A N I M A T I O N  F L A S H

Tuesday, December 2, 2003                            Volume 08, Issue 36
________________________________________________________________________

                  The Animation Flash E-mail Newsletter

                 an Animation World Network publication


                     ****Industry News Headlines****

Business 
    1. ROY DISNEY QUITS, CALLS FOR EISNER'S RESIGNATION. 
    2. STANLEY GOLD ANKLES DISNEY BOARD & CALLS FOR EISNER'S REMOVAL. 
    3. 20 FRENCH COMPANIES TO ATTEND THE ASIA TV FORUM. 
People
    4. ASIFA INT'L ELECTS NEW OFFICERS. 
    5. ROBINSON DEPARTING ABC CABLE NET/DISNEY U.K.
    6. TELETOON ADDS DIRECTORS GLUCK AND NAKHLE. 
    7. DANIXA DIAZ TOSSES PRODUCING HAT INTO 3 RING CIRCUS. 
    8. ATARI PROMOTES STOCKS IN SALES/MARKETING AREAS. 
Film
    9. FOX/BLUE SKY TARGETS WAINSCOTT WEASEL FOR 3D TREATMENT. 
   10. HOT MCGREGOR TO VOICE VALIANT LEAD. 
   11. ENCORE HOLLYWOOD ADDS NEW FX TO ALIEN 3 DVD. 
   12. THE CAT RULES THANKSGIVING WEEKEND. 
   13. RHYTHM & HUES LETS THE CAT OUT FOR HAT VISUAL EFFECTS. 
Television
   14. NEW ZOO REVUE GET 3D TREATMENT. 
   15. NIGHT B4 CHRISTMAS DEBUTS IN U.S.
   16. RUGRATS GET ALL GROWN UP NOV. 29 ON NICK. 
   17. GRINCH WEEK AT CARTOON NETWORK. 
   18. KID'S WB! OFFERS THANKSGIVING TREATS, REVISED LINEUP AND SNEAK 
       PEAKS. 
Commercials
   19. RHINOFX WRAP SWEET SPOTS FOR POP'ABLES. 
   20. MACHINIMA MAKING NEW 3D INROADS ON SPIKE TV'S VGAS. 
Internet & Interactive
   21. LORDS OF EVERQUEST AVAILABLE NOW. 
   22. SARBAKAN WELDS WEIRD ONLINE GAMES FOR VRAK TV. 
Home Video
   23. BROWNBOOTS RAMPS UP DINO-SIZED INDIE FILM. 
   24. ORIGINAL STAR WARS TRILOGY HITTING DVD NOV. 2004?
   25. PIRATES: A DVD BOUNTY OF RICHES. 
   26. DEFINITIVE ALIEN QUADRILOGY DVDS OFFER NEW VFX. 
Licensing
   27. MR BEAN RACKS UP DEALS FOR TIGER ASPECT. 
Books
   28. SYD MEAD TO SERVE ON EXPOSÉ 2 ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
   29. VIZ ACQUIRES MANGA ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY. 
Technology
   30. DISCREET EXTENDS MENTAL RAY RENDERING OPTIONS FOR 3DS MAX 6. 
   31. NXN ALIENBRAIN STUDIO NOW SUPPORTS KAYDARA'S FBX FORMAT. 
   32. DIGITAL ELEMENT AND DIGIMATION TEAM UP ON MODELSHOP.
   33. NEVERCENTER RELEASES SILO 1.16. 
   34. AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS TO INTRODUCE LATEST IO PRODUCTS AT GV EXPO. 
Awards
   35. BAFTA AWARDS GO TO BUILDERS, WHALES & AARDVARKS.  
   36. AEAF AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED. 
   37. SPIKE TV GAMES AWARDS PREMIERES DEC. 4.
Call for Entries
   38. WIN SOFTWARE IN REALTEXTURE XMAS CONTEST
   39. CREATE A UFO SIGHTING FOR VFX007
Events
   40. PIPELINE 2003 SHOWS CG STRENGTH IN U.K.
   41. THE FINAL WESTERN SHOW 2003 COMES TO ANAHEIM. 
   42. MEET OTHER ANIMATORS OVER DRINKS AT THE ANIMATORS' PUB. 
   43. FILMS BY NORMAN MCLAREN SCREENING IN SAN FRAN!
   44. DON'T MISS THE WIA CHRISTMAS PARTY. 
   45. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET SUMMIT GOES TO DC.
   46. CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH TAIS. 
   47. HIGH TALES SHOWCASES YOUNG PEOPLE'S WORK
   48. UPCOMING EVENTS IN ANIMATION.
Upcoming Films
   49. UPCOMING THEATRICAL RELEASES.


                   ****SUBMIT YOUR NEWS!!!!****

If you have news, review materials, events or other items of interest
for the Animation Flash send it to: Sarah Baisley or Bill Desowitz,
Animation Flash, 6525 Sunset Blvd., Garden Suite 10, Los Angeles, CA
90028 USA.
E-mail: editor@awn.com; or Fax: 1-323-466-6619.

                      ****Industry News****

Business

1. ROY DISNEY QUITS, CALLS FOR EISNER'S RESIGNATION. 
Roy E. Disney, vice chairman of Walt Disney Co. stepped down from the
board of directors and called on chairman/chief exec Michael Eisner to
resign in a scathing letter. 

On Sunday, Nov. 30, 2003, he sent a three-page letter to Eisner
criticizing the chairman's leadership over the past seven years. Disney
has called for Eisner's resignation in the past, but the idea was
rejected by the board.

"Michael, I believe your conduct has resulted from my clear and
unambiguous statements to you and the Board of Directors that after 19
years at the helm, you are no longer the best person to run the Walt
Disney Company," Disney wrote. "It is my sincere belief that it is you
that should be leaving and not me," Disney wrote to Eisner. 

Some consider Disney's departure may be a pre-emptive move rather than
being forced from the board of The Walt Disney Co. He is the nephew of
company co-founder Walt Disney as well as the last family member to be
active in the company.

The full board is meeting today and Tuesday at its regularly scheduled
meetings in New York with board membership is on the agenda. The board's
governance and nominating committee did not recommend the 73-year-old
Disney for another term because he is over the mandated retirement age
of 72, the company said Sunday. 

The board's presiding director, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, said
in a statement Sunday he regretted Disney's actions and confirmed that
the governance and nominating committee recently informed Disney that
the age-limit rules should apply.

Two other board members, Raymond Watson, 76, and Thomas Murphy, 77 were
also were not to be re-nominated this year due to the age limit. Watson,
vice chairman of The Irvine Co., a large California builder, was an
adviser to Walt Disney on the design of Disney's Epcot Center in Florida
and has been on the board since at least 1984. Murphy served as
chairman/chief exec of Capital Cities/ABC until Disney bought the
broadcaster in 1995.

Disney previously resigned from the board in 1984, initiating a stock
battle for the company when it was headed by Ron Miller, Walt Disney's
son-in-law. Disney was later reinstated.

Roy Disney's letter also blames Eisner for a loss of morale at the
company. He accused Eisner for causing a perception that "the company is
rapacious, soul-less, and always looking for the 'quick buck' rather
than the long-term value which is leading to a loss of public trust."

He also criticizes Eisner for the failure to maintain constructive
relationships with business partners, including Pixar Animation Studios,
which co-produces computer-animated films with Disney, including the
record-breaking FINDING NEMO.

Roy Disney's three-page letter can be read at:
http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9701

2. STANLEY GOLD ANKLES DISNEY BOARD & CALLS FOR EISNER'S REMOVAL. 
Close on the heals of Roy Disney's resignation form the Walt Disney Co.,
Stanley P. Gold today, Dec. 1, 2003, sent the following letter of
resignation to the Walt Disney board of directors. Gold, 60, worked with
Roy Disney in 1984 to save the company from a takeover attempt and
install Eisner as chairman. Gold heads Shamrock Holdings
(www.shamrockinc.com), which manages Roy Disney's investments.

The text of Gold's letter follows:

December 1, 2003

To the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company:

It is with regret that I resign effective immediately from the Board of
Directors of the Walt Disney Company and second Roy Disney's call for
the removal of Michael Eisner as Chairman and C.E.O.  I am proud of my
more than 15 years of service and my role in reshaping the Company in
1984 by bringing Frank Wells and Michael Eisner to the Company.  I do,
however, lament that my efforts over the past three years to implement
needed changes has only succeeded in creating an insular Board of
Directors serving as a bulwark to shield management from criticism and
accountability.  At this time, I believe there is little that I can
achieve by working from within to refocus the Company.  I hope that my
resignation will serve as a catalyst for change at Disney.

The most recent evidence of the drive for insularity is reflected in the
Governance Committee's determination that Roy Disney should no longer
serve on the Board, ostensibly because Roy had surpassed the expected
retirement age established by the Board's Corporate Governance
Guidelines.  In fact, these very rules regarding age, by their terms,
only apply to non-management directors, not to Roy, who, as the
Committee knows, has been deemed a management director.  The Committee's
decision and George Mitchell's defense of it yesterday are clearly
disingenuous.  The real reason for the Committee's action is that Roy
has become more pointed and vocal in his criticism of Michael Eisner and
this Board.  This is yet another attempt by this Board to squelch
dissent by hiding behind the veil of "good governance."  What a curious
result.

Roy has devoted a lifetime to Disney as both an employee and Director.
He has served with renewed vigor during these times of malaise,
disappointment and instability at the Company, trying to maintain the
morale of employees, focusing on the magic that makes Disney special and
attacking bonuses to the CEO and increased compensation for Board
members while the Company falters and shareholder value erodes.  He and
his family have a very large financial stake in the Company.  Unlike
Messrs. Watson and Murphy who have asked to be replaced, Roy has sought
even more involvement only to be told that his input in animation will
continue to be minimized and that his role as a Director is no longer
welcome.  This Board has become an enabler to entrenched management and,
in so doing, is not effectively discharging its duties to the
shareholders.  This conduct has resulted in yet another valuable human
asset of the Company slipping away.  Within the last year this Board
will have managed to cull from its ranks Andrea Van de Kamp and now Roy,
two of the staunchest critics of Michael Eisner and the Company's poor
performance.  I cannot sit idly by as this Board continues to ignore and
disenfranchise those who raise questions about the performance of
management.

As this Board knows, during my tenure I have tried to be an active,
engaged Director.  I believe a board should not merely rubber stamp
decisions of senior management.  I decided in August of 2002 that it was
not enough just to express my views in the limited time set aside for
our infrequent Board meetings.  I therefore began a series of written
communications to the Board regarding the Company, its management and
the Board.  I wrote to express my disagreement and growing concern with
management, its policies and the effectiveness of the Board.  I focused
on the failed initiatives of the Company over the past five or six years
and admonished the Board for not actively engaging in serious
discussions regarding the Company's flawed plans and management's unmet
projections and unfulfilled promises.  In particular, I have urged the
Board to concentrate on the Company's "poor performance, lack of
credibility and accountability and poor capital allocation."  In an
effort to get Directors to seriously assess management's 5-year
strategic plan (a plan that is only discussed with this Board, but not
submitted for Board approval), I wrote to the Board to detail the
Company's unsatisfactory financial performance for the past several
years and to suggest a process, a so-called Diagnostic Review, designed
to give the non-management directors the tools necessary to evaluate
performance and establish a comprehensive framework and baseline from
which the Board could be active partners in developing plans to maximize
the value of Disney's existing assets and businesses.  That approach was
opposed by management and then, not surprisingly, rejected by the Board.
The Board and its Chairman even criticized me for putting on paper these
serious questions about fundamental matters.


I believe the Board's adoption of its Corporate Governance Guidelines
was yet another example of this Board's commitment to image over
substance.  Among other things, those Guidelines were carefully crafted
to stifle dissent while allowing those supportive of senior management
to continue business as usual. This was apparent when the Board applied
its Guidelines to conclude that I was not "independent" despite the fact
that I frequently challenged management at Board meetings and criticized
both the Board's and the Company's performance. That decision was
initially based on my daughter's employment in a non- executive position
at Disney and, then, after that reason became insufficient under the new
NYSE Governance Guidelines, because of my association with Roy. This
resulted in my further isolation as I was no longer permitted to serve
on the Governance and Nominating Committee or the Compensation
Committee.  On the other hand, John Bryson was deemed "independent" and
appointed Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee despite
the fact that his wife is an executive officer at Lifetime Entertainment
Television, a 50% owned subsidiary of Disney, where she earned in excess
of $1 million in total compensation in fiscal 2001.  In addition,
Senator Mitchell was appointed Presiding Director, despite having been
recently employed as a Company consultant and notwithstanding that the
law firm of which he was chairman received in excess of $1 million for
legal services on behalf of the Company in fiscal 2001.

At the time the Company's new Corporate Governance Guidelines were being
considered, I also urged the Board to separate the positions of Chairman
of the Board and CEO.  This separation would empower the Board and help
establish its independence and oversight role.  Not only did the Board
reject that initiative, the Board failed to give the newly established
Presiding Director any real substantive powers.

