All AWN Content

The new psychological thriller CHANGING LANES topped the box office this week, despite a strong performance from PANIC ROOM, which fell to second in its third week. CHANGING LANES debuted with $17.5M, while PANIC ROOM, with visual effects by ComputerCafe, scared up $11.3M for a three-week total of $74.1M. The girl buddy comedy THE SWEETEST THING took the third spot with $10M. Showing that family-friendly films are holding their own at the box office, ICE AGE is in fourth place after five weeks in release.

Production and distribution company France Animation is attending MIP-TV with a slate of new animated series for children of all ages. Heading the slate is new animated sitcom DR. DOG. Aimed at children aged 6 to 10 years old, this 52 x 13-minute series, co-produced with Silver Lining Productions, is based on the irreverent book by British author Babette Cole. Their documentary series INSECTOSCOPE makes its international debut at MIP-TV as well. Geared toward 6 to 12 year-olds, INSECTOSCOPE (52 x 6-minutes) is a co-production with France's MC4 and TF1 and RAI Italy.

Universal Interactive, Inc. has shipped THE SCORPION KING: SWORD OF OSIRIS, an action-adventure game for Game Boy Advance. The game is based on Universal Pictures' THE SCORPION KING starring The Rock, and will be in stores to coincide with the film's theatrical release on April 19, 2002. Developed for the Game Boy Advance by southern California-based WayForward Technologies, THE SCORPION KING: SWORD OF OSIRIS is an action-adventure game where players step into The Rock's role as the Scorpion King to defeat more than 30 new enemies on a quest to retrieve the Sword of Osiris.

Los Angeles, California's ANIMAX Interactive is looking for a CHARACTER DESIGNER . . . Calgary, Alberta's Applied Multimedia Training Centers is looking for a 3D ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR and a CLASSICAL ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR . . . Laguna Beach, California's Art Institute of Southern California is looking for a CHAIR OF ANIMATION . . . Chilliwack, British Columbia's Beauwest Productions is looking for a 3D ANIMATOR . . . Lombard, Illinois' Big Idea Productions is looking for an ASSOCIATE PRODUCER, an OUTSOURCE PRODUCER and a TD/SOFTWARE DEVELOPER . . .

Affiliate animator Aaron Augenblick has had his short film DRUNKY accepted by Annecy 2002, which takes place June 3 - 7, 2002 in Annecy, France. DRUNKY is in competition for this year's Annecy awards. Films chosen for the competition will be accessible on the Festival Website at www.annecy.org from May 10 to June 7, 2002. Visitors to the site can cast their votes online during this period.

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:

Capilano College Grad Show - 2D & 3D: Saturday, April 27, 2002, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. . . School of Visual Arts Dustys Film Festival & Awards: Monday, May 13 - Thursday, May 16, 2002, New York, New York USA. . . L!CENSING 2002: Tuesday, June 11 - Thursday, June 13, 2002, New York, New York USA . . . National Lum & Abner Society Convention: Friday, June 14 - Saturday, June 15, 2002, Mena, Arkansas USA.

Game publisher THQ has been named the worldwide exclusive interactive game licensee for some of Marvel Enterprises' most popular comics properties including CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE PUNISHER and NICK FURY. The all-inclusive relationship grants THQ rights to all classic TV and film versions of each of the properties for every viable game system as well as PC, through 2007. The two companies also announced they will collaborate on the upcoming comic book series, THE CALL.

Jeff Stabenau, founder and former president of Crush Digital, has launched a new company, Blink Digital, to offer content preparation services for a broad range of digital media. DVD authoring will be the focus of the new company, a division of Liberty Livewire, but it will also offer preparation, conversion and optimization services for streaming media, interactive television media and archival digital media formats. Stabenau and former Crush Digital technical director Michael Ory, have been joined at Blink Digital by many other former Crush Digital staff.