Geographical Region: All

* Friday, November 16 Saturday, November 17, 2001. New York, New York, U.S.A.

Entry Deadline: April 13, 2001

* Friday, March 30 - Sunday, April 1, 2001. Santa Clara, California, U.S.A.

Gillian Samuels has joined Digital Pictures as marketing director and executive producer. In the new role, Samuels will oversee the development of the firm's brand, capitalize on new and existing markets and help expand their design and high-end visual effects capabilities in both television and film. Previously, as director of marketing and client services at Garner MacLennan Design, Samuels was responsible for the marketing and developing of the Broadcast Design division.

Rhinoceros Visual Effects & Design has brightened up six 15-second spots introducing Colgate Total Whitening toothpaste. "Hearts" shows a toothpaste tube floating in a red space until heart-shaped balloons peel away from the background and float skyward revealing the new package in a stunning white environment. "Brightness" opens with the tube on the same red background, when a brightness adjustment bar pops up, goes haywire and turns the background again to white. These first two spots launched in the beginning of February with the others set to roll out in the upcoming months.

Inkwell Images has purchased the only existing picture and sound negatives to a series of early Max Fleischer Bouncing Ball SONG CARTUNES. Inkwell purchased the prints from New York-based Movietronics film library. One title, MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME is one of the earliest attempts at animating dialog, as a black dog character mouths, "Follow the ball and join in, everybody!" Produced in 1924, they feature synchronized sound and are part of the Library of Congress' archives, however their prints are without soundtracks.

The U.S. federal appeals court has upheld a 1998 ruling, which extended the length of copyrighted material another two decades. In a 2-1 ruling, the three judge panel ruled that Congress does have the right to extend the time of a copyright. The arguments against the ruling were brought forth by a group of individuals and companies dealing with public domain works stating that the extension infringed on their First Amendment rights.

Gobbling up tickets over the President's Day weekend, HANNIBAL remained the toast of the U.S. box office, grossing US$30 million. In merely ten-days at theaters, the cannibalistic caper, with primary visual effects by Mill Film, has scoffed down an amazing $103.9 million. Disney's TV series turned feature, RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT placed third in its debut, freezing up $10.8 million. In turn, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON slipped to fifth, with a gross of $8.77 million.

* Wednesday, March 14, 2001. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

With it already grossing out audiences in the States, HANNIBAL has begun to take a slice out of the international box office. In Italy, the blood-thirsty thriller claimed the top spot with a gross of $5.65 million. In fifth, CAST AWAY floated an additional $679,996, raising its Italian cume to $12.78 million. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON descended into sixth with a ticket-take of $529,624, lifting its Italian total to $1.14 million. In eighth, 102 DALMATIANS barked up another $284,555, bringing its Italian cume to $4.48 million.

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.

Mainly an international showcase for live-action films, the Berlin Film Festival awarded the "Ours d'Or" award for best short film to Martine Chartrand's animated short L'AME NOIRE (BLACK SOUL). The film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada and tells the story of African people's migration through the Caribbean to America. The Berlin International Film Festival was founded in 1951 from an American cultural-political initiative and has become one of the foremost film festivals in the world.