We're Emmy Nominated!!!!

Animax Entertainment was just nominated for an Emmy Award! Yes, that's right. Our very first one. We were just nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Content for Non-Traditional Delivery Platform for our work on ESPN's Off-Mikes.

The Panel

Michael Bellavia, General Manager of ANIMAX, spoke at OMMA Hollywood today about Marketers as Publishers and Publishers as Marketers and the blurring lines of a media and content. Went well enough that by the end of the panel we were invited to speak at the next OMMA -- also stay tuned for an article about us in Mediapost.

WWE Will Rock You!

World Wrestling Entertainment has come back for more. Animax is starting work on a few new animated series that are going to put you in a sleeper hold until you beg for mercy.

Page Six for Animators

Ooh, scandalous. Rumor has it that Animax's Tim Jones, Al Rosson and Silvia Pompei were all spotted cavorting together in Venice.

New Friends

Become friends with Slammo and Sloshie. The reason will become apparent soon...

More Cosmic Work

We just finished producing a DVD for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation based on the work Animax did on the award-winning website, Coping with Chemo. The DVD was produced to allow for distribution of the content to kids who have cancer but don't have easy access to the internet.

Jupiter renamed Conversive

Our partners at Conversive were just named highest ranking in customer satisfaction by Jupiter Research with respect to Online Customer Self-service. Specifically,
Jupiter Research advised that "companies seeking highly
engaging automated customer service should consider Conversive as a
complementary solution to their existing online service offerings."

Animax worked with Conversive to implement Vic, an animated talking koala bear that lives on the Qantas website. Vic is a smart avatar or agent that answers visitor questions and keeps folks engaged with Qantas much longer than a regular visit to the site does.

Best, Bester, Bestest!

Your friendly Flash animators at Animax will be presenting at the April 19th LA Flash User group meeting focused on “Masters of Flash Animation”. Yes, we are masters. We rule. More info to come on exactly what genius ideas we'll specifically talk about, but get your stone tablets ready because this will be a monumental event.

Also, don't miss the LAFU sponsored Flash 8 Character Animation class being taught by Chris Georgenes of Mudbubble.

Mr. Mouth

Bryon Carson, the director on the first-ever Flash animated feature The Golden Blaze, has been animating for Animax Entertainment on a few projects. Recently he just finished a short animated music video clip that is going to be distributed on mobile devices in the UK to promote a relatively new artist, Mr. Mouth. If you like Daft Punk and Zoot Woman, you'll like Mr. Mouth. If you like girls who have the ability to crush boys' hearts, you'll like the animated video. The longer video will be ready soon.

It's Chilly in Here

A few months back we worked on character designs for Waldo West Productions and their newest property, Chilly Wonton Willy. Waldo West recently launched their site and you can see some of the elements in there.

Living for the CTIA

Animax's mobile division will be at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas April 4-6. We'll be with our partners at Wireless Developer Agency in a room at UNLV's Student Union Building meeting with different carriers, developers and producers. We're looking to meet with potential partners and clients who can use our services in mobile game art direction, graphic design, mobile marketing and, of course, animation. Drop us an email if you'd like to arrange a time to meet.

Tiger Woods not in PGA

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) New Media Council is on the hunt for new Board Delegates and Michael Bellavia is on the to review committee to recommend potential candidates for Board seats elections in May. If you're interested in joining the PGA or running for the Board, feel free to contact Board Delegate James Fino. And no, you don't need to be able to golf 4 under par.

OMMA, Not WOMMA...This Time

Multiple opportunities to hear us pontificate! We already posted about JobStock06 and Kidscreen, but we almost forgot to let you know that on Monday March 27 at OMMA Hollywood Michael is on the panel entitled: "Marketers as Publishers? How Client-site Video, Gaming and Podcasts Impact the Media Mix" Ooh, super juicy. Basically we'll be talking about what is media in the rapidly changing advertising landscaping? Is media advertising or vice versa? Animax, of course, once again, has all the answers.

