NewTek Congratulates Emmy® Visual Effects Nominees!

Seven of Ten Nominees for Special Visual Effects Used LightWave 3D®

San Diego, CA, SIGGRAPH – July 28, 2003 -- NewTek, Inc., manufacturer of industry-leading 3D animation and video products, today extended their congratulations to the Emmy® nominees in the Special Visual Effects categories for 2003. For the second year in a row, all five nominees in the Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series category, and two nominees in the Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special category (Children of Dune and Taken) relied on LightWave 3D® as a key tool in their visual effects arsenal.

“We're honored that our software has been used by these great artists to bring incredible visions to the screen, and to achieve this extraordinary level of recognition,” said Jim Plant, President and Chief Executive Officer of NewTek, Inc. “We have always been dedicated to providing a tool set so powerful and affordable as to be an incomparable value proposition for the CG artist and producer, one that lets them raise the bar on what is possible in the tight time and budget constraints of professional production.”

NewTek's LightWave 3D offers one of the most complete professional toolsets in the industry at the most affordable price, and is used worldwide for broadcast graphics, games, print, web, and visual effects for film and television. LightWave combines a state-of-the-art photo-real renderer with intuitive and powerful modeling and animation tools, and is often used as a complete 3D production solution. LightWave also includes a powerful scripting language, API and advanced integration with other popular production tools.

“LightWave has been designed for the filmmaker,” says Don McCoy, of Area 51, nominated this year for their work in Children of Dune. “You are able to create everything with LightWave. You can model your vehicles, buildings, environments and characters, and put realistic textures on them. Assemble your models on a virtual soundstage, put a camera in your scene, put in light sources and match them to known values, and render. The resulting image has exactly the beautiful, real look that you need.”

In the last ten years seven Emmy® Visual Effects awards went to productions that used LightWave as their 3D tool of choice. Both Emmy® VFX category winners in 2001, Star Trek: Voyager and Frank Herbert’s Dune, were produced using LightWave 3D, as well as 2001 Oscar® nominee for Best Animated Picture, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The Emmy®-winning tradition for LightWave-powered productions continued with 2002 Series VFX Emmy winner Enterprise: Broken Bow.

2003 Emmy Nominees

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series

• Buffy The Vampire Slayer • Chosen • UPN • Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, Sandollar in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Loni Peristere, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Patricia Gannon, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Ronald Thornton, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Chris Zapara, Lead CG Artist
  • Rick Baumgartner, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Christopher Jones, Lead Compositor
  • Michael D. Leoni, CG Supervisor
  • David Funston, Digital Artist
  • Kevin Quattro, Digital Artist
    
    
• Enterprise • Dead Stop • UPN • Paramount Pictures
  • Mitch Suskin, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Art Codron, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Steve Fong, Visual Effects Compositor
  • Greg Rainoff, Visual Effects Animator
  • Robert Bonchune, CGI Supervisor
  • Pierre Drolet, Lead Modeler
  • Sean Scott, CGI Artist
  • John Teska, CGI Artist
  • Koji Kuramura, CGI Artist
    
    
• Enterprise • The Crossing • UPN • Paramount Pictures
  • Dan Curry, Visual Effects Producer
  • Ronald B. Moore, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Armen Kevorkian, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Paul Hill, Visual Effects Artist
  • David Morton, Digital Effects Supervisor
  • John M. Teska, Visual Effects Animator
  • Sean Scott, Visual Effects Animator
  • Pierre M. Drolet, Lead Modeler
    
    
• Enterprise • The Expanse • UPN • Paramount Pictures
  • Dan Curry, Visual Effects Producer
  • Ronald B. Moore, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Elizabeth Castro, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Paul Hill, Visual Effects Compositor
  • Fred Pienkos, CG Animation Supervisor
  • Greg Rainoff, Visual Effects Animator
  • Sean Scott, CG Animator
  • Eric Hance, CG Animator
  • Bruce Branit, CG Animation Supervisor
    
    
• Firefly • Serenity • FOX • Mutant Enemy, Inc. in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Loni Peristere, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Kristen Leigh Branan, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Emile Smith, Digital Effects Supervisor
  • Rocco Passionino, Digital Effects Suipervisor
  • Lee Stringer, CG Supervisor
  • Kyle Toucher, Animator
  • Jarrod Davis, Animator
  • Terry Naas, Animator
  • Chris Jones, Compositing Supervisor

