Following is the full press release from Starz Entertainment LLC regarding the second set of their animated shorts series, The ‘Wood, “that pays homage to the unique characters that make up Hollywood,” including a link to its preview hosted at YouTube:

For Immediate Release

Englewood, Colo., Aug. 31, 2006 – Starz has added a new cast of characters to the family from Hollywood – The ‘Wood that is. The ‘Wood is a series of original animated shorts, produced by 23D Films, that pays homage to the unique characters that make up Hollywood. The first shorts introducing you to our six cele-bear-ties are currently being rolled out on Starz. The next round of storylines featuring the bears are in production and will debut on Starz in September.

“Starz loves the fascinating, creative and crazy world of Hollywood and those who inhabit it,” said David Charmatz, senior vice president of channel management for Starz Entertainment. “The ‘Wood is our tongue-in-cheek homage to the characters and spectacles that make the movies.”

Each character in The ‘Wood embodies a different celebrity persona from the young ingenue soaking up the limelight to the aging legend who wants to get out of the spotlight. “Starz is the perfect outlet to celebrate and razz the entertainment industry, which provides me with a great deal of satisfaction,” said John Mathot, designer and animator of The ‘Wood. “It’s a ton of fun to bring these characters to life, and I hope people will get a kick out of them.”

The six cele-bear-ties who make up The ‘Wood are:

• Arctic Circle – a rapper turned actor who skated right from the recording studio to the big screen without having to struggle to find his fame. He’s a nice guy who occasionally uses his status to espouse his political views.
• Bruin McTeague – an action hero with a tough-as-nails image. The problem? He is phobic – afraid of guns, heights, violence and more. His management’s biggest fear is that his fans will find out he is less than he portrays onscreen.
• Epiffany – She is the ingénue – the toast of young Hollywood – a very charming girl who delights in shopping, parties, gossip, and fabu restaurants. None of her fellow celebs seem to recall what her last movie was – did she even do one? – and the rest of the world doesn’t care.
• Maximillian Rugg – He is the aging legend who would prefer to retire and get out of the spotlight, but his legion of new young fans made him one of the hottest tickets in town. He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor about his again-found fame, so it’s kind of fun to watch him squirm.
• Roman Fjords – He is the comic maniac – you know, the guy who has everyone he knows in stitches and delights people on his movie sets. The only thing is that he will often take the jokes too far and turn silly fun into an uncomfortable situation.
• Ursula Majors – She is the female lead who lives in her own little bubble. She certainly means well, what with her charity work and general philanthropic giving, she’s just an extremely confident woman who is positive that her way is the right way – and no one can tell her differently.

The ‘Wood is created exclusively for Starz by 23D Films. 23D Films combined the traditional hand-drawn animation with digital techniques that create the illusion of both 2D and 3D animation together.

About 23D Films

23D Films is a full service design, motion graphics and animation production studio. Founded in 1996, 23D Films provides classically trained character animators and veterans of primetime hit shows such as South Park, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Futurama, and Ren & Stimpy among others. 23D Films showcases the most innovative and cutting-edge work using 2-D and 3-D animation and design for DVD Menus, packaging and print graphics along with character and program development. 23D Films is experienced in the full spectrum entertainment graphics including Film, Television, Music Videos, Commercials, Studio and Network, On-Air Broadcast Promos along with broadband networks and wireless content development to name a few. Recent clients include: Disney Internet Group, Disney Online, Sony Home Entertainment, Starz Entertainment Group, Comedy Central, Weller/Grossman Productions, Vidiator Mobile Entertainment, Rainbow Media, Voom, WE, AMC, IFC, MagRack, Taurus Entertainment and Daft Punk. For more information, please visit www.23Dfilms.com.

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment LLC is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 15.1 million and 27.1 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HDTV, Starz On Demand and Vongo^SM. Starz Entertainment is an operating unit of Starz LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group, www.starz.com.