Nelvana is bursting onto the high-tech scene with the launch a New Media division headed by recently appointed GM Miklos Tomka. The division is hitting the ground running with plans to develop the first Macromedia Flash animation series for TV broadcast, start up a CD-ROM publishing program and create a new Web site geared to on-line entertainment and e-commerce activities.

Heading up the division’s to-do list is the production of When Quads Won’t Leave, a half-hour prime-time Flash animation series created by quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. Toronto-based animation net Teletoon has already signed to air the series starting this fall.

The CD-ROM initiative will get off to an equally speedy start, with two Franklin titles set for a Christmas 2000 release. Nelvana has signed with California-based Havas Interactive to distribute the titles in the U.S. and overseas.

The new www.nelvana.com Web site is being designed by Toronto-based Snap Media for a summer 2000 launch. Nelvana plans to invest about US$340,000 in Web upgrades this year.