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aniBoom Awards 3 Names Winning AnimationsSAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- aniBoom, the world's first animation virtual studio, has unveiled the winners for its Third Annual aniBoom Awards designed for independent animators across the globe. After receiving roughly 1300 entries from 93 cities in 27 countries, the grand prize was awarded to Joaquin Baldwin from Sherman Oaks, California by a high profile executive jury and millions of viewers. Baldwin's animation, "Sebastian's Voodoo," is a touching story of a voodoo doll who sacrifices himself for his friends. As the grand prize winner, Baldwin will receive a $25,000 investment in commercial development and a distribution deal with aniBoom that will enable the winning animator to receive significant career-making exposure through a variety of outlets and channels. "We applaud all those who entered the aniBoom Awards from around the world and particularly congratulate the extremely talented artists who earned cash and prizes," said Uri Shinar, founder and president of aniBoom. "Year after year, we look forward to seeing remarkable animations, sharing the work of these independent artists with the world, and partnering to develop the next breakthrough animation property." Along with the top winner, aniBoom's online animation community selected three Community Favorites, led by top community winner "Bang Bang You are Bread" by Australia's Mitch Wade, while the competition's panel of judges chose three Top Selections led by Germany's Tomer Eshed and his animation, "Our Wonderful Nature." These six winners along with the top 50 community picks will share $50,000 in cash and prizes, including ToonBoom software, CG Society books, and Stash DVD magazines with coupon cards valued at $55. In addition to the cash and prizes, winners of the aniBoom Awards will benefit from substantial exposure across aniBoom's multi-platform animation network and will be considered for original series development deals. "We at aniBoom were very excited to implement an innovative ranking system for this year's aniBoom Awards that gauged community popularity not only by views and votes but also by how viral an animation was," said Shawn Stein, online marketing director for aniBoom. "The community ranking is made up of a number of factors online giving a real and fair indication of how popular a movie becomes." Grand Prize Sebastian's Voodoo - By Joaquin Baldwin (Grand Prize) http://www.aniboom.com/video/285055/Sebastians Voodoo/ A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death. Jury Winner Our Wonderful Nature - By Tomer Eshed http://www.aniboom.com/video/316280/Our Wonderful Nature/ In an exciting wildlife show exposé, the mating rituals of Water Shrews are revealed to be more than just a quick scuffle. Community Winner Bang Bang You are Bread - By Mitch Wade http://www.aniboom.com/video/291768/Bang Bang You are Bread/ A psychotic loaf of bread seeks revenge on Dr Atkins, creator of the low-carb revolution. For more details on the Third Annual aniBoom Awards or to watch all the winning entries, visit: http://www.aniboom.com/awards2008/ The judging panel for the aniBoom Awards included Yair Landau, former President of Sony Pictures Digital, Barbara Corday, a top American television executive, writer and producer mainly known for co-creating the television series Cagney & Lacey, Peter Hirshberg, Chairman & Chief Marketing Officer of Technorati, John Mass, Executive Vice President and head of Corporate Development and New Ventures for the William Morris Agency, LLC, Mauro Del Rio, Founder and Chairman of Buongiorno S.p.A., Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Founder and CEO of the Gotham Group, and Yehuda Wurtzel, Senior Vice President, Content Development and Production at aniBoom. The aniBoom vision: unprecedented career opportunities for Animators worldwide aniBoom's vision is to leverage the web to identify the best global animation talent, and develop their work for commercial applications for TV, Advertising, Gaming and Mobile Content customers. One successful example of this unique model is the company's recent music video contest for songs from Radiohead's "In Rainbows" album, for which more than 1000 videos were created by the independent professional community, four of which were selected by Radiohead and awarded funding to complete final production of their videos. About aniBoom aniBoom (www.aniBoom.com) is the premier virtual animation studio that partners with untapped talent around the world to create, produce and distribute compelling high quality animation brands. By leveraging the web to identify the best global talent, aniBoom cultivates animated content intended for commercial applications in TV, Advertising, Digital Gaming, Web and Mobile Content industries worldwide. At aniBoom.com, a vibrant community of world class animators and animation enthusiasts create, share, watch and rate an increasingly growing library of original independent cartoons and animations that crosses multiple genres and interests. To decrease potential risks for media distributors, this unique community - along with aniBoom's network of web and mobile distribution partners - serves as a testing ground by supplying rankings, comments and viewership metrics which enable aniBoom to offer content with extreme validation and high audience approval ratings. With investors such as Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures, and Evergreen Venture Partners, experienced entertainment and new media executives, and a global community of professional animators, aniBoom's unique virtual studio model sets a new standard on how animated content is created, validated and commercialized. aniBoom is based in Israel with its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco. |
