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Despite the threat of an actors' strike at the end of June, Columbia Pictures and Amblin Entertainment have decided to start the production of MEN IN BLACK 2 on June 3. Priority will be set on New York exteriors and heavy effects shots. Therefore, if an actors' strike does disrupt shooting the visual effects artists can start on the effects in the interim. The first MEN IN BLACK stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are set to return with Barry Sonnenfeld reprising his role as director.

THE SIMPSONS came in 39th place with an 8.5 rating and a 13 share. At #65, KING OF THE HILL earned a 6.2 rating and a 10 share. On the WB, THE PJS only grabbed a 1.4 rating and a 2 share in its Sunday 7:30 pm time slot. These ratings and shares represent primetime TV in the U.S. on broadcast networks for the week starting Monday, November 13 through Sunday, November 19, 2000. A rating is the percentage of households that tuned into the program in the entire universe of TV homes. The universe estimate for the 2000-2001 television season is 102.2 million TV homes.

Oxygen Media is in talks to secure the rerun rights to XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. XENA reruns currently air on USA Network and Sci-Fi Channel, but if Oxygen's deal closes they will have first airings of episodes from the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. What Oxygen will have to dish money wise has yet to be released, but it might be quite a bit of cash considering that the series has other cable suitors. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS announced in October that it would end production at the end of this its sixth year.

pmG (project:messiah Group) announced earlier this month that they have been invited by Intel to be one of twelve leading digital content creators and software developers to demonstrate products designed for the upcoming Itanium processor. The young company (started in January 2000) has already made a big impact on the industry. To be approached by Intel along with companies like Discreet, Avid|SOFTIMAGE, and NewTek in such a short time, is rather impressive.

The producers of award winning 2D professional animation software Animo announced key corporate and product changes at Digital Media World. As well as launching their new corporate image, Cambridge Animation Systems (CAS) announced a new reseller strategy that includes the appointment of 30 new resellers. The company also told press that the company had undergone some major management changes and restructures in fitting with their new strategy.

Discreet made several announcements at Londons Digital Media World conference, most of them revolving around the upcoming 3D Studio Max 4. The newly named product, 3D Studio Max 4, is to be released in January 2001, and Discreet announced that the details of the product were premiering on their new Animation Zone Website (www.discreet.com/animation). Version 4 of their award winning 3D app will feature new Inverse Kinematics tools and better rendering technology.

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Despite DreamWorks and Imagine Entertainment's downfall with Pop.com, Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard plan to create Webtoons for CoutingDown.com, the movie-fan site purchased by DreamWorks to be part of Pop.com. Howard's toon will be based on a recurring nightmare he has been having, where he is trapped on a crazed and out-of-control film set. Spielberg's toon will also be based on one of the filmmaker's dreams, but no plot has been released. The site will debut one toon early in December and the other in January.

ADV Films is releasing the third volume of the LOST UNIVERSE series on video November 14, 2000. The series is a zany space adventure following the exploits of the starship Swordbreaker and its crew. Included in the third installment, the crew's only bathroom gets lost in a giant maze. Each tape features 4 episodes. The first two volumes in the series were released earlier this year. The film retails for US$19.98 for English dubbed and $29.95 for English subtitled.

Jack Ozark, animator and newspaper sports cartoonist, died on November 16, 2000. He was 82-years-old. In 1931, Ozark started his career at the Fleischer Studios, animating on POPEYE, BETTY BOOP and GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and afterward moved to Los Angeles to work on the early Hanna-Barbera shows YOGI BEAR, FLINTSTONES and TOP CAT. He specialized in animating Snagglepuss and Wally Gator. He finished out his career at Filmation on HE-MAN and SHE-RA until his retirement in 1987. He was awarded the L.A. Cartoonists' Union 839 Golden Award in 1992.

Despite a report in the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that the company is bankrupt, Internet animation producer and distributor Dotcomix is in discussions to be bought. AWN spoke with founder and chief creative officer Brad DeGraf and he said the company "just couldn't keep producing as it had in the past." DeGraf said the production staff has been laid off until the transition period is finished. However, president and CEO Damon Danielson has left the company to become the CEO of Video4I, a multi-platform video streaming company.