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AWN Headline News

Framestore Headline News

Framestore Strengthens Its Staff

Markus Manninen has been promoted to Deputy Head of FrameStores 3D department. Manninen joined FrameStore in 2000 from Film Tecknarna in Sweden and has since worked on numerous commercials, including British Gas Mexican, BT Cellnets Animation, Shells Whale and Fiats Volcano. He also recently directed campaigns for Cingular Wireless and Richard Burbidge. The company also announced that Paul O'Brien has recently joined FrameStore's Henry team.

Design Headline News

Sideshow Names New Creative Director For Motion Design

Sideshow Post announced that award-winning computer graphics artist Jonathan Herbert has joined the company's Sideshow Motion Design division as creative director. Herbert comes on board after seven years at the helm of Zero Degrees Kelvin, his well-known New York City production boutique that specialized in 3D animation for TV commercials, product and science demos. Herbert has seventeen years experience in directing and managing 3D and special effects projects.

Home Headline News

Computer Cafe Exposes The Enemy Within For Bayer

Santa Monica, Californias Computer Cafe provided 3D animation and visual effects services for a new spot for Bayer Home Health. Conceived by Chicago agency Euro RSCG Tatham, the 30-second spot promotes Bayer Home Health Total Termite Control system. The spot opens on a man lying in a magnetic resonance imaging system. The machine's scanning bar performs a pass and reveals an interior view of the man's chest. The scene then shifts to the man's home and dissolves to a MRI-like view in which the insides of the home's skeletal structure are plainly in view.

Software Headline News

Infogrames Acquires Mac Publishing Rights From Take-Two

By Dan Sarto | Friday, May 18, 2001 at 12:00am

MacSoft, the Macintosh label of leading video game publisher Infogrames, has signed a licensing deal with international game company Take-Two Interactive Software, acquiring rights to several high-profile titles. Under the terms of the agreement, Infogrames has acquired the Macintosh publishing rights to TROPICO and FLY! II, scheduled to ship this summer, as well as MAX PAYNE, STRONGHOLD and MYTH III. Additional titles will be announced at a later date. According to PC Data, MacSoft captured over 37 percent of the Macintosh entertainment software business in 2000.

Wild Headline News

Wild Brain Signs Award-Winning Director David Feiss

Wild Brain, Inc., in conjunction with The Irv Schechter Talent Agency, announced their representation for commercial work of animator and director David Feiss. As creator, director and animator, Feiss just completed his first Wild Brain campaign for BBDO/NY, a Frito-Lay Cheetos Whirlz spot titled Cool Cat, currently airing, and a Cheetos Mystery Colorz Snacks PSA, which aired on May 7, 2001. Feiss may best be known as creator and director of his own TV series, the overwhelmingly popular COW & CHICKEN for Cartoon Network.

Headline News

Sierra On-Line Announces New Senior Management Team

Sierra On-Line, Inc., a division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, recently announced the addition of two seasoned executives to its management team. Thomas K. Hernquist, takes the reigns as president & CEO, and Michael A. Ryder steps in as COO and senior vice president of product development. Hernquist will be reporting to Vivendi Universal Games CEO Hubert Joly.

Headline News

London’s HRA Produces Shreddies “Oliver”

Londons production house HRA has completed the latest commercial for Cereal Partners Shreddies, featuring Mr. Hungry. HRA director Andrew Painter teamed with Ian Sharp, director at Talkback Productions, to produce a matchless combination of live-action and animation. The live-action component was inspired by the well-known musical version of OLIVER, perfectly captured to create an atmospheric world inhabited by larger than life characters, both human and animated.

Effects Headline News

Look! Effects Creates Signature Driver Vision Effect For Driven

Hollywoods Look! Effects has announced their work creating one of the signature effects for Renny Harlins film, DRIVEN, starring Sylvester Stallone. The visual, which recurs throughout the film, was part of a large package of effects created for the film by the digital boutique. Look! Effects' visual effects team worked directly with Harlin and visual effects supervisor Brian Jennings in developing the look of what became known as the Driver Vision effect.

Headline News

Parisian Effects House Macguff Ligne Completes Jello Spots

MacGuff Ligne Paris transformed Kraft's Jello gelatin and pudding products into a fantasy of pastoral landscapes for a new series of Foote Cone Belding spots. The ad agency chose MacGuff Ligne, thanks in part to its collaborative history with director Jean Pierre Roux and his renowned spot for Evian featuring a baby ballet of synchronized swimming infants. "MacGuff was uniquely suited to make that magic happen due to our flexibility, says executive producer Nico Trout.

