AWN Headline News

New York-based SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION created a 10-second animated logo for design company Number 17 New York, which will be shown at the head of all future SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (SNL) theatrical releases. It will debut later this year with the release of SUPERSTAR which features the neurotic Catholic schoolgirl Mary Catherine Gallagher, who is portrayed by Molly Shannon on NBC's long-running sketch comedy series. The opening is a dreamy and abstract representation of nightime in New York City with lights of different speeds, scales and densities resolving through to the SNL Studios Logo.

Spontaneous Combustion, the New York-based digital studio specializing in visual effects, has added desktop artist Bryan Keeling to its graphics team. Keeling, 27, specializes in Adobe After Effects and other desktop paint-and-animation packages. Keeling makes the move following a four-year stint at Pittard Sullivan.

Portland, Oregon-based WILL VINTON STUDIOS (WVS) has completed a CG-spot for Griffin Bacal's client, Just Born, featuring "Marshmallow Peeps." The 15-second spot, "Peeps Choir," which began airing on March 8, is the first-ever television commercial for the 76-year-old company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The commercial features marshmallow chicks and bunnies performing in a musical revue to a reworked version of "Rockin' Robin." "The challenge was...to give each Peep its very own, special personality..." commented Jill Bazos, Griffin Bacal group account director.

PIXAR has announced that its Chief Financial Officer and executive vice president, Lawrence Levy, will leave his post at the end March to take personal time off. No replacement has been announced yet. Levy will continue to be involved with Pixar as a member of the company's Board of Directors. Pixar also announced that it has appointed Chief Technical Officer Ed Catmull to its Board.

The fledgling Fox Family Channel has added ten new animated series to its kid and teen-targeted daytime lineup for the 1999-2000 season. The lineup represents a major investment from Fox Family in creating original and entertaining animated programming. Animation World Network spoke to Joel Andryc, Senior Vice President, Programming & Development about this lineup and how they're working to create a unique identity in the already overcrowded world of cable.

One of the largest motion capture studios in the world, hOuse of mOves (HOM), has moved to a larger facility in Marina del Rey, California, situated near Los Angeles International Airport. The larger space includes a 3,500-square foot stage with a 24-foot ceiling, along with an additional 3,500 sq. ft. of space for executive offices and conference rooms. HOM has also upgraded their motion capture hardware to include a new system with 12 cameras capturing at anywhere from 60-240 frames per second.

Digital ink, paint and compositing house VIRTUALMAGIC ANIMATION has hired CHRISIE RUSSELL as Production Manager and promoted Ryan Robertson to the same position. Russell joins VirtualMagic from Warner Bros. Feature Animation where she was Assistant Production Manager on their last three features, THE IRON GIANT, SPACE JAM and THE QUEST FOR CAMELOT. Ryan Roberston, previously the production manager and art editor of the bi-monthly magazine HOT LAVA, joined VirtualMagic in 1997 as an Administrative Assistant.

* Wednesday, March 10 - Sunday, March 14. Tampere, Finland.

The 29th Tampere International Short Film Festival features competitive screenings of over 80 short films from around the world. The special screenings include retrospectives of Frédéric Back and Pat O'Neill, a look at Russian animation in the '90s and screenings of five children's films such as Lotte Reiniger's 1926 film Adventures of Prince Achmed and the Iranian puppet animation film, Basaaritarinoita. For ticket information direct your browser to http://www.tampere.fi/festival/film/index2.htm.