AWN Headline News

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., has formed a strategic development relationship with Microsoft Corporation to provide professional 3D art tools for modeling and animation for the Xbox video game system. Through this agreement, SOFTIMAGE|XSI animation software and SOFTIMAGE|RTK character middleware will support the creation of Xbox-specific content. "The stunning graphics performance of Xbox is powered by the NVIDIA graphics processing unit (Xbox GPU).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

* Thursday, July 19, 2001. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

* Thursday, November 15, 2001. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

* Friday, June 1, 2001. Burbank, California, U.S.A.

* Thursday, June 21 Sunday, June 23, 2001, Cardiff, Wales, U.K.

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.