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AWN Headline News

Million Headline News

Mission 2 Has Gone From The Top Spot

With the new actioner from Nicolas Cage racing in to the #1 spot at the U.S. box office, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 fell to #2 in its third weekend in theatres. Disneys GONE IN 60 SECONDS grossed US$25.33 million on its way to receiving the checkered flag. MISSION, with primary visual effects by Pacific Data Images, Double Negative Ltd. and CFC, grossed another $17.23 million, raising its exploding cume to $158.1 million and is on a pace to beat the finishing cume of the original MISSION installment. Disneys DINOSAUR has slipped to fourth grossing another $8.82 million.

Cartoon Headline News

Powerpuff Girls Flying To The Big Screen

Warner Bros. Pictures and Cartoon Network are joining forces to bring THE POWERPUFF GIRLS to the big screen. The shows creator Craig McCracken will supervise the feature. This film marks the first-ever feature based on an original Cartoon Network series. This collaboration will be the first production of a full-length animated film at the newly opened Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, California. THE POWERPUFF GIRLS is targeted for a summer 2002 release.

Interactive Headline News

Game Makers Sink Web Pirates

Thirteen of the largest computer and video game producers have filed suit against six game pirates who have been selling bootleg titles over the Net. The suit claims that James Cabot of Brook Park, Ohio; C. Graves of Raleigh, North Carolina; Tim Knoblich of Daytona Beach, Florida; Travis Lallman of Burley, Idaho; Derek Rufo of Vancouver, British Columbia; and Carol Scott of Columbia, South Carolina allegedly copied games, advertised them on six separate Web sites and sold them via mail.

Animation Headline News

New Jobs: Animators, Digital Artists, Graphic Designers, Visual Artists And More

St. Louis, Missouri-based Technisonic Studios is looking for 3D ANIMATORS. . . Lombard, Illinois-based Big Idea Productions Inc. is looking for 3D MODELING SUPERVISORS. . . Max Ink Cafe, LLC is looking for 3D MAX CHARACTER ANIMATORS and MODELERS to animate CG characters for game cinematics, and a SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR to maintain NT operating system and network. . .Santa Monica, California-based Zeros & Ones Inc., a rapidly-growing broadband company, is looking for ANIMATORS for a Web-based animated series and DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANTS for TV and Web animation. . .

Animation Headline News

AWN Launches Animator Affiliate Program

AWN is excited to announce that it has launched the AWN Animator Affiliate Program, an extensive initiative dedicated to providing independent animators worldwide with high profile exposure to the professional creative community through AWNs official Web site. The program officially kicked off this Tuesday at the Annecy International Animation Festival, where AWN co-hosted a cocktail party given by the festival in honor of the directors in official selection.

Headline News

Writer´s Guild Guards Web Work

In the wake of the booming on-line entertainment world, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has created a new contract for made-for-Internet writers of live-action and animation scripts. As part of the new contract, Guild affiliated Net firms will have to sign a Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) and provide financial reports regarding Internet revenue. The new rules guarantee scribes MBA minimums for Internet content that is the impetus for a TV pilot or series.

Entertainment Headline News

Roth´s Revolution $3 Billion Backers Revealed

Former Disney chairman Joe Roths Revolution Studios, a film and television production company, has released the details regarding the roles that its investors will serve. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Starz! Encore Group and Fox Entertainment Groups were among the investors that have sunk US$3 billion into the five-month old production house. Additionally, Revolution has gained a controlling stake in the on-line entertainment channel MediaTrip.com.

Headline News

Viacom´s UPN Ultimatum: Profit or Ax

Speaking at an investors conference in London, Viacom president and COO, Mel Karmazin, emphasized to attendees that if UPN doesnt begin to make a profit it would either be shut down or sold off. Karmazin said Viacom expects UPN to meet the performance criteria set for all its operating divisions. The total losses for the five-year old network have risen to nearly $800 million. "UPN will become profitable, or it wont exist," Karmazin said.

Headline News

Pulse Gets $35M Jump Start

Pulse Entertainment has received US$35 million in private equity funding led by Softbank Venture Capital, and others like Time Warners Web destination Entertaindom and Autodesk Inc. As part of the deal, exclusive content will be provided by Pulse for Entertaindom. "We cant release the names yet, but we have at least two shows in production," said Pulse CEO Fred Angelopoulos. However, the shows will come from Entertaindoms access to the Warner Bros. portfolio of characters. Currently, Pulse produces a 3D Webtoon based on the Looney Toons character Marvin the Martian.

Series Headline News

Clerks Has Been Fired

After only two airings, ABC has cancelled Kevin Smiths animated TV series CLERKS. The teen-targeted toon debuted on May 31 with a poor rating of 5.2 and slipped to a 4.1 for its Tuesday, June 6 episode. Insiders say that ABC became initially scared of the toon when advertisers balked on its edgy humor. The series was original scheduled to be a 1999-2000 midseason replacement series. Advertising jitters may have lead to ABCs decision to make the toon a summer release, which drew much publicized heat from creator Kevin Smith [AWN 3/13/00].

Series Headline News

BKN Acquires Arles Animation

BKN International, a childrens animated series production, distribution and marketing company, announced their acquisition of France-based Arles Animation. Arles has worked on series such as WACKY WORLD OF TEX AVERY, SABRINA and SONIC UNDERGROUND. Arles credits itself as being the only studio in France with experience in managing and executing a two-episode per week schedule. The French firm has created work for DIC, TF1, Canal +, RTL and La Cinquieme.

