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Headline News

Manga Brings Macross II To DVD

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

Based on the popular TV series SUPERDIMENSIONAL FORTRESS MACROSS, MACROSS II is the follow-up to the original anime classic. Hitting stores on November 28, 2000, the second film in the theatrical MACROSS franchise, continues the tale of Earth's fight against the Zentradi, an alien race of giants. Taking place eight years after the first MACROSS in a time of peace, renegade Zentradi bent on war use strength sapping music to defeat the humans.

Headline News

Anime Classic Honneamise Rockets Onto DVD

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

Manga Video is releasing anime classic WINGS OF HONNEAMISE on DVD November 28, 2000. At the time of the production in 1987, HONNEAMISE marked the highest budget for any Japanese animated feature ever at ¥800 million (approximately US$8 million). The DVD's special features are: three language tracks, one in English, one in Japanese and one in Japanese with English subtitles; director commentary; an original promotional short; a deleted scene; conceptual artwork; and storyboards.

Studios Headline News

Broadcast Graphics & Virtual Studios Conference

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

* Monday, January 29 Tuesday, January 30, 2001. London, U.K.

The Second Annual Broadcast Graphics & Virtual Studios Conference embraces the cutting edge of innovation in the world of graphics and virtual studios. The conference provides a forum for television and film professionals to gather and discuss technology trends and developments. Access Conference International is sponsoring the event. For more information contact Access at: Tel.: ++44 (0)207 840 2734; Fax: ++44 (0)207 840 2751; or E-mail: bruce@access-conf.com.

Version Headline News

SensAble Technologies Announce Freeform 3

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

SensAble Technologies announced the release of version 3 of their FreeForm modeling system. The new release expands on the previous version's shape creation capabilities while maintaining the fundamental FreeForm touch advantage. When combined with the FreeForm system's unique ability to create complex blends and highly sculpted details, the result is a very powerful modeling solution. The new version also features new surface creation tools, which make the transition downstream to production easier then ever before.

Headline News

U.S. Primetime TV Ratings For The Week Of November 20-26, 2000

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

Once again Fox's Sunday night back-to-back-to-back toon line-up ruled the primetime animation field. THE SIMPSONS claimed the highest finish at #36 with an 8.4 rating and a 12 share. KING OF THE HILL came in at #75 with a 4.7 rating/7 share, down 1.5 rating points from the previous week. FUTURAMA returned to its Sunday night 7 pm slot in 83rd place, with a 3.7 rating/6 share. THE PJS continues to struggle on the WB gaining a 1.7 rating/3 share. These ratings and shares represent primetime TV in the U.S.

Nick Headline News

Nick Explores More Dora Episodes

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

Nickelodeon has ordered 26 additional episodes of their popular new preschool show DORA THE EXPLORER. The English/Spanish toon broke Nick Jr. debut records in August and has averaged 1.1 million viewers daily. "DORA THE EXPLORER was an instant success for both Nick Jr. and CBS," said Nick executive vice president and general manager Cyma Zarghami. "We are very proud to have created a strong Latina preschool role model that has been overwhelmingly embraced by our audiences."

Headline News

Macromedia Launches Flash Developer Community Site

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

Macromedia, Inc. has launched Macromedia Exchange for Flash, a Web destination dedicated to Flash developers. exchange.macromedia.com allows Flash users to share Flash 5 extensions such as Smart Clips, ActionScript samples, Macromedia Generator templates and source files. Free extensions on the Exchange range from ready-made interactivity building blocks to sophisticated server-side technologies.

Series Headline News

3D TV Series Weird-Ohs Comes To Home Video

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

ADV Films is releasing Mainframe Entertainment's 3D animated TV series WEIRD-OHS on video. The series chronicles the town of Weirdsville, the fast-paced world just off Route 66, where cars and racing is the way of life. The first 110 minute volume will be released on November 28, 2000 with two more following on December 5, 2000 and January 23, 2001. Each tape will retail for US$12.98 each.

Headline News

Gasaraki Volume II Combats Home Video

By Rick DeMott | Thursday, November 30, 2000 at 12:00am

GASARAKI 2: THE CIRCLE OPENS arrives on video from ADV Films November 28, 2000. In this sequel, giant robots battle to uncover the secrets of the T.A. team, which is attacked by a mysterious unknown enemy. The film will be released in an English-dubbed VHS version and on DVD, which will contain both an English-dubbed and English-subtitled edition. Volume 3 is set for release on January 23, 2001 with Volume 4 available on March 27, 2001. The VHS tape will sell for US$19.98 and the DVD for $29.98.

Company Headline News

EM.TV Stock Hits New Low, Buy-Out Rumors Abound

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

On Tuesday, November 28, 2000, EM.TV & Merchandising AG shares hit a new two-year low of 17.58 euros (US$15), but by the end of the day rebounded a bit to finish out the day at 21.50 euros ($18.42). A company spokesman assured the public that EM.TV is "definitely not broke." Rumors abounded yesterday that German media giant KirchGroup is in talks to buy a controlling stake in the branded merchandising and children's TV company. EM.TV is scheduled to release its third quarter results on Friday.

