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Headline News

WIA Writers Seminar With Jack Enyart

By Dan Sarto | Thursday, April 19, 2001 at 12:00am

* Thursday, May 10, 2001. Westwood, California, U.S.A.

The Women In Animation Writers Seminar Series will host Jack Enyart, development consultant, who has developed and written projects for virtually every major Hollywood cartoon studio. For more information or to RSVP, contact Jean Ann Wright at: Tel.: (818) 360-8321; or Email: jjwright@gte.net.

Learn more about Women In Animation by visiting their Website at womeninanimation.org.

Animation Headline News

ASIFA-East Animation Awards Screening At ASIFA-Hollywood

By Dan Sarto | Thursday, April 19, 2001 at 12:00am

* Friday, April 20, 2001. Burbank, California, U.S.A.

Back by popular demand! It's the ASIFA-East Animation Awards, a two-hour reel of the best independent shorts and commercials from the East Coast! The screening starts at 7:30 pm. The entry fee will be US$2 for members and $5 for non-members. Seating is limited. For more information contact ASIFA-Hollywood at: 721 S. Victory Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502; Tel.: (818) 842-8330; or Web: www.asifa-hollywood.org.

Game Headline News

The Simpsons Take To The Ring

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

Fans of THE SIMPSONS can now grapple, pile drive and body slam their way across Springfield as Activision, Inc. announced the release of THE SIMPSONS WRESTLING for the PlayStation game console. The game, produced by Fox Interactive and developed by Big Ape, has been given a "T" for Teen rating by the ESRB. THE SIMPSONS WRESTLING game is being published and distributed in North America by Activision, Inc. and is currently available at retail locations nationwide for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Film Headline News

Beavis And Butt-Head Vet Animates Freddy Got Fingered

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

Emmy-nominated director Chris Prynoski, best known for his work on BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA and the animated series MTV DOWNTOWN, has completed animation work on Tom Green's upcoming feature film FREDDY GOT FINGERED. In the film, Green plays a bizarre animator who desperately tries to win his father's approval. Prynoski, known for his edgy, underground style, provides animation that launches Green's skewed creations onto the big screen.

Series Headline News

New Animated Series Premiers On MTV

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

UNDERGRADS, a new animated series, will premier on MTV this Sunday, April 22, at 8 pm. Co-produced by Torontos Decode and MTV Animation, the series launch also includes a Website featuring Flash animated series out-takes, interactive animated games, character home pages, downloadable applications, weekly video clips, message boards and a chat area. Decode, which also owns the international television and video distribution rights, is launching a companion UNDERGRADS Web page for the international market.

Headline News

Viewers' Top Ten Rugrats Marathon To Air On Nickelodeon

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the series, Nickelodeon will be broadcasting a special viewer's all-time 10 favorites RUGRATS marathon on Saturday, April 21, from 4:30 pm - 8 pm ET/PT. During the months of January through March, the network aired every episode of the series every produced. Viewers were invited to rate each episode on Nick.com. Voter tallies will determine the top 10 episodes. The top 10 will air in order, with the all-time favorite episode airing immediately preceeding the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Animation Headline News

Vanborssum Joins Cornerstone Board

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

John B. VanBorssum has been named to the Board of Directors of character animation house Cornerstone Animation Inc. Currently the managing principal of Fiderus Strategic Security and Privacy Services, VanBorssum has more than 25 years experience in finance, technology and information systems, with such firms as First Union Securities, Arthur Andersen LLP, BankAmerica Corporation and Security Pacific Corporation. According to Larry D.

Headline News

3D Animator Nimrichter Joins Spontaneous Combustion

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

3D animator Lawrence Nimrichter has joined digital studio Spontaneous Combustion. Prior to Spontaneous, Nimrichter spent five years as an animator and technical director at Atomic Pictures in San Antonio, where he worked on commercial projects for Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Co., Corona, Sony, Televisa, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Tecate, JC Penney, and agencies including McCann Erickson (Mexico City), JWT (Mexico City), Bromley Communications (San Antonio, TX) and Alazraki y Asociados (Mexico City), among others.

Headline News

Cyclotron And Visa Race To Daytona

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

New Yorks Cyclotron has completed work on a new 30 second commercial for Visa, which debuted during the March, 2001 Daytona 500, and will continue to air throughout the current NASCAR season. The spot, titled Nature, opens with a father answering his young son's questions about the local flora and fauna. They watch a moth delicately alight from a dandelion, only to be splattered over the windshield of a racing car. The tranquility shattered, the shot widens to reveal the pair standing in the infield of the Daytona International Speedway.

Software Headline News

RAYZ Compositing Software Available For Public Beta Testing

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

The final beta version of Silicon Grails RAYZ multi-platform compositing software is now available for public beta testing. The beta-testing period will last through April 22, 2001 when RAYZ will be officially launched at NAB. The software is available in versions for SGI IRIX, SGI IRIX (64 bit), Windows NT/Windows 2000, Intel Linux and Alpha Linux. The product is resolution independent making it equally suitable for feature film, large format film, HDTV and standard definition video projects.

