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With strictly live-action taking the top U.S. box office gold, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO finished at #5. The DreamWorks' disappointment made another US$6.16 million bringing its total treasure count to $33.04 million. Leveling out its descent, FINAL DESTINATION finished in ninth for the second straight week. The New Line flick grossed another $3.05 million bringing its total cume to $38.21 million. ROMEO MUST DIE, with primary special effects by Manex Visual Effects, plummeted to 12th with a gross of $2.67 and bringing its cume of $49.73 million.

* Monday, June 5 - Wednesday, June 7, 2000. Annecy, France.

* Tuesday, June 13 - Thursday, June 15, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A. The 20th annual L!censing trade show is dedicated to the multi-billion dollar worldwide business of consumer product licensing, marketing and merchandising. Last year's event had more than 16,000 in attendance. With more than 35 companies from outside the U.S., the exhibition is truly an international event. For more information contact Kim Farrell at: Tel.: (203) 882-1300 ext. 159 or Robin Kerr at Tel.: (212) 951-6650; Fax: (203) 882-1800; E-mail: lic@advanstar.com; or Web: www.licensingshow.com.

On Sunday, April 9, 2000, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts bestowed the honor of best animated short on THE MAN WITH BEAUTIFUL EYES. The film was adapted from a Charles Bukowski poem where a group of boys make a hero of a deadbeat alcoholic. The film by Jonathan Hodgson beat out Oscar winner THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Alexander Petrov, the 1998 Oscar nominated JOLLY ROGER by Mark Baker and festival favorite THE PERI-WIG MAKER by Steffen Schaffler. As it did at the Oscars, THE MATRIX took home the awards for sound and special effects.

Harvey Entertainment Company announced that The Chase Manhattan Bank is arranging a US$25 million, five-year revolving credit facility and that Harvey has completed the acquisition of 100% of the capital stock of PM Entertainment Group Inc., an independent entertainment production and distribution company. The PM Entertainment Group purchase consisted of $6.5 million in cash and $1.45 million in Harvey Entertainment Common Stock paid at closing, as well as a $2.05 million subordinated note, payable over the next five quarterly periods.

Mexico City-based Ollin Studio has opened a new office in Toronto, Canada. The animation and post-production studio's new facility will offer computer animation, post-production, Internet and multimedia services. Ollin Studio is one of the top animation, post-production, Internet and multimedia houses in Mexico. Ollin has brought high quality animation/post-production to the Mexican market and hopes to do the same in North America. The company's international business representative in Canada is Jose Luis Monzon.

The Cannes Film Festival may never be the same. Mellow Manor Productions has announced that it will bring its "Spike and Mike Festival of Animation" to France for this year's event. Recently "Spike and Mike" had successful runs at American festivals Sundance and Austin's South by Southwest, but it is yet to be seen how the European audience will take to the in-your-face humor of the festival of twisted toons.

Animation fans will want to get a hold of the Best Of Zagreb Film: The Classic Collection on VHS. In four decades, Zagreb Film produced 600 animated films, winning more than 400 international awards. The studio is famous for its unique animation style that became known as "the Zagreb school." One of its claims-to-fame was that its filmmakers wrote, designed and directed their own films, resulting in some of the boldest political and entertaining cartoons of all time. All of these films were produced within the Iron Curtain of communism.

J.J. SEDELMAIER PRODUCTIONS helped Major League Baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. try new "Sportz" (crackers that is). The 30-second spot for new Nabisco "Sportz" snack crackers integrates cel animation and live-action footage. "We haven't produced many projects integrating animation with live action, but on 'Griffey' we were teamed with the creatives from the Slim Jim spots, so we knew and trusted each other," said Sedelmaier. "But this kind of spot can't be as free-wheeling because the animation occupies a very specific area and requires a very particular look.

QUIET MAN raps on the newest Barrons spot. The visual effects driven spot, entitled "What's Coming," was filmed almost entirely on a bluescreen, which remains visible, mimicking the colors of the Barrons' logo. The spot begins with a man standing with his face buried in a copy of Barrons. Without lifting his head, he takes out an umbrella right before rain begins to fall. After the rain stops, the man takes a step to his left just avoiding a grand piano crashing down on the spot where he was just standing.

MONDO MEDIA, a leading creator and distributor of serial-based animated content, announced that it has named ROBIN HARPER, former VP of marketing for Ninth House Network and Maxis (a division of Electronic Arts), as its new Senior vice president of marketing. In her new position, Harper will be responsible for Mondo Media's marketing operation and help guide the company's overall marketing strategy.

WILL VINTON STUDIOS has delivered a new spot entitled "Choices" promoting 989 Studios' video game SYPHON FILTER 2. Mike Wellins directed the CGI commercial for San Francisco-based ad agency, Butler, Shine & Stern. The spot is designed to look like a scene taken directly from the game. The ad starts with the hero running on top of a speeding train firing his machine gun at approaching enemy. When the valiant hero corners the villain, the evil foe suddenly asks whether he can be "done in" with something less painful than a gun.