The erotic anime feature DEMON WARRIOR KOJI will heat up video stores on January 9, 2001. Man-demon Koji, with the aide of a morbid psychic, hunts down a monster hungry for blood. The film is from Toshio Maeda, creator of LA BLUE GIRL, UROTSUKIDOJI: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND, DEMON BEAST INVASION and NIGHTMARE CAMPUS. The dubbed VHS tape will retail for US$29.99. A dual-language DVD will be available on March 13, 2001.
Rhinoceros Visual Effects and Design has created photo-realistic scissors and performed the compositing for 3M's Scotch Tear-by-Hand Packaging Tape. In the 15-second "No More Scissors," a fleet of scissors float from their worldly bonds and head into deep space to form a ring around a distant planet, their former users now free to tear fresh tape without them. Rhinoceros project leader/animation director Arman Matin said, "The sheer number of scissors and the data involved made the 3M project a tremendous task to pull off. There were literally millions of scissors to render out.
TOPIX/Mad Dog has completed the digital compositing and clean-up, character animation and synchronization of elements for six 15-second spots and one regional 30-second spot for Thrifty Car Rental. Set against a clean, white background, each of the spots features a different twist or gag, like a duck swimming in a convertible during a rain storm and a car being swallowed by a giant hole. T/MD inferno* artist Marco Polsinelli said, "For "Rainy Day," we proposed to line the interior of the car with a water-resistant foam core and fill it with water.
Mondo Media has named David McCoy, former vice president of advertising sales for Comedy Central and CNN, as its new vice president of advertising sales. "We are thrilled to welcome David McCoy to the Mondo Media team," said Douglas Kay, president of Mondo Media. "His extensive background and experience in television and cable are vital building blocks to the Mondo Media business model, and we look forward to his expertise for our continued growth and success." McCoy said, "What really excites me about Mondo Media is their desire to create a high value, new model Internet syndication company.
Animation Dream VI Exhibit is a showcase of the best work from the students at the School of Visual Arts. The event will contain models, storyboards, cels, background drawings and murals. A reel of award-winning work from recent graduates will also be screened. The exhibit is being curated by animation artists Don Duga, Howard Beckerman and Irra Verbitsky.
The Quickdraw Animation Society (QAS) Website has been updated with information on their upcoming courses...
The newest Career Coach, our monthly column by Pamela Thompson, is online...
Check out the latest "behind the scenes" features and tutorials from Visual Magic Magazine...
Leading experts in their respective fields are here to answer your questions and give personal advice and insight...
Plympton's new series of comics is extracted from the comic book "Polls Apart - How To Tell A Democrat From A Republican," by Kathy Paton & Bill Plympton...
* Sunday, February 25, 2001. London, U.K.
* Monday, February 26 Wednesday, February 28, 2001. Sydney, Australia.
* Tuesday, February 20 Saturday, March 3, 2001. Brussels, Belgium.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced the recipients of awards for scientific and technical achievement for the year 2000. The Scientific and Technical Academy Awards will be presented on Saturday evening, March 3, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. An Oscar statuette will be among 17 Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievement to be presented during the ceremony.
With little new flavor in the U.S. box office this past weekend, CAST AWAY remained on top for a third straight week, with a gross of US$22.22 million. The volleyball friendly film, with primary visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks, has collected $141.7 million thus far. Slipping only a slot, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE palled around in sixth, grossing $7.46 million. The llama loving buddy flick has drummed up $62.4 million to date. Keeping its grip on seventh place, VERTICAL LIMIT landed another $5.01 million.
On Friday, rumors surrounding a breakdown in talks between EM.TV & Merchandising AG and possible buyer KirchGroup drove EM.TV's stock to an all-time low. EM.TV's stock closed Friday at 5 euros (US$4.97). Apparently, the talks have broken down over price and a conflict between Nickolaus Becker, chairman of EM.TV's supervisory board, and Dieter Hahn, deputy chief executive at Kirch. As part of the proposed deal, Kirch would purchase a 16.74% stake in the troubled EM.TV. A Kirch spokesman said, "We are still checking EM.TV's books, doing the due diligence, seeing if everything is in order.
Worthington, Ohio's Big Fish Animation is looking for a 2D ANIMATOR and ANIMATION ASSIST/CLEAN UP to work on a TV pilot for a major network. . . Toronto, Ontario, Canada's Cuppa Coffee Animation, a mixed media animation house known for its organic, hands-on approach to animation, is looking for CREATIVE DIRECTORS. . . New York's Curious Pictures, a commercial animation and effects studio currently expanding into web design, is looking for experienced MAYA TD/MODELERS for freelance work. . .
Award-winning, former Disney animator and educator Larry Lauria will start off the New Year with animation workshops in Long Beach, California, and Phoenix, Arizona...
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
The 3rd International Student Animation Festival of Ottawa (SAFO), to be held October 18-21, 2001, will present a panorama on gay animation...
Long-time mime teacher Noam Markus is holding an all day workshop for animators on physical theatre movement improvisation. Markus has been teaching, directing and performing mime and physical theatre for over 15 years. He is a graduate of The School of Physical Theatre (Jacques Lecoq method) and is a faculty member of Claude Watson School for the Arts in Toronto. Topics covered will be physical theatre, commedia dell arte, contact improv, melodrama, buffoon, mask and mime.
Fox has renewed both KING OF THE HILL and FUTURMA for the 2001-2002 season. The network ordered a complete season of HILL and 18 episodes of FUTURAMA. In addition, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were upped to executive produce HILL. Former executive producer Richard Appel is leaving to focus on developing a new live-action comedy for ABC. The new orders put HILL, produced by Film Roman, into its sixth season and FUTURAMA, produced by Rough Draft, into its fourth. Currently, Fox is in discussions to renew THE SIMPSONS for next season also.
Warner Bros. Television has backed out of its partnership to produce THE PJS with Imagine Entertainment. The decision comes after the WB Network ordered 13 episodes for next season. Apparently, WBTV felt that the short order wouldn't cover costs, in addition to worries that the series wouldn't receive large amounts of money in off-net sales. However, Imagine has a potential partner in the wings Paramount. But there's a catch. Insiders say that Paramount wants syndication rights to all 56 episodes of the series.
AWN's Web Animation Guide is the place for what's new on the Net. In this week's installment find what toon won AtomFilm's Animation Showdown 2, more holiday specials, a new installment of John K's THE GODDAMN GEORGE LIQUOR PROGRAM and much, much more!
Get your Web Animation Guide here!
Also every week AWN's associate editor Rick DeMott highlights what he thinks is the top new toon in cyberspace in "Rick's Picks!"
