NATPE 2000: A Turning Point Toward Convergence
This year's NATPE was a decidedly different conference as television executives mingled with new and interactive media upstarts. Bruce Johansen, President of NATPE, discusses this new trend.
This year's NATPE was a decidedly different conference as television executives mingled with new and interactive media upstarts. Bruce Johansen, President of NATPE, discusses this new trend.
Harry Shearer.Harry Shearer is one of the most multi-faceted performers at work in voice acting today. A writer, producer, director and actor on the stage and radio and in television and film, Harry still finds time to voice our Simpsons favorites and host a weekly syndicated radio show, LeShow, which is in its sixteenth year on public airwaves. Harry Shearers award-winning career began early; at age seven he had his acting debut in the film classic Abbott and Costello Go To Mars....
On Tuesday, February 29, 2000, Shockwave and sponsor CYBERWORLD launched a
Stan Lee premiere, live on shockwave.com. The star-studded event was hosted
by Dick Clark. The celebrities on the attendee list were Tom Hanks, Keanu
Reeves, Michael Jackson, Richard Dreyfus, John Travolta, Quentin Tarantino
and Leonardo Dicaprio. Excerpts from the event will also be televised
internationally on ET and other entertainment news broadcasts. On
Wednesday, March 1, Stan Lee/CYBERWORLD content will launch on their site
Computer graphics veteran Jeff Kleiser attended Imagina 2000 in France and reports back on the thought-provoking experience.
The Oscar shortlisted INDESCRIBABLE NTH has been picked up for distribution
on the Net at AtomFilms. The deal between NTH's creators Character Builders
and AtomFilms covers domestic and foreign television showings as well as
airline programming and Internet distribution. The film follows the story
of a boy and his understanding of the indescribable feeling called love.
Read Maureen Furniss' review of THE INDESCRIBABLE NTH and the other
shortlisted films at
From television and feature film to motion-capture and voice actors, Judy Lieff addresses acting and performance as it relates to the professional animator and his training.
From television and feature film to motion-capture and voice actors, Judy Lieff addresses acting and performance as it relates to the professional animator and his training.
DreamWorks SKG is seeking box-office gold with their new film, The Road to El Dorado. J. Paul Peszko goes behind the scenes to reveal a new production process, a new type of artist and why this film might just reach the promised land.
Alyson Carty & Chris Robinson offer an indepth look at Alexander Petrov's IMAX spectacular, The Old Man and The Sea.
Whether you just need some time between jobs, or the search for your next job is taking longer than you'd like, put your time to good use. Take classes, polish up your portfolio, go to industry events, network - go to the zoo and sketch! Enrich yourself and become better prepared to meet your next professional challenge.
To introduce the March 2000 Production Technology issue, Edwin Catmull, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Pixar Animation Studios, takes the ten question challenge.
Sharon Schatz profiles the big name talent -- Elton John, Tim Rice, Hans Zimmer and John Powell -- behind The Road to El Dorado and finds how music and art are carefully crafted into one.
Beginning in the late `50s there was an inspired flow of clever techniques that seemed like animation, but really weren't. These cartoon look-a-likes were shot in real-time and not frame-by-frame. Howard Beckerman takes a look back on a few of these fleeting methods.
Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. announced that it will produce 26 all-CGI
ACTION MAN half-hour television series episodes for Hasbro Properties
Group, a division of Hasbro, Inc. Before the series begins regularly
scheduled broadcasts on Fox Kids in September, a one-hour ACTION MAN
special will air on Fox Kids Network in May 2000. SABAN International N.V.
will handle international distribution for the series. The new TV show is
based on Hasbro's ACTION MAN brand, the number one boy's action brand in
ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT INC., a leading worldwide interactive entertainment
company, announced that NIGEL COOK has been promoted to vice president,
studio head of Acclaim Studio Austin. Cook will oversee the management of
the Austin facility, including product releases, personnel development and
process improvement. Previously, Cook was VP of product development and
design at Acclaim. In this position, he oversaw creative development and
design at all Acclaim Studios. Cook was responsible for developing many of
FAT DOG MENDOZA co-produced by Sunbow Entertainment and Cartoon Network
Europe, is set to premiere in the U.K. Animated by TMO-Loonland's Peter
Volkle at his Hungarian studio, the first of the 26 completed episodes will
air on February 28, 2000. The series is based off of Scott Musgrove's cult
comic book. Fat Dog and his boy Little Costumed Buddy live in Neighbourhood
X, which seems normal until one notices that ancient Rome and the Himalayas
On Wednesday, February 23, 2000, CINAR Corp., the creator of the Emmy
Award-winning ARTHUR, had a lawsuit filed against the company alleging they
artificially inflated its financial results by lying about the use of
Canadian tax credits. As reported [AF 10/19/99], allegations surfaced last
fall that CINAR only pretended to use Canadian authors for its scripts in
order to obtain tax credits. Canadian officials are investigating but no
charges have been filed. The early rumors sent CINAR stock plummeting to
Electronic Arts, one of the world's largest interactive entertainment
software companies, announced the acquisition of multimedia developer
DreamWorks Interactive, LLC. In terms of the deal, DreamWorks Interactive
will become a complete subsidiary of Electronic Arts. Financial terms were
not disclosed. Formed in March 1995 as a joint venture between Microsoft
and DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Interactive has produced such PlayStation
titles as LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK and MEDAL OF HONOR. Steven Spielberg,
On Tuesday, February 22, 2000, Disney chairman-CEO Michael Eisner made the
announcement: "With Go.com, I believe we are now the sleeping giant of the
Internet. Once streaming video is commonplace," he added, "Disney is ready
with a vast library and the ability to create new content." Added Go.com
chairman Steve Bornstein: "I see a time, in the next few years, or even
sooner, where nobody will talk about television or the Internet separately.
They will become one synergistic, fused media." In scheduled business,
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival will start next Monday
and run until March 11, 2000...
ASIFA-Hollywood will host its 7th Annual Animation Expo on March 3-4, 2000,
in Glendale, California...
Meet key industry leaders in two power packed panels! AWN's Dan Sarto will
present "THE NEXT WAVE: ANIMATION ON THE INTERNET" at the Animation Expo on
Saturday, March 4, 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM. A panel of leading animators and
industry experts will discuss current opportunities and future
possibilities for the creation and distribution of animation on the
Internet. Session 1 will focus on THE TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES
being used to create web-based animated content. With so much focus on
On Saturday, March 4, 2000, world class life drawing master Glenn Vilppu
will present "On the Tails of Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson and P.S. Kroyer in
Scandinavia" at the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Union (MPSC Local
839), North Hollywood, California. To attend this free event, please call
(661) 269-1726 or (818) 994-2402. Glenn Vilppu will also present his tour
of Denmark and Sweden, scheduled July 10-21, 2000. When traveling through
major cities, Vilppu will lecture on the local art. Artists, photographers