Headline News

New Facial Expression Capture Device Released

By Dan Sarto | Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at 12:00am

Ascension Technology has announced the addition of the X-IST FaceTracker to their line-up of motion-capture tracking devices. The X-IST FaceTracker is a lightweight, head-coupled facial expression tracker using 36 reflective markers to collect real-time motion data on strategic locations such as lips, cheeks and eyelids. Its automatic search, labeling and marker tracking are designed to accelerate production time. The real-time data, transferred to an animation workstation, integrates with Filmbox, Maya, Typhoon, Softimage and other leading software programs.

Animation Headline News

The Acrobat Issue Of Animation World Magazine Is Now On-line

By Dan Sarto | Monday, April 16, 2001 at 12:00am

In this issue, Animation World Magazine kicks off Catherine Winder andZahra Dowlatabadi's new book "Producing Animation" with a specialindepth look at how animation is produced. From feature films totelevision from Europe to the U.S. we detail how schedules andbudgets are put together. Sylvia Edwards compares traditionalanimation television show schedules and budgets to CGI TV series, arapidly growing trend. Feature film producer Steve Walsh takes usinside putting together a European feature film, while Evan Backus

Work Headline News

New Jobs: 2D Animators, 3D Modelers, Digital Compositors And More...

By Dan Sarto | Monday, April 16, 2001 at 12:00am

Barcelona, Spain's Acció is looking for a 2D ANIMATOR to work onfeature films. . . New York, New York's C-Traze Studios, a TV filmproduction company, is looking for a SALES ASSOCIATE. . . Miami,Florida's Demand Creation, Inc. is looking for a CONTRACT ANIMATOR tocreate 25 to 50 new clips per month. . . Greensburg, Pennsylvania'sDreamForge Intertainment is looking for a MODELER/TEXTURE ARTIST towork on an action/adventure Xbox title. . . North Hollywood, California's

Film Headline News

Affiliate Site Updates: Buzzzco, SAFO And QAS

By Dan Sarto | Monday, April 16, 2001 at 12:00am

- New images and information have been posted for "(it was...)Nothing At All", Buzzco's latest short. The film has just won 1stprize from the Big Muddy Film Festival in Carbondale, Illinois. Ithas also shown at the London Film Festival, Tricky Women FilmFestival and others. Based on an original song written by Candy Kugeland Lanny Meyers, the film asks why is it easier to mourn the loss ofan object than the loss of a loved one. The film is traditionally

Series Events

2nd Outer Limits Film And Video Series

By Guest (not verified) | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: April 15, 2001

The second Outer Limits Film and Video Series is a collaboratively organized series of short experimental, documentary, animation and independent narrative film and video, with an emphasis on work from the far geographic and cultural reaches. The 2001 series will focus on (but is not limited to) three areas of the global experience: global tourism and tourists; individualism, eccentrics and vernacular culture; and time and distance. Outer Limits is organized by Video Lounge, the New York Animation Festival and Perimeter Media + Culture Projects.

Toon Headline News

Toon Boom Brings 2D Development To The Web

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 12:00am

Toon Boom Technologies, a leading supplier of 2D animation software for major film and television studios, announced Toon Boom Studio 1.0, a new software program the brings high-end 2D animation tools and capabilities to the Web. Targeted at Web designers, advertising agencies and other online content creators, the software is designed to simplify the creation process by automating traditional animation tasks. The new software derives its high-end features from Toon Boom Technologies' acknowledged expertise in the animation market.

Headline News

Swiffworks Brings Flash Output To Maya

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 12:00am

On April 4, 2001, Cambridge Animation Systems, makers of Animo software, announced the upcoming release of Swiffworks, a new plugin that delivers Macromedia Flash format output to Alias|Wavefront's Maya users. The newsoftware is based on the Maya scene interpreter developed for Cambridge's Inkworks plugin, used in the feature film RUGRATS IN PARIS. The new plugin allows users to choose Swiffworks material or use the default Phong material provided by Maya.

Headline News

Film Roman Announces Five New Animated Series

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 12:00am

Leading independent animation house Film Roman announced five new half-hour, animated properties at MIP on Monday, April 2, 2001. The new series include John Waters' PATENT LEATHER DREAMHOUSE, Norman Lear's 'TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS, HAIRBALLS, ZIPPY THE PINHEAD and TRIPPING THE RIFT. According to Peter Schankowitz, president of programming and development, "Our MIP slate reflects Film Roman's ability to partner with well known talent like John Waters and Norman Lear, as well as to develop our own properties in-house.

Ratings Headline News

Cartoon Network Posts Best First-Quarter Ratings Ever

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 12:00am

Cartoon Network scored the highest first-quarter prime time ratings and delivery performance of its history, landing in fourth place among all ad-supported cable networks, with a 1.7 prime household rating. The January-March '01 quarter also saw the largest net gain (177,000) in total day delivery among all ad-supported cable networks. Additionally, the network charted double-digit increases among households and all key demographics for total day rating and delivery, earning fourth place for the quarter, with a 1.1 total day rating.

Kids Headline News

Nickelodeon Q1 Ratings Lead All Cable Networks

By Dan Sarto | Sunday, April 15, 2001 at 12:00am

Bolstered by year-to-year quarterly growth across all kid and tween demos and strong performances of the four new series launched since January, Nickelodeon was the number-one basic cable network in the first quarter of 2001. The network averaged a 4.5/24 (1.4 million average kid viewers) among its primary kids 2-11 demo during the "Kids Day," up 3 percent in rating and 8 percent in delivery as compared to last year.

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