Continuing through March of this year I wrote to express my concerns
regarding the financial performance of the Company and the repeated
failures of management to achieve its forecasts.  I urged this Board to
feel a sense of urgency in dealing with the issues of leadership,
performance, operations and accountability.  Those efforts failed.
Instead, Mr. Eisner was awarded a bonus of $5 million in Disney shares
by the Compensation Committee despite objections by Roy and me.  I
believe that bonuses for senior management must be tied to performance;
by that measure, no bonus was warranted.

In a similar vein, I recently wrote to express my objection to the
Compensation and Governance Committee's joint recommendation that fees
paid to Disney Directors be increased dramatically, that stock grants to
Directors be substituted for options (and thereby render meaningless the
requirement that Directors own $100,000 in Disney shares) and that
greater compensation be paid to the Presiding Director.  Raises for the
Disney Directors at this time are inappropriate based on my assessment
of the Company's performance.  I objected to the increase for the
Presiding Director on the grounds that it did not reflect a reasonable
payment for the only slightly increased duties.  Finally, I could not
make sense of a share ownership requirement for Directors that would be
satisfied by a direct issuance from the Company at the same time
Directors' cash compensation was being increased.

It is clear to me that this Board is unwilling to tackle the difficult
issues I believe this Company continues to face -- management failures
and accountability for those failures, operational deficiencies,
imprudent capital allocations, the cannibalization of certain Company
icons for short-term gain, the enormous loss of creative talent over the
last years, the absence of succession planning and the lack of strategic
focus.  Instead, the Board seems determined to devote its time and
energies to adopting policies that focus not on substance, but on
process and, in reality, only serve to muzzle and isolate those
Directors who recognize that their role is to be active participants in
shaping the Company and planning for executive succession.  Further,
this Board isolates those Directors who believe that Michael Eisner
(when measured by the dismal results over the last 7 years) is not up to
the challenge. Perhaps acting independently, from outside the Boardroom,
not hamstrung by a recently enacted Board policy barring Board members
from communicating with shareholders and the media, I can have greater
success in shaping the policies, practices and operations of Disney than
I had as a member of the Board.

In accordance with Item 6 of Form 8-K and Item 7 of Schedule 14A, I
request that you disclose this letter and that you file a copy of this
letter as an exhibit to a Company Form 8-K.

Very truly yours,

Stanley P. Gold

3. 20 FRENCH COMPANIES TO ATTEND THE ASIA TV FORUM. 
Asia/Oceania represents a significant growing market for French
television exports so producers from France are turning out in record
number, organized by TV France (TVFI), to attend the Asia TV Forum in
Singapore, Dec. 3-5, 2003. This region accounted for 8.7% of French TV
program exports, amounting to 9.3 million euros in 2002 (figures
resulting from the annual study carried out by TVFI with INA and CNC,
available on the Website www.tvfrance-intl.com). 

This study reveals that China represented 21% of exports in the
Asian/Oceania area, followed by Japan with 17.6% and South Korea with
17.2%. 

This year, France still holds the first place for the number of
exhibitors at Asia TV with 20 companies, which is 19% of the total
attending the market (106), followed by the USA (14), the U.K. (14),
Singapore (13), Canada (8), New-Zealand (7) and India (5). The French
distributors plan to consolidate their positions on the Asian markets.

Besides the French pavilion in Singapore, TVFI's other events in the
region include the Tokyo and Seoul Showcases (March 1-5, 2004) and
Beijing and Shanghaï showcases to be held for the first time in the fall
of 2004.

Participating TVFI member-companies at the fourth edition of the ASIA TV
FORUM in the French pavilion include: 10 Francs, 2001 Audiovisuel, AB
International Distribution, Alphanim, Ampersand, Api Distribution,
CNDP/SCEREN, Dargaud-Marina, Dupuis Audiovisuel, Ellipse Distribution,
Europe Images International/M5, Expand Images International & Adventure
Line Productions, Fashion TV, France Televisions Distribution, INA, M6
D.A., Marathon International, RGP France, System TV and Tele Images
International.

Some 20,000 programs and information on these companies are available on
the Website in Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, French,
English and Spanish.

People

4. ASIFA INT'L ELECTS NEW OFFICERS. 
The new ASIFA Int'l Board, consisting of the representatives of 14
national and regional groups and offices met Nov. 15, 2003 in Espinho,
Portugal during the CINANIMA 2003 festival to elect new officers. They
are:
President: Noureddin Zarrinkelk  (Iran)
VP/contact person for Asia: Sayoko Kinoshita (Japan)
VP/contact person for Europe: Thomas Renoldner (Austria)
Secretary General: Vesna Dovnikovic (Croatia)
Treasurer: Carol Beecher (Canada)
Editor of ASIFA NET: Thomas Renoldner (Austria)
 
The ASIFA General Assembly also accepted the reports from outgoing
officers, which included the President's Report by Abi Feijo and Thomas
Renoldner, the Report of Activities 2000-2003 by Vesna Dovnikovic, ASIFA
Secretary General, and the Financial Report 2000-2003 by Pierre Azuelos,
Treasurer. 

5. ROBINSON DEPARTING ABC CABLE NET/DISNEY U.K.
Paul Robinson, svp of worldwide programming strategy for ABC Cable
Networks Group and svp/md of Disney U.K. branded television is leaving
the Walt Disney Co. to pursue new opportunities.

Paul joined Disney in November 1998 and has built the U.K. and Ireland
branded TV business from a single feed to a commercially successful
multiplex of four channels in 5.1 million subscribing homes. He
pioneered the development of Playhouse Disney in the U.K., launched Toon
Disney and Disney Channel Active. Robinson led the creation of the
Capital Disney radio joint venture with Capital Radio and secured
Disney's new entertainment channel on Freeview.

Anne Sweeney, president of ABC Cable Networks Group and Disney Channel
Worldwide said, "Paul has made a significant contribution to our
worldwide TV business, and I thank him for helping us get close to
understanding our global programming needs.  I'm sorry to lose him and
wish Paul every success." 

"Paul's time at Disney has been characterized by outstanding business
performance and consumer insight, and very significant development and
growth of our UK and Ireland branded TV business.  He has made a lasting
contribution topped off by the strategic acquisition of a channel on
Freeview," said David Hulbert, president of Walt Disney Television
Int'l.

Robinson said, "After more than five outstanding years with Disney, I've
decided that its time to seek out the next challenge.  I've had a
wonderful time, and would like to thank my teams, colleagues and bosses
for their wisdom and support.  I'm now looking for new opportunities in
radio and television."
 
His contract with Disney expires on Jan. 31, 2004, after which he will
serve as a consultant to the company.

6. TELETOON ADDS DIRECTORS GLUCK AND NAKHLE. 
Len Cochrane, president of TELETOON, and Hillary Firestone, VP Network
Marketing and Promotions have brought on two new directors to the
Canadian cartoon channel. Renee Gluck is the new director of creative
services, replacing Gervais Vignola, who continues with TELETOON in a
consulting role. Susan Nakhle is director of communications, filling in
for Pascale Guillotte, who is on maternity leave until September 2004.

Gluck was station manger of Roger's French-language station Rogers
Television in Ottawa. Prior to joining Rogers, Gluck worked in a variety
of capacities for TVOntario, as gm of the TVOntario Foundation and as a
sr producer in on air promotions and scheduling. Gluck has also worked
in production for Rhombus Media, The National Film Board of Canada and
Carlton Prods., and done communications consulting in regional politics
and education.

Nakhle joins TELETOON after working in several capacities at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, most recently as director of public
relations. Nakhle oversaw internal and external communications for CBC
Radio, Television and cbc.ca, including employee and media relations,
audience services, strategic partnerships and promotions, and public
accountability and issues management. 

TELETOON is Canada's first and only, 24-hour-a-day animation station for
audiences of all ages. With English and French-language services, the
network offers cartoons and animation from Canada and around the world.
TELETOON's shareholders are Astral Media Inc., Corus Entertainment Inc.
and CINAR Corp.

7. DANIXA DIAZ TOSSES PRODUCING HAT INTO 3 RING CIRCUS. 
Danixa Diaz has joined creative branding firm 3 Ring Circus as exec
producer, responsible for new business development and global marketing
for the agency.

Regarding her joining the company, Sideropoulos said, "Danixa brings to
3 Ring Circus many years of expertise and the right personality mix. We
are very sensitive as to how we approach our business development
process. Danixa's personable and friendly approach, combined with her
knowledge of the industry, really fits our style," said ceo John
Sideropoulos.

Added Diaz, "3 Ring Circus is a company that has helped define the
entertainment branding industry for almost 10 years... I will seek new
opportunities for 3 Ring Circus in TV, commercial, promo, motion
picture, and high definition projects, both domestically and
internationally."

Prior to joining 3 Ring Circus, Diaz was director of business
development with New York-based design studio FreestyleCollective where
she managed all aspects of the collective's marketing plan, and pursued
opportunities in new business arenas. She also developed and
strengthened relationships with numerous television broadcast and cable
networks, as well as advertising agencies.

Diaz began her career in Miami, where she held several positions with
top production and post-production facilities targeting Latin America
and the U.S. Hispanic market. She was an account exec with Manhattan
Transfer's award winning team, and also with AFI/Filmworks, one of the
oldest in the U.S., as its Latin division exec producer.

Over the past 12 years, Diaz has developed important relationships with
many of the world's leading broadcast, advertising and entertainment
companies, including Lifetime TV, Young & Rubicam, VH1, McCann Erickson,
USA Networks, Zubi Advertising, Fox Sports, Disney Latin America, Ogilvy
& Mather, Nickelodeon, the NFL, American Express, DRM, Rockstar Games,
ABC Television Network, The Cartoon Network, HBO, NBC, Oxygen, PBS,
Telemundo, the NY Knicks and CBS.

In summer 2003, Diaz was elected to the Board of Governors of the
PROMAX/BDA Organization. She has also been a member of such other groups
as AICP, WOMPI, ADFED, IAA and AHAA, and has served on the Boards for
the ADDY's and AICP Awards.

8. ATARI PROMOTES STOCKS IN SALES/MARKETING AREAS. 
Wim Stocks has been promoted at Atari as evp, responsible for sales,
licensing, marketing, distribution and logistics in North America,
Latin/South America, Australia and the Pacific Rim region. 

"There are very few people who can match Wim's depth of experience in
the interactive entertainment industry, particularly in sales and
marketing, which are so closely connected in our business," said Bruno
Bonnell, chairman/ceo Atari (www.atari.com). "Atari is a global company
with one of the most recognized brands in the industry, and by
consolidating vital areas such as these under one person's leadership,
we enhance our ability to deliver a cohesive message to our most
important audiences: consumers and retailers." 

Stocks oversees a sales/licensing force of more than 50 people, a
product/brand marketing organization of 50 people and a product
distribution network that services more than 22,000 outlets in North
America, ranging from mass merchants and superstores to specialty
stores, office superstores and wholesale clubs, as well as online
retailers. In addition to distributing titles developed and acquired by
Atari, the sales team also handles the distribution of the Atari's
third-party and affiliate label product lines. He is also responsible
for customer service and logistics, fulfillment, warehouse operations,
manufacturing and for establishing sales policies and procedures, as
well as product pricing structures. 

Previously, Stocks was svp of sales, distribution and service for Atari
since January 2000 when it acquired GT Interactive, where he had held
the same position since 1998. Stocks joined GT Interactive in 1996 with
sales and marketing oversight for its value division. 

Prior to GTI, Stocks spent five years at Navarre Corp., holding
marketing and sales positions in the company's digital entertainment
subsidiary, which distributed and marketed interactive publishing
products, and developed proprietary content for the entertainment
software and music content categories. Stocks was with Lieberman
Enterprises/LIVE Ent. for three years, where he served in several
capacities. He held a variety of management positions within AT&T in
Minneapolis, where he began his career in 1980. 

Film

9. FOX/BLUE SKY TARGETS WAINSCOTT WEASEL FOR 3D TREATMENT. 
THE WAINSCOTT WEASEL, the popular children's book written by Tor Seidler
and illustrated by the late Fred Marcelliano, is the latest property to
be snatched up by Fox Studios Animation and Blue Sky Studios. Just one
look at that eye patch-sporting weasel, who's in love with a beautiful
silver fish, and you just know he belongs in the 3D company of Scrat.

Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri is spearheading the project,
with creative exec John Cohen overseeing for the studio. Creative exec
Lisa Fragner is doing the same for Blue Sky. Jane Startz of Jane Startz
Prods. serves as producer. However, director Chris Wedge, currently in
production on ROBOTS and pre-production on ICE AGE 2, will not be
helming, as reported elsewhere.

10. HOT MCGREGOR TO VOICE VALIANT LEAD. 
Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, is busy doing lots of voice work
these days. In addition to Blue Sky's ROBOTS and Disney's upcoming
GNOMEO AND JULIET, the Scottish actor has just been signed to voice the
title character in Vanguard Animation's CG-animated feature, VALIANT.
The animated comedy tells the story of a lowly wood pigeon named
Valiant, who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great
Britain's Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II. The
RHPS advanced the Allied cause by flying vital messages about enemy
movements across the English Channel, while evading brutal attacks by
the enemy's Falcon brigade.

Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley will voice Gen. Keyserlingk, the
feared German falcon leader. Other actors lending their voices include
Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (MOULIN ROUGE), Rupert Everett (MY BEST
FRIEND'S WEDDING), Hugh Laurie (the STUART LITTLES), John Hurt (ELEPHANT
MAN), and Ricky Gervais (star of the BBC hit series THE OFFICE).

VALIANT, which will be wrap in December 2004, is currently in
production, with a staff of 95, at Vanguard Animation's recently
completed CG studio built at the legendary Ealing Studios in London, as
well as continuing at its Los Angeles and New York offices. Disney is
distributing the picture in North America, and Odyssey Entertainment in
the U.K. is handling international distribution. Disney additionally
holds worldwide merchandising, soundtrack and video game rights.
Vanguard Animation is a division of Vanguard Films. IDT Corporation, a
subsidiary of IDT Entertainment Inc., a multinational carrier, telephone
and technology company, has a significant investment in Vanguard
Animation.

The producer is John H. Williams (the SHREKS) for Vanguard Animation
(www.vanguardanimation.com). Exec producers are Barnaby Thompson for
Ealing Studios, Ralph Kamp for Odyssey Entertainment, Robert Jones for
the U.K. Film Council, and Keith Evans for Baker Street Media Finance.
Co-producers are Eric M. Bennett, Curtis Augspurger and Buckley Collum
for Vanguard Animation. British character designer Gary Chapman is
directing VALIANT.

VALIANT is a Vanguard Animation, Ealing Studios and U.K. Film Council
Presentation in association with Odyssey Entertainment and Take Five
Film Partnerships of a Vanguard Animation production.

11. ENCORE HOLLYWOOD ADDS NEW FX TO ALIEN 3 DVD. 
Encore Hollywood provided animation and visual effects services for Fox
Home Entertainment on ALIEN 3 for the Alien Quadrilogy, the nine-disc
boxed set, which arrived on Dec. 2, 2003. Computer animator Greg
Tsadilas created a 3D version of a baby alien for the birth sequence,
which is part of 30 minutes of added material. The birth sequence shows
the newborn alien creature emerging from the carcass of an ox then
fleeing down a corridor. The new creature is in a form not seen in any
of the ALIEN films. 

Tsadilas said, "For reference, I had a puppet that was used in the
production to represent the creature's infant stage and images of the
adult creature. I aimed to create something that was in-between the two
and to stay true to both. When it emerges from its 'womb,' it's covered
in blood, bile and membranes. With its wobbly legs, it looked like a
newborn calf. The creature's strange proportions would naturally tend to
make its gait different from a dog's and other familiar animals. It took
a lot of trial an error to come up with something that got the creature
moving as fast as we needed it to move and still be convincing."

Tsadilas, along with Mitch Gates and Kurt McKeever, created the effects
on Windows-based desktop systems using Discreet's 3ds max software to
model and animate the new alien, and rendered with Chaos Group's V-Ray
renderer.

Encore Hollywood is a full service post-production facility, which
specializes in television episodics, movies of the week, feature
mastering, feature promo, and visual effects. For more information, call
(323) 466-7663 or visit www.encorehollywood.com.

12. THE CAT RULES THANKSGIVING WEEKEND. 
After typical studio jockeying back and forth during the Thanksgiving
holiday weekend, THE CAT IN THE HAT remained on top of the box office
chart when all the dust settled. That is, if you count the three-day
weekend and not the five-day tally. The Universal movie produced by
Imagine Entertainment (with vfx by Rhythm & Hues) hauled in $24.4M for
the three-day period (and $32.9M for the five days ended Nov. 30). That
brings the CAT total to $75.8M worth of catnip. Following close behind
in second place was Disney's THE HAUNTED MANSION (with vfx by Sony
Imageworks), which scared up $34M for the five-day period (including
$24.2M over the weekend). New Line's surprising ELF (with vfx by Rhythm
& Hues, Chiodo Bros. Prods. and Amalgamated Pixels) continued to roll at
number three with $30.9M for the five-day period (including $21.6M for
the weekend), giving it a great cume of $129M. Warner Bros.' Halle Berry
ghost flick, GOTHIKA (with vfx by CafeFX), held the fourth spot with a
five-day gross of $18.4M, including a three-day tally of $12.8M and a
total to date of $41.2M.

Meanwhile, Dimension's BAD SANTA debuted at number five with a five-day
bounty of $16.8M (including a three-day take of $12.2M). Fox's MASTER
AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (with vfx by Asylum and ILM)
captured the sixth slot with $16.6M for the five-day period (including a
$12M three-day gross). To date, the Peter Weir seafaring Oscar-contender
has mustered $66.6M. Revolution's THE MISSING debuted at number seven
with a five-day gross of $15.2M. The Ron Howard western earned $10.8M of
that over the weekend. Paramount's sci-fi thriller TIMELINE (with vfx by
ILM and Camera e-Motion) debuted in the eighth position with a five-day
gross of $12.4M (including $8.4M over the weekend). Universal's LOVE
ACTUALLY came in ninth with a five-day gross of $11.2M ($8.2M of which
was gathered over the weekend). To date, the English romantic comedy has
brought in $43.3M. Warner Bros.' THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (with vfx by ESC
FX, Animal Logic, BuF Compagnie, Giant Killer Robots, Tippett Studio and
Tweak Films) finished 10th for the five-day period with $6.6M ($4.7M of
which was tallied over the weekend). The cume for REVOLUTIONS stands at
a disappointing $133.3M. BROTHER BEAR actually finished above
REVOLUTIONS for the three-day weekend, with $4.8M. For the five-day
period, Disney's last traditionally-animated feature brought home $6.4M
for a total of $77.6M. 

On a final animated note, Sony Classics' highly touted THE TRIPLETS OF
BELLEVILLE debuted in six theaters, grossing $143,762 over the five-day
holiday for a per-screen average of $23,960. Box office information
obtained from boxofficemojo.com.

13. RHYTHM & HUES LETS THE CAT OUT FOR HAT VISUAL EFFECTS. 
Rhythm & Hues used Side Effects Software's Houdini to create the surreal
visuals for THE CAT IN THE HAT. 3D animation and effects included
clouds, vapor, flying goo, a churning Vortex, motion-blur "streaks" for
Thing 1 and Thing 2, authentic water interaction between a fish and its
bowl, incidental effects for a multi-armed clean-up car and numerous
supporting effects.

"This was the first production experience for many of our artists and
that added a certain challenge," said FX lead Caleb Howard, Rhythm &
Hues. "To keep new artists productive under a demanding schedule, we
needed to keep the amount of new information they had to retain to a
minimum, which demanded having a robust but encapsulated toolset in
place. In the case of this show, we were able to develop tools for each
effect and train the artists in the use of those tools only. The ability
to create an effective toolset that can be used without prior knowledge
of the broader array of the Houdini feature set means artists can become
efficient with a powerful application very quickly in a production
context."

Rhythm & Hues built workflows around Houdini allowing different effects
tools to be evolved and maintained in multiple versions, which could be
given to the artists who required them without affecting the tools being
used by others. A large portion of shots revolved around volumetric
effects created via the facility's "Cloud Tank" tools, an integrated
in-house system shaped around custom Houdini surface and shader
operators.

The most challenging effects were for the Vortex, a tornado-like
dimension. To render the material and seamlessly incorporate digital and
photographic 3D objects, an adaptive ray marcher was put together using
VOPs, Houdini's streamlined graphical interface for the VEX scripting
language. In addition, Rhythm & Hues used Houdini's new volumetric
texturing tools. 

Globs of goo that fly around indoors and interact with the live-action
set were also created in Houdini. The film required motion-blur streak
effects for the movement of characters Thing 1 and Thing 2. The "Thing
Trails" needed to work in two different pipelines, one for the
live-action actors and another for digital actors. Rhythm & Hues had an
additional pipeline dedicated to water interaction effects for the
film's fish and fish bowl sequences. These effects were done using an
in-house water simulation software with a front-end Houdini interface
linked up via the Houdini Developers Kit (HDK). Artists handed off
animated geometry to tds, who then ran realistic simulations of water as
it would react to the fish, the glass and other elements.

"CAT IN THE HAT was complex from an organizational point of view," said
Rhythm & Hues visual effects supervisor Doug Smith. "Usually, you have a
high volume of shots that are similar and fit into one main category; on
this film, we had people working on four effects pipelines with lots of
overlapping in between. They always say you can do anything you want in
production with enough time and money. The reality, of course, for
visual effects producers is that you need to do things that are new and
different, yet are still achievable in a practical sense."

Rhythm & Hues' film division is a preeminent producer of visual effects
and character animation, with a track record of more than 75 feature
films. In 1995, the studio was recognized with an Academy Award for Best
Visual Effects for its work on BABE. For more information, visit
www.rhthym.com. 

Established in 1987, Side Effects Software is a world leader in the
development of advanced 3D and 2D graphics and special effects software
for use in film, broadcast and game development. It is a leader in the
field of non-linear animation with its unique, award-winning Houdini
technology. For more information, visit www.sidefx.com. 

Television

14. NEW ZOO REVUE GET 3D TREATMENT. 
ValCom and O Atlas Enterprises will be turning their NEW ZOO REVUE into
a new 3D TV series and feature. The original people-in-suits series
debuted in syndication in the U.S. in 1971. The new film is budgeted at
$3 million and production on both the telefilm and 26-part series should
wrap in January 2005. ValCom plans to unveil the project at NATPE. 

Vince Vellardita and Barbara Atlas are co-exec producing the projects
with Dotan Koskas serving as animation producer. The musical show
follows the adventures of Charlie the Owl, Henrietta Hippo, Freddie the
Frog, Freeda the Frog and humans like Mr Dingle, Doug and Emmy-Jo. 

O. Atlas Enterprises produces and syndicates the children's television
programs throughout the United States, and licenses and distributes
children's television programming, movies, sports programs and
documentaries overseas. For more information, visit
http://www.newzoorevue.com/oatlas. 

ValCom Inc. is subdivided up into four main dimensions; Studio Division,
Motion Picture and Television Division, Broadcast Television Ownership
Division and Rental Division. The production company operates on a
project-driven basis. For more information, visit www.valcom.tv. 

15. NIGHT B4 CHRISTMAS DEBUTS IN U.S.
THE NIGHT B4 CHRISTMAS special made its U.S. television premiere on Dec.
2, 2003 at 8:30 pm with a replay on Dec. 9, at 8:00 on Cartoon Network.
Aries Spears, (MAD TV), Paramount's next feature film comedy star
Earthquake, and Chali 2NA of Universal Music Group's hot hip hop
sensation, Jurassic 5, highlight a talented ensemble cast that keeps the
laughs coming. 

Produced by Sunwoo Ent. and Nite B4 Prods. Inc., THE NIGHT B4 CHRISTMAS
follows a young elf named Elvin (Spears) on his adventure to become the
next pop music icon.  He leaves his elf's life behind, changes his name
to "Slim Shorty" and sets out on a journey to meet fame and fortune.
When he hooks up with a gnome, a dog named Pup (2NA), and his girl
Jel-O, the music-filled adventure really takes off, but soon Elvin
discovers some of the harsh realities of the music business.  Making
matters worse, a mysterious virus ends up at the North Pole, leaving
Santa (Earthquake) bed-ridden with no toys ready to be delivered.  Elvin
must lead his "crew" on a wild sleigh ride to save Christmas.  
 
THE NIGHT B4 CHRISTMAS is an original story conceived by Brian E. O'Neal
and Sib Ventress, and was exec produced by O'Neal, Sunwoo USA svp and
Jae Moh, Sunwoo USA president. 

Sunwoo USA is the Burbank, California division of Sunwoo Entertainment
(www.sunwoo.com). Sunwoo, headquartered in Seoul, is comprised of three
animation studios: Sunwoo Animation, Grimsaem Animation and Anivision
Korea. They all work closely together with Sunwoo Digital Int'l to
provide animation series. Sunwoo also produces live-action commercials
and feature films through Sunwoo Prods. and maintains an Internet
presence through Enpop.com, an entertainment Website.

16. RUGRATS GET ALL GROWN UP NOV. 29 ON NICK. 
Nickelodeon reintroduced viewers to one of its all-time favorite family
of characters, THE RUGRATS in a first-ever spin-off series, ALL GROWN
UP, in a two-hour primetime premiere at 8-10:00 pm on Nov. 29, 2003. The
familiar characters will continue their adventures above rug level on
the cusp of teen-hood, facing classic and comical pre-teen issues and
dilemmas. 

Four back-to-back episodes -- "Truth or Consequences," "Bad Kimi,"
"Tweenage Tycoons" and "Susie Sings the Blues," produced by Klasky
Cuspo, comprised the centerpiece of Thanksgiving vacation's Nicksgiving
Weekend. ALL GROWN UP continues regularly Saturdays (8:00 pm as part of
the SNICK lineup, while RUGRATS continue with favorite and new episodes
in other time periods. 

