All AWN Content
The Career Coach: Put Time Between Jobs to Good Use
Whether you just need some time between jobs, or the search for your next job is taking longer than you'd like, put your time to good use. Take classes, polish up your portfolio, go to industry events, network - go to the zoo and sketch! Enrich yourself and become better prepared to meet your next professional challenge.
10 Questions with Edwin Catmull, Super Genius
To introduce the March 2000 Production Technology issue, Edwin Catmull, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Pixar Animation Studios, takes the ten question challenge.
Beatletoons, The Real Story Behind The Cartoon Beatles
Sharon Schatz profiles the big name talent -- Elton John, Tim Rice, Hans Zimmer and John Powell -- behind The Road to El Dorado and finds how music and art are carefully crafted into one.
Animation Look-A-Likes: Mobilux Lumia and Other Real-Time Technologies
Beginning in the late `50s there was an inspired flow of clever techniques that seemed like animation, but really weren't. These cartoon look-a-likes were shot in real-time and not frame-by-frame. Howard Beckerman takes a look back on a few of these fleeting methods.
Mainframe Toys With Action Man Series
Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. announced that it will produce 26 all-CGI
ACTION MAN half-hour television series episodes for Hasbro Properties
Group, a division of Hasbro, Inc. Before the series begins regularly
scheduled broadcasts on Fox Kids in September, a one-hour ACTION MAN
special will air on Fox Kids Network in May 2000. SABAN International N.V.
will handle international distribution for the series. The new TV show is
based on Hasbro's ACTION MAN brand, the number one boy's action brand in
Acclaim Promotes Nigel Cook To VP, Studio Head
ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT INC., a leading worldwide interactive entertainment
company, announced that NIGEL COOK has been promoted to vice president,
studio head of Acclaim Studio Austin. Cook will oversee the management of
the Austin facility, including product releases, personnel development and
process improvement. Previously, Cook was VP of product development and
design at Acclaim. In this position, he oversaw creative development and
design at all Acclaim Studios. Cook was responsible for developing many of
Fat Dog Makes His Home In UK
FAT DOG MENDOZA co-produced by Sunbow Entertainment and Cartoon Network
Europe, is set to premiere in the U.K. Animated by TMO-Loonland's Peter
Volkle at his Hungarian studio, the first of the 26 completed episodes will
air on February 28, 2000. The series is based off of Scott Musgrove's cult
comic book. Fat Dog and his boy Little Costumed Buddy live in Neighbourhood
X, which seems normal until one notices that ancient Rome and the Himalayas
Shareholders File Lawsuit Against CINAR
On Wednesday, February 23, 2000, CINAR Corp., the creator of the Emmy
Award-winning ARTHUR, had a lawsuit filed against the company alleging they
artificially inflated its financial results by lying about the use of
Canadian tax credits. As reported [AF 10/19/99], allegations surfaced last
fall that CINAR only pretended to use Canadian authors for its scripts in
order to obtain tax credits. Canadian officials are investigating but no
charges have been filed. The early rumors sent CINAR stock plummeting to
EA Acquires DreamWorks Interactive
Electronic Arts, one of the world's largest interactive entertainment
software companies, announced the acquisition of multimedia developer
DreamWorks Interactive, LLC. In terms of the deal, DreamWorks Interactive
will become a complete subsidiary of Electronic Arts. Financial terms were
not disclosed. Formed in March 1995 as a joint venture between Microsoft
and DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Interactive has produced such PlayStation
titles as LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK and MEDAL OF HONOR. Steven Spielberg,
Disney's Go A Sleeping Giant
On Tuesday, February 22, 2000, Disney chairman-CEO Michael Eisner made the
announcement: "With Go.com, I believe we are now the sleeping giant of the
Internet. Once streaming video is commonplace," he added, "Disney is ready
with a vast library and the ability to create new content." Added Go.com
chairman Steve Bornstein: "I see a time, in the next few years, or even
sooner, where nobody will talk about television or the Internet separately.
They will become one synergistic, fused media." In scheduled business,
Brussels Festival Hosts Sand & Clay Animation Workshop
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival will start next Monday
and run until March 11, 2000...
Recruiting at ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Expo
ASIFA-Hollywood will host its 7th Annual Animation Expo on March 3-4, 2000,
in Glendale, California...
Animation On the Internet - Creating It and Distributing It!
