Village Gamer

Toronto – The Canadian New Media Awards has recognized and celebrated the many accomplishments of individuals and companies in the Canadian new media industry in a gala ceremony Tuesday night. Held at The Carlu in Toronto, the CNM Awards promote both the new media sector and provide inspiration for those preparing to enter the industry by recognizing Canadian innovation, creativity and quality.

And the winners are:

COMPANY OF THE YEAR: marblemedia, Toronto

Also Nominated:

Big Blue Bubble
Moment Factory
vision Critical

MOST PROMISING COMPANY OF THE YEAR: Viigo, Toronto

Also Nominated:

b5 Media
Filemobile

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The TELUS Innovation Fund, created by the Canadian Film Centre with funding from the TELUS Foundation, provides funding for the production of innovative film, television, and new media content projects. This fund invests in new forms of high-quality, original Canadian content that employ innovative strategies in breaking new ground to reach general public audiences. The TELUS Innovation Fund supports a minimum of 3 projects per year with funding up to $100,000 for each project.

Launched in January of 2006, the fund was designed to assist projects that explore new ways of approaching entertainment and storytelling; placing Canadian ideas, talent and media at the forefront.

For more information download the TELUS Innovation Fund Guidelines Package at: www.cfccreates.com

Actor Martin Sheen has confirmed that he will write the foreword for the 2009 Learning for a Cause Anthology published from Lester B. Pearson High School titled “Raising Humanity”. The book, which will feature the creative work of nearly 150 high school students, will explore what it is to be human through poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama and art. The book’s objective – to inspire readers toward creating a more human and humane world.

Learning for a Cause, founded in 2004 by noted educator Michael Ernest Sweet, has published four full length publications of student writing to date. The books feature students writing on issues of socio-political concern in an effort to inspire positive change. The educational non-profit has been featured on CTV, CBC, NPR, Vermont Radio, Canadian Teacher and many other media. In 2008 the Quebec Ministry of Education filmed a special documentary featuring the teaching model.
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Returning to the Vancity Theatre after a successful 2007 run, The Animation Show is an annual feature-length compilation of the best animated shorts from around the world, exclusively curated by Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge. The Animation Show launched in 2003, making it the first festival of animation created and produced with actual animators at the helm. A sister series of high quality DVDs now supplement the theatrical tour with additional insights and brand new lineups of films—while the main Show remains a unique and unforgettable annual program that is usually gone forever once it is out of theatres. This year’s Animation Show is anchored by especially commissioned work from animators around the world. The show will include the films listed below, plus special surprises. For more information on the films and to purchase tickets, please see the event page on the VanCity Theatre web site. All tickets are $10.00 each.

Show Dates & Times:

Saturday, Nov 29 at 7:00 pm & 9:00 pm
Sunday, Nov 30 at 7:00 pm & 9:00 pm
Wednesday, Dec 10 at 9:15 pm
Thursday, Dec 11 at 9:15 pm

Today in a panel hosted by Vancouver’s ACM SIGGRAPH chapter the secrets, successes, procedures and challenges faced by the Blizzard Entertainment cinematics team were shared with the first of two sellout audiences.

Presented by Matt Samia (Senior Director of Cinematics) and Jeff Chamberlain (Cinematics Project Lead), the programme opened with a brief photographic tour of the Blizzard Entertainment campus in Irvine, California. The audience was then walked through the entire cinematic development process from concept and storyboarding through to final render passes and the finished product. In the course of this three hour panel, we were able to look right into the creative minds behind the Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft franchises.

It is always educational to see behind the scenes at successful studios, getting a look at how they blend lo-tech and hi-tech means to continually push the envelope in animation and CG achievements. Matt and Jeff were also very forthcoming with advice to students and young people already working in the industry in regards to software products as well as skillsets. They also mentioned that there are a few Vancouver Film School alumni employed at the Blizzard campus, and Blizzard recruiter Kenny Carvalho was at the theatre to answer questions from interested designers.

Along with the other attendees, I am grateful to the ACM SIGGRAPH Vancouver Chapter for putting on another great event – and of course to the sponsors for supporting these panels and presentations. The sponsors for tonight’s panel were: 31337 Recruiters, VANarts, Hothead Games, Stash DVD Magazine and Annex|Pro.