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Mainframe Events

Mainframe's Fraccia At The University of Washington

By Guest (not verified) | Tuesday, March 13, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: March 13, 2001

The University of Washington is presenting a lecture by David Fraccia, senior software developer at Mainframe Entertainment. Fraccia is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia. He will discuss many anecdotes from working at Mainframe such as, "So you want 50,000 long-haired ape people wearing togas to charge up out of the water?" The event will be held in Room 108, in the Student Union Building on the UW campus at 4:30 pm. The lecture is sponsored by the Animation Research Labs and the Department of Computer Science & Engineering.

Design Events

SUPERSTARS! Of Animation & Design

By Guest (not verified) | Tuesday, March 13, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: March 13, 2001

"SUPERSTARS! Of Animation & Design" is a two-night multimedia event that explores the people behind influential design and animation in pop culture. The event features talks and multimedia presentations by animation and graphic design students from The Art Institutes International at San Francisco. Kathi Georges, graphic design instructor at the school and creative director of Alphanetics, will host it. The topics for Tuesday will be Swiss Design, Movie Titling, Japanese Design, Psychedelic Media, Manga, Intuitive Design and Grafitti.

Series Headline News

Necronomicon Steams Up Home Video

Anime 18 is set to release MYSTERY OF THE NECRONOMICON on home video, March 13, 2001. The erotic horror series was created by the director of UROTSUKIDOJI: LEGEND OF THE OVERFIEND, Takao Nakano. In the film, an evil presence plagues the women of Japan. Volume one, "Book of the Dead," will feature two episodes. Volume two, "Black Chapter" on VHS, featuring two more episodes, and the NECRONOMICON DVD, containing all four episodes, will be released on May 8, 2001. Both the DVD and dubbed VHS versions of the series will sell for US$29.99 each.

Million Headline News

U.S. Primetime TV Ratings For The Week Of March 5 - 11, 2001

After slipping into the top twenty last week, THE SIMPSONS fell to #26 this week with an 8.7 rating/14 share. The special Monday 9 pm broadcast of THE SIMPSONS tied five other programs for 53rd, taking home a 6.1 rating/9 share. In a three-way tie for 63rd, KING OF THE HILL brought in a 5.6 rating/9 share. All alone in 73rd place, FUTURAMA racked up a 4.9 rating/9 share. In a three-way tie for 108th, WB's THE PJS piled up a 1.6 rating/3 share. At its new Friday 9 pm time slot, GARY & MIKE managed to scrounge up a 1.4 rating/2 share in a five-way tie for 111th place.

Million Headline News

Hannibal Claims More Countries Around The Globe

Gobbling up the competition, HANNIBAL dined atop the box office charts in a host of new countries. In France, the cannibalistic cavalcade collected an impressive US$6.23 million in its debut. VERTICAL LIMIT climbed into fifth with a gross of $1.46 million, lifting its French cume to $4.35 million. In sixth, 102 DALMATIANS collared another $1.38 million, raising its French cume to $13.51 million. In Mexico, HANNIBAL premiered in first with an amazing ticket-take of $2.71 million. At #5, RED PLANET dusted off $390,792, growing its Mexican cume to $1.04 million.

Headline News

Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, March 13, 2001

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

Game Headline News

Alias|Wavefront Become Official Xbox Developer

Alias|Wavefront has signed an agreement with Microsoft Corp. to become an official tools and middleware developer for the Xbox Video Game System. Xbox, Microsoft's next-generation gaming system scheduled for release this fall, is positioned to become one of the most advanced on the market. Alias|Wavefront's Maya software, with its powerful modeling and animation toolsets and its open, extensible API is strongly established in the game development market as the package of choice for top quality interactive entertainment with many of the top-selling next-generation games producers.

Disney Headline News

Disney's Go.com To Stay

Walt Disney Co. has announced that its past decision to scrap its Go.com portal has been reversed. However, the Go.com portal will be a much more pared down version with Web searches handled by former rival GoTo.com. The Go.com home page now serves as a low maintenance starting point for the Walt Disney Internet Group's other sites like Disney.com, ABC.com and Movies.com. In the formation of Go.com, Disney purchased Infoseek and their search engine. Currently, Disney is looking to sell off assets associated with Infoseek.

Headline News

THQ Gains John K's Ripping Friends Gaming Rights

THQ has gained the gaming rights to John Kricfalusi's new TV series THE RIPPING FRIENDS from Hearst Entertainment. The show is scheduled to hit the Fox Kids' line-up this fall. The series follows the misadventures of four wacky superheroes. Currently, Fox has ordered 13 episodes of the show from John K's animation studio Spumco. The first RIPPING console game should hit stores in time for the winter holidays.

Headline News

Hong Kong's Golden Harvest To Make First Toon Feature

Golden Harvest, one of the leading Hong Kong production and distribution studios, has announced that it will produce its first animated feature. The film will be based on the popular Hong Kong comic strip MY LIFE AS MCDULL, which follows the exploits of a pig named McMug. The budget for this mature-themed cartoon is set at US$1.28 million. Golden Harvest managing director Phoon Chiong Kit said, "Animations generally aren't very financially viable because it takes a lot of money to promote a new cartoon character. But with MCDULL, having the comic strip already so popular helps."

Headline News

Larry Lauria Workshop In New Jersey

* Saturday, March 24, 2001. Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.A.

Larry Lauria will be conducting a "hands on" interactive animation fundamentals and character design workshop. The event will be taking place at the Gibbs School. For more information contact Kara DePalma at: Tel.: (973) 744-6962 x 3037.