Award Headline News

2001 Leo Awards Announced

The 2001 Leo Awards, a celebration of excellence in film and television held May 11-12, 2001 in Vancouver, Canada, has announced its winners. AAAGH! IT'S THE MR. HELL SHOW, directed by Christopher Brough and Jay Falconer, took home the Best Animation Series Award. Produced for the BBC by London, U.K.s Peafur Productions, AAAGH! IT'S THE MR. HELL SHOW recently won the Best Comedy Series Award at the Houston World Fest 2001. GREY AREAS - EPISODE 3 by Steve Sacks won the Leo Award for Best Direction/Storyboarding Of An Animation Program.

Games Headline News

RealNetworks Launches RealArcade Gaming Service

By Dan Sarto | Wednesday, May 16, 2001 at 12:00am

RealNetworks, Inc. has announced the launch of RealArcade, a free gaming service that allows players to find, acquire, manage and play PC games. The initial beta release, available May 14, 2001, includes over 120 games from more than 40 publishers. In the past year, over 4 million unique registered users have downloaded PC games from the Real.com games Website. The company hopes to build on that user base with RealArcade, offering customers a powerful new delivery network and Internet gaming interface.

Design Headline News

RefacDesign Names New Vice President Of Design Operations

By Dan Sarto | Wednesday, May 16, 2001 at 12:00am

Edgewater, New Jerseys RefacDesign, a design firm specializing in product and graphic design, named Stephen Russak vice president in charge of design operations. Russak joins RefacDesign from Smart Design, a nationally prominent design firm where he was a partner and served as vice president, design and operations for 16 years.

Cartoon Headline News

Tom And Jerry Slamfest On Cartoon Network

Its the ultimate game of cat and mouse when Cartoon Network presents the 12-hour TOM AND JERRY SLAMFEST on Memorial Day, May 28, 2001 from 8 am to 8 pm (ET/PT). Tom and Jerry, two of the most beloved combatants in animation history, have earned seven Academy Awards over their storied career with their legendary dustups. TOM AND JERRY SLAMFEST will show more than 70 cartoons, including the Cartoon Network premiere of THE MANSION CAT, a short that TOM AND JERRY co-creator Joe Barbera developed with Cartoon Network in 2000.

Headline News

Egmont Imagination Appoints New Territory Manager

London, UKs Egmont Imagination has appointed Caroline Stephenson as their new territory manager for Southern Europe and Latin American markets, announced Tatiana Kober, managing director for Egmont Imagination UK Ltd. After starting her career as part of the international sales team at Hearst Entertainment, Stephenson joined Team Dandelion as manager of European broadcast sales.

Headline News

The Finishing School’s New 3ds Max Crammer Course

London's Finishing School, a digital compositing, effects and 3D animation school, has recently been awarded Discreet training center status. The school will be running its now accredited 4-day 3ds Max Crammer course on May 14 - 17, June 12 - 15, July 10 - 13 and August 7 - 10 2001. Evening courses will also be available on 10 evenings over the course of 10 weeks, June 18 - August 20, 2001. The Finishing School, an Avid-accredited training center, is currently running SoftImage|XSI 201: Essentials Training, the official SoftImage course.

Animation Headline News

422 Ltd and Inkworks Bring Cel Look to 3D Animation Spots

Manchester, UKs 422 Ltd. used Cambridge Animation Systems' Inkworks software to achieve a traditional cel look in 3D for two recent projects. Mr. T is a 30-second commercial produced by Equinox Film & TV Productions and directed by Gary Cowan for the Accident Group, a compensation claims company. Mr. T was first modeled in Maya and prepared for animation using the software's set-driven keys and animation features. Once the pace of the animation was determined, Inkworks was used on the outlines and scenes were painted with the Maya renderer to achieve a cel look.

World Headline News

Click 3X Creates A Brave New World For EMC

Los Angeles Click 3X provided design, 3D animation, visual effects and integration services for BRAVE NEW WORLD, a new series of television commercials for EMC networked data storage systems. The campaign was conceived by Boston agency Arnold Worldwide and directed by Morton Jankel Zander's Marcus Nispel. Each of the three 60-second commercials uses a vision of an apocalyptic future world as a metaphor for businesses searching for reinforcement in a world being bombarded by information.

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