Press Release from Aniboom
New York, NY, February 16, 2010 – Aniboom, the world’s first virtual animation studio, today announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, one of the world's most beloved children’s brands, for the Fourth Annual Aniboom Animation Awards. The Aniboom Awards 4 Sesame Street contest recognizes outstanding creativity among independent animators around the world and encourages animators of all levels to push the boundaries of innovation in the medium. This marks the first time the show has participated in a world-wide competition for content in its 40 year history. Cash prizes will be awarded to category winners and the Grand Prize winner’s animation will appear on an episode of Sesame Street.
This year’s awards will showcase the work of artists creating animations appropriate for pre-school age children in 5 different categories: School Readiness Skills, Pro-Social, re-make of the Sesame Street classic animation “Pinball Number Count,” Anything Goes “The Sky is the Limit”, and Community Favorite (to be determined by a voting tool on the Aniboom website). Each category will have one finalist (all but Community Favorite to be determined by Sesame Workshop), and a Grand Prize winner will be chosen among the finalists by a panel of celebrity judges. A total of $50,000 in cash and development money is to be awarded to the winners. Additionally, the Grand Prize winning animation will be included in Sesame Street’s 41st season which begins airing later this year.
“This is the first year that the Aniboom Awards have focused on children’s animation and there is no better partner than Sesame Street to be associated with,” says Uri Shinar, founder and CEO of Aniboom. “We have provided our community of over 8,000 animators in 72 countries with remarkable opportunities to make programming for FOX, music videos for Radiohead and animation for Marvel Comics. But Sesame Street is a uniquely exciting partner for all the animators who are so eager to create for children.”
“Sesame Street has a long history of using animation to teach generations of children all about numbers, letters, shapes and the world around them,” adds Carol-Lynn Parente, Executive Producer of Sesame Street. “We are thrilled to partner with a community of animators like Aniboom to find unique programming from around the globe to help educate and engage today’s kids.”
Animators registered with the Aniboom Virtual Animation Studio will be able to submit their entries over an eight week period from March 1st until April 26th. The top 5 category winners will be announced on May 10th, 2010 and the Grand Prize winner on May 17th. For the full list of rules and Sesame Street animation guidelines for the competition, please visit www.aniboom.com [1].
Celebrating its impressive 40th anniversary this season, Sesame Street is the longest-running program in children’s television. The series has received more Emmy awards than any other show in television history (122), as well as a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award honoring the 40th year.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs, seen in over 140 countries, and other acclaimed shows to help bridge the literacy gap including The Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo. Beyond television, the Workshop produces content for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and military deployment. Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org [2].
About Aniboom
Aniboom (www.aniboom.com [1]) is the world’s first virtual animation studio – a full service studio including over 8,000 animators in 72 countries. Aniboom’s proprietary production methodology creates a faster and less expensive process to create high-quality animation for all platforms: TV, Film, Advertising, Video-Gaming, Web, and Mobile. Aniboom’s investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Tamir Fishman Ventures, and Evergreen Venture Partners, who embrace the company’s management of experienced entertainment and new media executives. Aniboom is based in Israel and has offices in New York and San Francisco.
Links:
[1] http://www.aniboom.com
[2] http://www.sesameworkshop.org