Sparked by popular demand, the spin-off is an outgrowth of RUGRATS 10th
anniversary special ALL GROWNED UP, which toppled records: a whopping
70% of all kids 2-11 tuned in on July 21, 2001.

"The overwhelming, Super Bowl size success of the anniversary special
proved kids are ready to embrace these beloved characters in a whole new
realm," said Cyma Zarghami, evp/gm of Nick. "The RUGRATS property is 12
years old, so it feels just right now to have the babies turn into
tweens."

The friends, bonded since babyhood must still negotiate with bossy
Angelica and even outmaneuver the trendy 13-year-old on occasion.
Flashbacks in the series will give viewers a chance to re-explore
moments from RUGRATS as well as peek at the "missing years." Following
is a rundown of the quartet of episodes comprising the series premiere: 

8:00 pm "Truth or Consequences" -- Tommy enters a filmmaking contest and
attempting Cinema Verite shoots his friends in less than flattering
situations. When they furiously confront him, he must choose between
friendship and his art. 

8:30 pm "Bad Kimi" -- Kimi befriends Z, the proverbial "bad boy."
Chuckie is determined to prove to his sister this kid is up to no good
before she gets into serious trouble. Enlisting the kids to spy on Z,
they learn the shocking truth. Meanwhile, Angelica is unable to do her
online "Ask Angelica" advice chat and uses Harold to sit in. When Harold
is a great success she is no longer "needed." But when Harold's fragile
psyche is increasingly saddened by the agony of "preteen angst," he
relinquishes the position back to Angelica.

9:00 pm "Tweenage Tycoons"-- A favorite boy band, the Sulky Boys, is
coming to town and tickets are $100 apiece! Knowing there is no way
their parents will shell out that amount, the kids become
mini-capitalists and begin to sell Dil's crazy inventions to their
classmates in order to raise the ticket money. But when competition from
Angelica and consumer apathy for each product hurts sales, Tommy again
and again leans on Dil for the next great product. With Dil about to
snap from the pressure of creating the next big fad, Tommy must decide
between his brother's sanity and a trip to the Sulky Boys.

9:30 pm "Susie Sings the Blues"-- Talented Susie is discovered by an
agent who leads her to believe she's going to be the next teen superstar
singer -- and crushed when the phony cons her out of a thousand dollars
she borrowed from her sister. Meanwhile, Chuckie is tired of being
"Vanilla Finster" and goes head-to-head with the vice principal, former
pro wrestler Slam Bang Pangborn.

A three-time Emmy Award winner with an enormous following of kids and
adults, RUGRATS was the top show on broadcast and cable among kids 2-11
from 1996-2001 (source: Nielsen Media Research) and the highest rated
kids' show on cable for eight straight years. Still currently a top 10
show, it wins its timeslot wherever it airs. 

In addition, RUGRATS is seen internationally in more than 150 countries,
was created by Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo and Paul Germain and is
produced by Klasky Csupo, Inc. for Nickelodeon, a programming service of
Viacom International In., ALL GROWN UP is created and produced by Klasky
and Csupo, through their studio in Los Angeles. 

Character list and full credits cal be viewed at: 
http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=cat&category1=Television&newsitem_n
o=9694

17. GRINCH WEEK AT CARTOON NETWORK. 
That conniving Grinch has stolen four consecutive nights of airtime on
Cartoon Network for the annual "Grinch Week."  The perennial animated
holiday special DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS airs at 8:00
pm Monday-Thursday, Dec. 1-4, 2003.  Dr. Seuss' classic fable portrays
the mean old Grinch and his efforts to muzzle the holiday spirits of the
happy-go-lucky citizens of Whoville.

Boris Karloff, narrated and provided the voice in the 1966 version of
DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. However, the classic solo of
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft, the
same voice who gives Tony the Tiger his roar. Cindy Lou Who was voiced
by June Foray of Rocky the Flying Squirrel fame. Chuck Jones and Ben
Washam co-directed the special for MGM. Phil Roman was one of the
animators on it, designed by Maurice Noble.

18. KID'S WB! OFFERS THANKSGIVING TREATS, REVISED LINEUP AND SNEAK
PEAKS. 
Kid's WB! kicked off the Thanksgiving viewing holiday in the U.S. when
the TEEN TITANS presented the network's first annual "Turkey Surprise
Day" on Nov. 29, 2003 form 8:00 am to 12:00 pm.  The teen superheroes
hosted the morning event from their T-shaped Titans Towers featuring
some of their original home movies - including what they did for
Thanksgiving, as well as sneak peeks of what's to come on the channel in
2004. 

Viewers could catch a glimpse of ASTRO BOY, from Sony Pictures
Television and Tezuka Prods., originally scheduled for fall 2003, the
series will debut in early 2004. The event  included highlights the new
seasons of returning hits STATIC SHOCK and MEGAMAN: NT WARRIOR plus
returning favorites WHAT'S NEW SCHOOBY-DOO? and OZZY & DRIX to the
Saturday morning schedule.  Fans of anime/adventure fans could also see
into the future of POKÉMON: ADVANCED and YU-GI-OH!: ENTER THE SHADOW
REALM.

Kid's WB! has revised its Saturday morning schedule with a double airing
of POKÉMON: ADVANCED in its regular 10:00 am time period and its new
11:30 am timeslot.

8:00 am: YU-GI-OH!: ENTER THE SHADOW REALM 
8:30 am: TEEN TITANS	
9:00 am: JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES
9:30 am: XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN 
10:00 am: POKÉMON: ADVANCED 
10:30 am: ¡MUCHA LUCHA!  
11:00 am: YU-GI-OH!: ENTER THE SHADOW REALM 
11:30 am: POKÉMON: ADVANCED * (Additional New Time Period)

Commercials

19. RHINOFX WRAP SWEET SPOTS FOR POP'ABLES. 
Rhinofx has reworked new M&M/Mars' Pop'Ables candy ads, YIKES and
SEPARATION ANXIETY, to play in theaters and on TV this holiday season.
Director Harry Dorrington and his team designed an entirely CG-animated
campaign. To adapt the campaign for the cinema, rhinofx re-rendered the
spots in 2K and changed the aspect ratio and size. The challenge with
this was keeping the candy looking real in the large format's extreme
close ups. 

In the spots M&M/Mars candy bars Snickers, Milky Way and Three
Musketeers appear against a stark white background. As pieces of the
candy bars break away, they come to life crying out as they fall from
the bag, thus forming Pop'Ables. 

"The agency, BBDO, wanted a sensibility that was a bit off-kilter," said
Dorrington. "They wanted something drier than people are used to seeing
these days. So, we designed something reminiscent of Chuck Jones and the
cartoons this audience grew up with. In the past, I've normally
incorporated a film shoot of the product, which gives you an excellent
reference for the artist. You're getting the skills of a DP and placing
the product under his eyes. But for a long time I've wanted to try it
using a still photographer instead."
 
For the Pop'Ables spots, Dorrington, with a still photographer, shot 5x4
transparences to get the texture and lighting references the animators
needed. Dorrington credits Natalia Saenko for contributing "a huge
amount of texturing work" at that point. "The texture map she built has
little faults, and that's what really makes the look of it." In
addition, the team put the spots through extensive previsualization,
turning out more than 20 edits to fine-tune the results. 

Credits include: 
CLIENT: Masterfoods, USA, Hackettstown, NJ
Carol Van Den Hende: marketing manager
Sharyla Robinson: assoc. marketing manager
Lori Engelhardt: commercial manager
Nathalie Ross: producer, Mars TV production
 
ADVERTISING AGENCY: BBDO New York, New York, NY
Steve Rutter: creative director
Susan Credle: creative director
Maria Amato: senior producer
 
YIKES
Chris McMurtrey: copywriter
Scott Higgins: art director
 
SEPARATION ANXIETY
Lauren Connolly: copywriter
Michael Illick: copywriter
Melissa Chester: music producer
Pahzeet Liebermann: account supervisor
Jill Albert: ass. account exec
Ruday Zwack: business manager
 
PRODUCTION & VISUAL EFFECTS COMPANY: rhinofx, New York, NY
Harry Dorrington:  director/creative director
Rick Wagonheim: exec producer/partner
Katie Haser: senior producer
Linda Gallagher: assoc. producer
Natalia Saenko: cg director/digital artist
David Barosin: cg director/digital artist
Lynn Bacino: digital artist
Jeff Guerrero: digital artist
Patrick Porter: digital artist
Ji Yoon: digital artist
Sheldon Chow: digital artist
Jim Huntermark: digital artist
Marc Steinberg: design director/digital artist
Vico Sharabani: inferno artist/partner
JR Starace: inferno assistant
Steve Bronstein: photographer
Terence Ziegler: Avid editor

rhinofx is a full-service digital studio, providing visual effects,
computer animation, graphic design and digital compositing for
commercials, music videos, broadcast and TV programming. For more
information, call (212) 986-1577 or visit www.rhinofx.tv. 


20. MACHINIMA MAKING NEW 3D INROADS ON SPIKE TV'S VGAS. 
Spike TV (a division of MTV Networks) will be airing animation created
using ILL Clan Inc.'s proprietary 3D animation technique called
machinima. By modifying off-the-shelf computer game technology, the New
York animation studio produces machinima in a fraction of the time it
would take using typical computer animation techniques.
 
The ILL Clan created 12 short animated vignettes, co-directed by David
Kaplan and Dan Torop, introducing the award categories on spiketv.com
for their Video Game Awards Show (VGA), eight of which will be used
during the VGAs scheduled to air Dec. 4, 2003. Each animated intro
features 3D assets created by game designers and players from around the
world, available for download on the Internet. "By tapping the resources
of the public gaming community it allowed us not only to produce
animation quickly and effectively, but also to support the efforts of a
lot of talented 3D designers," says Frank Dellario, president of the ILL
Clan.
 
The vignettes were created using Fountainhead Entertainment's
Machinimation toolset based on Id Software's Quake 3 game engine. Each
of the roughly 10-second animations can currently be viewed at
www.spiketv.com.
 
Machinima (Machine + Cinema) allows the group to accomplish what many
animators would never have imagined possible: the ability to control
puppet-like animated characters in realtime and record them using a
virtual camera as if they were objects on an actual film studio set. All
of this using off-the-shelf software and standard desktop computers.
 
The ILL Clan has also demonstrated the potential of machinima when
combined with their comedic talent by performing animation live before
an audience at the 2003 Florida Film Festival. The result of that
performance is a cartoon titled COMMON SENSE COOKING, which recently won
best virtual performance at the 2nd annual Machinima Film Festival.
Since then the group has continued to push the limits of computer
animation with their latest show, LARRY & LENNY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL,
in which two unemployed Lumberjacks join the race for president in the
hopes of landing a cushy, do-nothing job.

Audience members at the live premier of LARRY & LENNY ON THE CAMPAIGN
TRAIL in New York City were invited to participate in a Q&A session with
the animated characters. Upcoming episodes of the show can be viewed on
the ILL Clan's Web site: www.illclan.com and a schedule of live
performances in New York City is currently in the works.
 
Although machinima itself is an emerging art form, The ILL Clan is
moving ahead based on their absurd content and unique talent. The group
is currently developing a prototype for an Xbox console game featuring
Larry & Lenny Lumberjack, and their agent, Circle of Confusion
Management, is shopping around a new animated show concept for
television distribution.

Brooklyn-based ILL Clan Prods. is a collective of 3D artists, filmmakers
and improvisational comedians focusing on creating animated episodic
shows and works for hire using the machinima process and 3D CGI.

Internet & Interactive

21. LORDS OF EVERQUEST AVAILABLE NOW. 
The Everquest realm continues with the release of Sony Online
Entertainment's fantasy Real-Time Strategy game, LORDS OF EVERQUEST, now
at U.S. and Canadian retail stores at a suggested retail price of
$49.99.

"LORDS OF EVERQUEST has the deep storyline, exciting gameplay and vast
armies that fans of the realtime strategy genre demand," said Michael
Lustenberger, director of product marketing, SOE. "With our new
SOEGames.net service, the game has just begun when the single-player
missions are over, as gamers go online to dominate their opponents and
decide who will be the new king of RTS."

Set in the rich fantasy universe of EverQuest, LORDS OF EVERQUEST
features a deep and intricate plot centered around the fabled Lost Age,
more than 75 hours of exciting single-player gameplay.  With SOE's new
SOEGames.net service, LORDS OF EVERQUEST offers free online multiplayer
matches to a new audience.

Inspired by the world of online gaming phenomenon EVERQUEST LORDS OF
EVERQUEST features an enthralling storyline drawing gamers to the land
of Antonica as they control one of 15 lords and manage massive armies in
their quest for domination. The RTS genre should enjoy hundreds of
items, spells, the ability for all units in the game to gain experience
and abilities and online multiplayer options (Internet connection
required for online multiplayer game modes, online connection fees are
the responsibility of the user) for up to 12 players per game via Sony
Online's SOEGames.net service.

