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AWN Headline News

Animation Headline News

A Closer Look: Aardman Goes to Hollywood

DreamWorks SKG, the company behind "The Prince Of Egypt," and distributorof PDI's "Antz," has expressed their pleasure with England-based AardmanAnimations' forthcoming feature "Chicken Run," by signing the PeterLord/David Sproxton/Nick Park company to a four feature deal. Set to bereleased June 23, 2000 in the US, "Chicken Run" is a stop-motion animatedcomedy feature about two chickens, Rocky and Ginger, and their attempt at a"prisoner of war"-type escape from a farm in the 1950s. The film is

Film Headline News

THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL finishes third at US boxoffice

Warner Bros.' THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, with visual effects by Hollywood,California-based K.N.B. EFX Group, Inc., finished third at the US weekendboxoffice with an estimated $7.8 million, for a total of $28.1 million. Thefilm is a remake of the 1958 William Castle horror film that starredVincent Price. Buena Vista's THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, finished eighth, grossing $3.2 million for a total of $264.1million. The American version of Hayao Miyazaki's PRINCESS MONONOKE, which

Disney Headline News

Disney reports fourth-quarter slump

Burbank, California-based The Walt Disney Co. has reported a drop infourth-quarter profits. The entertainment company, which owns a filmstudio, a TV network (ABC) and runs theme parks around the world, said netincome fell to $85 million, or 4 cents a share, from $296 million, or 14cents a share, in 1998. Disney's earnings for its fourth quarter whichended September 30 included charges for acquiring Internet search serviceInfoseek Corp. Excluding the charges, profits fell 37 percent to $212

Headline News

Iwerks opens new London office

Los Angeles, California-based Iwerks Entertainment, which specializes inhigh-tech entertainment systems, support services and film-based softwarefor Giant Screen, ride simulation and specialty venue attractions, recentlyopened a sales and support office in London, England. The office, which islocated at 59 South Audley Street, will be led by John Schreiner, VicePresident, Managing Director for Europe. The company is in the midst of aEuropean growth period that has included the addition of Iwerks Extreme

Headline News

PEANUTS creator plans museum for his comic strip

Charles Schulz, the 77-year-old creator of the PEANUTS comic strip, hassecured final go-ahead to build a museum as a permanent home for CharlieBrown, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang. Plans for the17,000-square-foot Peanuts museum in Santa Rosa, California, a town 50miles north of San Francisco, where Schulz continues to work in a studio hebuilt twenty-five years ago, were unanimously approved at a city councilmeeting October 26, 1999. Schulz and his wife first suggested the idea of a

Awards Headline News

1999 Annie Award winners are announced!

By Dan Sarto | Monday, November 8, 1999 at 12:00am

Nearly 900 members of the animation industry and the general publicattended the 27th Annual Annie Awards, Saturday, November 6 at the AlexTheatre in Glendale, California, USA. The awards ceremony, presented byASIFA-Hollywood, The International Animated Film Society, honors animationachievement within film, television, commercials, home videos andinteractive productions. Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, the voices ofPinky and the Brain from the Warner Bros. hit show, were co-hosts of a

Effects Headline News

Puffin ships Composite Wizard

ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Squires' company Puffin Designs has begunshipping a Windows version of the already available MAC software 'CompositeWizard.' The Adobe After Effects plug-in is a smart little program whichgives artists the power to clean up After Effects composites quickly andeasily, fixing common compositing problems such as ragged edges, poor matteextractions, and improper focal depth cues. The package features over 20filters which can be used to clean up mattes, along with 'EZ' versions of

Show Headline News

Spumco's GEORGE LIQUOR'S FISHING SHOW debuts

Spumco (THE REN AND STIMPY SHOW, RANGER SMITH) has begun a serialized WebComic called GEORGE LIQUOR'S FISHING SHOW, based on comics first seen inSpumco's COMIC BOOK, which was published initially by Marvel, then by DarkHorse. The Web version is like a comic book that talks, so when you clickon the dialogue balloons, George hollers at you, and there are also manyhidden sound effects waiting to be found. A new page or two will be addedevery weekday at www.spumco.com/entertainment/gfs/index.html.

Disney Headline News

DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS names ROBYN MILLER

DISNEY CONSUMER PRODUCTS has named ROBYN MILLER senior vice president ofGlobal Marketing and Studio Development. In her new role, Miller will beresponsible for developing and implementing worldwide marketing andbranding strategies for all of Disney Consumer Products' businesses:Licensing, The Disney Store, Disney Publishing Worldwide, Walt Disney ArtClassics and Disney Interactive. She will also oversee the development ofconsumer products strategies for Disney entertainment properties. At Buena

Time Headline News

TIME WARNER DIGITAL MEDIA appoints OLAF OLAFSSON

OLAF OLAFSSON has been named vice chairman of TIME WARNER DIGITAL MEDIA.Olafsson's appointment becomes effective November 15. Olafsson will workwith Michael Pepe, president and chief operating officer of Time WarnerDigital Media, and the rest of the management team at Time Warner DigitalMedia to continue developing strategic business plans for Time Warner'sdiverse digital media businesses and identifying emerging growthopportunities for the company in the digital realm. Olafsson joins Time