Want to learn more about Larry Lauria and his workshops? Then visit his Website at: Toon Institute.

Headline News

Planet Comicon Is One Of The Fastest Growing Sci-Fi Conventions In The U.S.

* Saturday, March 24 Sunday, March 25, 2001. Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.A.

Planet Comicon, a four-year-old comic/sci-fi convention, is one of the fastest growing in the country. This year's event features THE HULK's Lou Ferrigno and BATMAN's Julie Newmar. For more information contact the event at: Web: http://www.planetcomicon.com/

Headline News

I-CON Sci-Fi/Fantasy Convention Invades The Northest!

* Friday, March 30 Sunday, April 1, 2001. Stonybrook, New York, U.S.A.

I-CON is a science-fiction, fantasy and comics show. The anime program will feature dubbing workshops, guest speakers and panel discussions. This event is a student run festival and one of the largest in the northeast United States. For more information contact the convention at: Web: http://www.iconsf.org/.

Design Headline News

Larry Lauria Workshop In Orlando

* Saturday, March 17, 2001. Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.

Larry Lauria will be conducting a "hands on" interactive animation fundamentals and character design workshop. The event will be taking place at the International Academy of Design and Technology. For more information contact Tom Brooks at: Tel.: (407) 857-2300.

Want to learn more about Larry Lauria and his workshops? Then visit his Website, Toon Institute.

Headline News

Check Out Emerging Talent At The Art Institute of Phoenix's Graduate Exhibition

* Friday, March 23, 2001. Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.

The Art Institute of Phoenix is holding an exhibition of its winter 2001 graduate portfolios. Artwork presented will be from students in the computer animation, graphic design, multimedia, video production and Website administration departments. The event will be held at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. For more information contact the school at: 2233 West Dunlap Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85021, U.S.A.; Tel.: (602) 678-4300; or Fax: (602) 997-0191.

Million Headline News

See Spot Run Back Into Third

With THE MEXICAN retaining the top spot and the live-action thriller 15 MINUTES debuting in second, Warner Bros.' SEE SPOT RUN held steady in third, grossing US$6.61 million. The feces-joke ridden family film has scooped up $17.98 million so far. HANNIBAL fell from second to fourth with a gross of $5.85 million. The hog-wild horror flick, with primary visual effects by Mill Film, has dined on $151.5 million thus far. Slipping two slots to finish seventh, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON drummed up another $4.26 million. The highest grossing foreign language film in U.S.

Game Headline News

Academy Of Interactive Arts Announces Nominations

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has announced its nominees for the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Over 100 senior AIAS members in specialty groups chose the finalists. As part of the awards gala, John Carmack, founder of id Software, will be inducted into the Academy's Hall of Fame. Carmack is the creator of DOOM and QUAKE, which popularized the first-person shooter genre of gaming. Comedian Martin Lewis will host the ceremony on March 22, 2001 in San Jose, California.

Festival Headline News

Brothers Quay Take Home Tampere Fest's Jury Prize

The Tampere International Short Film Festival awarded its winners on Sunday, March 11, 2001. The prestigious special prize of the jury went to the Brothers Quay for their film IN ABSENTIA (U.K.). The prize for the best animation was given to Helene Moinerie for the film D'UNE CITÉ L'AUTRE (France). The Grand Prix of the festival went to the Finnish documentary HYPPÄÄJÄ by PV Lehtinen. Twenty films out of 69 in the competition were animations, somewhat less than usual.

Film Headline News

VeggieTales Theatrical Feature Starts Production

Big Idea Productions has announced that production has started on their first theatrical release, JONAH: A VEGGIETALES MOVIE. The CGI-animated film is slated to hit theaters in 2002. Big Idea's direct-to-video series VEGGIETALES has sold more than 20 million units to date. The film will be a humorous retelling of the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. Currently, Big Idea is searching for a distribution partner. A sneak peek of the feature will be previewed on the March 27 video release, LYLE, THE KINDLY VIKING.

Headline News

Warner Composer Richard Stone Passes Away

Richard Stone, the music composer for many Warner Animation TV series, has passed away. He died on Thursday, March 8 of pancreatic cancer. He was only 47 years old. He is the man responsible for the ANIMANIACS, PINKY & THE BRAIN, FREAKAZOID and THE SYLVESTER & TWEETY MYSTERIES theme songs. Stone started as a music editor for such films as WITNESS and PLATOON. He later worked on other Warner TV cartoons such as HISTERIA, ROAD ROVERS and the direct-to-video features TINY TOON ADVENTURES: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION and WAKKO'S WISH.

Headline News

Czech Public Aghast Over Pokemon

Many citizens in the Czech Republic are aghast over the premiere of POKEMON on the public TV network, Slovak TV. The Slovak media council has complained that the show has a negative psychological effect on children due to its level of violence. Because the station is a public broadcaster, the council has the right to ban the program. If done, this move could destroy Slovak TV. The station is currently in dire financial straits, owing over a million dollars to various companies for purchases made over the past three years.

Festival Events

Inaugural Durango Film Festival

By Guest (not verified) | Saturday, March 10, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: March 10, 2001

The Inaugural Durango Film Festival is a new festival dedicated to showcasing independent film work in various mediums. The festival will feature several receptions, screenings and educational events. Winners will be determined by the festival's jury. The mission of this new festival is to entertain and educate the community, and to encourage and empower artists, through a competitive showcase of diverse and provocative independent feature films, documentaries, shorts and new media works.

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