LORDS OF EVERQUEST challenges players to command armies comprised of
humans, elves, dwarves, fiends and even drakes as they shape the past of
the EVERQUEST universe in a beautiful game world filled with
breathtaking environments. The game offers a Spell and Ability system
with more than 125 unique properties and a custom 3D engine providing
cutting-edge 3D graphics with more than three levels of zoom, 32-bit
color and support for 1600x1200 resolution for incredible detail.

Developed and published by SOE, EVERQUEST launched in 1999 and has since
become both a gaming and cultural phenomenon. SOE creates, develops and
provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online,
game console and wireless markets. Headquartered in San Diego, with
additional development studios in Austin, and St. Louis, SOE has an
array of cutting-edge online games in development. For more information,
visit www.everquestonlineadventures.com. 

22. SARBAKAN WELDS WEIRD ONLINE GAMES FOR VRAK TV. 
Sarbakan has wrapped up two new online games for VRAK TV, a specialized
Canadian channel operated by Astral Media Inc. The two games star
Celestin, a bearded fairy in charge of a garage. In the first game, the
players will make their way to Celestin's garage and answer trivia
questions before they can build a racing jalopy from vintage bits and
parts. The second title will have players test their new vehicles in a
danger-filled racing derby.
 
The first game will go live on www.vrak.tv Dec. 1, 2003 with the second
coming in spring 2004. Characters from the games will also star in two
television interstitials that will be broadcast on VRAK TV in early
2004. 
 
Founded in 1998, Sarbakan is a development and digital creation studio
that specializes in the exploitation of animated content such as GOOD
NIGHT MR. SNOOZLEBERG, ARCANE and STEPPENWOLF. For more information,
visit http://www.sarbakan.com. 

Home Video

23. BROWNBOOTS RAMPS UP DINO-SIZED INDIE FILM. 
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin-based BrownBoots Interactive has begun production
on a 3D animated feature entitled, DINOVILLE ADVENTURES: METEOR MADNESS.
Co-directing and producing the project are BrownBoots president Alan
Hathaway and animator Tim Bowser. The 30-minute film should be finished
in July 2004 and BrownBoots hopes to shop the project around to the
direct-to-video market. 

This labor of love is being funded by BrownBoots as well as additional
personal money from Hathaway and Bowser. LightWave, Maya, combustion and
After Effects are being used to create the animation. Bowser said the
film is about a quarter of the way finished with the modeling and most
of the texturing complete. BrownBoots will be using a rendering farm to
render the project. The company has enlisted 12 employees for the
projects, including Chris Ayers, who did character design work on MEN IN
BLACK II. 

Inspired by Hathaway's 6-year-old son's love of dinosaurs and the desire
to move BrownBoots into family productions, the story follows three
young dinosaurs - C.J., Tommy and Amanda - as they team up with Prof.
Liddle to stop the evil Dr. Enos' plan to redirect a killer meteor
toward Dinoville. For more information about the film, visit
www.dinovilleadventures.com. 

BrownBoots Interactive is a new media agency offering Website
development, 3D animation, CD-ROM or digital business card production,
QuickTime virtual reality tours and traditional print advertisement. For
more information, visit www.brownboots.com.

24. ORIGINAL STAR WARS TRILOGY HITTING DVD NOV. 2004?
Various Internet sources have claimed that Fox Home Video and LucasFilms
have released information to retailers that the original STAR WARS
trilogy will be released on DVD Nov. 2, 2004. These rumors first started
when LucasFilms held a hush hush invitation only marketing preview in
San Francisco on Nov. 5, 2003. Force.net is stating that the films with
be packaged individually and not as a box set. Fox Home Video has told
VFXWorld it is too early to confirm any of the details until LucasFilms
informs them. 

25. PIRATES: A DVD BOUNTY OF RICHES. 
Disney's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, which
has amassed more than $304M to date, arrives Dec. 2, 2003 on DVD (Walt
Disney Home Entertainment, $29.99). The two-disc set includes a bounty
of supplemental riches, including audio commentaries by director Gore
Verbinski and Johnny Depp, deleted scenes, a "making-of" featurette,
"Moonlight" scene progression, blooper reel and an interactive history
of pirates. Rest assured, there will be some attention paid to the
stunning vfx by Industrial Light & Magic, with excellent support from
Boy Wonder, CIS, Digiscope, Gray Matter FX, Method and Pacific Title.
Includes:

* Commentary by director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp
* Commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and co-stars Keira Knightley
and Jack Davenport
* Commentary by writers Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio and
Jay Wolpert
* An Epic At Sea: The Making of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF
THE BLACK PEARL
* 19 Deleted and Alternate Scenes
* "Moonlight" Scene Progression
* "Below Deck" - An Interactive History Of Pirates
* "Fly on the Set" Featurette
* "Diary of a Pirate" - Behind-the-Scenes look with cast member Lee
Arenberg
* "Diary of a Ship" Video Journal
* "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" - Archival TV Program
* Producer's Diary Featurette With Bruckheimer
* Image Gallery
* Blooper Reel
* DVD-ROM Features: "Moonlight Becomes Ye" Effects Studio, History of
the Ride Featurette, Virtual Reality Viewer, Scriptscanner & Storyboard
Viewing Modes

26. DEFINITIVE ALIEN QUADRILOGY DVDS OFFER NEW VFX. 
On the heels of Ridley Scott's recent director's cut of ALIEN comes
ALIEN QUADRILOGY, the ultimate box set of the sci-fi franchise and
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's (TCFHE) most ambitious DVD
project yet. Streeting Dec. 2, 2003 and priced at $99.98, QUADRILOGY
contains four films, nine discs and 45 hours of bonus materials. Plus
new vfx in ALIEN and ALIEN3 supplied by TCFHE and five houses (Svengali,
R!OT, Encore, Frantic and Modern Video). There are 15 new CG shots in
ALIEN, including CG blood, CG fire, wire removal and star fields. The
two-year undertaking from Fox marked the first time a home entertainment
division has ever finished a theatrical film (David Fincher's rejected
work print of ALIEN3), and included the collaboration of directors
Scott, James Cameron and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, along with other original
filmmakers and teams from Fox Restoration, Fox Sound and the vfx houses
in restoring, reconstructing and providing new foley as well as new vfx.
QUADRILOGY contains the original theatrical versions as well as
alternate versions plus a bonus disc of leftover supplementals. The docs
are riveting behind-the-scenes looks at the legendary productions and
their cultural legacy, and there are plenty of vfx examples, including
the physical evolution of the indestructible space creature. Not bad for
a project that began as a b-movie known as "Truckers in Space."

ALIEN
* The original 1979 theatrical version of ALIEN and the 2003 Director's
cut
* An introduction by Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica
Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt and more
* Brand new commentary by Scott and the technical crew
* Nine brand new documentaries: "Star Beast" - On developing the ALIEN
story; "The Visualists" - the direction and design of the film;
"Truckers In Space" - Casting the movie; "Fear Of The Unknown" - Behind
the scenes at Shepperton Studios in 1978; "The Darkest Reaches" -
Developing the Nostromo and Alien planet; "The Eight Passenger" -
Creating the Alien; "Future Tense" - Focusing on the music and editing
of ALIEN; "Outward Bound" - Peering into the film's visual effects; "A
Nightmare Fulfilled" - Reaction to the film's opening
* A Multi-Angle Scene Study on the Chestburster sequence with optional
commentary by Scott and the production team
* Weaver's original screen test with optional commentary by Scott
* Seven deleted scenes with a deleted footage marker and deleted scene
index
* The first draft of the screenplay by O'Bannon
* Ridleygrams - Original thumbnails and sketches by Scott
* Storyboard Archives
* The Art of ALIEN, including a cast portrait gallery, production
gallery, the sets of ALIEN, H.R. Giger's Workshop, continuity Polaroids
and vfx gallery
* The original theatrical posters and stills from the premiere

ALIENS
* The original theatrical version - available for the first time ever on
DVD - and Cameron's special edition version of ALIENS
* An introduction by Cameron
* Brand new commentary by Cameron, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein,
Carrie Henn,
Terry Henn, Lance Henriksen, Gale Anne Hurd, Pat McClung, Bill Paxton,
Dennis Skotak, Robert Skotak and Stan Winston
* Cameron original treatment
* Nine brand new featurettes: "57 Years Later" - Continuing the saga;
"Building Better Worlds" - From concept to construction; "Preparing For
Battle" - Casting and characterization; "This Time It's War" - A look
back at Pinewood Studios, 1985; "The Risk Always Lives" - Weapons and
action; "Bug Hunt" - Creature design; "Beauty And The Bitch" - Power
Loader vs. Queen Alien; "Two Orphans" - Revisiting Weaver And Henn; and
"Aliens Unleashed" - Reaction to the film
* The Art of ALIENS, including conceptual art portfolio, cast portraits,
production gallery, continuity Polaroids, Winston's workshop, vfx
gallery and premiere stills
* Deleted footage marker and deleted scene index
* Multi-angle videomatics with optional commentary by miniature effect
supervisor, McClung
* An Easter Egg

ALIEN 3
* The original theatrical version and a restored pre-release version
with more than 30 minutes of never-before-seen footage
* Brand new commentary by cinematographer Alex Thompson, editor Terry
Rawlings, vfx designers Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., visual effects
producer Richard Edlund, and actors Paul McGann and Henriksen
* 11 new featurettes: "Development" - Concluding the story; "Tales Of
The Wooden Planet" - Vincent Ward's vision; "Pre-Production III" - The
making of ALIEN 3,"Xeno-Erotic" -
Giger's redesign of the Alien creature; "Production: Part One, Part Two,
and Part Three" - Behind-the-scenes on the production of the movie;
"Adaptive Organism" - Creature design; "Optical Fury" - Visual effects;
"Music, Editing And Sound"; and "Post-Mortem" - A reaction to the film
* E.E.V. Bio-Scan - A multi-angle vignette with optional commentary by
Gillis
* The Art of ALIEN 3, including conceptual art portfolio, production
gallery and vfx
* Furnace construction time lapse
* Storyboard archives

ALIEN RESURRECTION
* The original theatrical version and an extended cut with alternate
opening and ending sequences
* An introduction by Jeunet
* Brand new commentary by Jeunet, Herve Schneid, Gillis, Woodruff Jr.,
Pitof, Sylvain Despretz, Ron Perlman, Dominique Pinon and Leland Orser
* First draft of the screenplay by Joss Whedon
* 11 new featurettes: "From The Ashes" - Reviving the story; "French
Twist" - Direction and design; "Under The Skin" - Casting and
characters; "Death >From Below" - Underwater photography; "In The Zone"
- Basketball scene; "Unnatural Mutation" - Creature design, "Genetic
Mutation" - Creature design; "Genetic Composition" - A listen to the
music; "Virtual Alien" - Computer generated imagery; "A Matter Of Scale"
- Miniature photography; and "Critical Junction" - A reaction to the
film
* Multi-angel rehearsal footage
* A Mike Carro photo gallery, a conceptual art gallery, vfx gallery, a
promotional photo archive and continuity Polaroids
* Storyboard archives
* An Easter Egg

BONUS DISC
* A brand new Q&A with Scott
* "Experience in Terror" - A promotional featurette from 1979
* "Alien Evolution" - Channel 4 U.K. exclusive documentary on ALIEN, a
complete laser disc archive of ALIEN and ALIENS
* Original theatrical trailers and TV spots from all four films
* "Aliens In The Basement" - Inside the Bob Burns ALIEN Collection
* Dark Horse cover gallery - Anthology of 11 issues of the ALIEN comics
DVD-ROM feature - Script to screen comparison

Licensing

27. MR BEAN RACKS UP DEALS FOR TIGER ASPECT. 
Tiger Aspect Productions has signed a raft of broadcast and licensing
agreements with international partners for animated MR BEAN, extending
the popular character and his outlandish adventures to new markets
around the world. 

The property's U.S. and Canadian licensing agent The Sharpe Co. has
negotiated a deal with Toy Play to launch an innovative figural toy
range to the mass and specialty retail market. Cinder Block, a
well-known adult/youth apparel vendor, has signed for T-shirts and
sweatshirts.

U.K. licensing partner Entertainment Rights has also signed up GE Fabbri
for a U.K. partwork deal. A launch is planned for early January 2004 and
will be supported by an extensive television advertising campaign.

Katherine Senior, exec producer/brand manager of MR BEAN said: "Animated
MR BEAN has a distinctive look that really lends itself to licensing and
we are delighted to sign these deals expanding the brand worldwide.
Launches in new territories such as Japan highlight the universal appeal
of the property."

In a major deal, BBC Worldwide has won the television and video rights
to MR BEAN for the Japanese market and is negotiating with broadcast
partners.

MR BEAN is a hit with broadcasters in some 35 territories. Worldwide
television sales - excluding the U.K., U.S., Japan and Hungary -  are
handled by Fremantle International Distribution, which has recently
concluded sales of the 26x22 series with China, France, Slovakia,
Croatia and Austria.

