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Company Headline News

Smith Leaves Nelvana

According to a VARIETY report, Clive Smith, veteran animator and Nelvana senior executive VP, has resigned from the Toronto-based animation company to pursue other projects. Smith started Nelvana in 1971 with Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, who will remain at the company as co-CEOs. Smith was the creative force behind such shows as BABAR, RUPERT and CARE BEARS and most recently was involved in the development of HEIDI, a feature adaptation of the classic childrens story.

Mipcom Headline News

Molly Races To Mipcom

Sav! The World Productions brings its latest animated program to MIPCOM with MOLLY, STAR-RACER. Described by the creators as Japanimation meets European 3D, MOLLY is an explosive mix of comedy and epic racing scenes in 3D CGI animation. Strongly influenced by their childhood memories of anime series like DRAGON BALL and LUPIN THE 3RD, as well as by cult classics like Hanna Barberas WACKY RACES or Saint Exupérys LE PETIT PRINCE, the creators of MOLLY have mixed styles and techniques to create a fresh new kind of entertainment.

Animated Headline News

DIC Asks Celedor: Is That Your Final Answer?

DIC Entertainment and Celedor International have joined together to produce, distribute and merchandise an animated series inspired by the popular game show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Capitalizing on the enormous success of the game show, which is broadcast in over 100 countries, WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE: THE ANIMATED SERIES features an animated host that will launch game show winners on fantastic journeys as they fulfill their millionaire dreams. The program will be introduced at MIPCOM 2001.

Digital Events

3rd Annual International Science and Technology Digital Art Competition

By Guest (not verified) | Thursday, October 4, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: October 4, 2001

The Arts Alliance Center at Clear Lake (TAACCL) and the SAIC Digital Arts Lab invites participants to enter its 3rd Annual International Science and Technology Digital Art Competition. Levels include: Junior (ages 10-18), Student (college/university) and Open (professional) in the Still Images and Animation categories. Cash awards are: Junior & Student:

Nickelodeon Headline News

Nick Writers Want WGA

In an election supervised by assemblyman Paul Koretz, chair of the California Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment, the writers from six of Nickelodeons animated series voted 19 to 2 in favor of Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) representation. Sequoia Voting Systems, an independent company that provides election services to unions and state and local governments, received and counted the ballots.

Film Events

I Castelli Animati: 6th International Animated Film Festival

By Guest (not verified) | Wednesday, October 3, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: October 3, 2001

The I Castelli Animati Festival highlights animation in all its forms from commercials to features films. The international competition awards the following prizes: grand prize, special jury prize, best debut short film, best European short film, audience prize, Fabrizio Bellocchino prize, best Web animation and best non-narrative short film. The Italian competition will give a grand prize and special jury prize to the top Italian productions.

Short Events

Los Angeles International Short Film Festival

By Guest (not verified) | Wednesday, October 3, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: October 3, 2001

The Los Angeles International Short Film Festival will kick off Wednesday, October 3rd with an Opening Night Gala at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. The evening will be a fundraising event with part of the proceeds benefiting The American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. The Gala will also feature the LA SHORTS FEST 2nd Annual Celebrity Fashion Show.

The festival continues October 4-8 at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. Over 250 films in 40 programs will be featured, making this one of the largest exhibitions of short films in the world.

Events

Animation Workout With Guest Director Julie Prendiville-Roux

By Guest (not verified) | Tuesday, October 2, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: October 2, 2001

Women in Animation-LA Chapter is hosting a workout with Julie Prendiville-roux, casting director from Radioville. A fee of $8 for WIA members and $10 for non-members is charged to cover the cost of the engineer for the workout session. The group will meet in a space donated by Earthsalt, formerly Horta. The studio is located at

Animation Headline News

Wild Brain Invades London

Animation studio Wild Brain, Inc. has continued the expansion of its global operations with the launch of its new creative services studio Wild Brain UK, LLC based in London. Wild Brain UK is headed by animation and commercial creative director Mike Smith and managing producer Nikki Kefford, with director Tom Gravestock also on board. Powered by talent from London's animation community, Wild Brain UK will be committed to developing emerging talent with a wide-range of distinctive and eclectic styles. Mike Smith, who has spent the last 10 years in the U.S., working at Warner Bros.

Digital Headline News

Pooler, Reinke To Lead Cinesite Digital Restoration Division

Jerry Pooler has been appointed creative director and Brad Reinke manager of the Cinesite Hollywood Digital Restoration division. "Jerry Pooler and Brad Reinke are a great team," says Ruth Scovill, president and COO of Cinesite Hollywood. "They are leading an ambitious effort to leverage the most advanced digital technology to help our customers faithfully restore priceless films in their libraries to their original condition." Pooler has been a visual effects and restoration supervisor at Cinesite since 1992.

Interactive Headline News

Liberate And Macromedia Advance Interactive TV Standards

The Macromedia Flash Player has been integrated into Liberate's open, standards-based interactive television platform for commercial deployment. The integration of the Macromedia Flash Player makes it possible for the more than one million Macromedia Flash developers to create compelling content and applications for interactive TV on the Liberate TV Platform software.