Meet key industry leaders in two power packed panels! AWN's Dan Sarto will
present "THE NEXT WAVE: ANIMATION ON THE INTERNET" at the Animation Expo on
Saturday, March 4, 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM. A panel of leading animators and
industry experts will discuss current opportunities and future
possibilities for the creation and distribution of animation on the
Internet. Session 1 will focus on THE TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES
being used to create web-based animated content. With so much focus on
Free Slide Lecture with Prestigious Life Drawing Instructor Glenn Vilppu
On Saturday, March 4, 2000, world class life drawing master Glenn Vilppu
will present "On the Tails of Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson and P.S. Kroyer in
Scandinavia" at the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Union (MPSC Local
839), North Hollywood, California. To attend this free event, please call
(661) 269-1726 or (818) 994-2402. Glenn Vilppu will also present his tour
of Denmark and Sweden, scheduled July 10-21, 2000. When traveling through
major cities, Vilppu will lecture on the local art. Artists, photographers
Volunteer at TAIS and See The Lion King For Free!
TAIS, the Toronto Animated Image Society, and Operation Herbie of the
Hospital for Sick Children Foundation presents a premiere performance of
Disney's "The Lion King" on April 6, 2000...
Plympton's Comic of the Week
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book, "Sleazy
Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
This Week's Animation Trivia Quiz
Store Special: Another rare collection of artwork from the 1930s
Entertaindom Orders More The God & Devil Show
Entertaindom.com, Time Warner's on-line entertainment destination, has
picked up 17 additional episodes of its smash hit, THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW
from Mondo Media, a leading creator and distributor of serial-based
animated content. THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW, an animated weekly "talk show"
launched on Entertaindom in November. Each week the show features hosts God
and the Devil interviewing then deciding the eternal fates of various
"celebrity" guests (including impersonations of Keith Richards, Bill Gates,
God The Devil And Bob Website
On February 14, 2000, the GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB Website launched to promote
the new series which debuts on NBC on Thursday, March 9, 2000 at 8:30 pm.
The series is produced by Carsey-Werner, the creators of 3RD ROCK FROM THE
SUN, THAT '70S SHOW and COSBY. GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB, created by Matthew
Carlson, centers around Bob Alman, a Detroit auto plant worker who has been
chosen by God to prove the world is worth saving after God and the Devil
MTV's Eric Calderon & Expedia's Richard Barton Join AtomFilms
ATOMFILMS has announced that ERIC CALDERON has joined the company as
Animation and Digital Media Development Executive and RICHARD BARTON has
joined their board of directors. Before moving to AtomFilms, Calderon was
the former Director of Animation Development at MTV. Calderon will be in
charge of recruiting and developing animation and digital media talent,
content and technologies. At MTV, Calderon oversaw MTV animation series
such as: CARTOON SUSHI, CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH, DARIA, DOWNTOWN, and the
Ivan Molomut Joins Black Logic As Head Of Sales
IVAN MOLOMUT has joined BLACK LOGIC, a design and animation house, as head
of sales. Molomut's firm Ivan and Company, which he established in 1997, to
market traditional film production, cel animation, CGI, visual effects,
editors and music houses, to advertising agencies and clients, has
represented Black Logic for the past two years. In 1991, Molomut formed
Velocity Film, a bi-coastal production company. As president, head of sales
and marketing and executive producer, he represented directors to ad
Nick Nurtures 3 New Toons
Nickelodeon has announced plans for a new animated series featuring
Hispanic leads. DORA THE EXPLORER will follow the crusades of a 7-year-old
Hispanic girl who lives inside a computer. The show will encourage viewers
to participate in the adventure. The new show is "a rounding out of our
efforts to reflect the world of kids," said Cyma Zarghami, Nickelodeon's
executive vice president. Other new toons include: INVADER ZIM, about an
alien who spies on Earth by masquerading as a kid and attending elementary
New Jobs: Animators, Artists, Faculty Filmmakers and more wanted
- Do you live and breathe anime, comics, manga and sci-fi? Do you enjoy
working in a fast-paced, start-up environment? Then this may be your dream
job! Actionace.com, a pre-IPO company located in the San Francisco Bay
Area, is launching an on-line entertainment channel featuring webisodes
animated in Flash. Actionace.com is hiring all levels of ANIMATORS, from
seasoned professionals to entry-level. Job requirements/skills are: 4-year
college degree (animation major preferred); Thorough understanding of