In the U.S., American Public Television (APT), distributes the animated
series to public television stations. Following the success of the
series on APT, A&E Home Video recently launched animated MR BEAN on DVD,
following the phenomenally successful DVD and video release of MR. BEAN:
THE WHOLE BEAN, which remains one of the best-selling television
programs on DVD for 2003. A&E Home Video will release a second
installment of the animated series in March 2004. A&E Home Video's
programs are marketed and distributed by New Video.

The MR BEAN animated series is a Tiger Aspect Production
(www.tigeraspect.co.uk) in association with Richard Purdum Productions
and Varga Holdings.

Books

28. SYD MEAD TO SERVE ON EXPOSÉ 2 ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
Syd Mead, the renowned designer behind such films as BLADE RUNNER, TRON,
2010, and ALIENS, has joined the EXPOSÉ 2 Advisory Committee. EXPOSÉ 2
is the second in Ballistic Publishing's series of award-winning digital
art books celebrating the talents of digital artists worldwide. Advisory
Committee members will collaboratively assist in the selection of
artwork to be presented in EXPOSÉ 2, as well as take on an advisory role
ensuring the highest quality standards.

"Idea trumps technique every time," offers Mead. "Creating visualized
scenario, (essentially the choice of the artist) is an elaborately
furnished skill that first, creates the motivation, then the idea and
lastly uses whatever technique seems to suit. The fact that
computer-driven creation of visual scenario is now used means that
digital computation has finally been able to duplicate the look, the
feel and the nuance of 'traditional' hand-drawn, hand-painted artwork."

Mead's illustrious career has led him to many high profile projects such
as the supersonic Concorde interiors, car prototypes for Ford and
celebrated feature film work.

More information about Syd Mead can be found at his website:
www.sydmead.com.

Ballistic is now calling for artists to submit digital images for
consideration to be included in EXPOSÉ 2. Images can be created in any
3D or digital illustration application. Photoshop and digitally
manipulated photography is also welcome. Ballistic is interested in
digitally created fine art, whether it be 3D or 2D, for commercial use
or personal satisfaction.

Artwork to be considered for EXPOSÉ 2 needs to be submitted before Feb.
29, 2004.

Artists can enter their works at the Ballistic Publishing Web site:
www.ballisticpublishing.com.

EXPOSÉ 2 will go into full production in March 2004, with a release date
of July 2004. EXPOSÉ 2 will be published in three editions: the limited
collectors edition, with hand bound leather cover with embossed gold;
hard cover; and paperback editions. Pre-orders for EXPOSÉ 2 will start
in June 2004.

Ballistic Publishing, a division of Ballistic Media, is dedicated to
creating the highest quality publications for the CG and digital art
community. Ballistic Publishing is based in Adelaide, Australia.

29. VIZ ACQUIRES MANGA ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY. 
VIZ LLC has announced the acquisition of ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN
LEGACY from Shueisha Inc., one of Japan's largest publishers. The manga
will be offered through the SHONEN JUMP line of graphic novels and will
begin shipping in March 2004 and hit stores in the U.S. in mid-April. 

The original MUSCLEMAN (KINNIKUMAN in Japanese) was created by the
renowned manga artist duo Yudetamago (composed of Nakai Yoshinori and
Takashi Shimada) in 1979 while the pair was still in high school.
MUSCLEMAN is an action-packed tale of a band of wrestlers who take on a
motley gang of evil counterparts to save the earth from destruction. The
second booking the franchise, ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY,
sold more than seven million copies in Japan. In America, an anime
version of ULTIMATE MUSCLE premiered in 2002 on the Fox network's Fox
Box.

"This is the first time that ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY has
been made available in English and we are pleased to offer it
exclusively to American audiences on a bi-monthly basis," said Hyoe
Narita, svp of editorial and editor-in-chief of SHONEN JUMP. "In the
wake of the popularity of the FOX Box televised series, we look forward
to fans discovering ULTIMATE MUSCLE: THE KINNIKUMAN LEGACY in its
original graphic novel incarnation. VIZ has taken great care to
accurately translate the title from Japanese and has secured the
blessing of the Yudetamago duo for this release. Both a sports and
action adventure tale, fans of the show as well as anime and manga
enthusiasts will be captivated by the exploits of Kid Muscle, and I look
forward to the graphic novel also serving as a compliment to the ardent
following the Fox Box series has garnered."

"ULTIMATE MUSCLE: The Kinnikuman Legacy works on a variety of levels and
that is part of its enduring popularity," said Yumi Hoashi, vp of SHONEN
JUMP. "While the sports and wrestling-related action develops a high
level of drama and suspense throughout each issue, the story also
communicates lessons in overcoming adversity and seemingly
insurmountable obstacles. It demonstrates what can be achieved through
cooperation and self-confidence. In that respect, the character of Kid
Muscle demonstrates a variety of positive personality traits."

Based in San Francisco, VIZ LLC is a leading U.S. publisher of Japanese
animation and comics for English-speaking audiences. Founded in 1986,
VIZ publishes more than 20 titles every month including GUNDAM, DRAGON
BALL Z, INU YUSHA and RANMA. It is one of the top five comic publishers
in the United States. For more information, visit www.VIZ.com. 

Technology

30. DISCREET EXTENDS MENTAL RAY RENDERING OPTIONS FOR 3DS MAX 6. 
In addition to selling mental ray 3.2 integrated in 3ds max 6, Discreet
will now offer a standalone version of the high-quality rendering
solution. mental ray 3.2 can be deployed in multi-workstation and render
farm configurations enabling greater return-on-investment and
productivity gains for the world's largest community of 3D animators in
film, games and design visualization.

The current 3ds max 6 software release, shipping since October 2003,
includes an integrated license of mental ray-enabling artists to render
on a two processor workstation.  Today's announcement offers design and
animation studios additional mental ray rendering licenses for 3ds max
for use in render farm configurations with pricing of up to 25% less
than comparable 3D software solutions that offer the mental ray option. 

"By offering mental ray as a standalone product in addition to the
integrated version in 3ds max 6, customers can significantly reduce the
time required to render scenes for interactive tuning as well as set up
very high throughput small or large scale render farms," said Rolf
Herken, president and director of R&D for mental images. "We already
know of 3ds max users who want to buy hundreds of licenses for mental
ray 3.2 directly from Discreet."

Available through the Discreet Sales and Reseller channel, the new
mental ray pricing is $1,500 (single license); $10,000 (10-license
pack); and  $1,000 for each license above the mental ray 10-license
pack. All licenses are available in floating license configurations.
For complete pricing and upgrade information, contact a Discreet Sales
representative at 1-800-869-3504. 

Discreet's (www.discreet.com) award-winning solutions are designed for
digital media creation, management and delivery-across all disciplines
from film and television visual effects, color grading and editing to
animation, game development and design visualization. Discreet is based
in Montreal, Quebec and is a division of Autodesk Inc, a leading design
and digital media creation, management and distribution company.

mental images (www.mentalimages.com), founded in 1986, is the recognized
international leader in providing rendering software to the
entertainment, computer-aided design, scientific visualization,
architecture, and other industries that require sophisticated images.
The main product of the company is the high performance, photorealistic
rendering software mental ray, which is capable of running on a wide
variety of platforms ranging from networks of workstations to parallel
supercomputers, producing images of unsurpassed realism.  Leading
cinematographers use mental ray to generate images of unsurpassed
realism in visual effects and with films that are produced entirely
using digital techniques. mental ray was initially released in 1989 and
has been used in the production of more than 130 major motion pictures.
mental images GmbH is a privately held company based in Berlin, Germany,
with a subsidiary in San Francisco, California. 

31. NXN ALIENBRAIN STUDIO NOW SUPPORTS KAYDARA'S FBX FORMAT. 
NXN Software has integrated support for Kaydara's universal FBX file
interchange format into its flagship asset management product, NXN
alienbrain Studio.  The integration provides versioning, workflow and
intuitive file management for FBX files.

"Exchanging 3D data between applications can be a very labor-intensive
process," said Gregor vom Scheidt, ceo of NXN Software.  "The support
for Kaydara's FBX in NXN alienbrain Studio will allow our customers to
exchange files quickly and securely, saving them time and money."

NXN alienbrain Studio versions, tracks and stores all digital content,
regardless of file type, throughout its creation.  With support for
Kaydara's FBX file format NXN alienbrain Studio now provides a secure
pathway for the exchange of 3D data between different content creation
packages.  The integrated Apple QuickTime viewer in NXN alienbrain
Studio allows FBX files to be transferred and viewed in full 3D
resolution, without requiring the viewing computer to have the
corresponding 3D authoring software applications installed.  Throughout
the production pipeline, this viewer speeds up file identification and
preview and approval processes.

"NXN alienbrain Studio is the industry's most widely used asset
management system and an essential addition to the FBX community," said
Jean-Jacques Hermans, vp of marketing and business development for
Kaydara. "NXN's FBX support will enable NXN alienbrain Studio users to
share and re-target 3D data quickly saving valuable time and
streamlining the production process."

Designed for animators working on state-of-the-art feature films, vfx,
games, television series and commercials, Kaydara FBX is a
platform-independent 3D authoring and interchange format.  It allows
animation teams to easily transfer assets between the multitude of 3D
applications typically used, including 3ds max, LightWave 3D, Maya,
Motionbuilder, XSI and others.  Supported data includes all major NURBS
and polygon surface types, keyframe and mocap animation, shapes and
morph targets, materials and textures, lights, cameras, hierarchical
information and character animation data, including IK, envelopes and
deformations.

Kaydara's FBX for QuickTime is available for download on
www.kaydara.com. NXN customers can find further information on how to
work with FBX files in NXN alienbrain Studio on the NXN Developer
Network.

Over the course of the past decade, Montreal-based Kaydara
(www.kaydara.com) has become a leader in the development of realtime 3D
animation software solutions for the entertainment industry.  Kaydara's
product portfolio serves a vast and varied range of clients in the TV,
film, game development and Web content industries, including Sony
Computer Entertainment of America, Midway Games, Acclaim, Mainframe
Entertainment, Capcom and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

NXN Software (www.nxn-software.com), with offices in Los Angeles, Paris,
London, Munich and Tokyo, is the leading supplier of asset management
systems for the digital entertainment and computer graphics industries.
NXN products provide designers, programmers, and project managers with a
powerful framework to manage all assets throughout the development
process.  Companies using NXN Software include many of the world's most
renowned entertainment studios, such as Sony, Electronic Arts, LucasArts
and Atari. 

32. DIGITAL ELEMENT AND DIGIMATION TEAM UP ON MODELSHOP. 
Digital Element, an Oakland-based software developer and publishing firm
specializing in art tools, and Digimation Inc., a leading provider of 3D
models, announced the release of the Modelshop plug-in for Photoshop,
which includes 50 3D models from Digimation's Model Bank Collection.

Modelshop allows users to rotate, scale and place 3D models from such
popular formats as .obj, .3ds, .lwo and .dxf in a traditional Photoshop
picture. Users may choose lighting effects and add shadows for realistic
placement in the scene. Modelshop is easy to use and powerful, providing
users with a high-quality, low-time requirement method of adding new
content to pictures.

Modelshop ships for $229 download / $249 boxed and includes the four
major themes of: Civil Engineering, Vehicles, Architecture and
Landscaping.

Several other themes include furniture, computer peripherals and anatomy
Digimation and Digital Element plan to release successive theme disks
with additional models taken from Digimation's vast supply of 3D models.
Individual models are available for purchase from Digimation's Website
(www.digimation.com).

Additionally, Digimation is extending a special discount to Modelshop
owners. The offer, which will come included with the Modelshop package,
will provide Modelshop users with access to thousands of 3D models at
discounted prices.

"Modelshop is an application that we are particularly excited about"
said Digimation president David Avgikos. "Modelshop introduces the 2D
community to the benefits of 3D and opens up a new and potentially large
base of users to our world-class collection of 3D models."

Modelshop works with Mac and PC, Photoshop 6 and 7. A free upgrade for
Photoshop CS will be available in early December. More information about
Modelshop can be found at Digital Element's Web site:
www.digi-element.com.
Founded in 1999 in Oakland, California, Digital Element is a software
engineering firm specializing in 3D programming. In addition to its
Technology-on-Demand program, which provides 3D programming services to
a diverse array of organizations, Digital Element develops and
distributes software products and services to film and television
animators, video game designers, Web developers, architects and
landscape designers.

Digimation is the exclusive distributor of Viewpoint Premier 3D models.
Founded in 1992, Digimation is known for such plug-in technology as
Bones Pro, Shag:Hair and Illustrate!. Digimation's Premier model archive
contains more than 30,000 individual 3D models, which can be delivered
in every major 3D file format.

33. NEVERCENTER RELEASES SILO 1.16. 
Nevercenter Ltd. Co. has released its new modeler Silo, version 1.16,
which now includes support for linking to RenderMan-compliant renderers
and POV-ray for direct rendering from Silo. Options include the ability
to add header and footer files to the render file, and the ability to
optionally include or exclude light, camera and material information. In
addition, version 1.16's improvements include a more advanced universal
manipulator and manipulator options, as well as some tool enhancements
and workflow improvements. 

