MIPCOM: The Hub For Television Buyers And Sellers
* Saturday, September 30 Friday, October 6, 2000. Cannes, France.
In Event, Event | Headline News | Special Events: MIPCOM | Geographic Region: All, Europe, North America
AWN Headline News
Entertainment Vet Shields At AtomFilms
AtomFilms has appointed veteran TV executive Mikael Shields senior VP entertainment Europe. At the Netcaster, Shields will shepherd acquisitions and development of entertainment properties, negotiating and managing co-productions and content partnerships in Europe. He will work out of the year-old London office of the Seattle-based company. Previously, Shields served as CEO of U.K. television production company EVA Entertainment. He was a founding shareholder of EVA and helped negotiate the firms sale to Pearson Television in February 1999.
Slingshot Shoots Brilliant Net Shorts On DVD
Slingshot Entertainment is set to release a compellation DVD featuring Brilliant Digital Multipath Web shorts. DVD Intl., which distributes interactive movies IM YOUR MAN and TENDER LOVING CARE, will distribute DVDs featuring the series SUPERMAN, XENA, ACE VENTURA and THE MUMMY. The release will feature further computer rendered graphics and 15-20 minutes of linear programming to advance the interactivity of the story.
Sammy Stumbles Out Of The Starting Blocks
On Tuesday August 8, 2000, David Spades new animated series, SAMMY, made a lackluster debut in the bottom of its 8:30 pm time slot. Despite a decent lead-in by a rerun of 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, the new primetime toon drew only 4.1 million viewers and a 1.8 rating/6 share for adults 18-49. The long shelved series follows the reunion of a newly famous son and his deadbeat dad. How long will the series last only time can tell. The last two heavily hyped primetime toons, GOD THE DEVIL & BOB and CLERKS, never made it past six episodes combined.
Cartoonist Breathed Brings Next Book To The Screen
Berkeley Breathed, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and childrens author, is set to make his directorial debut with the filmed version of his newest book, EDWURD FUDWUPPER FIBBED BIG. Nickelodeon Movies and Storyopolis are set to produce the seven-minute short. The book will be released next month by Storyopolis and Little, Brown Co. Sources say the film will screen in theatres in the fall, which might signal its attachment to the release of RUGRATS IN PARIS, but no official word has been announced.
Revolution Pimps Out Flash-Animated Feature
Former Disney chairman Joe Roths Revolution Studios will turn the Web series, LIL PIMP, into a Flash-animated feature. The MediaTrip.com series will be the first feature length film to be animated using Macromedias Flash software. Creators Paul Gilstrap and Mark Brooks with their team of four animators are set to scribe, produce and direct the project. Production on the flick could begin as early as three to four weeks. No monetary details have been released, however Gilstrap and Brooks look to make most of their money from backend revenues.
Golden Marble Awards Honors Kid At Heart Advertising
* Thursday, September 14, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
SPIFF Shines With Shorts From Around The World
* Wednesday, September 20 Thursday, September 21, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
SAS Conference Tackles The Technological Topics Of The Future
* Saturday, August 5 Friday, August 11, 2000. Trondheim, Norway.
The theme of the 12th SAS Conference is "Digital Challenges - Expanded Boundaries." The conference will discuss how technological changes have effected the industry in the present, past and future. Topics will include technology and budgets, classic animation in the future and motion capture.
F/X Guru Douglas Trumbull Speaks At Windows On The World
* Thursday, August 17 Friday, August 18, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.
Hollywood Shorts Celebrates The Art Of Animated Shorts
* Sunday, September 10, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Don't Miss Ottawa 2000: North America's Premiere Event
* Tuesday, September 19 Sunday, September 24, 2000. Ottawa, Canada.
Animation Stock Ticker For Wednesday, August 9, 2000
AWN's stock ticker features the most prominent publicly traded companies in the world of animation. AWN, Inc. makes available certain financial information from third party information providers. AWN does not give advice in any such fields, and has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. This information is provided solely as a means to keep our readers informed of the market performance and trends of certain companies. AWN strongly suggests that one seek advice from a competent professional regarding any investment or financial issues.
Patriot Wins The Battle For International Box Office Supremacy
With several debuts around the globe, THE PATRIOT has won the war for international box office supremacy. Premiering at #1 in Germany, the Mel Gibson-starrer grossed a hefty $3.23 million. Slipping to second, THE PERFECT STORM garnered $1.29 million, raising its German cume to $8.62 million. Down one to #4, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 added another $1.01 million to its $22.42 million German cume. At #8, THE TIGGER MOVIE rounded up an additional $206,761, bringing its German cume to $3.97 million. In its 10th week in Germany, GLADIATOR grossed $119,979 in tenth, advancing its cume to $19.99 million.
