The AIA Committee on Design (COD) invites architects, students, and allied design professionals to submit sketches to the international 2009 COD Ideas Competition. In this unique sketch competition, submitters are asked to explore the legacy of modernist design, through a concept design problem.

Winners will receive funding to attend the COD Spring Design Conference in Boston and have their work exhibited at the 2009 AIA National Convention in San Francisco. Selected entries will be displayed on the AIA Web site.

Registration deadline is 13 February 2009. Visit the site to learn more.

Microsoft will show its latest tools and platforms for creating and delivering rich interactive content for the Web at the annual CRE8 conference in Orlando in a special keynote session on 1 May, where hundreds of Web and interactive designers will be gathered. Microsoft will be showing its Silverlight platform, which delivers interactive content across various computer platforms, including Mac, PC, and mobile devices, making it a compelling technology for CRE8 Conference attendees. Brian Goldfarb, a group product manager from Microsoft will also be showcasing Expression Studio software tools, which allow Web design professionals to create next generation Web sites, interactive content, and video for delivery to different devices, platforms, and browsers using Silverlight and .NET.

Following the keynote, Microsoft is delivering a hands-on training session for CRE8 conference attendees. The sessions will provide a guided tour of the Expression Studio software tools for creating Web sites, interactive content, and streaming video delivered using Microsoft Silverlight.

Read the rest of this entry »

Calling All Creatives!
MyToons.com Bumper Blastoff Animation Contest - With $7,000 in Cash Prizes - Now Accepting Entries Through Feb. 28
Online Animation Community’s Bumper Blastoff Contest Calls for Animators to Create Animated Bumpers and Compete for Prize Money

SAN ANTONIO - In response to positive animator feedback, MyToons.com, the world’s premier online animation community, is now accepting entries for Bumper Blastoff, its newest international animation contest, through February 28, 2008. Contestants are asked to create original animated bumpers lasting 30 seconds or less, for a chance to win their share of $7,000 in cash prizes. All animators, from students to professionals, are invited to enter Bumper Blastoff at MyToons.com.

Special Student Category:

Six “Rising Stars” in the student category will receive $500 each. One of the student winners will also be crowned “Supreme Rising Star” and will receive a professional portfolio review by INTERspectacular, Victor Newman of Freestyle Collective, and Michael Waldron of Nailgun.

Everyone else is invited to compete for one of MyToons.com’s three “Super Star” Awards. Winners will receive $1,000 each, with one “Supreme Super Star” grand prize winner being awarded an extra $1,000. In addition to these great prizes and worldwide exposure, MyToons.com will award limited edition T-shirts to randomly selected contestants on a weekly basis.

“The Art & Animation Community is our number one priority,” says Stacey Ford, chief creative officer of MyToons, “We are constantly looking for fun and creative ways to engage our members and promote their amazing skills. Bumper Blastoff will help us achieve this goal by empowering and rewarding the hard work and talent of animators everywhere.”

Animations entered into Bumper Blastoff will be judged by leading industry professionals Luis Blanco and Michael Uman, founders and creative directors of INTERspectacular in New York City. The nine winners will be announced on March 12, 2008.

“We’ve seen that students and beginning animators have tremendous talent and great ideas,” says Luis Blanco, one of the key creative directors of INTERspectacular, the award-winning New York-based design and concept studio. “We want to ensure that these amazing artists have equal opportunity to share their ideas and be rewarded for their dedication and creativity,” agrees Michael Uman, co-creative director of INTERspectacular. “The Rising Star category in Bumper Blastoff offers students a much-deserved and challenging opportunity to shine.”

Animators from across the globe are expected to participate in MyToons.com’s second worldwide contest. MyToons’ first contest attracted animators from countries as diverse as Australia, Brazil, France and Germany.

Winning selections will run as pre-rolls and bumpers on MyToons.com and on MyToons’ partner websites. This amazing opportunity will provide the winning animators with great exposure to the millions of people who enjoy MyToons.com. For more information, visit MyToons.com/blastoff.

About MyToons.com
Based in San Antonio Texas, MyToons.com was established in 2006 as the premiere online resource and entertainment destination for professional animators, students, artists and animation fans. Founded by industry leaders Paul Ford, Dan Kraus and Stacey Ford, MyToons.com empowers animators and animation fans everywhere by providing a platform for interaction and world wide exposure.

MyToons is a trademark of MyToons, Inc. All rights reserved. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
For more information, press only:
MyToons Inc.
Jessica Beers
(210) 227-8666

Reader contact:
MyToons Inc.
118 Broadway, Suite 316
San Antonio TX 78205
(210) 227-8666
(210) 227-8667 fax
www.mytoons.com

The Int’l Fest of Cinema and Technology Announces 2007 Award Winners

(January 16, 2008) The Int’l Fest of Cinema and Technology announcedthe winners from its 2007 festival tour. This past year’s festivalevents featured a wide variety of films in different award categories.Festival events took place in The Philippines, Washington DC, NewYork, Jacksonville, Florida, Los Angeles, Burlington, Vermont andLondon. The International Fest of Cinema and Technology has beenpresenting touring film festival events since 2002. The IFCT WorldTour is designed to give exposure to independent films many of whichpreviously had been underexposed to the public. The festival’s mottois it seeks to “discover the undiscovered film.” The “technology” inthe festival’s name occurs both in the content of the festival, whichtends to focus on themes of technology or feature unique creationtechniques, as well as in the method of showcasing content at theevents.

