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NEW YORK, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Nine talented online artists -- winners of the first annual alt.SHO.com Alternative Media Festival -- will be able to fund their next big projects following an awards gala held last night at The MTV Studios in New York. The winners received a crystal award as well as a $10,000 check. An additional Grand Prize of $20,000 was awarded for ``Best SHO.''
Hosted by alt.SHO.com, Showtime Networks Inc.'s newest online entertainment destination, the festival is an ongoing event which encourages innovative new media content creation by offering a high-profile viewing venue for animators, directors, and online entertainment enthusiasts to debut their work.
The winning original electronic presentations, or ``SHOs'' from each of nine
genre categories included:
* The "Best SHO" Grand Prize winner from the Experimental category,
"Hardly Workin'" by Paul Marino and The ILL Clan.
* Action/Adventure: "Shizuka Arashi," by Richard Dombeck
* Comedy: "NYU Ball Grab" by Gregor Ehrlich, Moth Productions
* Documentary: "Rats to Roses" By Tamra Raven
* Drama: "Fowl Play" by Jony Chandra, Studiopunch
* Family: "Sea Dream" by Robert Cameron, Fantascope
* Sci-Fi: "Void Runners" by Robert Riter
* Thriller/Horror: "The Devil's Tramping Ground" by Robert "Ed Bain"
McNeil
* Toys/Games: "Cartooning with Math" by Bill Costello.
To encourage use of digital tools, the festival distinguished itself from competitors by only accepting submissions created exclusively in one of the following web-appropriate formats: QuickTime, Flash (source only), Director Shockwave, Windows Media (AVI), MPG, Java Applet, HTML (Java Script, VB Script, Animated GIF) or RealMedia. The works, while rated by online viewers, were judged by a panel of entertainment and technology experts. Winning SHOs were those which displayed the best use of technique and technological expertise, the inherent quality of design and showed both creativity and vision.
Comedian Greg Proops, best known for his numerous appearances on the comedy series ``Whose Line is it Anyway?'' hosted by Drew Carey, served as master of ceremony and Courtney Pulitzer, President of Courtney Pulitzer Creations, presented the awards. The evening was sponsored in part by Xcelerate, Unicast, Digital Island, Wetair.com, NSI WEB, Sun Microsystems, BigMailBox.com, Digital Island, ScreamingMedia and Adobe Systems, Inc.
More About The Winners:
Best SHO winner: The Experimental piece, ``Hardly Workin''' by Paul Marino and The ILL Clan, stars Larry and Lenny Lumberjack who are searching for jobs so they can afford their stylin' new apartment. The ILL Clan is a small NYC-based group using two unique approaches to their particular animation blend -- comedy improvisation and game-engines. The film's dialogue is recorded by the group's improvisers while they follow a story outline. Listening to the improvised dialogue, the scenes are ``filmed'' inside the virtual environment of a 3D computer game. Each member controls a character while listening to the dialogue -- thus performing a sort of virtual puppeteering. Another member acts as the camera, recording the scene from his perspective. The recorded shots are then selected and edited together with dialogue, effects and music.
``Shizuka Arashi'' by Richard Dombeck is a quick Flash(TM) animation created in anime style that depicts a clash between two martial artists and the eventual victor. Richard Dombeck is a computer animator currently attending the Illinois Institute of Art (Schaumburg, Il) where he is pursuing a degree in Media Arts & Animation. He has a passion for Japanese anime and credits it as having heavily influenced his work.
``NYU Ball Grab'' by Gregor Ehrlich of Moth Productions follows a young man's epic odyssey as he comes of age in the vivid and sexually charged world of alcohol, drugs and club culture. Gregor Ehrlich is the man behind Moth Productions. He most recently animated interstitials on a daily show in production with MTV and is working on several projects in development.
``Rats to Roses'' by Tamra Raven celebrates New York City's community gardens and the dedicated volunteers who keep them flourishing. Tamra Raven recently founded Out of the Dirt Productions to raise awareness and encourage action on urgent environmental, health and social issues. She also works as a producer for Cafe Digital, Oxygen Network and for the postproduction facility Mad Mad Judy.
``Fowl Play'' by Jony Chandra of Studiopunch is a short story of greed, friendship, and moral values told through a relationship between a man, his chicken and his family in a small town somewhere in Mexico. Studiopunch consists of five core members who, working out of a small garage in San Francisco, collaborate with other local artists to create content for the new era of entertainment.
``Sea Dream'' by Robert Cameron, Fantascope, brings a more dimensional, painterly look to Flash(TM) animation. Illustrations were created in Painter(TM) and Illustrator® and the animation was done using Flash 5(TM). Fantascope is a New York animation studio with a passion for internet entertainment. ``Sea Dream'' was produced by Robert Cameron and Illustrated and Animated by Lucas Lamarca.
``Void Runners'' by Robert Riter tells how the skeleton crew of the Ktulu runs into more than just asteroids on a cargo run in the Rasta Belt of space. Robert Riter has worked in CGI for almost 11 years. During the past six years, while undertaking other projects, he has spent much of his time creating two universes, Void Runners and LifeBane, with plans of taking them into the realm of both interactive and televised media.
``The Devil's Tramping Ground'' by Robert ``Ed Bain'' McNeil is an animated tribute to one of North Carolina's most famous haunted sites. Robert McNeil is a director, performer, and producer based in New York City. He often freelances as a graphic artist, and his work has been featured on numerous online sites such as Animation Express, IFilm, MSNBC.COM, Entertainment Weekly, and the Industry Standard. He most recently created and directed the holiday Flash(TM) animation for LucasFilms Online.
``Cartooning with Math'' by Bill Costello shows individuals how to draw a mouse cartoon by using only odd numbers. Bill Costello's syndicated political cartoons have appeared in over 600 periodicals, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. He is the author of four books: ``Cartooning with Math''; ``Cartooning with Letters, Numbers and Shapes''; ``Creativity for Kids of All Ages'' and ``Awaken Your Birdbrain.''
The Judges:
Michael Rapaport made his acting debut in 1993 in the critically acclaimed ``Zebrahead.'' He starred in ``Bamboozled,'' Higher Learning,`` ''Cop Land,`` ''Beautiful Girls,`` and ''Small Time Crooks.`` He recently started his own production company to work on short films that will premiere on the internet.
Jaime Levy wrote, directed, and produced the award winning cartoon series ``CyberSlacker'' and was named ``One of the most influential people to watch in cyberspace,'' by Newsweek magazine.
Graham Robertson and Philip Stark, co-creators of the popular ``Wassup/Budweiser/Superfriends'' parody on the internet, are currently working on an animated series ``Galaxy Defenders.''
Aliza Sherman is the creator of three websites for women: Cybergrrl.com, Webgrrls.com and Femina.com. She is the author of three books for women and the internet.
Director of Talent and Development at Comedy Central Chris Young has written for MTV and VH1.
Heidi Swanson, founder and creator of ChickClick.com, is currently working on KinderCreate.com.
Michael Tchong is the CEO and founder of ICONOCAST Inc.
alt.SHO.com, presented by Showtime Networks Inc., is designed to be the premiere online entertainment destination where artists and audiences come together to create and enjoy the best in alternative media. Providing visitors with a highly interactive and uniquely collaborative environment, alt.SHO.com blurs the line between those who create and those who watch.
SHO.com is the Internet website of Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI). SNI, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc., owns the premium television networks SHOWTIME, THE MOVIE CHANNEL and FLIX. SNI operates and manages the premium television network SUNDANCE CHANNEL, which is owned by SNI, Robert Redford and Universal Studios. SNI also markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis.
SOURCE: alt.SHO.com
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