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Million Headline News

TV Loonland, Alliance Add Joint Ventures

Canadian-based TV and film company Alliance Atlantis Communications and Munich-based kids producer TV Loonland have joined to create animated joint ventures. The German producer will supply CA$110 million (US$ 76 million) over the next three years to co-create up to nine new children's series. As part of the deal, TV Loonland will hold all European rights, while Alliance will control the remaining worldwide rights. For an additional $14 million, TV Loonland has acquired European rights to Alliance's portfolio which includes YVON OF THE YUKON.

Effects Headline News

New Jobs: Animators, Technical Directors, Visual Artists and More...

Rockstar Games Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two

Interactive Software based in Oakville, ON, Canada, is looking for a

3D MODELER; an ANIMATOR, to create video game characters for

PlayStation 2; and a PROGRAMMER, to help develop real-time video

games for a next generation gaming console. . . Motion Media is

seeking an EDITOR and DEMO ARTIST with NT NLE experience. . .

Blackbox Digital is looking for a COMPOSITOR, with experience in

TV Headline News

MIP TV Special Preview on AWN 2000

MIP TV (April 8-14, 2000) is one of the premiere television

conferences and markets in the world. The six-day event brings

together production companies and distributors from all over the

globe. The conference includes a vast array of panels and round-table

discussions with some of the world's top professionals. In 1999, MIP

TV attracted 10,439 professionals from 2,565 companies from 94

countries, of which 1,170 were exhibiting companies from 50 different

Animation Headline News

Cartoons on the Bay TV Animation Festial

The 4th edition of Cartoons On The Bay, the International Festival of

Television Animation, will be held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy,

April 14-18, 2000. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the

world solely dedicated to television animation. Promoted by Rai

Radiotelevisione Italiana and conceived and organized by Rai Trade,

the festival is an international event with awards, workshops,

lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of

Film Headline News

COO & Level 13 Creator Leaves Film Roman

William Shpall, chief operating officer of Film Roman, has left the company. John Hyde, president and CEO of Film Roman, has told AWN that Shpall has worked out a deal to leave his post to pursue other Internet deals and projects that have presented themselves to him. Shpall was the father of Film Roman's Web entertainment destination, Level 13, which launched on November 27, 1999. According to Hyde, Shpall with continue on as a consultant to Level 13 and Film Roman's overall Internet strategy until at least the fall of 2000.

Million Headline News

The Road To El Dorado Swerves To #3

In its second week in theatres, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO has swerved to #3 at the U.S. box office. With new military drama RULES OF ENGAGEMENT and ERIN BROCKOVICH finishing one and two respectively, EL DORADO settled down one spot making US$9.09 million and raising its total pile of gold to $25.1 million. ROMEO MUST DIE dive bombed from fourth to seventh. The Jet Li action flick, with primary special effects by Manex Visual Effects, kicked in another $4.55 million to its cume of $45.8 million. FINAL DESTINATION descended into ninth place.

Universal Headline News

Alias/Wavefront Announce Maya 3's Universal Rendering Policy

Alias|Wavefront announced this week that the fifth major release of their Maya next-generation animation software will feature a universal rendering policy that enables Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited to "float" the Maya Batch Renderer across any number of machines. This new announcement furthers Alias|Wavefront's aim at synergy between all of Maya's tools throughout the production and post-production process and Alias|Wavefront's earlier announcement that Maya 3 will feature a new Trax compositing system further backs up this position.

Version Headline News

MAXON Release Cinema 4D XL 6

At NAB this week MAXON released the new version of their flagship 3D animation software, Cinema 4D XL. Version 6 features masses of new features and improvements, ranging from a new non-linear construction history, to particle effects and motion sequencing. The new version also takes advantage of Intel's Pentium III and Motorola's G4 processors which makes workflow much faster than in previous versions. The new software is shipping now and upgrades cost $495 US for registered users.

Visual Headline News

Discreet Announces combustion*

Discreet, the producers of high-end 3D and 2D computer graphics tools this week launched their new unified paint, animation and 3D visual effects system: combustion*. The Macintosh and Windows NT-based system offers a single, unified paint, animation and 3D-compositing environment for visual effects creation. combustion* features Academy Award-winning technology from inferno* and an extremely fast caching architecture for igniting the desktops and creative imaginations of digital visual effects artists world wide.

Events

Making Waves, Cruise for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

By Guest (not verified) | Sunday, April 9, 2000 at 11:00am
Begins: April 9, 2000

Comic book fans can hobnob with the best in the business on a 7 day/7 night cruise benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics community. The "Making Waves" cruise will stop at three Mexican ports -- Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. The event will feature week-long programming including: cocktail parties, slide shows, panel discussions, Q&A sessions, writer seminars, chalktalks, dinner parties and much more. Prices include food, room service, accommodation and tips.

Headline News

CINAR Documents Seized

Fraud troubles for CINAR Corp. increased as RCMP agents seized four boxes of the ARTHUR TV-series producers' tax documents. With a warrant in hand, a joint team from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and provincial police searched the Old Montreal offices of the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Sodec) on the morning of Thursday, April 6, 2000. The search was part of an ongoing investigation launched by the RCMP on October 19, 1999 [AF 10/19/99] after a Bloc Québécois MP made tax fraud allegations in the House of Commons.

Animation Events

Animation Week at Motherwell

By Guest (not verified) | Thursday, April 6, 2000 at 11:00am
Begins: April 6, 2000

Motherwell College will be holding an Animation Week where guest speakers from the U.K. and Europe will be participating in seminars. The event will hold hands-on sessions for the public. Companies and speakers featured will include Dave Sharp, Dave Brown, Russell Murray, Laurie McCulloch [Digital Animation], Richard Scott [Axis Animation], representatives from Codemasters, The Lost Boys [Holland], Lego, Lesley Keen (Ex Inner Workings) and Alan McFarlane (Head of Art at Steel Monkeys). The event is a celebration of Motherwell's new course of study in film craft and animation.

Time Headline News

Entertaindom Top Trio Exit

Entertaindom.com president and CEO Jim Moloshok, executive VP Jim Banister and third-in-command Jeff Weiner will be exiting their Time Warner posts in the upcoming weeks. The dot-com trio has already moved out of their offices and has stopped participating in the day-to-day operations of the company. The walk was spurred by Time Warner's increasing lack of interest in the entertainment site they launched in November of 1999 as their impending merger with America On-line plows ahead.

Headline News

Posey And The Pussycats

Indie film queen Parker Posey has joined the cast of the live-action feature rendition of JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS. Posey (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, SCREAM 3) will play the tyrannical record producer who is bent on controlling the minds of the world's youth. Posey joins Rachael Leigh Cook (SHE'S ALL THAT) who is set to play the title character. Tara Reid (AMERICAN PIE) is in talks to play the absentminded, blonde band member Melodie, while Alan Cumming is in talks to play the agent who discovers the tiger-like trio. Rumors still are floating on who will play the third pussycat Valerie.

Films Headline News

Oscar Shorts Screening

* Friday, April 14, 2000. Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will be screening the 10 animated and live-action Oscar nominated short films. The animated films, including Academy winner THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, will kick off the "Shorts!" presentation at 7:30 pm. In addition to the live-action films, the evening's lineup will include HUMDRUM, MY GRANDMOTHER IRONED THE KING'S SHIRTS, 3 MISSES and WHEN THE DAY BREAKS. For more information contact the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences at: Tel.: (310) 247-3000.

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