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Mattel Headline News

Mattel, Mainframe Bring Barbie To Nutcracker Feature

Mattel has enlisted Mainframe Entertainment to create the first direct-to-video feature starring Barbie. The story will be based on THE NUTCRACKER with Barbie playing Clara. Mattel is investing US$15 million into the 84-minute CGI flick, which should hit store shelves in October. Currently, Mattel is looking for a buyer for an hour-long TV version of the film. New York City ballet-master Peter Martins will choreograph the dance sequences with the London Symphony Orchestra supplying the music. Motion-capture will be used to animate five separate dancers for the flick.

Animation Headline News

Ottawa International Student Animation Festival Calls For Entries

The next International Student Animation Festival of Ottawa (SAFO) will be held October 18-21, 2001. Now in its third edition, the Ottawa International Student Animation Festival provides a dynamic showcase of the most fresh and innovative animation from around the world. The official competition is divided into five categories: High School Student Films; Undergraduate Student Films (Post-Secondary); Graduate Student Films (Post-Secondary); First Film (e.g. Professional/Independent/Co-op Produced Films); and Children's Animation (Under 12 Years Of Age).

Productions Headline News

ANIMHA Productions Screening Invitation

Based in the Northern Arts Region of England, Animha Productions is an association of artists, writers, animators and filmmakers dedicated to independent film production and animation workshops. Animha invites you to the premiere screening of the Ewanrigg Film Project - a Year of the Artist and Ewanrigg Art Project initiative - showcasing the work of Animha's Dave Brunskill and Debby Akam, together with animations by local young filmmakers. The event will take place on Thursday, March 1, 2001, 7-9 pm. There will also be documentary footage of the project, free mulled wine and a buffet.

Million Headline News

Hannibal/Tiger Slash Records At US Box Office

HANNIBAL, the sequel to the Oscar-winning best picture SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, has slashed U.S. box office records on its way to claiming first place in its debut weekend. The cannibalistic cavalcade, with primary visual effects by Mill Film, ate up US$58 million, making it the all-time highest grossing opening weekend for an R-rated film. The blood-thirsty thriller also claimed the highest opening for a film release in January through April, beating out the re-release of STAR WARS. Still improving after 10 weeks in U.S.

Headline News

DRAW!, New How-To Cartooning/Comic Magazine

Debuting in April, TwoMorrows Publishing is launching its new quarterly magazine entitled, DRAW! Edited by Mike Manley, DRAW! is a professional "how-to" magazine for comics artists, cartoonists and animators. The first issue features articles by Dave Gibbons, Jerry Ordway, John Costanza, Shane Glines and many other pros sharing tips and tricks. The magazine will feature demonstrations ranging from penciling and inking techniques to coloring, lettering, storyboarding, Photoshop skills and more. Bret Blevins designed the cover for the first issue.

Animation Events

The 98th Annual American International Toy Fair

By Guest (not verified) | Sunday, February 11, 2001 at 11:00am
Begins: February 11, 2001

The 98th Annual American International Toy Fair is one of the premiere events in the U.S. for the toy and collectible industry. Each year the major product producers unveil their line of new toys for the upcoming year. This event is a hotbed for the animation community due to the powerful presence of marketing in animation.

Events

Webisode Academy Presents Recruiter Pamela Thomspon

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

The Webisode Academy is presenting a chat with top recruiter Pamela Thompson. Thompson is an independent recruiter, career coach and management consultant. Her clients have included Macromedia, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Digital Domain, Simex Digital Studios, Click 3X, Big Idea Productions, and interactive companies such as Stan Lee Media, Lucas Learning, The Los Angeles Times, Raven Software, and Hollywood Online.

Events

Milia New Talent Competition

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

Milia New Talent Competition is designed to recognize students who excel in content design and development. As part of Milia 2001, the world's interactive content marketplace, the New Talent Competition gives interactive and new media content professionals a chance to discover burgeoning talent from around the world. For each project selected, the students will be invited to present their work in a special area at the festival.

Cartoon Headline News

Cartoon Network Hires Veteran Marketing Director

Joanne Barlow joins Turner Entertainment Networks as marketing director for Cartoon Network UK and Boomerang, Cartoon Network's spin-off classic animation network. Her goal will be to bring together all aspects of marketing, offering strong and focused propositions to the partners and audiences of Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Previously, she served as European promotions manager for service station chain Shell. Before joining Shell, she ran her own business designing children's products. "We are very excited to have Joanne onboard," said James Greville, head of Cartoon Network UK.

Creative Headline News

Design Artist Ben Orisich Joins F/X Studio Cyclotron

Ben Orisich has joined Cyclotron, a New York design, production and F/X company, as digital artist/designer. Prior to Cyclotron, 25 year-old Orisich worked for four years at Atlanta-based Click 3X as senior inferno* artist. Orisichs work has won him numerous awards, including the Gold BDA International Design Award (2000) for commercial spots for UPS and retailer Carson Pirie Scott.

Spot Headline News

Miss Jones Weaves Web For AT&T Net Spot

Miss Jones, a design and visual effects commercial company, has created an animated spider for AT&T's new media campaign. In the commercial, a spider weaves a web, which represents the AT&T logo. This spot continues in the same vein as other AT&T spots, "Pop," "Newton" and "Balloon," completed by Miss Jones. Miss Jones' spot director Barnaby Jackson said, "With the other spots we start with the [AT&T] logo, and then transformed it. Here, we recreated the logo. We really let the spider have artistic license.

Tools Headline News

Caligari Unleashes trueSpace5

Caligari has started shipping trueSpace5 - the long-awaited new version of their affordable and powerful 3D modeling and animation program. The new version adds features such as NURBS modeling, new lights and rendering tools, and output for the Web. Caligari has built upon trueSpace's distinctive "hands-on" user interface, optimizing it for use with the latest hardware (including the new Intel Pentium 4 processor), and adding new tools for easier manipulation of 3D objects.

International Headline News

California SUN Fest Highlights From Student To Studio Productions

* Saturday, March 24, 2001. Northridge, California, U.S.A.

The California SUN International Animation Festival contains animations ranging from student works to studio productions. The event is set up to bring attention to the world of international animation. A special private screening of the films will be held on March 23 at the Museum of Radio & Television in

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