Babelgum Animatron Film Festival
Cash Prizes to Be Awarded October 10 at the Hamptons International Film Festival
Short-Film Submissions Extended One Week to August 29
New York / London (August 23, 2010) Digital broadcast network Babelgum announced today the addition of three jurors to the Babelgum Animatron Film Festival, the first tri-platform (online, mobile and offline) competition for animation, including two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels, Guard Dog), Saraswathi Balgam (Managing Director, Rhythm and Hues Studios, ASIFA India), and Peruvian native Frank Rivera (Kappa Mikey, Speed Racer: The Next Generation). In addition, Babelgum has extended the Animatron submission period by one week, with final entries due August 29.
The competition will culminate in a special public screening program, The Hamptons Animation Showcase, on October 10 at the 2010 Hamptons International Film Festival, followed by a symposium on “The Future of Animation” featuring panelists from major studios and television networks, leading filmmakers, and some of the pioneers of animation. Additional support on marketing and media visibility for the Animatron Film Festival will come from Shooting People, the social network for independent filmmakers, and RingTales, a company that specializes in animating syndicated comic strips (Dilbert, The New Yorker).
Entries will be eligible for an Audience Award voted on by the public as well as cash prizes from a select jury of leaders in the animation, film, and television world. The newly added jurors will join RotoScope pioneer Tommy Pallotta (Snack and Drink, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly), industry leader and visual-effects producer Charlotte Bavasso (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Nexus Productions), and animators Pete Bishop (Bromwell High, Captain Star), Isaac Littlejohn Eddy (Anatomy of a Dog Show, Capturing King), and Jeffrey Scher (Paper View, Lost and Found, Tulips).
Submissions will be available for global viewing at www.babelgum.com/animatron and on the free Babelgum mobile apps in mid September. Votes for the audience award can be placed online or via the mobile apps. Attendees at the Hamptons International Film Festival will also have a chance to cast votes for the Audience Awards, which will be tabulated together with online/mobile audience votes.
Karen Arikian, Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival, stated, “For 17 years, the Hamptons has proudly offered a home for the very best in animation with special programs and showcase events, but we're especially pleased this year to host the Animatron Online and Mobile Film Festival screening with our partners at Babelgum. Like us, they believe in supporting the work of independent animators from around the world, and this event promises to be one of the highlights at this year's edition, not to mention one of the most fun.”
Filmmaker and juror Tommy Pallotta said, “It's exciting to be part of Babelgum's inaugural Animatron festival, both as a juror and as a spectator. The animation community has its prestige events and awards ceremonies in Ottawa, Annecy, and elsewhere, but it's high time for a competition that branches into the online and mobile space, providing increased exposure to short filmmakers at a time when many traditional channels of distribution have become harder than ever to tap into. I look forward to the judging, and to discovering the work of talented animators whose work should be better known.”
Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 PM EST on August 29th, 2010. Further information about the cash awards, categories, submission specifications, and regulations, including deadlines for viewing and voting, are available at www.babelgum.com/animation-film-festival.
About Hamptons International Film Festival
The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate the Independent film - long, short, fiction and documentary - and to introduce a unique, varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to the public. The Festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. For more information about the Festival, and to become a member, please visit our website at www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.
About Shooting People (www.shootingpeople.org)
Shooting People is the world's largest networking organization dedicated to the support and promotion of independent filmmaking. Over 35,000 members in the UK and US share tips recommendations and news using Shooting People's website, the nine Daily Bulletins to get their films cast and crewed, and individual Member Profiles to exhibit themselves and their work to their peers, the industry and the world. Founded in 1998 by filmmakers Jess Search and Cath le Couteur, Shooting People's patrons include Mike Figgis (Founder Patron), Sally Potter, Morgan Spurlock, Christine Vachon, Michael Nyman, Penny Woolcock, and Jason Solomons.
About RingTales (www.ringtales.com)
RingTales is a new media company founded by Jim Cox and Michael Fry that animates print comics for all digital media. RingTales holds the exclusive rights to animate Dilbert and the New Yorker Cartoons and several other popular comics including Pearls Before Swine, Bloom County, Over the Hedge, Cul de Sac, Lio, and Pooch Café. RingTales animations have been viewed over 180 million times since March 2007. Jim Cox is a long-time feature animation writer and producer. His credits include co-executive producer on the 2006 DreamWorks Animation feature animated hit Over the Hedge, writer/producer on Ferngully, story on Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and screenwriter on The Rescuers Down Under and Oliver & Company. Michael Fry is a four-time internationally syndicated cartoonist. He currently writes the comic strip Over the Hedge, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film of the same name that earned $335 million dollars in worldwide box office.
About Babelgum (www.babelgum.com)
Babelgum is an integrated web and mobile video content platform free for users and supported by advertising available on-demand to a global audience. Babelgum Mobile is an original application currently available in the United States, UK, Italy, Germany, France and Spain which brings regionally tailored programming to smart phones – at present iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android - via 3G and WiFi (www.babelgum.com/mobile).
Positioned between user generated video hubs and network TV-oriented destinations, Babelgum focuses on the third part of the ecosystem: innovative, editorially curated and professionally produced content on very specific passions – music, comedy, film, animation, urban culture, nature, and the environment. Babelgum's programming is comprised of exclusive original productions as well as independent and mainstream titles. Babelgum's content partners include, among others, EMI, Sony Music, the New York Times, Funny or Die, PBS, BBC, VBS, Lonely Planet, Coolhunting, National Geographic, ContentFilm International, Shine Limited, Cinetic Rights Management, iThentic, Gong Anime, FilmBuff, WorkBook Project, Cinelan, Reverse Shot, Shooting People, Film Independent, Power to the Pixel, and the Spirit Awards as well as the Encounters, Los Angeles, and Hamptons film festivals.
The company has also set up a series of online contests to nurture independent film, music and art talent: the Babelgum Online Film Festival, the Babelgum Music Video Awards and the Babelgum Metropolis Art Prize, chaired respectively by Spike Lee (BOFF1 & 2), Michel Gondry, and Isabella Rossellini.
Babelgum is an independent and privately held company with offices in the UK, United States, and Italy.
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