Disney Headline News

DISNEY names six company veterans to country management roles

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY has completed the next stage in the development ofits international organization for Europe by naming six Disney veterans tocountry management roles. The six executives will all become managingdirector of six country groupings. CLAUS GYDESEN, 39, has been appointedmanaging director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland and will continue tobe based in Munich. As head of Disney's video operations in these markets,Gydesen established a direct-to-retailer operation that helped make Buena

Studio Headline News

pasi hires FRANK SAPERSTEIN and MIMBI ELORIAGA

FRANK SAPERSTEIN has been appointed Creative Director of Philippines-basedpasi (PHILIPPINE ANIMATION STUDIO, INC.). His responsibilities will includequality control, co-productions and marketing, and technical development ofthe studio. He is based out of Los Angeles, California. Saperstein comesdirectly from Matinee Entertainment where he served asProducer/Director/Writer of KAMPUNG BOY, a co-production with pasi, whichwon a Special Prize for Best TV Program at Annecy '99. In addition, MIMBI

Features Headline News

The Commotion about DV

Puffin Designs, the award winning company behind Commotion LE and theCommotion Player, recently announced that a new image editing and effectsprogram for MAC and PC users - Commotion DV - is now shipping. The newsoftware is designed to make the nitty-gritty work of making visual effectsbelievable a piece of cake. For example, Commotion DV features a SuperClonebrush which makes wire and rig removal, crowd scene generation/editing,shot clean-up and much more easier. This new release also features Puffin's

Features Headline News

Ulead announces Media Studio Pro 6.0

A new upgrade to Ulead's popular video editing software MediaStudio wasrecently announced, with an interesting list of new features. The newversion will feature an integrated editing, painting, audio, and titlingtool in the one package. Ulead are also expanding MediaStudio'scompatibility and output features by announcing support for DV, MPEG-2, VFWand WDM capture drivers, and IEEE-1394 support. More drag and drop effects,filters and transitions will be present in the new version, along with new

Headline News

Cambridge Animation Systems announces Animo Inkworks

British born Cambridge Animation Systems has announced a new plug-in forAlias|Wavefront's Maya which allows users to turn their 3D work intotraditional looking 2D animations. Animo Inkworks lets Maya animatorsexport their 3D data into Animo where it can be composited into a 2D sceneusing Animo's Scene III plug-in. This new release brings high-qualitytoon-shading to Maya users, and allows them to integrate their 3D and 2Dwork more tightly with a high degree of customisation.

Years Headline News

Don't miss the 2nd Annual Worldfest-Flagstaff International Film Festival

The 2nd Annual Worldfest-Flagstaff International Film Festival. Worldfest,which has been held in Houston for 32 years and additionally in Charleston,South Carolina for five years, takes place in Flagstaff, Arizona, thefestival's second appearance there. The festival's focus is on independentworks that have not yet been picked up for distribution. The widecompetition program features eight animation categories and several others,which may accept animated works, such as "computer generated/mixed media."

International Headline News

Don't miss the Cinanima International Animated Film Festival

The 22nd Cinanima International Animated Film Festival. Since 1977,Cinanima has been promoting the international art of animation in Espinho,a city located on the Northern coast of Portugal. The events takes placeMonday, November 8 - Sunday, November 14 in Esphino, Portugal. For moreinformation contact: Cinanima, Apartado 743, Rua 62-251, 4501 EspinhoCodex, Portugal; Tel. + (351) 2 734-4611, 734-1621; Fax: + (351) 2734-6015; or E-mail: cinanima@mail.telepac.pt. Also visitwww.awn.com/cinanima.

Headline News

Don't miss the seventh annual New York Digital Salon!

The School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents the seventh annual New YorkDigital Salon, an international juried showcase of computer-generatedartwork. Computer animation screenings will be shown at the SVAAmphitheatre and the exhibit takes place in the School's Visual ArtsMuseum, both located at 209 East 23rd Street. The event takes place Monday,November 8 in New York, New York, USA. For more information and to viewwork on-line, visit www.sva.edu/salon.

Production Headline News

Don't miss this lecture on Production Management!

ASIFA-Hollywood and Glendale Community College present theFourth Annual Lecture Series on "Production Management" with guest speaker,Kellie-Bea Cooper. Cooper, Production Manager at Phil Roman Entertainment,has produced award winning independent shorts in both traditional animationand computer animation which have been featured by SIGGRAPH. She has alsoworked with several studios including Jim Henson Interactive and WarnerBrothers. Her background includes work in live action, interactive, Web,

Film Headline News

Don't miss this symposium on The National Film Board of Canada

New York University hosts a symposium on The National Film Board of Canadain honor of the NFB's 60th anniversary. The event takes place Thursday,November 11 - Sunday, November 14 in New York, New York, USA. For moreinformation Tel. (212) 596-1660.

Headline News

Don't miss this tribute to the National Film Board of Canada!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the National FilmBoard of Canada's 60th Anniversary Animation Celebration. The Academy islocated at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. The event takes place Thursday, November 18,8 pm. Beverly Hills, California, USA. For more information Tel. (310)247-3000.

Company Headline News

Imagine Entertainment and DreamWorks team for POP.com

Imagine Entertainment, a film and television production company formed in1986 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard, and DreamWorks SKG,which was formed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen,are joining forces to create a new internet entertainment company calledPOP.com. The new company is an equal partnership, to be funded by VulcanVentures, Inc., the investment organization of DreamWorks investor Paul G.Allen. Launching in Spring 2000, POP.com is an independent digital

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