Virtual cartoon studio aniBoom will soon close the submission process for its third annual aniBoom Awards. Independent animators of all types around the globe have until Dec. 1 to enter their original work. More than 850 submissions have been received so far, and are now being viewed and ranked by the community on aniBoom.com and by a select panel of entertainment industry luminaries. At stake is a grand prize that includes a $25,000 development investment and a distribution deal with aniBoom.
In addition to the overall winner, three selected community favorites will be selected based on aniBoom’s online animation community ranking, and three top selections will be made by the competition’s panel of judges. All six selections will be awarded a share of the $50,000 in cash and prizes, including ToonBoom software and CG Society books. All 50 of the top picks will receive prizes including Stash DVD magazines with coupon cards inserted, valued at $55 each.
‘We’ve watched the aniBoom Awards evolve over the past two years into a genuine industry showcase reflective of the company’s mission: to inspire and publish untapped talent worldwide, introduce new work to global mass audiences and to partner with these preeminent creators to commercialize original animated content for multi-platform distribution,’ says Uri Shinar, founder and president of aniBoom. ‘We have every reason to expect this year’s competition will be robust and exciting’meeting and even surpassing what we’ve come to expect from our aspiring artists’ community.’
This year’s expert judging panel incudes Yair Landau, former President of Sony Pictures Digital; John Mass, executive VP at the William Morris Agency; Peter Hirshberg, chairman of the executive committee at Technorati Inc., Mauro Del Rio, founder and chairman of Buongiorno; Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, founder and CEO of the Gotham Group; Barbara Corday, senior television producer at Columbia Pictures; and Yehuda Wurtzel, senior VP of content development at Aniboom.