Textures Headline News

Marlin Studios Adds Panorama Textures To Product Line

Graphics studio and publisher Marlin Studios has released PANORAMICA - LAND & SKY, a 2 CD-Rom set created by artist and photographer David Campbell. The product is the twelfth in a series of texture libraries created for use by 2D and 3D graphics artists. PANORAMICA is a collection of beautifully photographed and post-processed panoramic land and sky backgrounds, in full hemispherical and 180/240/360-degree formats. Matching 3D models are included for the various size textures. Also included is a set of six stop-action animated cloud formations, suitable for video and other applications.

Channel Headline News

France Will Learn There Are Aliens Among Us

New York-based production company, Babelfish Productions, will be attending MIPCOM with their partners, the U.K.s Channel 5 & Channel 5 International and Klik Animation of Canada, to promote ALIENS AMONG US. The 65-part show tells the story of a renegade alien kid, Cosnok, from the planet Gontop, who gets inside the minds of children from all over planet earth to find out what he should do about a variety of issues -- from best friends and school bullies to moving house and first love. ALIENS AMONG US blends 3D animation with live-action docu-drama to create a unique new hybrid.

Headline News

Splash Unleashes Little Monsters On Cannes

The Splash! Group will make its international debut as a television program distributor at this year's MIPCOM market. In addition to the successful pre-school animated series LITTLE MONSTERS, Splash! is producing and distributing several new and established properties, some of which will be offered to the international television market for the first time. The second series of LITTLE MONSTERS will commence production in fall of 2001, with an expected delivery of fall 2002.

Nickelodeon Headline News

Union Representation Election For Nickelodeon Animation Writers

Assemblyman Paul Koretz, Chair of the California Assembly Labor Committee, has agreed to oversee an impartial election for union representation on behalf of writers on six Nickelodeon animated series. The election will take place Wednesday, October 3, 2001 at Nickelodeon Studios, 231 W. Olive Ave., Burbank. The polling place will close at 12:00 noon. Immediately following the vote Sequoia Voting Systems will tabulate the results and Assemblyman Koretz will announce the results.

Digital Events

DVContest, Digital Film Contest

By Guest (not verified) | Monday, October 1, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: October 1, 2001

DVContest is a contest on the Internet for digital films and animations. Winners in each of the three sections (Independent, Amateur and Animation) will win $5,000 each, while other cash awards will be given for entrants in the following categories: Drama,Comedy,Children,Action/Adventure,Horror/Science Fiction,Adult,and Documentary.

There is no entry fee. All entries must be in digital format.Finalists will be announced on September 15, 2001.

Effects Headline News

Box Office Rebounds

Three new releases helped the weekend box office rebound from the poor performance of the past few weeks. Box office receipts were up 52% this weekend with the three debut films taking the top three spots on the chart. The fashion-world parody ZOOLANDER took second place with $15.7M in its debut weekend. ZOOLANDER is the first film to be released that has digitally removed the World Trade Center from the skyline of downtown New York.

Production Headline News

Calibre Hires Team To Produce Animated Children’s Series

Canadian visual effects and animation studio Calibre has hired a new team of talent to aid in the companys expansion into production of animated childrens series. Calibre is currently creating the CG portion of 26 half-hour episodes of the AAC KIDS/BBC UK co-production, ACE LIGHTNING AND THE CARNIVAL OF DOOM, a live-action/CG combination childrens series for broadcast on CBBC, the BBCs new childrens block in fall 2002.

Headline News

NewKidCo Strengthens Senior Management Team

In its continuing efforts to maximize the strengths of management, and to ensure the greatest operating efficiencies for the company, childrens video game publisher NewKidCo International Inc., has made several changes to its senior management team. Allan Blum has resigned from his position as VP marketing and Barry Fried will be joining the company as vice president and chief financial officer. As a senior financial executive with more than 20 years of public accounting and private industry experience, Fried will play a large role in NewKidCo's strategic plans.

Animation Headline News

GMD Delivers Numbers For Telstra

Sydney, Australia-based visual effects and animation company GMD (Garner MacLennan Design) has completed its latest character animation project with the launch of a series of commercials for telecommunications company Telstra. Produced for the Singleton Ogilvy & Mather (SOM Sydney) agency and the Flying Fish production company, the 30-second spots show people in various situations interacting with animated numbers, the message being that Telstra can make numbers work for people, not against them.

Headline News

Spontaneous Combustion Creates Graphics For Staples

Design, visual effects and animation studio Spontaneous Combustion has created the visual effects and completed the conform for a trio of witty 15-second spots for Staples, Inc. (Framingham, MA), an official sponsor of the NFL for the last six years. The Statistics campaign was developed by Cliff Freeman and Partners (New York, NY) and pays homage to the NFL's on-air graphic displays, over-the-top analysis and cult following.

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