Where's My Shorts? Seafood And White Bread
Leslie Carlson's new short, SHRIMP AND CRAB COCKTAIL, made its debuton Ifilm May 4, 2001...
2001 Harvey Award Winners Announced
The 2001 Harvey Awards were presented April 27, 2001 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Named for the late comic genius Harvey Kurtzman, the Harveys are one of the comics industry's oldest and most prestigious awards. They are the only awards in comics both nominated and selected by the vote of the full body of creative comics professionals. Three Harvey Awards were bestowed upon Chris Ware, including Best Series and Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work for ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY, and the Special Award for Excellence in Presentation for Pantheon's Acme collection, JIMMY CORRIGAN.
New Dragon Ball Series To Debut on Cartoon Network
FUNimation Productions Ltd. announced its new DRAGON BALL TV series will debut June 25, 2001 on the Cartoon Network, airing Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm ET. DRAGON BALL is the prequel to the DRAGON BALL Z series, #1 on the Cartoon Network's Toonami Block and #1 on the Internet, according to Lycos. Gen Fukunaga, President of FUNimation, also announced that new episodes of DRAGON BALL Z will begin airing on the Cartoon Network beginning September 3, 2001. Like DRAGON BALL Z, the new DRAGON BALL series was a smash hit in Japan before being produced for the U.S. and other countries.
Skyy Vodka Short Film Award Winners & Finalists Marathon Screening
* Wednesday, May 16, 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA
The World Animation Celebration
* Tuesday, August 7 Sunday, August 12, 2001, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Entry Deadline: June 11, 2001
The Webisode Academy Presents: A Discussion on Animation Production Management
* Wednesday, May 30, 2001. Burbank, California, U.S.A.
The Webisode Academy is presenting a panel on animation production management, featuring a discussion about management training and resources, incorporating Catherine Winder & Zahra Dowlatabadis new book, PRODUCING ANIMATION. The event is sponsored by Women in Animation. The director of the Webisode Academy, Kellie-Bea Cooper, will serve as moderator. For more information: Tel.: (818) 508-TOON; E-mail: info@webisode-academy.com.
Edgetech Call For Speakers
* Sunday, August 19 Tuesday, August 21, 2001, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
9th DISCOP -- Discounted TV Programs Market For Emerging Territories
* Thursday, June 28 Sunday, June 30, 2001, Budapest, Hungary.
RMCAD and ASIFA-Colorado Present Edward Bakst
* Thursday, May 17, 2001. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Flickapalooza Film Festival
* Sunday, June 10 Wednesday, June 13, 2001, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
ASIFA-Hollywood Presents: DePatie-Freleng – The Early Films
* Wednesday, May 23, 2001. Burbank, California, U.S.A.
New LightWave Update Released
NewTek Inc. announced the release of LightWave [ 6.5]b, a maintenance upgrade that enhances the speed and stability of LightWave [ 6.5 ], and also includes new features and functionality.
Northern Lights, Arete Announce Psunami
Northern Lights Productions and Arete Entertainment announced the release of Arete's award-winning Psunami version 2.0 for Electric Image's Universe. Psunami is a hybrid plug-in/shader that allows users to create photo-realistic oceans and skies. "It's fun to watch people do a double-take when they see a Psunami animation. They can't quite tell that it's not real and that's the goal," said Blair Burtan, founder of Northern Lights.
RE:Vision Releases Twixtor
RE:Vision Effects Inc. has released ReelSmart Twixtor, a re-timing solution for Shake. The plug-in enables artists to speed up and slow down image sequences. Twixtor synthesizes unique new frames by warping and interpolating frames of the original sequence, using proprietary tracking technology that calculates motion for individual pixels.
Film Roman Announces Quarterly Profit
Leading independent animation house Film Roman announced increases in revenue and operating income for the their most recent quarter. Company revenue increased by 51% or $6.5 million, to $19.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2001 from $12.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2000. The company attributed the increase to the delivery of more fee-for-services episodes and a movie-of-the-week special.
Threat Launches New Digital Studio
Threat, a new digital studio providing editing, visual effects, animation and compositing services, has launched in Santa Monica. The company has established itself in a new $5.5 million facility to provide end-to-end post services for commercials, entertainment television, feature films, music videos and new-media.
