Geographical Region: Asia

Walt Disney Internet Group and SeaRainbow Holding Corporation have launched Disney.com.cn, The Walt Disney Company's official site in China. The Website includes content from Walt Disney's theme parks, movies and television units. Other content channels include Zeether, an area geared toward young teenagers, and Fun for Families, which offers activities designed for the entire family. In addition, Disney.com.cn offers online games and activities through an online subscription service called Disney's Blast.

Nintendo has announced that it plans to delay the launch of its next-generation console GameCube, which gives Microsoft's Xbox a two-week leg-up on the highly coveted holiday buying season. GameCube will be released on November 18, where as Xbox is scheduled to launch on November 8, 2000. Nintendo says the move is to meet consumer demand and avoid glitches like Sony had with PlayStation 2 last year. "The change really was to make sure we avoided somebody else's misstep," said Peter Main, vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America.

* 2nd Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror and Science Fiction: Friday, August 03 - Sunday, August 26, 2001, Los Angeles, California USA.

Anima Mundi has released the winners for its 2001 festival, which took place from Friday, July 13 Monday, July 23, 2001 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil then moved to São Paulo, Brazil from Wednesday, July 25 Sunday, July 29, 2001. The festival is the major animation festival in South America. The festival included a wide range of open activities, including workshops, lectures and exhibitions. The winners were chosen by a panel of 26 animation industry professionals from around the world. Below is a complete list of winners.

BEST FILM:

Toonz Animation India has announced that Tiersa Christine has joined the company as studio manager. Previously, Christine served as manager of operations for Disney I.d.e.a.s. where she was responsible for day-to-day operations for the full service post-production facility based in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. President and CEO Bill Dennis said, "I've known Tiersa pre-dating my days at Disney and Ive kept an eye on her progress. I feel shell bring a tremendous wealth of experience to the studio in India and I know that this is a good match for both studio and her.

Skunk has signed Flash director Michael Overbeck to their roster. The London-based company will represent the director internationally for commercials and music videos. Overbeck has won numerous international awards, including the 2000 Audience choice award at RESFEST. Overbeck recently worked on a pilot entitled UTICA CARTOON for the Cartoon Network, which aired Friday, July 13. "It's a great pleasure to be working with such a young and unique talent. Mike takes the application of the extremely popular Flash to another level," said Hyun-Ho Khang of Skunk.

Angus Cheng has been named director of development for Hong Kong by Walt Disney Imagineering. Cheng will serve as the point man for Walt Disney Imagineering's Hong Kong-based project team, which is developing the new theme park resort on Lantau Island. The Hong Kong Disneyland project includes a Disneyland-branded theme park, hotels and a retail, dining and entertainment complex. The new park is scheduled to open in 2005/2006. In this role, he will serve as a liaison between the Hong Kong SAR government and the Imagineering team in the United States.