The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is conducting the Texas High School Film Competition. This will be the fourth year for this very popular program, which is now a regularly featured component of the film festival, scheduled March 7-15, 2008 in Austin, TX.

The deadline for entering films for the 2008 SXSW Texas High School Film Competition is Dec. 20, 2007. High school films can be submitted via a special website: http://2008.sxsw.com/film/submit/texas_students. The competition is open to all Texas high school students enrolled in the 9th through 12th grades for the full 2007-2008 academic year. Only films completed in 2007 will be considered. All films that are chosen as finalists will be shown in a special program as part of the regular SXSW 2008 schedule. Final round judging will be done by independent filmmakers and industry professionals.

For more information, visit www.sxsw.com/.

The Bristol School of Animation at the University of the West of England and Aardman Animations join forces for the annual storyboarding competition for 2008. Entrants are asked to produce an It can be serious, touching, funny, even a spoof, but it must be thirty seconds long with a three-second pack shot at the end and no longer than 20 frames. First prize is a free place to study either 2D drawn or 3D Stop Motion Pro in Bristol School of Animation's "Three Month Animation Course" running from June until September 2008. The prize includes accommodation. There will also be runners-up prizes on offer. The competition is open to everyone over 18 years of age. For more information, call +44 (0)117 32 848410, email amd.shortcourses@uwe.ac.uk, or visit www.uwe.ac.uk/amd.

Babelgum, the free to view global television network, is hosting the Babelgum Online Film Festival. Submissions will be exposed to public rating on Babelgum before being judged by the festival jury, led by Spike Lee. The other jurors consist of film experts from across the globe, including the directors of established film festivals, film schools and film industry associations. For more information, visit www.babelgum.com.

Adobe Systems Inc. is hosting the eighth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA). The awards honor talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world's top institutions of higher education. Reflecting the growth in the interactive design field and the importance of the integration between design and development, Adobe has added several new categories in three media areas: Interactive Media, Motion Media, and Traditional Media. * Interactive Media categories include Browser-Based Design, Non-Browser Based Design, Designer/Developer Collaboration, Installation Design and Mobile Design. * Motion Media categories include Animation, Live Action and Motion Graphics. * Traditional Media categories include Illustration, Packaging, Photography, and Print Communications. Students from more than 30 countries are invited to submit projects through the Adobe Design Achievement Awards website. From the website, visitors will also be able to access ADAA Live!, an interactive website that allows visitors to see the participants submitting projects in real-time. Entries will be reviewed and scored by an independent panel of twelve distinguished judges, including Emily Chang of Ideacodes; Joshua Davis of Joshua Davis Studios; Tina Roth Eisenberg of Swissmiss Studio; David Gensler of Keystone Design Union; Eric John of Forum Nokia; Adrian Johnson of Adrian Johnson, Ltd.; Maya Kopytman of C&G Partners; Michael Lebowitz of Big Spaceship; Rebecca Mendez of Rebecca Mendez Design; Independent Filmmaker Joan Raspo; Stan Szymanski of Sony Pictures Imageworks; and Armin Vit of UnderConsideration. Submissions will be accepted online through May 2, 2008. The online submissions will be judged digitally in May and semifinalists will be asked to submit their source files and a physical aspect of their entry as it is meant to be viewed for the final phase of judging. Finalists will be invited to New York and will win cash and software prizes. For more information, visit www.ADAAentry.com.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science's Oscars are the premiere film awards in the world. The gala event honors the best in a year of cinema. The nominations for this year's awards will be announced on Jan. 22, 2008. Final ballots are mailed to voters on Jan. 30 and must be returned on Feb. 19. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented at the Kodak Theatre. The Oscars will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5:00 pm PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival segment. For more information, visit www.oscar.com.

Just before the launch of the much-anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario and friends are hosting four regional Wii tournaments. The competitions will visit San Francisco, Boston and New York for a Midnight Madness Launch event at the Best Buy store at 622 Broadway in New York. All of the 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. One lucky grand prize winner will receive a custom-designed, crystal-covered Wii, a home theater system from Best Buy and a copy of the game.

