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In studio news, The Walt Disney Company has promoted Oren Aviv to the newly-created position of Chief Creative Officer. Aviv, who has headed Buena Vista Pictures Marketing since 2000, recently served as executive producer for the hit film "National Treasure" starring Nicholas Cage.

Aviv's pre-Disney credits include the ABC hit series "Roseanne" and "Twin Peaks," the surreal David Lynch series.

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Producer Scott Rudin reportedly will leave Paramount Studios at the end of his current term and move to Disney Studios. Under a five-year agreement, the producer of such hits as "Sleepy Hollow," "Clueless," "The Addams Family" and the Oscar-winning film "The Hours" is expected to focus on Disney's Miramax label, although he will also be involved with the Disney Pictures and Touchstone imprints. Rudin has 18 months remaining in his contract with Paramount.

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Are you a "Pirates of the Caribbean" fanatic? Consider membership in KeepToTheCode.com, the official fan site of the Pirates films! Click here to find out how you can support the site.

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On Tuesday Buena Vista Games, the interactive entertainment division of Disney, announced a deal to acquire Salt Lake City-based Avalanche Software LC, as well as open a development studio in Vancouver, British Columbia.

BVG general manager and senior vice president Graham Hopper commented, "The acquisition of Avalanche Software and the creation of a development studio in Vancouver mark a significant milestone in becoming a top tier video game publisher by securing the industry's top talent to build and create game franchises."

In related news, Disney Online has reported a 16 percent increase in its internet traffic in March of this year, with the total year-to-year traffic up 44 per cent.

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KTTC team member Lady Killigrew's fabulous pirate artwork is available to wear! Visit the KTTC CafePress store at www.cafepress.com/keeptothecode to pick up some of the coolest summerwear to ever sail the seven seas!
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UPDATED 4pm EST

Press Release

Sonic Powers Demonstration of Advanced Interactivity for HD Disc Formats

Joint iHD Preview with Microsoft Highlights Bonus Features and Connectivity for High Definition Video Titles

NAB 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 19, 2005)

Sonic Solutions (NASDAQ: SNIC), the leader in digital media authoring software, today with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) demonstrated iHD, developed by Microsoft and The Walt Disney Studios to deliver advanced interactivity for new HD-based disc formats. The Sonic-developed demonstration offers NAB attendees a compelling preview of the future of high definition video entertainment, showcasing Sonic's patented InterActual® technology which enables viewers of HD video discs to experience advanced interactivity along with access to supplemental movie-synchronized content that can come from disc or the Internet. Many of the features highlighted in the demonstration build on the same type of capabilities already supported in Sonic's industry-leading authoring systems and workflow solutions for interactive DVDs, and are being integrated into Sonic's systems for HD-based discs to facilitate the planned launches of next-generation formats in 2005 and 2006.

(read the full release here)
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