IMAX Corporation Reports First Quarter Results
In a May 11, 2001 announcement, entertainment technology company IMAX Corporation reported its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2001. The company reported a loss of $0.23 per share for the first quarter before the impact of a previously announced restructuring charge. After the impact of the restructuring charge, IMAX reported a loss of $0.46 per share. The company's comparative results for the first quarter of 2000 were: earnings of $0.06 per share before the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles and a loss of $1.92 per share after such changes.
Activision Posts Record Gains
In a May 9, 2001 announcement, Activision, Inc. reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for its interactive entertainment business. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, net revenues were $620 million as compared with $572 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Net income for the fiscal year was $21 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $34 million, or $1.38 loss per diluted share reported for last year.
Senior Animation And Film Screening At The University Of The Arts In Philadelphi
* Saturday, May 19 - Sunday, May 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Funny Garbage Launches The New Comedycentral.Com
New Yorks Funny Garbage, a worldwide leader in interactive design and creative content, announced the launch of its redesign for ComedyCentral.com. The new site embodies the high level of engaging entertainment that has made the Comedy Central TV Network a leading popular culture brand for television comedy. Funny Garbage developed the site using Dynamo Control Center with Interwoven TeamSite to create an experience that was modular and flexible enough to support next generation applications like wireless and interactive television, yet still appeal to todays Web surfers.
Romp.com Shifts Strategy, Abandons Paid Subscriber Model
After switching to a paid subscription format in March 2001, Internet entertainment company Romp.com has announced a series of strategic changes that reflect the difficulties Web entertainment destination sites continue to face as they seek profitability. In a company newsletter sent out on May 9, 2001, the company announced an end to their unsuccessful paid subscription access format, a refund for all paid subscribers, an end to daily site content updates and a move toward developing branded film and print projects for other distribution channels.
Harvey Entertainment And Classic Media Amend Sale Agreement
The Harvey Entertainment Company and Classic Media, LLC have amended their prior agreement for the sale of Harveys library of classic characters, including CASPER, RICHIE RICH, BABY HUEY and LITTLE AUDREY, as well as certain contractual rights and agreements which relate to those assets. Signed on March 9, 2001, the prior deal was worth US$16 million plus debts associated with the characters. The parties have agreed to increase the purchase price to US$17 million, to be paid in cash at the closing, plus the assumption of certain liabilities.
BLOOP.tv Sci-fi Cartoon Launches Across the Web
BLOOP.tv, a syndicated science-fiction Web cartoon series, announced their launch on more than 40 science-fiction, cartoon and general-interest entertainment Websites, including Time Warner Cable's Road Runner networks, GALAXY.tv, BMonster.com, TOONORAMA.com and MEDIAJONEZ.com. According to company founder Steve Conley, BLOOP.tv was created specifically for web distribution with an eye toward the mainstream movie-going audience. The character designs and stories were built with the limitations of web animation in mind.
Anime Thriller Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade Coming To Theatres
The English-language version of the anime thriller JIN-ROH: THE WOLF BRIGADE will have its theatrical release at New York's Cinema Village on June 22, 2001, at the Varsity Theater in Seattle on June 29, 2001 and nationally throughout the summer. A collaboration between two generations of filmmakers, JIN-ROH marries a hard-hearted script by Momoru Oshii, the internationally acclaimed maker of GHOST IN THE SHELL with the vérité direction of Hiroyuki Okiura, assistant to Oshii on GHOST. JIN-ROH's setting is Tokyo - not the Tokyo of the future, but of an alternate past.
Blur Studio Designs And Produces Open For TLC's Robotica
Venice, Californias Blur Studio's broadcast design division recently created a show open for ROBOTICA, The Learning Channel's new 1-hour robot competition series airing on Wednesday nights. Creative director Tim Brown came up with the piece's innovative design, centering on a chrome-plated, flying robot that mounts an aggressive assault on the television screen. Blur Studio concept artist Feng Shu designed the robot character and 3D artist Juan Granja modeled and animated it. Blur Studio also handled the production of the open, composed entirely of photo-real 3D computer animation.
