Rick DeMott's Recent Posts

In the wake of Sony's success with STUART LITTLE, Warner Bros. has

greenlighted a live-action/animated feature, CATS AND DOGS. Recently,

Warner has been looking to see if it could get a quick family-flick

finished for a Christmas 2000 release, however it looks like the studio

will take its time and shoot for a 2001 holiday release for CATS AND DOGS.

The story follows the neighborhood war between cats and dogs that occurs

right underneath human's feet without them even noticing. Reuters reported

Sony's LITTLE hero slipped two spots to fourth place in the U.S. box office

behind live-action flicks NEXT FRIDAY, DOWN TO YOU and THE HURRICANE.

STUART LITTLE, with primary visual effects by Sony Pictures Imageworks,

additional animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and miniatures by

Thunderstone, grossed US$6.41 million bringing its total to $117.1 million.

THE GREEN MILE, with primary visual effects by ILM, Rhythm & Hues, POP and

Matte World Digital, stayed in 5th place grossing $5.39 million bringing

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes Awards shocked the

world by naming TOY STORY 2 the best comedy or musical picture of 1999. The Woody and Buzz Lightyear feature beat out heavy-weight live-action films like: favored best flick, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH; Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal's ANALYZE THIS; the Andy Kaufman bio-pic, MAN ON THE MOON; and mega-hit Julia Roberts-vehicle, NOTTING HILL. However, even though TOY

STORY 2 took home the honors, the television broadcast producers didn't

SOUTH PARK producer David Niles White and SPACE JAM's producer Ron Tippe

are celebrating the first year anniversary of their digital animation

house, digitalcharactergroup. Previously White was the vice president of

digital animation at Film Roman. Working in the industry for over 20 years,

White has designed the multi-media projects that have brought Mattel's

Barbie to life and played a key role in bringing SOUTH PARK to the small

screen. The 27-year industry vet, Tippe, produced Disney's Academy

Assistant editor JESSE REISNER has moved up to editor at New York-based

EDITING CONCEPTS. Reisner holds a BFA degree in visual arts from Brown

University. Despite his impressive academic career, he credits the staff at

Editing Concepts with the bulk of his education and technical experience.

Reisner's first national spot "Puppy Love," for Casio via Della

Femina/Jeary and Partners, debuted recently. His earlier work includes

regional spots for Bob Stores (KGA Advertising, CT, Spencer Antle

RE:Vision Effects recently released ReelSmart Motion Blur, a plug-in for

After Effects 4.0, Commotion 2.0+ and Final Cut Pro. The plug-in is

designed to apply more natural looking motion blur to effects shots and

video sequences within After Effects. ReelSmart Motion Blur automatically

tracks every pixel in the shot which takes the handy-work out of the

process. Features include reduced strobing, fewer artifacts, and a tool

which lets one blur one image sequence using the motion of another

Acclaim Entertainment Inc., a leading worldwide developer, publisher and

mass marketer of software for use with interactive entertainment, reported

its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2000 ended November 30, 1999.

Net revenues for the quarter were $101.2 million, compared with $104.8

million in the first quarter of the prior year. Net earnings for the

quarter were $0.4 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, compared with net

earnings of $10.3 million or $0.16 per diluted share for the same period in

The U.S. Recording Academy's premiere recording awards, the Grammies, have

put out their list of nominees and many toon-related tunes have made an

appearance. Nominations in the category Best Musical Album For Children

were: "The Adventures Of Elmo In Grounchland," "A Bug's Life Song-Along"

and Walt Disney's "Mannhein Steamroller Meet The Mouse." Best Spoken Word

Album For Children nominees include "A Bug's Life Read-Along" and Sesame

Street's "Let's Eat!" THE PRINCE OF EGYPT and TARZAN were included in the

CARTOON NETWORK has named TIMOTHY HALL their new executive vice president.

Hall will be responsible for integrating marketing to popularize the

network's brand in the U.S. and globally, and creating new business around

the world. Prior to Cartoon Network, Hall was senior vice president of

boys' toys marketing and product development at Hasbro, Inc. Hall was

responsible for the overall strategic direction, marketing and product

development of Star Wars toys and games, among other brands. He began his