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USA Entertainment is set to release the direct-to-video feature, FRANKLIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT. Hitting stores on October 10, 2000, the film based on the popular childrens series will be released on VHS and DVD. The DVD will feature coloring games, puzzles, music videos, Web site links and a behind-the-scenes featurette with creator Paulette Bourgeois and illustrator Brenda Clark. "There is very little risk with this project," USA Entertainment executive VP Joe Amodei said. "FRANLIN has been a huge success with a long track record of family satisfaction.

Nelvana Limited has announced plans to produce two new animated series. BRACEFACE will be a co-production between Nelvana and Chinese studio Jade Animation. Voiced by Alicia Silverstone (CLUELESS), the series tells the story of Sharon Spitz, a 13-year-old who turns her metal mouth into a winning smile. The first 26 episodes are set for completion in spring 2001 for Fox Family in the U.S. and Teletoon in Canada. CYBERCHASE will be a co-production between Nelvana and WNET/13 in New York, which will air nationally on PBS KIDS in winter 2002.

For the live-action feature SIMONE, writer-director Andrew Niccol (THE TRUMAN SHOW) has decided to go completely CGI for the title character in the New Line Cinema drama. According to the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, the CGI actress will star opposite Al Pacino, who will play a Hollywood film producer. The story centers on the life-changing challenges of an aspiring young actress who becomes a movie star overnight. In a move that marks actors worst nightmares, Niccol decided to go with the computer-generated lead after unsuccessfully testing several young, up-and-coming actresses.

AniVision Inc. has signed a licensing deal with the U.S. college footballs Southeastern Conference (SEC) to transport online game players into key plays from the 2000 season. Under the 5-year pact, AniVision will recreate SEC games and place gamers within the action to view replays on-demand, analyze players performance or insert themselves into key plays. The alliance marks the first use of AniVisions 3D-animation technology for real-sports recreation.

Ring of Fire has finished two spots for Sonys Walkman entitled "Spaceship" and "Dorm." Both spots center around the space alien Plato. In "Spaceship" after downloading tunes onto his Sony Memory Stick Walkman, Plato fights Los Angeles traffic in his shuttle on his way to his new college. In "Dorm," Plato enters his room after a shower to find that his female over-night visitor loves the mini disk of songs Plato has made her on his MiniDisk Walkman.

On Tuesday August 8, 2000, David Spades new animated series, SAMMY, made a lackluster debut in the bottom of its 8:30 pm time slot. Despite a decent lead-in by a rerun of 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, the new primetime toon drew only 4.1 million viewers and a 1.8 rating/6 share for adults 18-49. The long shelved series follows the reunion of a newly famous son and his deadbeat dad. How long will the series last only time can tell. The last two heavily hyped primetime toons, GOD THE DEVIL & BOB and CLERKS, never made it past six episodes combined.

Former Disney chairman Joe Roths Revolution Studios will turn the Web series, LIL PIMP, into a Flash-animated feature. The MediaTrip.com series will be the first feature length film to be animated using Macromedias Flash software. Creators Paul Gilstrap and Mark Brooks with their team of four animators are set to scribe, produce and direct the project. Production on the flick could begin as early as three to four weeks. No monetary details have been released, however Gilstrap and Brooks look to make most of their money from backend revenues.

Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design (RMCAD), located in Denver, Colorado, has added a new animation program to its bachelor degree program. Currently, the college offers five other Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Graphic Design and Interactive Media, Illustration, Painting, Sculpture and Interior Design. The schools goal is to delve into the medium of animation as the only interdisciplinary visual art that merges art, writing, storytelling, drawing, design, sculpture, acting, filmmaking, art direction and film directing.

* Friday, September 22 Sunday, September 24, 2000. London, U.K.

* Saturday, September 23 Saturday, September 30, 2000. Split, Croatia.