AWN Headline News

Bill LittleJohn will appear in person at the UCLA James Bridges theater Saturday, May 15, 7:30 p.m as part of a retrospective of his work. Bill Littlejohn is a freelance animator. If you watch animated films, chances are you've seen his work. He's worked on several John and Faith Hubley films, including OF MEN AND DEMONS and THE DOONESBURY SPECIAL; THE 2000 YEAR OLD MAN; several Peanuts TV specials; even GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE. At this time, UCLA is not sure which films will be shown. Call the Archive at (310) 206-8013 for a complete list of the titles to be screened.

Masters of Visual Effects, LLC has released the first two series of Mastersof Visual Effects training videos. The series' offer an overview of visualeffect that artists, producers, and filmmakers, whether novice orprofessional, will benefit from. The first series, entitled "Introductionto Visual Effects," covers introductory concepts in visual effects such asvisual effects cues, film and video as digital images, commercial postproduction basics, pre-visualization and offline editing. The second

Fox Broadcasting Co. has ordered another season (22 episodes) of MattGroening's animated series, Futurama, just four weeks after its premiere.The show debuted on Sunday, March 28 then moved to Tuesday night on April 6where it joined King of the Hill, The PJs, and The Simpsons repeats aspart of Fox's all-animation primetime Tuesday night line-up. Now, all ofthese series have been renewed.

The New York Animation Festival takes place May 13-15, 1999. It willfeature 150 animations from 15 countries, including Academy Award winnerBunny, Sundance winner More, and New York Underground Film Festival winnerThe Bats., plus new works by Bill Plympton, the Bolex Brothers and AardmanAnimations. For more information call 212-479-7742; or e-mailnyafinfo@yahoo.com.

Also visit members.tripod.com/~nyafest/home.html.

The Cinema Guild has released the animation cult classic, VAMPIRES IN HAVANA! Juan Padron, best known in the US for his QUINOSCOPO shorts, directed the 1985 Cuban film which was released theatrically in the USA in 1987. VAMPIRES IN HAVANA! is a spoof of horror and gangster movies, presented in a style reminiscent of FRITZ THE CAT. It features Professor von Dracula, a vampire scientist who leaves Transylvania for Cuba where he invents "Vampisol," a potion that allows vampires to live in sunlight.

* Tuesday, April 27. Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A.

Roberto Kritzia will give a free slide-lecture to promote the Glenn Vilppusketching tour of Italy which will take place in June and July. (See theGlenn Vilppu tours news item for more information about the tours.) The lecturetakes place at 7:30 pm at Travel Stop, 14011 Ventura Bl., West Bldg., Suite221, Sherman Oaks, California. Seating is limited. RSVP (818) 994-2402.

* Tuesday, June 8 - Thursday, June 10. New York, New York, USA.

The global deal marketplace for the $132 billion business of licensingtakes center stage in New York City, June 8-10, 1999, with LICENSING '99INTERNATIONAL, the largest worldwide licensing event and the single mostconsolidated presentation of properties in one place. Licensing '98International drew a record 15,000 attendees from more than 60 countries.The show featured nearly 400 exhibitors representing more than 3,700

HARVEY ENTERTAINMENT, whose roster of animated properties include CASPER,THE FRIENDLY GHOST, RICHIE RICH, LITTLE AUDREY, and BABY HUEY, has posted a1998 fourth quarter net loss of $5,869,000, compared to a net income of$627,000 for the fourth quarter in 1997, and a net loss of $11,238,000 forthe year ended December 31, 1998. Net operating revenues for the year-ended1998 were a negative $1,569,000, compared to revenues of $15,404,000 in1997. Meanwhile, the company announced that it has entered into a

C-3D Digital, Inc. has increased its content capabilities for its 24 hour3D channel by executing a definitive agreement for the acquisition ofsecurity interests in the technology and principle assets of Strata Inc., apremier name in 3D computer graphics. "The acquisition of Strata assets andtechnology has been selected for its strategic fit into the C-3D DigitalInc.'s network of companies for the ability to add eye-popping 3D effects,that Strata is famous for, to our growing content currently shown on the 3D

The president of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Chuck Viane, haspromoted Manuel "Rod" Rodriguez to the post of senior vice president andgeneral sales manager for Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. In his newrole, Rodriguez will be responsible for handling sales and distributionoperations throughout the United States and Canada for all motion picturesreleased under the Walt Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures banners.Rodriguez, an industry veteran who has been based at Buena Vista's Atlanta

The Motion Factory, developer of the award-winning Motivate IntelligentDigital Actor(TM) System, has announced the completion of a new round ofventure funding from BankAmerica Ventures, SofInnova, and Digital MediaGroup. With the newly committed funds totaling $2 million, The MotionFactory plans to accelerate the development of the Motivate system and willinvest in expanded customer support services. The company also recentlyannounced development is underway to support Sony PlayStation 2, Sega

In London on Sunday night, April 11, The British Academy of Film and Televsion Arts (BAFTA) presented THE CANTERBURY TALES with their 1999 award for Best Short Animated Film. The film is a 27 mininute long adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer's classic poem about pilgrims telling tales while travelling to Canterbury. The film includes three of the travellers' tales, each one animated in a different style. The film was produced by Renat Zinnurov, Claire Jennings, and Les Mills. It was directed by Aida Zyablikova, Ashley Potter, Dave Antrobus, Mic Graves, Joanna Quinn, and Jonathan Myerson.