Million Headline News

Cinar Sued Over Stock Options

The newest lawsuit hitting the embattled Cinar Corp. comes from a former exec, over his inability to exercise his stock options. At Cinar, Louis Fournier served as the companys vice president of distribution and left the company to serve as president of youth and animation programming at Montreal-based TVA International. Fournier is suing his former employer for reimbursement over stock options not paid to him when he exited the company in February 2000.

Media Headline News

Lee´s 7th Portal Opens In Theatres

Stan Lee Media has announced a teaming with producer Mark Canton (RED PLANET), which will bring a live-action version of the Internet animated series 7TH PORTAL to the big screen. With no studio yet attached, Canton plans to take the project to Warner Bros. where he has a production deal. Currently, Canton is set to produce the feature with Stan Lee Media co-founders Stan Lee and Peter Paul serving as executive producers. Canton told the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, "The opportunity to work on the new characters and stories created by Stan Lee is about as exciting as one can imagine.

Headline News

Shoe Comic Strip Creator Passes

On Thursday, June 8, 2000, the three-time Pulitzer Prize winning creator of the comic strip SHOE, Jeff MacNelly passed away. He died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, succumbing to lymphoma, which he has been fighting since late last year. In 1972 at the age of 24, MacNelly won the Pulitzer for one of his political cartoons for the RICHMOND NEW LEADER. He had been working there for only 16 months. Before leaving the NEW LEADER in 1982, he received his second Pulitzer Prize in 1978.

Headline News

Microsoft Split Ordered By Judge

On Wednesday, June 7, 2000, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered that the worlds largest software company, Microsoft, be split into two separate companies. The ruling came as no surprise as the current conclusion to this phase of the antitrust case brought against the mega-firm. Quickly after the decision was handed down Microsoft pledged it would appeal the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court.

Spot Headline News

Duck Soup Studios Puts A Smile On Wal-Mart Spot

Duck Soup Studios recently produced both the 3D animation and live-action for the 30-second Wal-Mart spot entitled "Sunny Skies." The mixed media spot features Wal-Mart´s friendly mascot, Smiley, who appears this time as the bright sun behind dark stormy clouds and then flies down to a Wal-Mart store to rollback prices once again. The animation was created by using Alias Wavefront´s Maya and was directed by Lane Nakamura with the live-action directed by Gale Tattersall and produced by Jon Derovan. Executive producer for the spot was Mark Medernach.

Headline News

Interface Catches Center For Disease Control PSAs

Interface Media Group, a Washington D.C.-based film and video production house, created the 3D animated end tag for "Choose Your Cover," a campaign for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 60, 30 and 15-second spots stress the importance of using sun protection to avoid skin cancer. Utilizing 3D animated icons created for last year´s campaign by Interface, art director/3D animator Carol Hilliard and designer/Flint artist John Bennett created a 4-second end tag, which mimics the project´s print campaign.

Headline News

TOPIX/Mad Dog Chases Penguin & Monkeys For Visa

Toronto-based TOPIX/Mad Dog has created the visual effects for three 30-second spots for Visa´s latest campaign. The "Penguins" ad, which promotes the Visa Gold card, is currently airing in Canada. The commercial follows a family outing to the beach where a seemingly passive penguin pilfers the family´s Visa card. Likewise, the other two spots "Monkey 2" and "Cat Burglar," feature a Machiavellian monkey and crafty cat who walk away with unknowing victims´ Visa cards. TOPIX/Mad Dog Inferno artists had to replace the live-action animals with puppets.

World Headline News

iXL Scores With ESPN "Champions of the World" Spot

iXL, an Atlanta-based Internet solutions firm, designed, edited and composited a 60-second spot to promote ESPN International´s coverage of the NBA Finals, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Triple Crown, the French Open, the U.S. Open golf tournament and other top sporting events. The "Champions of the World" spot opens with a golden hued 3D graphic of the ESPN logo and "Champions of the World." The camera moves quickly around the graphic, while an animated gold circle, like a medal, forms.

Spot Headline News

JJ Sedelmaier Keeps It Simple For People´s Bank Ad

Keeping the look "clean and simple," animation director J.J. Sedelmaier of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions transformed the popular print campaign for Connecticut´s People´s Bank to a 15-second TV spot. In the spot, which highlights the People´s Bank on-line services, an animated male hand and computer mouse quickly perform a multitude of tasks on-line, including paying the mortgage, depositing checks and checking on investments, all at his unseen wife´s request. "People´s Bank has an ongoing outdoor campaign and they wanted a spot that was very similar.

Headline News

Renegade Creates Cool Quiz For Cheetos´ Chester

Burbank-based animation house Renegade Animation has created the newest Chester Cheetah ads for Frito-Lay, entitled "Quiz Show" and "Ice Sculptor." The first spot pits Chester in a quiz show where the grand prize is a convertible filled with Cheetos Xs and Os snacks. Once his craving reaches its summit, Chester dives from his podium and starts to eat the scrumptious snacks. "Ice Sculptor" brings together two items that don´t mix: Flamin´ Hot Cheetos and ice sculptures.

Spot Headline News

Acme Filmworks Finishes Anime Ads for Rally´s

Acme Filmworks director Peter Chung (AEON FLUX) has finished his fourth spot for Rally´s and Checker´s hamburger stands. The anime style spots all feature the fast-driving femme fatale, Holly. In the newest commercial "Johnny Law," a cop clocks Holly doing 243 mph in her car. The sly seductress races through a Rally´s/Checker´s drive-thru nabbing two Bacon Cheese Champs. Once cornered by the copper, the cunning character hands over her license conveniently placed between the buns of a burger.

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