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special

• Building The Great Pyramid • Discovery Channel • BBC/Discovery Channel/NDR co-production and in association with TBS
  • Angela Hunt, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • David Houghton, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
  • Jodi Bares, Lead Visual Effects Animator
  • Henrik Holmberg, Lead Matte Artist
  • Adrian Wyer, CGI Supervisor
  • Nick Webber, Lead CGI Artist
  • Chris Thomas, Lead CGI Artist
  • Lorraine Cooper, Lead CGI Artist
  • Stuart Cripps, Lead CGI Artist
    
    
• Frank Herbert’s Children Of Dune • Night 1 • Sci Fi • New Amsterdam Entertainment, Inc. in association with Blixa Film Produktion and Co. KG and Touchstone Television Productions, LLC
  • Ernest Farino, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Tim McHugh, Visual Effects Producer
  • Vît Komrzy, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Andrew Harlow, Lead Model Maker
  • Cris Zapara, Lead Visual Effects Animator
  • Don L. McCoy, Lead Visual Effects Animator
  • Barry Howell, Lead Visual Effects Animator
  • Michael F. Hoover, Lead Visual Effects Animator
  • Glenn Campbell, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
    
    
• The Lost World • Part 2 • A&E • An A&E/BBC co-production in association with RTL Television
  • Scott Griffin, Visual Effects Producer
  • William Bartlett, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Virgil Manning, Animation Supervisor
  • Paul Verrall, Special Effects Supervisor
  • Simon Whalley, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Ben Cronin, Visual Effects Artist
  • Stuart M. Ellis, 3D Animator
  • John Howarth, Visual Effects DOP
  • Richard Gregory, Lead Animatronics
    
    
• Point Of Origin • HBO • New Redemption Pictures in association with HBO Films
  • Patrick Clancey, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Linda McDonnell, Visual Effects Coordinator
  • Mark Intravartolo, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
  • Danny Mudgett, Lead Visual Effects Compositor
  • Rocco Passionino, Lead 3D Artist
    
    
• Steven Spielberg Presents Taken • Episode 2 - Jacob And Jesse • Sci Fi • Dreamworks
  • James Lima, Visual Effects Supervisor
  • Josh Saeta, Lead Compositor
  • Peter Nye, Lead VFX Animator
  • Salar Saleh, Lead VFX Animator
  • Tim Guyer, Lead Matte Artist
  • Doug Wolf, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator
  • Dave Mclean, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator
  • Eric Gamache, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator

Pricing and Availability
LightWave 3D [8] is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2003, for a suggested retail price of $1595US. LightWave 3D [7.5] is available now at authorized NewTek resellers worldwide for a suggested retail price of $1595US, and those who purchase from now until LightWave 3D [8] ships will receive a free electronic upgrade to LightWave [8]. Registered owners of LightWave 3D [7.5] or earlier are eligible to purchase an upgrade to LightWave [8] for $495US. To locate the nearest authorized reseller or distributor, see our reseller locater at http://www.newtek.com. Through September 15, purchases of full seats will include DFX+, a $995 value, Module 1 - Visual Effects, a $495 value, and Module 4 - 3D Tools, a $295 value, at no additional charge. Through July 31st, 2003, upgrades will include also includes DFX+ and Modules 1 and 4 at no additional cost. Purchasers who would prefer to receive upgrades in package form with printed manual and CD rather than in electronic form will be able to purchase a Convenience Upgrade option for $99, directly from NewTek. For more information on the items offered and to purchase direct from NewTek, visit: http://www.newtek.com or call NewTek Sales at 1-800-368-5441, overseas callers dial +1-210-370-8000.

NewTek is previewing LightWave 3D [8] at SIGGRAPH 2003, Booth # 2848, San Diego Convention Center, July 29-31, 2003.

About NewTek
With headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation and special effects tools including VT[3]™, LightWave 3D® and Aura Video Paint™. NewTek launched the desktop video revolution in 1990 with the release of the legendary VT®. The company’s products are used worldwide on projects ranging from home video to feature film. Recent television and film projects using NewTek software include Children of Dune, Firefly, Taken, Smallville, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek 10: Nemesis, Daredevil, Spy Kids II, We Were Soldiers, Panic Room, Hart’s War, Driven, A.I., Oscar®-nominated Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Final Fantasy, Blackhawk Down, The Time Machine and Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director’s Edition DVD. Recent game titles include Doom III, Unreal Tournament, Serious Sam for XBox, Age of Mythology, Civilization III, Dead to Rights, Baldur’s Gate II, EverQuest and Escape From Monkey Island. Website: http://www.newtek.com

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