* Sunday, February 20 - Wednesday, February 23, 2000. Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
Created in 1979, the Monte-Carlo Television Market was established as a
companion to the world renowned Monte-Carlo International Television
Festival. Today, the Television Market ranks as one of the top program
markets in the world. In 1999, the Market had 487 registered buyers and
1,920 participants on hand. For 2000, two new events have been added to the
* Monday, February 28 - Saturday, March 11, 2000. Brussels, Belgium.
Each year the Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the
"crème de la crème" in international animation. It is one of the top
festivals on the international cartoon and computer generated images
circuit. It features 150 to 200 films, plus premieres, original
retrospectives, exhibitions, "making of" programs and invites a host of
* Wednesday, March 8 - Sunday, March 12, 2000. Tampere, Finland.
As the biggest short film event in Northern Europe, the Tampere
International Short Film Festival features 80 screenings, a film market and
seminars. 16mm and 35mm films under 30 minutes, completed after January 1,
1998, are accepted for competition. Awards available include Grand Prize,
Special Prize of the Jury, Best Animation, and an Audience Award. Last
* Thursday, March 9, 2000. London, U.K.
The 3rd annual British Animation Awards will include the following: Best
Film Under Seven Minutes, Best Longer Short Film, Best TV and Film
Graphics, Best Film at the Cutting Edge, Mari Kuttna Award for Best
Directorial Debut, Best Direction of an Animated Commercial, Best
Animation/Craft in a Commercial, Best Adult Series, Best TV Children's
Special, Best Children's Series, Best Pre-School Series, Children's Choice
Walt Disney and Pixar have yet another trophy on their mantle, this time
it's the grand prix at Imagina 2000. The computer conference and festival,
which started in Monaco on January 31 and then continued in Paris on
February 2, finishing Friday, February 4, is often referred to as the
European equivalent to SIGGRAPH. The events in Monaco included the "Prix
Pixel-INA" awards competition, the Innovation Space, and various
conferences and panel discussions such as "2D/3D Animation," a discussion
Husband of the late Mary Kay Bergman, Dino Andrade, has put out a call to
SOUTH PARK and Mary Kay Bergman fans to write to the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences in an effort to have Mrs. Bergman included in the
"In Memoriam" segment of the 2000 Oscar ceremony. Typically, the Academy
only honors higher profile talent who have passed away in the past year. As
reported [AF 11/23/99], Mrs. Bergman took her own life on November 11, 1999
For the first time, Zagreb studio's library was offered for international
distribution at NATPE a year ago. The library offered all of Zagreb's
award-winning short films, including the works of such masters as Zlatko
Grgic ("Devil's Work") and Dusan Vukotic (his short "Ersatz" was the first
non-U.S. animated film to receive an Academy Award). Since then, Rembrandt
Films and Image Entertainment have released on video five hours of
animation from Zagreb Film. This is just another distribution deal, and
The Walt Disney Company has announced its financial results for its
operations excluding its Internet business, GO.com. Disney pro forma
diluted earnings per share excluding GO.com were $0.25 for the quarter
ended December 31, 1999, a 9% increase over the prior year. Disney revenues
increased 5% to $6.8 billion and operating income increased 8% to $1.1
billion. Excluding the retained interest in GO.com, net income increased 7%
to $515 million. Broadcasting results for the quarter were driven up by
Fantome, one of Europe's premier producers of 3D animation, was founded in
1985 by Georges Lacroix. Fantome has gained an international reputation,
and garnered more than 40 international prizes, including an Emmy. Its most
notable credits are: THE GEOMETRIC FABLES (50 x 3 minutes), the first
computer-generated animation series ever made, and INSEKTORS (26 x 13 min)
which has sold in more than 160 countries. In 1998 after being faced with
Three new Scandinavian markets surrendered their airwaves to Pokemania.
Worldwide sensation POKEMON was recently sold to TV4 in Sweden, TV2 in
Denmark and TV2 in Norway. The show will hit the new territories in January
and February 2000. Lacey Entertainment, the international distributors of
the series, also announced the sale of the Pikachu-vehicle to ATV in Turkey
and Noga Communications' Children's Channel in Israel. In Europe, POKEMON
began broadcasting in September 1999 on Germany's RTL2, The Netherlands'
Three new Scandinavian markets surrendered their airwaves to Pokemania.
Worldwide sensation Pokemon was recently sold to TV4 in Sweden, TV2 in
Denmark and TV2 in Norway. The show will hit the new territories in January
and February 2000. The international distributor, Lacey Entertainment, also
announced the sale of the Pikachu-vehicle to ATV in Turkey and Noga
Communications' Children's Channel in Israel.
