"Simpsons" Feature Rams Into A Higher Gear

I spent a lot of Friday at IDT Entertainment... And staff levels for "The Simpsons" feature are steadily rising as the production tempo increases. Artists working on the t.v. "Simpsons" inform me they expect to be drafted onto the feature sometime around Christmas. This is one more case of a high-profile studio feature plowing toward a hard release date, and the release date is set in concrete. Over at "King of the Hill," the staff is working away on the second floor of Film Roman's old facility on Chandler. Things seems to be humming along well, but the layout department is gone, as Fox is trying to produce new episodes on a leaner budget.