Among this year’s award winners were a few award “sweeps” includingTHE RECE!PT Directed by Tim Garrick which won The IFCT 2007 Award forBest Short and The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Comedic Short. THERECE!PT is an innovative and comedic homage to Run Lola Run starringMatthew D. McCallum, Kristen Bell, and Dina Meyer. About his multiplewins, Garrick stated “We are extremely honored to have won the BestComedic Short and Best Short awards for the IFCT 2007 World Tour. Theopportunity to be part of a truly international film festival wasamazing. We were thrilled that our film found a home in IFCT’sprestigious 2007 line up.”

Other winners of multiple award categories included the French shortfilm “Play the Game,” Directed by Stéphane Barbato, which won The IFCT2007 Award for Best European Short Film, Runner-Up for Best Short andand Honorable Mention for Best Cinematography in a Short Film. Playthe Game is inspired by a true story taken from the First World War.Razor Fish Directed by UK filmmaker Helen Williams won The IFCT 2007Award for Best UK Short, Honorable Mention for The IFCT 2007 Award forBest UK Short and Honorable Mention for The IFCT 2007 Award for BestFemale Director. Razor Fish stars Academy-award winner Brenda Fricker(My Left Foot) About her win, Williams stated “This is my secondshort and entirely self funded. It has been a labour of love oneveryone’s part with the entire cast and crew doing it out of thegoodness of their hearts.” The film Ed I Hide Directed by SuzanneLaine and Len Peltier won The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Screenplay andThe IFCT 2007 Award for Best Female Director

IFCT has a large selection of animated films and films with FX andinnovative visuals. Henry Selick’s short animated film “Moongirl” wonThe IFCT 2007 Award for Best Animation. Selick is the stop-motion gurubehind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.Protocole33 Directed by Benoît Lestang won two awards: The IFCT 2007Award for Best Visual FX and The IFCT 2007 Award for Best VisualInnovation. Lestang has worked as a special effects make-up artist onover 50 feature films. Other animation winners for 2007 included BlurStudio’s “In the Rough” for The IFCT 2007 Award for Best ComedicAnimation, Life in Transition for The IFCT 2007 Award for MostInnovative Animation, Les Humains (music video for aKido) Directed byFélix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël and Thien Vu Dang for The IFCT 2007Award for Best Music Video and Fauna Sutra Directed by Johan won TheIFCT 2007 Award for Best Short Short Animation Directed by JohanKlungel and originating in The Netherlands.

In the festival Documentary category, The Loci Dogma directed byCanadian filmmaker Justin Antippa won The IFCT 2007 Award for BestExperimental Documentary and also Runner-Up for The IFCT 2007 Awardfor Best Cinematography in a Documentary. The film “scans theauthor’s unconsciousness throughout his genetic and environmentalaffiliation.” The World Naked Bike Ride Directed by Johnny Zapatos wonThe IFCT 2007 Award for Best Documentary and The IFCT 2007 Award forBest Director of a Documentary. The Legend of the Holy Fishermendirected by Daniele Atzeni won The IFCT 2007 Award for BestCinematography in a Documentary.

Other winners in the festival Short Film categories included IlRitratto Ovale (Oval Portrait) by Directed by Nestore Buonafede- TheIFCT 2007 Award for Best Cinematography in a Short, Un Dia En La VidaDirected by Marco Orsin- The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Dramai,Radio-The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Canadian Film, Do Not DisturbDirected by Douglas Stark- The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Thriller,Bunny and Clydo Directed by Rocky Jo-The IFCT 2007 Award for BestAction Film, The Last Alchemist Directed by Nicolas Caicoya- The IFCT2007 Award for Best Sci-Fi Film, Anna Directed by Michael Fandl - TheIFCT 2007 Award for Foreign Thriller, The Milky Way Directed by SeanBloch- The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Student Film, Last Night Directedby Scott Patch- The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Microbudget Short andRoad Rage by Kate Duhamel-The IFCT 2007 Award for Best Short ShortFilm.

The Int’l Fest of Cinema and Technology also has a post-2007 freescreening of highlighted animated shorts from last year which istaking place January 29th in Melbourne at The Loop (located at 23Meyers Place), beginning at 8pm. The schedule for IFCT’s upcoming 2008tour which will be beginning shortly can also be found at the website. For the complete list of The Int’l Fest of Cinema and Technology2007 award winners visit www.ifct.org.

The College Television Awards competition, sponsored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, rewards excellence in college student video, digital and film productions. Students currently enrolled in a community college, college or university may apply, and for the first time, can submit their video entries online. The entry deadline is 15 January 2008. Visit the site to learn more.

Wacom Co., Ltd. is 25 years old this year. To commemorate the occasion and thank all of their customers, the Wacom Asia Pacific Community is holding a postcard design contest with the theme: “Thank You.” The Grand Prize winner of the contest will receive a brand new Cintiq 12WX, an innovative new interactive pen display for graphics professionals. In addition, winning artwork or artworks will be published by Wacom on postcards that will be included with thousands of Wacom tablets.

Prizes can be awarded only to residents of Wacom Asia Pacific countries (excluding Japan, China and Hong Kong). In the event that a resident of a non-Asia Pacific country is a prize winner, the above Wacom prizes may be forfeited. Limited to one entry per person. Deadline is 21 December 2007. Visit the site to learn more.