Honkworm Moves To Vancouver With New Prexy
Web toon house Honkworm International will open a new studio in Vancouver. Video and gaming designer Ian Verchere has been named president of Honkworm Canada and digital production veteran David Weir has been named president of digital production. The Seattle-based company has also assigned Verchere to the post of senior executive producer and Weir to creative director. As president of Honkworm (Canada), Verchere will oversee the physical development and production of new series by the Canadian company.
Rhythm & Hues Adds Scribe To Staff & 3D Kroyer Pic
Rhythm & Hues has added David Glaubke to its staff as director of development. This move quickens the special effects houses transition to becoming an original content producer. Glaubke will help R&H VP of motion pictures, Deborah Giarrantana, in developing relationships with various writers and producers. Previously, Glaubke served as the story editor for Australian-based Village Roadshow. Currently, Glaubke has started work on the companys 3D animated feature, ARMOUR STAR, from FERNGULLY-director Bill Kroyer.
Creative Planet Rounds Up Another $38M In Financing
Creative Planet, Inc., the parent company of Animation World Network, has secured an additional US$38 million in new equity financing. The new funding will help drive its strategy to deliver technology solutions and resources for increased cost-efficiencies in the moving image production process.
JoeCartoon.com Wins Best Animation Site At NetAwards
The 4th Hollywood Film Festival has announced the winners for this year's Hollywood Internet Awards. JoeCartoon.com beat out tough competition in Rumpus and Showtimes WhirlGirl for best animation site. Internet users at the Entertainment Tonight Online (www.ETOnline.com) and NetAwards.com Web sites voted for the nominees. "We are extremely pleased with the massive response. Thousands of voters participated in the nomination of their favorite sites. It was a great interactive experience," Hollywood NetAwards founder, Carlos de Abreu said.
Breakthrough Conference Centers On Marketing For Top Demographic
* Wednesday, September 13 Thursday, September 14, 2000. New York City, New York, U.S.A.
Matita Film Festival 2000 Features A Retrospective Of Yuri Norstein
* Thursday, September 21 Sunday, September 24, 2000. Abruzzo, Italy.
Shockwave Rolls Out Shockmachine 2.0
shockwave.com has rolled out the new version of their Shockmachine entertainment player. Shockmachine 2.0 lets users save shockwave.com titles and replay them full-screen offline. The new version also comes with a desktop compact mode that allows consumers access to hundreds of titles with the click of one button, and a new notification feature to keep Netizens in touch with shockwave.coms new releases. Shockmachine 2.0 is available as a free download at www.shockwave.com.
3dfx Interactive Merges With GigaPixel
3dfx Interactive Inc. announced the completion of its merger with GigaPixel Corporation. Subsequently, George T. Haber, a founder of GigaPixel, and Andrei M. Manoliu, a member of the GigaPixel board of directors, will join the 3dfx board. "The merger marks an important step in enhancing the 3dfx technology leadership and expanding our business for the future," said Alex Leupp, president and CEO of 3dfx.
SGI & Intergraph Form Strategic Alliance
SGI and Intergraph Corporation, two of the leaders in high-performance graphics workstations and software, have announced an alliance that allows both companies to share each other's products and expertise. Under the partnership, Intergraph will purchase US$100 million in SGI products and services over three years. In turn, SGI will obtain assets from Intergraph, including Intergraph Computer Systems' Zx10 family of ViZual Workstations and Servers.
netGuru Expands Into Animation
netGuru, Inc. (formerly Research Engineers, Inc.) has expanded its netGuruDigitalmedia facilities to provide animation, production and digital media services for U.S. and offshore producers. Based in both Yorba Linda, California, U.S.A. and Calcutta, India, the company offers animation services including 2D animation, clean-up, in-betweening, digital ink and paint, 3D animation, special effects compositing, audio/video editing, and Web and interactive animation and graphics. netGuru also markets AXA Team 2D Pro, a 2D pencil test and ink and paint software package, and newly released AXA-Web.
Hollow Man Far From Invisible At The Box Office
With three major releases this past weekend, Sony Pictures HOLLOW MAN was far from invisible at the U.S. box office, finishing in first place. The INVISIBLE MAN redux, with primary visual effects by The Ranch Entertainment, Tippett Studios and Sony Imageworks, grossed US$26.41 million, giving it the second largest August opening in history. Falling to second, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS dropped 58% from its debut weekend, with a gross of $18.17 million. The phat festival, with primary visual effects by Double Negative Ltd., has rounded up $76.7 million thus far.
