On Tuesday, February 15, 2000, AtomFilms, a leader in next-generation
entertainment, announced that it has locked the first-ever, exclusive,
on-line distribution deal with the USC School of Cinema-Television to
broadcast student films from the illustrious film school's catalog. As part
of the deal, for the next 18 months, USC will provide AtomFilms with
exclusive on-line distribution rights to 100 student titles which includes
shorts from famed alumnus George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis. On February 15,
AtomFilms plans to launch the "USC Cinema Yearbook" page on their Web site
to showcase the shorts in their entirety. "Affiliating with AtomFilms
enables the school [USC] to achieve a couple of goals," said Larry
Auerbach, Associate Dean of Student-Industry Relations at USC. "First, it
gives our talented students a worldwide public venue for showcasing their
work, which for them and us is very exciting. Secondly, licensing the
rights to AtomFilms allows us to expedite archiving our 75 year-old film
collection. That should make film historians and fans alike very happy."
"The USC Cinema Yearbook" will premiere bi-weekly the career-launching
shorts by influential filmmakers such as Lucas, Zemeckis and others. The
new shorts will also feature profiles on the filmmakers.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
