Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon’s 24-hour animation network, and Frederator Studios announced award winners from Nicktoons Network Animation Festival during the festival’s first two-day live event at the Nick Toon Studio lot in Burbank, California. Keith Dawkins, gm, Nicktoons Network, emceed the presentation of the awards plus a sneak peak at the shorts to be broadcast.
The winners and prizes are as follows:
Student Award Winner — LIBRARYHEAD by David Bazelon, Los Angeles
Prize: $1,000 awarded to honor one student for excellence in animation, story and design to encourage the next generation of animators. Eligibility is based on current enrollment in a college or university animation program.
Diversity Award Winner — CROCODILE JOURNALS by Yeo Lee Nah, Singapore
Prize: $1,000 awarded to the filmmaker whose film best demonstrates the ideals of diversity in subject and content.
Producers’ Choice Award Winner — A GREAT BIG ROBOT FROM OUTER SPACE ATE MY HOMEWORK by Mark Shirra, Vancouver
Prize: A copy of Bauhaus Software's digital 2D animation software, Mirage, along with an Apple Power Mac G5 to run it on, awarded to a filmmaker whose work catches the hearts and minds of the festival producers.
Show Off Your Show/Greater Creator Award Winner‚ Richard Wallace of Chino Hills, California (Age 15)
Exclusive Nicktoons Network “Future Animator” Prize package: A trip with his/her family to Los Angeles to visit the Nicktoons Studios and the chance to record their voice and be in a KAPPA MIKEY episode. Also wins an afternoon Animation Academy at his/her school.
The presentation included a humorous and sometimes politically-charged keynote from Larry Schwartz, creator/founder of Animation Collective, whose KAPPA MIKEY show that debuts on Nickelodeon Aug. 20. Characters from the Flash—animated series that has been airing on Nicktoons also addressed the gathering from the projection screen and video monitors.
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival showcases the diversity of independent cartoon filmmaking by animators from around the globe. Animators were asked to submit animated shorts no longer than 10 minutes in length that combined a unique look, great character designs and overall appeal and originality.
The $10,000 Grand Prize Winner will be announced on-air on Nicktoons Network on Aug, 31 at 10:00 pm. The Viewer's Choice Award will be announced online at
www.nicktoonsnetwork.com on Sept. 18 with voting closing on Sept. 15.
In addition to these prizes, any filmmaker with a short in the "Best of 2006" episode airing the last night of the festival Aug, 31, will receive a copy of Toon Boom Studio Express, an all-in-one 2D animation software solution and a special bundle of training DVDs from Digital-Tutors.
"We'd like to congratulate the winners and are excited to recognize and reward these up-and-coming filmmakers for such creative and outstanding work," said Dawkins. "This year's Festival received quadruple the number of entries from last year and we look forward to continuing this rapidly growing project and finding the next generation of talent in the years to come."
"The filmmakers in the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival represent the most original and creative cartoons in the world,” said festival chair, Fred Seibert. “We feel great about offering them a national showcase on various platforms via Nicktoons Network.”
Billed as the world’s first multiplatform animation festival, Nicktoons Network Animation Festival kicked off with its first, live two-day event at the Nicktoons Studios on Aug. 12 &13. Kids’ Day (Aug. 12) featured the Nicktoons Network mobile tour, Nicktoons Network’s costume characters, animators offering demonstrations and a screening of some of this year’s entries to special guests. On Aug. 13, Nicktoons Network hosted an evening event for special guests and animators called Creator’s Day where they announced winners followed by a screening of the award-winning shorts.
The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival takes place online and on-air beginning Aug. 26-31 at 10:00 pm on Nicktoons Network (repeats at 1:00 am). Viewers may see which shorts have been selected for this year’s festival, view creator information and biographies and download the NNAF program at
www.nicktoonsnetwork.com . Viewers can also watch the animated shorts and vote for their favorite submissions at
www.nicktoonsnetwork.com from Aug. 26-Sept. 15. The NNAF Viewers Choice Award will be announced online on Sept. 18.
The panel of grand jurors for this year’s Nicktoons Network Animation Festival included: comedic duo Shawn and Marlon Wayans, FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane, Disney’s Andreas Deja, famed animator Bill Plympton and last year's Producers Choice and Student Award Winner JG Quintel.
Nicktoons Network, the 24-hour animation network features a wide spectrum of programming that has defined kids’ television for more than 10 years. Targeting kids 6-14, Nicktoons Network airs 75% exclusive programming such as KAPPA MIKEY, MY DAD THE ROCK STAR, CORNEIL & BERNIE, KAPUT & ZOSKY and YAKKITY YAK and also classic Nicktoons hits as REN & STIMPY, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS and THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS.
Nicktoons Network currently reaches 39 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable.
Frederator Studios (
www.frederator.kz ) has been making original cartoons since 1998, exec producing THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, OH YEAH! CARTOONS and RANDOM! CARTOONS. Channel Frederator (
www.channelfrederator.com ) is the world's first and largest cartoon podcasting network, featuring submitted films from around the world.