Digital Kids

Michael's speaking at Kidscreen's conference, "Brand Building in the Kids Digital Space," on May 15th. It's the first time Kidscreen is running a conference in Los Angeles so we're happy to participate. The presentation is "Lay of the Land - An overview of the digital space: the technology, tools, acronyms and buzzwords - everything you need to know in order to navigate the digital space, and sound smart at a cocktail party." Please bring your own cocktails though as Michael is not a licensed bartender.

Famous Dave

Dave Wolfe, one of our animators here at Animax, has created a few new Flash widgets that help streamline the Flash character animation process. We're making good use of the extensions on the shows we're animating for AOL and ESPN.

Ever the capitalist, Dave made them available for FREE over on ColdHardFlash.com. Even though he's giving them away, if you do use them, feel free to show Dave your appreciation in fermented liquid form, preferably Newcastle. Feel free to also send love to Warren Fuller, the ActionScripting wizard who got Dave started on his tear and is the person who got us on board with his AnimSlider. Warren likes his appreciation in the form of a PayPal transfer.

What is Diabetes?

Animax just finished an animated DVD about Type II Diabetes for Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and Project Health LAMP (Health Literacy Augmentation for Multicultural Populations.) We worked with the project leader Dr. José Luís Calderón and Greg Singer, who also is a contributing writer at Animation World Network (AWN.)

We animated both English and Spanish versions of a video that helps folks with Type II Diabetes better understand the disease, how to manage it and how to stay healthy. The video features a woman who has diabetes talking about her experience with the disease.

The team at Health LAMP are big proponents of using character animation to communicate health messages. Especially when dealing with diverse audiences where English is a Second Language (ESL), animation can help to make the information more palatable and relatable. While the focus in the video is on a personal story, there are also Flash animated motion graphics depicting the biological implications of the disease in a visual style that isn't too visceral.

We're also starting another project with Health LAMP to help women with limited English language skills better understand breast cancer and the importance of getting regular mammographies.

Only a Bill

Animax has kept providing boards for Fox Studios' Intermix. We're now going to start providing fully animated original shorts for them as well. Keep an eye out for new material in the coming months.

For now, you can take a look at one of the latest shorts we boarded and the folks at Intermix animated.

Kid Power

Animax will be at Kid Power in May in Orlando. If you'd like to meet up, let us know.

Wild About Safety

Keep an eye on this Disney site - in the next few months you'll notice some changes, courtesy of Animax.

Muppets in 3D

Today Animax visited The Jim Henson Company and got a chance to take a look at a fantastic new technology that combines the worlds of puppetry and CGI to allow for real-time 3D character animation that is super-expressive. HIT Entertainment used it for the new Frances DVDs coming out and the results are visually stunning. Why Disney isn't using it for the upcoming CGI Mickey Mouse Clubhouse TV show is a mystery.

Tripping at JobStock

Animax is participating in the Los Angeles Flash User Group's next JobStock on Wednesday March 15. We've gotten a lot of good response to our hunt for Flash character animators but we're always considering other folks. We also are considering Flash ActionScripting gurus who have a sense of design. (Yes, you can be as happy as Chad and Rhonda, Animax's current gurus.)

Monday with Marge

This past Monday Marge Dean visited Animax and we gave her the grand tour. She's a producer at Warner Bros. and most recently worked on the Kids' WB! Flash-animated series, COCONUT FRED'S FRUIT SALAD ISLAND. We were introduced to her by Aaron Simpson but we actually worked with her in an indirect way. On behalf of National Geographic, Animax animated a series of shorts for several Warner Bros. DVDs featuring characters like Tom & Jerry, Scooby Doo and Kangaroo Jack. Marge produced the main animated feature on some of these DVDs.

Animation Mentors

Just came across this on AdCritic.com.....

Anyone interested in a career in animation should check out AnimationMentor.com, an online animation school that just unveiled a completely revamped version of its virtual campus. An extensive set of Friendster-like social networking features—including onsite instant messaging, video journal entries on students' profile pages, and individual online workspaces—have been added to previous innovations like real-time web classes, frame-by-frame feedback via a special online drawing tool, and mentorships with accomplished animation pros.