AWN's Web Animation Guide is the place for what's new on the Net. This week's installment features some funny BitMagic shorts, an edgy new Webisode of WHERE ARE THE TOONS NOW?, Tom Snyder Productions and much, much more.
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Also every week AWN's associate editor Rick DeMott highlights what he thinks is the top new toon in cyberspace in "Rick's Picks!"
The Virtual Reality Conference to be held in London on Thursday, November 16 through Friday, November 17, 2000.
Paris-based Mac Guff Ligne, a part of the Ron Soodalter Associates International consortium of post-production studios, has finished two 3D dinosaurs for a new Lego commercial. The 30-second "Dino's Dinner" spot combines walking and talking dinosaurs in live-action settings juxtaposed against kids playing with their Lego sets. Mac Guff Ligne, which produced the spot for New York ad agency Lowe, Lintas, used the Web as a means to deliver the images to the client. "I think this arrangement worked brilliantly," said spot producer Eve Frumkin of Lowe, Lintas.
Spontaneous Combustion, a digital studio specializing in the creation of visual effects and design, has completed the CGI effects and compositing for three 30-second spots for AT&T's "Boundless" campaign. The campaign plays on AT&T's logo as it touts its broadband technology and ends with typography that transitions from either "broadband" or "wireless" into "boundless," followed by "att.com." In "Push Pin," blue pushpins fly, hitting a white wall forming the AT&T globe logo.
Toronto-based TOPIX/Mad Dog, a computer graphics and animation facility, has signed New York-based Richard Fink and The Richard Fink Agency to head East Coast sales. Specialists in character animation, special effects, film titling, type and broadcast design, TOPIX creates photo-realistic, computer-generated animation for the advertising, feature film, broadcast and music video industries. At the same time TOPIX's post-production arm, Mad Dog, is one of Canada's leaders in the high-end post industry, using inferno* and flame*.
ATTIK, an all-media creative solutions company, has named Ian J. Cohen director of client services. In his new post, Cohen will oversee the management and development of current and potential clients. Cohen comes to ATTIK from New York-based Artustry Partnership, which he helped launch with commercial director Bob Giraldi and managing partner David Sklaver.
* April 2001. Hollywood, California, U.S.A.
Entry Deadline: February 28, 2001.
* Thursday, April 5 Monday, April 9, 2001. Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy.
Entry Deadline: January 21, 2001
This Month: Licensing and Merchandising...
Portland, Maine's Sputnik Animation, a small studio developing animated content for broadcast and the Web, is looking for 2D CHARACTER ANIMATORS. Computer experience a plus. . . Greensburg, Pennsylvania's DreamForge Entertainment Inc., an established computer game development studio, is looking for 3D LEVEL MODELERS for an original action/adventure game being developed as a first next generation Xbox title and a prominent PC license for one of the biggest game publishers in the U.S. . .
Award-winning former Disney animator and educator Larry Lauria has fourteen animation workshops scheduled between now and the beginning of July 2001. The events range from the LEAF and Moondance festivals to workshops in Tampa, Phoenix, Long Island, St. Louis area, Long Beach, Tuscany (Italy) and more. They cover the gambit from animation fundamentals and character design to writing for animation and storyboarding and range from beginning to advanced levels. For more information, email Larry at lanimate@piasanet.com.
AWN has just launched a brand new Feature Film Release database, complete with searchable information...
The CMJ FilmFest coincides with the CMJ Music Marathon and MusicFest and highlights the synergy between the moving image and music. The film festival showcases independent films that creatively and effectively use music in film. Awards are given to best feature or documentary, best short and best use of music in film. The event is sponsored and organized by the ChangeMusic Network.
As part of DIC Entertainment's plan to restructure is international arm, the company has appointed Patricia Ryan as executive vice president of international sales and Dan White as vice president of international sales. Ryan will handle Western Europe and Canadian broadcast and video sales, head up property acquisitions and help oversee international co-productions. Waite will handle sales for Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Previously, Ryan headed DIC's international sales as vice president before the 1996 acquisition by Disney.