Additional 1.16 updates include:
* Integrated rendering for Renderman-compliant renderers and Povray,
expandable to others
* rib and .pov export formats added
* Custom lighting (point, spot, and infinite lights)
* New universal manipulator allows for all possible transforms in one
manipulator
* Flatten command options added
* Alternate auto-orient manipulator modes added (such as orient to
object axis, to world, to normal, etc. on each new selection)

The latest version of Silo is available for download at the Nevercenter
Website, www.nevercenter.com. Previous Silo users get the upgrade for
free. New customers can try the free 40-use demo included with the full
version, and buy the full version for $109. 

34. AJA VIDEO SYSTEMS TO INTRODUCE LATEST IO PRODUCTS AT GV EXPO. 
AJA Video Systems will introduce Io LD and Io LA to the U.S. at GV Expo
in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 3, 2003 The two newest members of AJA's Io
family, Io LD and Io LA support the highest quality 10-bit uncompressed
video available - on both the digital and analog inputs and outputs.
These smaller and lower cost relatives of Io are application specific:
Io LD is designed to work with SDI digital systems, and Io LA is for
analog component or composite systems. AJA will be located in Apple's
booth # 412 at GV Expo. Io LD and Io LA will begin shipping in January
2004. Suggested retail price is $1,190.

Io LD and Io LA made their first worldwide appearance at InterBEE in
Japan last month. First with Kona and now with Io, editors have embraced
the post-production products from AJA that have brought new levels of
performance, stability and quality to editing and finishing with Final
Cut Pro.

"Once again, AJA is providing new choices for the professional
post-production industry at amazing price/performance ratios without
compromising quality," said AJA president John Abt.

Post-production systems ranging from basic to sophisticated, whether on
the set, in post facilities or on location, will benefit from the
tremendous ease of installation and use of Io LD and Io LA. Both Io LD
and Io LA work with Final Cut Pro 4 and connect to the Apple Power Mac
with a single 400mb
FireWire cable. Like Io, Io LD and LA have multi-channel 24-bit audio,
RS-422 machine control and Genlock. Because of their small size, Io LD
and Io LA can be used in either a desktop configuration or be mounted in
an optional 1 RU mounting bracket, also available from AJA.

Specifications
Io LD
* 10-bit SDI video with 8 ch 24 bit embedded audio I/O
* 10-bit component/composite analog video output
* 2 channel balanced analog audio output
* 2 channel S/PDIF digital audio output
* Genlock with looping BNC connections
* BNC/XLR analog out breakout cable

Io LA
* 10-bit component and composite analog video I/O
* 4 channel balanced analog audio I/O
* Simultaneous output of component/composite and S Video
* Frame Synchronizer architecture
* Genlock with looping BNC connections
* 8 XLR analog audio breakout cable

Since 1993, AJA Video Systems Inc. (www.aja.com) has been a leading
manufacturer of professional digital video solutions for the
professional broadcast and post-production markets. AJA offers SDI and
HD-SDI QuickTime PCI capture cards, miniature stand-alone converters,
and a complete line of rack mount interface and conversion cards and
frames. With headquarters located in Grass Valley, California, AJA Video
designs and manufactures all of its products in the U.S.

Awards

35. BAFTA AWARDS GO TO BUILDERS, WHALES & AARDVARKS.  
The winners for the 2003 British Academy Children's Film and Television
Awards in association with the LEGO Co. were announced on Nov. 30, 2003.
THE BOB THE BUILDER SPECIAL: A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER took home the prize
for Best Animation. The special was produced by HOT Animation, HIT
Entertainment and the BBC and features music by Sir Elton John. 

Jackie Cockle, producer of BOB THE BUILDER for HIT Ent. and MD of HOT
Animation said, "We're absolutely chuffed to bits with this award for
Best Animation. A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER was our first feature-length
special of BOB THE BUILDER and needless to say we're over the moon that
the team's talent and hard work has been recognized with a Children's
BAFTA."

In a surprising win, WHALE RIDER beat out HARRY POTTER & THE CHAMBER OF
SECRETS, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS and THE WILD THORNBERRYS for
Best Feature Film. ARTHUR, from WGBH and animated by CINAR, can add
another award to its résumé, taking home the Best International
Production prize. The Pre-School Animation Award went to HILLTOP
HOSPITAL, a co-production between Pascal Le Notre, Robin Lyons Siriol
Prods. and CiTV. STAR TICKET ACTIVE, an interactive TV program, garnered
the Interactive prize. 

This year's awards returned to the London Hilton and were hosted by
comedienne and TV host Fearne Cotton. The British Academy Children's
Film & Television Awards were created in 1996 with the ambition to raise
the profile of the children's industry. For more information, visit
www.bafta.org. 

36. AEAF AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED. 
Finalists in the nine of 12 categories of competition for the Australian
Effects and Animation Festival (AEAF) Awards have been announced.
Winners in each category will be announced at the AEAF Awards
presentation, Dec. 9, 2003 at 7:00 pm. AEAF will be held at the Sydney
Convention Center, Darling Harbor from December 7-10.

All finalists entries will be screened during the Awards ceremony in an
evening of animation and vfx entertainment
 
Tickets for the AEAF Awards night cost $75 + guest and can be purchased
from the AEAF by phoning 02 9319 4277. Festival Passes can also be
purchased for $495 + guest (which includes entry to the AEAF Awards) and
single Day Passes for $264 + guest.

The finalists in each category are:

COMMERCIALS: Animation
VISA MONSTER CHASE: Animal Logic
FEDEX: Fire Horse Studio
MOUNTAIN DEW SLING SHOT: Postmodern Sydney
COKE - BUS: The Moving Picture Co.
M & M'S WATCHING YOU NO. 1: Unreal Pictures
TOOHEYS PARTY TONGUE: The Mill
SPRITE KEBAB: Glassworks
DOWN UNDER MELBOURNE AQUARIUM: Act3Animation
SCION TRANSFORMER: Ambience
BLUE HAVEN POOLS, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT: Candy Animation
AUD BULL: Framestore CFC
AUDI DRINK LIKE A FISH: Framestore CFC
TWISTIES BLUEBIRD: Iloura
BATTERY WORLD WEDDING: Cutting Edge Post
V GNOMES: Oktober
OLD EL PASO WRESTLING: Oktober
TIME CEL MAGIC CARPET: Moon FX SDN. BHD.
WATTYL PASCOL: Complete Post
PADDLE POP ANCIENT TREASURES: Filmgraphics

COMMERCIALS: Visual Effects
ROYAL MAIL REVEAL: The Moving Picture Co.
SKY TV EVERYDAY CHOICES: The Moving Picture Co.
HEWLETT PACKARD BANG & OLUFSEN: Passion Pictures
INVESTEC - PRIVATE BANK: The Refinery
VISA UNEXPLAINED: Fuel International
CARLTON COLD COLD PIPE: Postmodern Sydney
QANTAS RECHARGE: Postmodern Sydney
INDY CAR: Beeps
BLUE HAVEN SPAS, NEVER PAY RETAIL: Eye Candy Animation
WRIGLEYS EXCITE DOG BREATH: Framestore CFC
JOHNNIE WALKER FISH: Framestore CFC
HOLDEN MONARO: Cutting Edge Post
CARE NZ NO BRAINER: Oktober
BANK MANDIRI SUPERHIGHWAY: Moon FX SDN. BHD.
PETRONAS SYNTIUM HOTWHEELS: Moon FX SDN. BHD.
CEAT TYRES THE SAVIOUR: Moon FX SDN. BHD.
PMU THE BET: La Maison
CITROEN PICASSO THE ZAPPING: La Maison
GAZ DE FRANCE DOLCE VITA: La Maison
DIVER: RGB Pictures
WATTYL PASCOL: Complete Post
EMPIRE LAGER JUMPING CASTLE: Digital Pictures Melbourne

MUSIC VIDEO
SPACE HOTEL: Sparx*
FUR PATROL FADE AWAY: Fuel International
CRIMSON LABYRINTH: Ambience
Madonna, DIE ANOTHER DAY: The Moving Picture Co.
Radiohead, GO TO SLEEP: The Mill
Bjork, NATURE IS ANCIENT: Glassworks
Pacifire, EVERYTHING: Oktober
Rogue Traders vs. INXS, YOU'RE ONE OF A KIND: Rising Sun Pictures

TITLES IDENTS & STINGS
Channel V, SIX DEGREES OF VIDEO: Animal Logic
Dance Music Awards: Kapow Pictures
E4 Idents: The Moving Picture Co.
Channel 9 Launch: Beeps
PLATYPUS Promo: ABC TV
DR. WHO #2: ABC TV
ARIA Awards: Visual Playground
Melbourne Cup Carnival: Channel 7
BRISBANE LORD MAYOR'SCHRISTMAS CAROLS: BTQ Channel 7
Hunter Pirates Promo: Ten Newcastle
NAPOLEON: Hybride
DIE ANOTHER DAY: Framestore
INSIDE STORY: Digital Pictures Iloura
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE 2: Cutting Edge Post
UNDER THE RADAR: Cutting Edge Post
Channel 9 Master Identity: Moon FX SDN BHD
LOVELY RITA: La Maison
BBC 2 Big Read: BBC Post

EDUCATION & TRAINING
LIFE IN THE KAIKOURA CANYON: Animation Research (NZ)
SECRET WEAPONS: BBC Post
CREATURE FEATURES: ABC TV
COLLEX WOODLAWN BIOREACTOR CPDM RECOVERY ASSIST SECURING TRANSVERSING:
Royal Aus. Navy
A COSMIC VOYAGE: John Rowe Animation

SHORT FILM
POLAR BEARS: GARY'S FALL: Passion Pictures      
HELLO: Jonathan Nix 
ICE AGE: DVD GONE NUTTY: Blue Sky Studios       
ANIMATRIX: FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS: Postmodern Sydney 
PLUMBER: Red Rover Studios   
EARLY BLOOMER: Sony Pictures Imageworks   
THE PAINTER: 422 South      
ANANDA: Vinton Studios
THE FIRM: Dean White   
HOCHBETRIEB (NUTS & BOLTS): Institute of Animation   
PLAY WITHOUT WORDS: Cactus Ink Animation Studios
ETERNAL GAZE: Sam Chen     
DOWN TO ERF: Grahame Wilson       
PRESS ANY BUTTON: AFTRS
TERATOMA: AFTRS
A SAD STORY: Sang Hee Park          

STUDENT
BANANARAMA: Silicon Graphics Center
CONSTANCE & TED: VCA
BLUE BIRD: Martin Klint
MAURICE: David Cochrane
THE LIFE & TIMES OF COVINGTON CHICHESTER: Ryan Nankervis, AIE
FART OPERA: Tanya Vale, AFTRS
BRAIN DRAIN: Tanya Vale, AFTRS
PAN: Warwick Mellow
CAPTAIN WEBB: THE ART OF SWIMMING: Robert Milne, Royal College of Art
Animation, Ernest Emu, Mitzi Drysdale
LOOSE SCREWS: Joseph Kim
SPICE OF LIFE: Silicon Graphics Center
THE WAY: Qing Huang
DESTRUCTION: ANU ACAT
LEMMINGS: Brigham Young University
NOKIA G7: University of Technology Sydney
STARSHIP CLEANING SERVICES: Filmakadamie Baden   

GAMES
JIMMY NEUTRON: Animal Logic
WARCRAFT3: REIGN OF CHAOS: Blizzard Entertainment
ROADKILL MONTAGE: ACT 3 Animation
BRIDGE IT: Auran

TV SERIES
EXTREME MARTIAL ARTS: THE HIDDEN WORLD OF MARTIAL ARTS: Animal Logic
POLAR BEARS: GARY'S FALL: Passion Pictures
BBC SCIENCE HUMAN SENSES: Beeps
WILD WEATHER: The Moving Picture Co.
NAPOLEON: Hybride
DINOTOPIA: Framestore CFC
WALKING WITH SEA MONSTERS: Framestore CFC
THE SHAPIES WET WORLD: Light Knight Prods.
PIRATE ISLANDS: Jonathan M Shiff Prods.
WICKED SCIENCE: Jonathan M  Shiff Prods.

37. SPIKE TV GAMES AWARDS PREMIERES DEC. 4.
Spike TV has named the 16 finalists in wide-ranging awards categories
for the network's first annual "Video Game Awards" (VGAs), hosted by
actor/comedian David Spade from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas,
airing 9-11:00 pm on Dec. 4, 2003. The all-men's channel promises to
deliver a non-traditional awards show without podiums, presenters and
acceptance speeches. The show will unfold in a futuristic setting that's
part "next-century Tokyo" and part "Minority Report" that will
seamlessly blend real and animated worlds into a dynamic awards show
presentation

All viewers and videogame fans are encouraged to visit Spike TV's
Website at www.spiketv.com and cast their votes for their favorite
videogames including "viewer's choice" categories.  All nominees and
winners of Spike TV's "VGAs" are tallied from gaming industry experts,
public opinion via Spike TV's Website and Spike TV's editorial board.