Story Headline News

Disney's Animated Bullets Feature Gains Voices

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

Disney's in-development animated feature SWEATING BULLETS has gained a voice cast. Oscar winners Cuba Gooding Jr. and Judi Dench will join Sarah Jessica Parker and Ja'Net DuBois on the cast of the Western-themed musical. Randy Quaid is also in talks to voice a character. The story chronicles a group of cows who team together to save their farm. No production date has been announced, but the film has been in development for about three years.

Headline News

Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 Fireworks 4 Studio Now Available

Macromedia has announced that the eagerly awaited Dreamweaver 4 Fireworks 4 Studio is now available. Dubbed "the complete solution for professional Website design and production," the new package is comprised of Dreamweaver 4, the new version of Macromedias award-winning Web design package and the new version of their popular graphics tools Fireworks. The studio package unifies HTML code and graphics workflow and provides professional Web designers with an integrated authoring platform designed to simplify the Web design process, while retaining maximum control over the final outcome.

Headline News

Turkish Official Urges For Pokemon Ban

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

Turkey's health minister, Osman Durmus, has urged TV stations to remove POKEMON from their line-up in light of two children suffering injuries copying the actions of the cartoon's characters. On Friday, November 24, 7-year-old Seda Aykanat suffered a broken leg when she leapt off the fifth-floor balcony of her apartment. Previously this year, a 4-year-old boy in Turkey also sustained injuries copying the super-powered stunts of POKEMON characters.

November Headline News

Icebox Halves Staff, Gets Sued & Sells Toon To Fox

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

In a restructuring move, Icebox.com has cut its staff of 100 in half. The decision was made in an attempt to make the company profitable by the end of next year. Icebox will no longer produce its content in-house, but will use freelancers some being the laid off employees -- and Flash animation production firms. Company CEO Steve Stanford reassured the industry that Icebox has US$2 million on hand, but needed to convince investors that the company is close to profitability. Stanford said that a new round of about $10 million in financing should close next month.

Entertainment Headline News

Sony Continues Finance Revamp With 3 New Hires

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

Continuing the revamping of its finance division, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced three top-level finance appointments. Peter Halt was appointed senior VP and chief financial officer of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, which was formed last spring. Previously he served as VP finance and corporate controller at SPE. Filling Halt's old role will be Mark Rudolph, who is currently VP finance at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Simon Baker was named VP finance and corporate treasurer at SPE. Prior to Sony, Baker was the VP of finance at Fox Entertainment Group.

Creative Headline News

hey! IDs Relaunch Of TNN

By Rick DeMott | Wednesday, November 29, 2000 at 12:00am

New York design studio hey! designed and produced the new ID campaign for the TNN networks' transformation from The Nashville Network to The National Network. All five of the 5-second IDs contain the tag line, "We've got pop!" "Each element in the series took a slightly different approach to defining what 'pop' is and how it looks, feels and sounds," said hey! creative director Josh Pelzek. "In three of the IDs, we interpreted 'pop' as an action - popcorn exploding like fireworks, a button popping off a large man's shirt and bubbles - which contain the TNN logo - popping in mid-air.

Animation Headline News

New Jobs: Animators, Digital Artists, Directors, Visual Artists And More...

Hollywood, California's Toonshoppe, provider of 2D and 3D character animation services, is looking for 2D CHARACTER ANIMATORS for a television pilot. . . Oak Brook, Illinois' wwwcrc, a start up breaking into streaming media content creation, is looking for 2D FLASH ANIMATORS. . . San Francisco, California's Academy of Art College is looking for ANIMATION/VFX INSTRUCTORS to teach in one or more of the following areas: 3D modeling; character setup and animation; lighting and texturing; visual effects; and traditional animation. Instructors may also take classes at the college. . .

Headline News

Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, November 28, 2000

AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.

Million Headline News

Charlie's Angels Charms International Box Offices

With international numbers trickling in due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, it looks like CHARLIE'S ANGELS is charming audiences around the world. In its U.K. debut, ANGELS raked in a whopping US$4.52 million. After five-weeks in U.K. theatres, WHAT LIES BENEATH sunk to second, with a gross of $768,052, elevating its cume to $16.39 million. In fourth, BEDAZZLED danced in with $505,329, raising its U.K. cume to $3.92 million. LITTLE NICKY possessed 5th place, grossing $385,214, thereby growing its U.K. cume to $1.46 million.

Animation Headline News

Holland Hands Out Its Awards

On Sunday, November 19, 2000, the Holland Animation Film Festival concluded its five-day festival with the presentation of its awards. This year's event was the first to hand out an award for independent animation films. With this competition, the festival sets out to promote the short, artistic animation film, and, as a result, encourage media attention toward independent animation.

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