Italian animation studio Mondo TV released second-quarter revenue reports, which were up 250% to 6.7 billion lire (US$2.94 million). This report is the first since going public on the Milan stock exchange in June. In the quarter, Mondo TV's gross operating margin inflated 484% to 5.3 billion lire ($2.32 million). The big gains are attributed to the firm's increasing presence in Asia and its new co-production deal with Seoul-based Hahn Shin Corporation. Mondo TV is the owner of Italy's largest library of domestic and imported television cartoons.
* Wednesday, February 28 Friday, March 2, 2001. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Entry Deadline: December 31, 2000.
* Thursday, April 19 Thursday, May 3, 2001. San Francisco, California, U.S.A. Narrative Feature Deadline: January 3, 2001. Entry Deadline: December 1, 2000.
The Toronto Animated Image Society will be hosting a storyboarding for animation seminar. Sam Agro, a freelance storyboard artist and an instructor at Studio M, will host the event. Agro has worked in the animation business for over seventeen years. He is currently doing storyboards for Fox Kids' new animated series RIPPING FRIENDS directed by John Kricfalusi of REN AND STIMPY fame. The seminar will take place at 8 pm.
Black Logic has created a new spot for Ben Gay and New York ad agency Cline, Davis & Mann. Making his directorial debut on the spot was Black Logic's Patrick Ferguson. "The idea was to take individual parts of the human body affected by the soothing relief of Ben Gay, and integrate them into a 3D environment, where the body could interact with medical graphics, charts, and, ultimately, the product itself," said Ferguson. Floyd Gillis of Black Logic's creative partner, AFCG, created all of the CGI.
Spontaneous Combustion, a New York digital studio specializing in the creation of visual effects and design, has named Roe Bressan managing director. In her new role, Bressan will be part of the management team, which includes executive creative director Tony Robins and general manager Marc Schwartz. Bressan will be responsible for the company's continued growth, accessing new outside talent and further coordinating the internal workings of the firm.
Editor Renny Maslow has joined New York-based Editing Concepts, following a two-year stint with New York City's Northern Lights Post. He has worked on a spot for Hellman's Mayonnaise, directed by Bob Giraldi, and spots for Knorr Forkfulls and Fat Cat Ale, which he directed. Maslow has also cut music videos for Lisa Loeb and Rufas Wainwright and two independent feature films, ENDSVILLE and THE COURT. "I wanted to be more involved with narrative work," said Maslow. "I really love the vibe here. Nelson (Leonard) and Owen (Plotkin) are great editors and strong mentors.
PBS will air a 90-minute documentary on the life and work of Chuck Jones entitled CHUCK JONES: EXTREMES AND IN-BETWEENS, A LIFE IN ANIMATION. Scheduled to air Wednesday, November 22nd at 8 pm, the special includes animated clips, archival footage and new interviews with Jones and a range of celebrity experts including Steven Spielberg, John Lassiter, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Ken Burns, Joe Dante, Roger Ebert, Stan Freberg, Ron Howard, Leonard Maltin, Lorne Michaels and Andre Previn. The film is a co-production of CAMI Spectrum, RM Associates and Thirteen/WNET New York.
ASIFA, the only internationally sanctioned organization for animation, will open a chapter in India. This new chapter will be located in the city of Trivandrum within the Indian state of Kerala, home of Toonz Animation India. The first meeting of ASIFA India will occur during The 2nd Annual Week With The Masters Animation Celebration, from October 30 - November 3, 2000. Bill Dennis, president and CEO of Toonz Animation India, will head the new chapter. Dennis has worked on animated classics such as THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN and THE LITTLE MERMAID.
Steamboat Software, a Los Angeles developer of high-end computer graphics and visual effects software, has announced the release of Jig Software to the general public. Jig is a comprehensive solution for rendering traditional geometry, as well as photorealistic hair, volumes and particles. The software has been ported to SGI and NT platforms, but is primarily developed on and for the Linux operating system. Jig is designed to be scalable, performing well on modest workstations as well as large rendering clusters.
After searching for theatrical distribution for quite awhile, the third installment of the CROW trilogy, THE CROW: SALVATION, will find a home on video. To be released January 23, 2001 by Dimension Films, the film stars Kirsten Dunst and continues the tortured tale of a man murdered, who returns from the dead to seek revenge on his killers. The new film is directed by Bharat Nalluri (KILLING TIME) and written by THE CROW comic book author, James O'Barr, and Chip Johannessen (TV's MILLENNIUM).