Game of the Year
* GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICECITY (Rockstar Games)
* MADDEN NFL 2004 (EA Sports)
* TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL (Ubi Soft)

Best Sports Game
* MADDEN NFL 2004 (EA Sports)
* NBA STREET VOL.2 (EA Big)
* TONY HAWK'S UNDERGROUND (Activision)

Best Action Game
* FREEDOM FIGHTERS (EA Games)
* MAX PAYNE 2: THE FALL OF MAX PAYNE (Rockstar Games)
* TRUE CRIME: STREETS OF LA (Activision)

Best Animation
* DEAD OR ALIVE XTREMEBEACHVOLLEYBALL (Tecmo)
* GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICECITY (Rockstar Games)
* WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE (Blizzard Entertainment)

Best Game Based on Movie
* ENTER THE MATRIX (Atari)
* THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (EA Games)
* STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLDREPUBLIC (LucasArts)

Best Driving Game
* F-ZERO GX (Nintendo)
* NASCAR THUNDER 2004 (EA Sports)
* THE SIMPSON'S: HIT & RUN (VU Games)

Best Music
* DEF JAM VENDETTA (EA Big)
* GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICECITY (Rockstar Games)
* MADDEN NFL 2004 (EA Sports)

Best Performance By A Human
* Def Jam Crew - DMX / Ludacris / Method Man / Red Man (DEF JAM
VENDETTA;
     EA Big)
* Jenna Jameson (GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICECITY; Rockstar Games)
* Ray Liotta (GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICECITY; Rockstar Games)
* Snoop Dogg (TRUE CRIME: STREETS OF LA; Activision)
* David Duchovny (XIII; Ubi Soft)

Most Anticipated
* DOOM 3 (Activision)
* DRIVER 3 (Atari)
* FABLE (Microsoft)
* FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR (THQ)
* GRAN TURISMO 4 (SCEA)
* HALF-LIFE 2 (VU Games)
* HALO 2 (Microsoft)
* METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER (Konami)
* THE SIMS 2 (EA Games)
* TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: PANDORA TOMORROW (Ubi Soft)

Most Addictive
* PLANETSIDE (Sony Online Entertainment)
* SOUL CALIBUR II (Namco)
* THE SIMS: SUPERSTAR (EA Games)

Best PC Game
* HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (Microsoft)
* MAX PAYNE 2: THE FALL OF MAX PAYNE (Rockstar Games)
* WARCRAFT III: THE FROZEN THRONE (Blizzard Entertainment)

Best Online Game
* BATTLEFIELD 1942: THE ROAD TO ROME(EA Games)
* FINAL FANTASY XI (Square Enix)
* STAR WARS GALAXIES (Lucas Arts)

Best Handheld Game
* ADVANCE WARS 2: BLACK HOLE RISING (Nintendo)
* FINAL FANTASY XI (Nintendo/ Square Enix)
* TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL (Ubi Soft)

Best Fighting Game
* DEF JAM VENDETTA (EA Big)
* SOUL CALIBUR II (Namco)
* WWE SMACKDOWN!: HERE COMES THE PAIN (THQ)

Best First Person Action
* CALL OF DUTY (Activision)
* HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED (Microsoft)
* RAINBOW SIX 3: RAVEN SHIELD (Ubi Soft)

Best Fantasy Game
* FINAL FANTASY XI (Square Enix)
* STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE OLDREPUBLIC(Lucas Arts)
* THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER (Nintendo)

Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 87 million homes
and is a division of MTV Networks.  MTV Networks owns and operates the
cable television programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2,
Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, TV Land, VH1, CMT: Country Music Television,
and Spike TV, as well as The Digital Suite from MTV Networks, a package
of 13 digital services, which are trademarks of MTV Networks.  MTV
Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements
and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide. 

Call for Entries

38. WIN SOFTWARE IN REALTEXTURE XMAS CONTEST
RealTexture Xmas Contest
World Wide Web
December 1 - December 24, 2003
Deadline: December 24, 2003

RealTexture will be offering an Xmas contest where participants can win
a coupon for realtexture products, the "Weihnachtsmannspiel Deluxe"
t-shirt and the brand new "Weihnachtsmannspiel Deluxe" game.
Participants must create cool and impressive Christmas related stuff. At
the beginning of the contest, RealTexture will offer a small package
with a selection of our products for download. The three finest pieces
done with this material will be awarded prizes listed. Industry Graphics
develops the RealTexture's line of texture products for the 3D graphics
and visual effects industry. For more information, visit
http://www.realtexture.com/contest.html.

39. CREATE A UFO SIGHTING FOR VFX007
VFX007 - UFO
World Wide Web
December 1 - 31, 2003
Deadline: December 31, 2003

VFXTalk.com & eyeon Software Inc. have announced VFX007 - UFO, which
allows entrants the chance to win eyeon's Digital Fusion 4 compositing
application. This challenge is the seventh in a 12-month competition.
Contest prizes include a $100 Gift Voucher at Hotline Bookstore, Sydney
Australia and a six-month subscription to DIGITAL MEDIA WORLD MAGAZINE.
This month's challenge has participants creating a UFO sighting during a
rainy/misty/cloudy day, or at night.. Submissions will be accepted from
Decemeber 1 - August 31, 2003 with the winner announced January 7, 2003.
Full VFXChallenge details can be found at www.vfxtalk.com/challenge.php.

Events

40. PIPELINE 2003 SHOWS CG STRENGTH IN U.K.
The Pipeline 2003, held by Techimage at the ICA in London on Nov. 20,
attracted more than 700 digital artists and animators.

Katy Edwards, human resources, Framestore CFC commented: "The Pipeline
event was well organized and attended, and Framestore CFC were very glad
to be involved. It was particularly exciting to see so many motivated
and enthusiastic students at the event, who will no doubt be adding to
the existing talent within the U.K. in the next few years."

Prof. John A Vince, head of Computer Animation Academic Group, NCCA at
Bournemouth University added: "For us The Pipeline was a great success.
A large number of attendees visited the NCCA stand to discuss their
training requirements. There was a great deal of interest in our Masters
courses and we had lots of enquiries for our newly announced Houdini and
RenderMan short courses. We look forward to attending this event next
year."

Adam Foat, marketing manager, Nvidia continued: "Nvidia has close ties
with the CG industry as you would expect from a leading graphics card
manufacturer. The event itself was packed with high quality delegates as
there was so much for them to see on the day, it was like taking all the
good parts of a large exhibition and putting them in one place!"

Seamus Morley, director, Techimage added: "The great level of interest
and attendance at The Pipeline shows that the growing demand for high
quality CG, delivered in large quantity, on budget continues. The
commitment of the attendees...shows that the U.K. has a growing committed
CG workforce looking to develop and grow their skills to meet the new
challenges."

The Pipeline 2003 was designed to inspire, enthuse and educate at all
skill levels from experienced animators to students looking to advance
their skill set. It comprised presentations from Greg Butler, CG
supervisor on THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy; Darin Grant, manager
technical directors at Digital Domain; and Mark Walsh, directing
animator on FINDING NEMO. In addition there were technical presentations
from Jeff Warner of Side Effects on Houdini, Dylan Sisson from Pixar on
RenderMan, Steve Tyson of NXN on Alienbrain and Grahame Andrew of Lola
on Science D Visions 3D Equalizer.

Techimage Ltd. (www.techimage.co.uk), formed in 1995, is the U.K.
reseller for advanced 3D graphics software such as Houdini, RenderMan
and 3D Equalizer.

41. THE FINAL WESTERN SHOW 2003 COMES TO ANAHEIM. 
The Western Show 2003
Anaheim, California, USA
December 2 - 5, 2003

The Western Show is dedicated to the technological advancements that
will drive bottom lines for the cable, Internet, telephone, computer,
satellite, broadcast, motion picture or new media industries. This, the
36th edition of the event, will be the last. The National Show has grown
so much that the National Cable & Telecommunications Association decided
there was only need for one show. The Western Show is allows people to
network in timely educational seminars, interactive roundtables and
CableNET '03, a gathering of demonstrations by companies from various
industries as part of a educational exhibit. The 2003 program will cover
the latest developments in these areas: digital cable services,
high-speed Internet, video-on demand, HDTV, digital rights, security,
retail CPE and POD, sports programming -- "to tier or not to tier," home
networking, WiFi, IP telephony and cable telephony. For more
information, visit http://www.thewesternshow.com/. 

42. MEET OTHER ANIMATORS OVER DRINKS AT THE ANIMATORS' PUB. 
Animators' Pub
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
December 3, 2003

Squeeze Productions and The Toronto Animated Image Society present the
Animators' Pub. The event offers an opportunity to meet friends and
colleagues in the animation scene for conversation and some drinks. All
animators are welcome and admission is free. The gathering will take
place the The Bishop and the Belcher Pub, Queen Vic Room, basement, 361
Queen Street West, Toronto from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. For more information,
e-mail: Tais@bellnet.ca or visit http://www.awn.com/tais. 

43. FILMS BY NORMAN MCLAREN SCREENING IN SAN FRAN!
Adventures in Animation: Nine Films by Norman McLaren
San Francisco, California, USA
December 5, 2003

The San Francisco Media Archive will be holding "Adventures in
Animation: Nine Films by Norman McLaren." The program will feature
selections from throughout McLaren's career at the NFBC, including:
BEGONE DULL CARE, an abstract interpretation of jazz sounds by the Oscar
Peterson Trio painted and scratched directly onto film; A CHAIRY TALE,
with music by Ravi Shankar, a pixilated film in which a man tries to
sit, but the chair declines to be sat upon; and PAS DE DEUX, an elegant,
optically printed study of dance movement. Preceding the show will be a
talk with author, archivist and teacher Karl Cohen. The San Francisco
Media Archive is located at 275 Capp Street. The screening will begin at
8:30 pm and it is free and open to the public. For more information,
call (415) 558-8117 or e-mail: archive@sfm.org. 

44. DON'T MISS THE WIA CHRISTMAS PARTY. 
WIA Christmas Party
North Hollywood, California, USA
December 9, 2003

Women in Animation is hosting an evening of Santa-Ria at WIA/LA's annual
Christmas Party. The event offers a chance for schmoozing, networking
and general catching-up, accompanied by an array of finger foods. A
no-host bar will be available for libations and wassails. The event will
take place at the Barsac Brasserie, 4212 Lankershim Blvd, beginning at
6:30 pm. Attendees must RSVP by December 5 by calling (310) 535-3838.

45. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET SUMMIT GOES TO DC.
Next Generation Internet/ US IPv6 Summit
Arlington, Virginia, USA
December 9 - 11, 2003

The U.S. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Summit in Washington, D.C.
from December 9-11 will describe the business potential of the new
Internet, described by Forrester Research as in the trillions of
dollars. The new Internet protocol makes possible the "Extended
Internet," with better multimedia transmission, video streaming,
wireless gaming, etc. One of the participants is DARPA, the same people
that created the first Internet. Billions of new gadgets with Internet
addresses will be enabled by the new Internet, many of them (like the
new Sony PlayStation, which is new Internet-enabled) with graphics and
animation. For information and online enrollment, go to www.usipv6.com.

46. CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH TAIS. 
TAIS Holiday Party
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
December 11, 2003

The Toronto Animated Image Society will be hosting its annual Holiday
Party. Everyone is invited to come and celebrate the season. Organizers
are asking everyone to bring food and drink to share. TAIS Animators'
Co-op is located at 37 Hanna Avenue, Suite 231, Toronto. Enter the
building by door 5A, south side of building and walk up to the second
floor. The party will run from 6:00 to 9:30 pm and admission is free.
For more information, e-mail: Tais@bellnet.ca or visit
http://www.awn.com/tais. 

47. HIGH TALES SHOWCASES YOUNG PEOPLE'S WORK
High Tales 
Nenthead, U.K.
December 12, 2003

The Nenthead School in collaboration with filmmaker David Brunskill will
be presenting "High Tales," a collection of animated films from the
students of the school. The 30 minutes presentation will screen the work
of the youngsters, followed by a light buffet. The program starts at
7:00 pm and is free to the public. For more information, call +01434 381
400, e-mail: event@hightales.co.uk or visit http://www.hightales.co.uk. 

48. UPCOMING EVENTS IN ANIMATION.
Search AWN's expansive Calendar of Events section for a list of
animation and visual effects events spanning into the year 2004. Find
out about all the places where you can see the hottest toons or showcase
your own work at http://events.awn.com.

Upcoming Films

49. UPCOMING THEATRICAL RELEASES.
Want to know what's hitting your local movie house this weekend, or what
your favorite director is working on? Then go online to
http://releases.awn.com and check out AWN's new Upcoming Theatrical
Releases' database to find out the release dates for the forthcoming
feature animated and special effects flicks!

__________________________________
Animation news written and compiled by AWN.com editor Sarah Baisley.
Visual effects news written and compiled by VFXWorld.com editor Bill
Desowitz.
Additional news written by managing editor Rick DeMott.
Publishers: Dan Sarto and Ron Diamond.

__________________________________
Copyright 2003 AWN, Inc. No part of this periodical may be reproduced
without the written consent of Animation World Network.