The Pokemon phenomenon began in America in 1998 with the release of the
NEW! * Friday, February 25, 2000 - Thursday, March 2, 2000. Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
CARTOON NOIR comes to LA. This multi-technique film is a feature-length
compilation of animated shorts from American and European artists. Featured
in CARTOON NOIR are: APE, Julie Zammarchi's darkly comic critique of
monogamy, meat eating and the daily pattern of human brutality; ALTAIR,
Lewis Klahr's collagist elegy on New York nightlife; CLUB OF THE DISCARDED,
On Friday, January 14, 2000, Walt Disney International-Latin America
announced the launch of the Disney Channel Latin America and an exclusive
satellite television distribution agreement with Galaxy Latin America, LLC
for DIRECTV service in Spanish-speaking Latin America. "Launching the
Disney Channel in Latin America in 2000 is an exciting initiative for the
Walt Disney Company," said Diego Lerner, president and managing director,
WDI-Latin America. "As we have in other parts of the world, we will now
Send your registration form before January 20, 2000 and
save 50% on your entry fee. The Imagina computer conference
and festival is the rendez-vous for all digital
audio-visual professionals. For its 19th edition, in
keeping with tradition, the event will start in Monaco,
January 31-February 2, 2000, but will then continue in
Paris, February 2-4, 2000 with the exhibition of new
industrial developments and technologies. The events in
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival takes
place February 28-March 11, 2000. This year, in addition to
its regular program, the festival presents Anima 2000, a
4-day event with various conferences, screenings and panel
discussions. The program includes: "Be Realistic, Demand
The Impossible: Creatives' Dreams," on interactive
animation; "Lucas Arts," on how video game developers see
the role of animators; "Animated Feature Film Day," on
AWN is pleased to welcome ASIFA-Canada to the AWN family.
ASIFA (International Animated Film Association) was
founded in 1957 in France by a group of professional
animators to promote the art of animation. Today, there are
ASIFA chapters in nearly thirty countries worldwide, but
Canada was one of the first countries to form its own
national chapter, ASIFA-Canada. Through its publications and
activities, the organization seeks to foster communication
Bill Plympton has updated his
page. This month, "Surprise Cinema" will be appearing in
various festivals and other events in the US, Canada, France,
Belgium and Germany. Bill will be appearing at the Comics Festival
in Angouleme, France, January 26-31, and at the Zagreb World
Festival of Animated Films in Zagreb, Croatia, June 12-25, 2000.
* Monday, January 31 - Saturday, February 5, 2000. San Roque, Cadiz, Spain.
22nd International Short Film Festival of San Roque is open to all films
under 30 minutes made after January 1, 1997. Categories will include
fiction, animation and documentary. Cash prizes range from Euros 3,000 to
900. For more information contact Ilusre Ayuntamiento de San Roque, Semana
Internacional del Cortometraje, Cine-Teatro Alameda Alameda de Alfonso,
11360 San Roque (Cadiz) Espana; Tel.: ++ 34 (9)56-781074; Fax: ++ 34
* Friday, February 4 - Saturday, February 12, 2000. Clermont-Ferrand, France.
This year, Clermont-Ferrand Short Films Festival will be featuring its 12th
international competition and 22nd French competition. The festival will
highlight animated films based off of comic strips. Filmmakers and buyers
can take advantage of the short film market, which attracted more than 50
TV channels, 50 distributors, and 60 international festival organizers last
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced the
simultaneous worldwide VHS release of George Lucas' STAR WARS: EPISODE I
THE PHANTOM MENACE. Young Jedi wanna-bes around the globe will snag their
copy the week of April 3 - 8, 2000. The biggest box office hit of 1999 and
second highest-grossing motion picture of all time worldwide, will official
go on sale in North America on Tuesday, April 4, 2000. The US$922 million
The 4th edition of Cartoons On The Bay, International Festival of
Television Animation, will be held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy,
April 14-18, 2000. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the
world solely dedicated to television animation. Promoted by Rai
Radiotelevisione Italiana and conceived and organized by Rai Trade,
the festival is an international event with awards, workshops,
lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of
Over the holiday break Holland-based ComicHouse started its move to a new
home. After spending fifteen years in Amsterdam, the animation house has
taken root in Holland's largest nature reserve "DeVeluwe." The new base of
operations will give ComicHouse the needed workspace and client
accessibility that was lacking in the confines of the city. The company
will re-open again in Ooserbeek on January 10, 2000. For more information
contact ComicHouse at: Stationsweg 20, 6861 EH Oosterbeek, The Netherlands;
Film.com has teamed-up with Troma, the production company responsible for
THE TOXIC ADVENGER, to bring the stop-motion clay characters of CRAPSTON
VILLAS to the Net. Set in Slumington, a fictional London neighborhood, this
ebony comedy is a wild soap opera spoof. The British down-to-Earth
blue-collar domestic drama features the voices of Jane Horrocks (Bubble in
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and Little Voice in LITTLE VOICE) and Alison Steadman
(LIFE IS SWEET). The show originally aired on Britain's Channel 4 and won
Cartoon Network, featured on Poland's Wizja TV, is the #1 rated channel on
the programming package and now Cartoon Network Magazine rules the
newsstand. The first issue sold over 500,000 copies making it the top
magazine in Poland. In just three days, the magazine sold out and
publishers ordered an immediate reprint. The Polish version of the mag with
comic strips, quizzes, posters and articles featuring Cartoon Net's legion
of toon heroes and heroines is based off the British version and is the
Toronto-based DECODE ENTERTAINMENT has announced DOMINIQUE BAZAY and
CAROLINE DORRIS to its recently formed international distribution
division. As Director of International Sales, Bazay, who will be based
in Toronto, will head distribution activities and sales to Scandinavia,
Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and South Africa, among other
territories. Bazay previously served in sales for BBC Worldwide
Americas, Paragon Entertainment, and the CBC. Dorris will also serve as
