Many of the shots that Computercafe created involved air combat.
Fox Family Channel will air an award-winning episode of KAMPUNG BOY Friday, September 28, 2001 (7:00 AM ET/PT). This will be the U.S. debut of the series, which garnered the Best Animated Television Series award at the 1999 Annecy International Film Festival. From a traditional village tucked away in the lush jungle of Malaysia, KAMPUNG BOY tells about the adventures of Mat, a nine year old boy, his family and his friends as they struggle to maintain traditional family values in an ever-changing technology-obsessed world.
Adobe Systems Incorporated reported financial results for its third quarter ended August 31, 2001. In the third quarter of fiscal 2001, Adobe achieved revenue of $292.1 million, compared to $328.9 million reported for the third quarter of fiscal 2000 and $344.1 million reported in the second quarter of fiscal 2001. Pro forma diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of fiscal 2001, excluding non-operating gains and losses, were $0.28.
The Europe-Japan Media Exchange (MEX2001) has announced the BANJA-IN-THE-WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP and is accepting submissions for animated shorts (no longer than 5 minutes) featuring characters from BANJA, the free Internet-based game. Submitted works will be posted on the MEX2001 Website, and the champion and second place finalist will win the opportunity to attend the celebration ceremony to be held in Shibuya, Japan on November 23, 2001. The application deadline is October 15, 2001. For more details, visit www.mex2001.com
Hacienda Heights, California's Black Orb is looking for a 2D CHARACTER DESIGNER to work on a CG animated feature (this is a non-paying job)...An Oxfordshire, England-based company is looking for a GAMES PROGRAMMER with excellent knowledge of C/C++ on PC or PS2...Bangalore, Karnataka, India's Mindsphere Technologies, a software developer and provider of key technologies, is looking for a CONSULTANT...Rome, Italy's Scorpion Systems is looking for a COMPOSITOR, specializing in AE, Commotion, Combustion, Inferno and more.
As part of the company's transition from video game hardware manufacturer to platform-agnostic third party publisher, Sega of America is expanding its marketing organization into two focused divisions -- sports and entertainment properties. Sega will also begin hiring personnel immediately into the expanded marketing organization. To this end, Sega announced the addition of Mike Fischer to the Sega marketing team as group director of product marketing for the entertainment division. Fischer brings more than eleven years of experience in video game marketing to Sega.
Marketing executive Michelle Hagen has joined Global Animation as vice president of marketing & business development. In this position, she will oversee the worldwide client development of Global Animations three principal companies: Spectrum Studios in Los Angeles, ImagineAsia and VirtualMagic ASIA in Manila, Philippines. Hagen comes to Global with 12 years of industry experience, having worked for some of Hollywoods most successful studios.
Manga Entertainment Ltd. will release IG Studios BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE on DVD and VHS on September 17, 2001. The story revolves around Saya, a teenaged assassin sent to vanquish the blood-sucking fiends that have concealed themselves among humans at an air force base in Japan. This highly touted film was the best feature winner at the 2001 World Animation Celebration and is Japans first fully digitally-animated feature. The DVD will feature "The Making of BLOOD" documentary, image gallery, original Japanese theatrical trailers and Web links.
Walt Disney Internet Group and Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited (Hutchison Telecom) have entered into a cooperative relationship to distribute Disney-branded wireless content under the Disney Mobile brand over Hutchison Telecom's Orange Dualband and CDMA networks in Hong Kong. Available this fall, the Disney Mobile service on Hutchison Telecom will include downloadable content based on Disney's lineup of popular characters, including screensavers, wallpapers, logos, e-cards and ring tones. Orange users will also be able to download the territory's only Disney color content.
Each week, Animation World Magazine offers new articles, special features and theme-based coverage of the art, craft and industry of animation. New this week:
- A Taste of SIGGRAPH 2001John Edgar Park takes us on a tour of SIGGRAPH 2001, focusing on the latest technology news.
Hollywood, California's AnimAction, Inc., an international educational program, is looking for an ANIMATOR/FACILITATOR. . . New York's Funny Garbage, a multimedia independent company branching into television series animation work, is looking for a DIRECTOR/SHEET TIMER, DESIGN SUPERVISOR, STORYBOARD ARTIST and STORYBOARD SUPERVISOR. . . Glendale, California's Lumeni Productions is looking for an entry-level PRODUCTION ARTIST working primarily in the realm of theatrical trailers. . . Jerusalem, Israel's Tzohar, an animation production company, is looking for a MAYA MODELER/PROGRAMMER. . .
"(it was...) Nothing At All" has gotten into more festivals. The film was shown in Bristol, Hong Kong, Schemi d'Amore, Palm Springs and the New York Animation Festival. And Brazils Anima Mundi has asked for it to be included in their permanent touring collection. "InBetweening America," Candy Kugels homage to Saul Steinberg, was also shown in Palm Springs and at the World Animation Festival in Los Angeles, and the New York Film Festival will present it on October 5 and 6 paired with "The Royal Tennenbaums." Buzzco has also done on-air promotion for Nick Jr.