Each regional tournament will provide the first 256 people in attendance the chance to "brawl" one-on-one with other contestants in a single-elimination tournament to determine a winner in each market. Regional winners will face off in a final multiplayer "brawl" at the New York City tournament for a chance at the grand prize.

The second-place finisher will receive one Wii system and Wii Remote, one copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a $1,000 Best Buy gift card.

The third-place finisher will receive a Wii and Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $500 Best Buy gift card. The fourth-place finisher will receive a Wii, an extra Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $250 Best Buy gift card.

The tournaments will take place at the following times and locations:
Feb. 23
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Ten15 Folsom
1015 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
March 1
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Olden Hall
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
March 8
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Best Buy (NOHO)
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

For more information about the tournaments, visit Nintendo.com.

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is open to all independent developers to submit their games -- whether on PC, console, digital download, Web browser, or other more exotic formats. The prizes for the 2008 event total nearly $50,000, including the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. The complete lineup includes more than 40 judges, many of whom are returning for the fourth or fifth time to help evaluate this year's entries. Winners will be announced at the IGF ceremony, February 20, 2008, during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. All finalist games will be playable on the GDC show floor, and an Independent Games Summit will once again take place alongside the main conference. For more information, visit www.igf.com.

Game Developers Conference provides educational, networking, and business opportunities for game development professionals driving the $11 billion videogame industry. It is the main global forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas, network and shape the future of the industry. The GDC features more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts. In addition, the GDC expo showcases all of the game development tools, platforms and services. The CMP Game Group is now accepting proposals for lectures, roundtables, tutorials and poster sessions at the 2008 GDC. GDC, CMP Technology's annual conference dedicated to the art, science and business of games, will take place at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. Abstracts can be submitted via the official GDC website at http://www.gdconf.com. Submissions are being accepted through Monday, Oct. 1. More information can be found at www.gdconf.com.

The Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition, going into its 8th year, has decided to start accepting reality shows. Scriptapalooza TV has seen two writers win Emmys, one writes for Comedy Central and numerous writers have gotten agents, managers and meetings.

Scriptapalooza TV is accepting submissions through Oct. 15, 2006. The four categories include existing one-hour scripts, existing half-hour sitcoms, original pilots and reality shows.

For more information, visit www.scriptapaloozaTV.com.

The 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (CAEAA) along with its event partners Ernst & Young, Electronic Arts (EA), Autodesk and the British Columbia Provincial Government will be inviting videogame and animation companies as well as the students and educators from around the world to participate in this year's awards event, the 2007 Elans. While last year'sCAEAA hosted by William Shatner drew worldwide attention, only Canadian content qualified for nomination. The 2008 Elans will include International Award Categories determined by worldwide industry input. The 2008 Elans will be held in February, at The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts. The state-of-the-art structure, regarded as the premiere entertainment facility in the city, will host the nearly 2,000 worldwide guests and participants of this year's Elans, tripling the attendance of its inaugural year in 2006. This year the awards will also grow into a two-day event: The day following the Elans, the CAEAA producers along with industry associations such as the International Gaming Development Association (IGDA) and Ernst & Young will be hosting a full day industry event. The CIV will offer CEOs and their staff from videogaming, animation and new media schools, both big and small, the opportunity to meet in person and "talk business." This day will provide for Canadian and international 2007 Elans attendees to interface in a casual but informative environment within luxurious surroundings. The day will end with a VIP wrap party currently planned for the Vancouver Art Gallery whereat working art from animation and videogaming projects will be displayed and auctioned for charity. Special events and rates for excursions such as Whistler getaways will be available for those not wishing to hurry home on Sunday. The CAEAA couldn't produce the 2007 Elans without its Founders; those already committed to support this coming year's awards include Foundation 9/Backbone Entertainment, Western Imperial Magnetics, David Kaye Productions, Selkirk College, The Art Institute of Vancouver, Emily Carr Institute, VFS and Dean Lauz of D'Arts. For more information, visit www.caeaa.com.