Professional jury members Saraswathi Balgam, Charlotte Bavasso, Pete Bishop, Isaac Littlejohn Eddy, Tommy Pallotta, Bill Plympton, Frank Rivera and Jeff Scher – picked the $17,000 cash-prize winners of the first Babelgum “Animatron” Animation Film Festival, who were announced Sunday at the Hamptons International Film Festival Awards Ceremony.
The Winning Films Are:
FANTASY CATEGORY
Jury Award Winner $2,500
“This Is J03,” Once Were Farmers (U.K.)
Runner-up $500
“Noesis,” Sophie Klevenow (Germany/U.K.)
Audience Award
“Wherever You Go, There You Are,” Sara Barbas (Portugal/U.K.)
HUMOR CATEGORY
Jury Award Winner $2,500
“Pigeon Impossible,” Lucas Martell (U.S.)
Runner-Up $500
“Ant & Len,” Jon Marsh & Duncan Raitt (U.K.)
Audience Award
“Luke: The History of Denim,” Drew Roper (U.K.)
MINIS CATEGORY
Jury Award Winner $2,500
“Dog Judo: Meat Sprinkles,” Dave Anderson (U.K.)
Runner-up $500
“Knit’N’Purl,” Rhiannon Evans (U.K.)
Audience Award
“Only in Dreams,” Adam Badlotto (U.S.)
REAL LIFE CATEGORY
Jury Award Winner $2,500
“Prayers for Peace,” Dustin Grella (U.S.)
Runner-up $500
“How to Animate,” Jordan Wood (U.K.)
Audience Award
“How to Animate,” Jordan Wood (U.K.)
GRAND JURY AWARD WINNER $5,000
“Coalition of the Willing,” Knife Party (U.K.)
“We’re proud to showcase and support the work of so many talented independent animators,” said Karol Martesko-Fenster, SVP and General Manager of Babelgum’s Film and Animation Division, “In the coming months, we’ll be focusing more intensely on the art of animation for online and mobile audiences, and the Animatron competition was a great way to get the ball rolling. Our hope is to make it one of the preeminent annual events for short-form filmmakers looking for new ways to distribute their best-quality work.”
“We were delighted to partner with Babelgum on their inaugural animation festival,” said Karen Arikian, Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival. “It was a great success all around, from the screening and panel discussion to the on-site audience voting, and fit perfectly with our own animation events and programming this year. We look forward to working together on a future edition.”
More than 25,000 people viewed over 200 films from more than two dozen countries, including Albania, Taiwan, Greece, India, Spain, Russia, Romania, Poland, Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy, Brazil, the U.S., and the U.K. Approximately ten films in each of the four categories – Fantasy, Humor, Minis, and Real Life – were shortlisted, with the final decisions being made by the professional jurors. Over 3,500 votes in three weeks were cast via the Babelgum web and mobile platforms plus the Hamptons Festival on-site audience to determine the Audience Award winners. The winning films can be viewed at www.babelgum.com/animatron and on the Babelgum mobile platform (www.babelgum.com/mobile), along with all the films entered in the competition.
The Babelgum Animatron Animation Film Festival celebrates the very best in international independent animated short filmmaking, providing international exposure as well as lucrative opportunities for emerging talent. The five winners take home cash prizes totalling $17,000, with awards given to 1st place and runner-up contestants in each of the four categories, as well as a Grand Jury Prize winner. Babelgum co-presented the Hamptons Animation Showcase, an eclectic animated shorts program at the 2010 Hamptons International Film Festival, with additional support on marketing and media visibility from Shooting People, the social network for independent filmmakers, and RingTales, a company that specializes in animating syndicated comic strips (Dilbert, The New Yorker).
FESTIVAL JURY
Saraswathi Balgam, founding director of Rhythm & Hues India, president of ASIFA India
Charlotte Bavasso, founding partner/managing director of Nexus Productions (Lemony Snicket)
Peter Bishop, animator (Captain Star, Bromwell High)
Isaac Littlejohn Eddy, animator (Cat, Dog, Stoop) and cartoonist (The New Yorker, Time)
Tommy Pallotta, producer (A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life) and director (American Prince)
Bill Plympton, director and animator (Idiots and Angels, Hair High, Guard Dog)
Frank Rivera, animator (Nickelodeon, PBS) and founder of Animation Mafia studio
Jeff Scher, painter and filmmaker (A Year in the Animated Life, HBO, PBS)
CATEGORIES
HUMOR: Cartoons/animation that look at life slightly askew
FANTASY: Sci-fi, horror, adventure, outer space, imaginary worlds, genre-based
REAL LIFE: Animated documentary, RotoScope, interview-based films
MINIS: Under 60 seconds
AWARDS
• The Audience Awards were given to an outstanding film in each category receiving the highest number of votes determined solely by the voting totals from the global online and mobile Babelgum and Hamptons International Film Festival audiences.
• The Jury Awards were given to an outstanding film in each of the four categories, determined by members of the Jury.
• The Grand Jury Award was given to an outstanding film in any category, chosen by members of the Jury.
About Hamptons International Film Festival
The Hamptons International Film Festival was founded to celebrate the Independent film – long, short, fiction and documentary – and to introduce a unique, varied spectrum of international films and filmmakers to the public. The Festival is committed to exhibiting films that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the hope that these programs will enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired entertainment for all. For more information about the Festival, and to become a member, please visit our website at www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.
About Shooting People (www.shootingpeople.org)
Shooting People is the world’s largest networking organization dedicated to the support and promotion of independent filmmaking. Over 35,000 members in the UK and US share tips recommendations and news using Shooting People’s website, the nine Daily Bulletins to get their films cast and crewed, and individual Member Profiles to exhibit themselves and their work to their peers, the industry and the world. Founded in 1998 by filmmakers Jess Search and Cath le Couteur, Shooting People’s patrons include Mike Figgis (Founder Patron), Sally Potter, Morgan Spurlock, Christine Vachon, Michael Nyman, Penny Woolcock, and Jason Solomons.
About RingTales (www.ringtales.com)
RingTales is a new media company founded by Jim Cox and Michael Fry that animates print comics for all digital media. RingTales holds the exclusive rights to animate Dilbert and the New Yorker Cartoons and several other popular comics including Pearls Before Swine, Bloom County, Over the Hedge, Cul de Sac, Lio, and Pooch Café. RingTales animations have been viewed over 180 million times since March 2007. Jim Cox is a long-time feature animation writer and producer. His credits include co-executive producer on the 2006 DreamWorks Animation feature animated hit Over the Hedge, writer/producer on Ferngully, story on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and screenwriter on The Rescuers Down Under and Oliver & Company. Michael Fry is a four-time internationally syndicated cartoonist. He currently writes the comic strip Over the Hedge, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film of the same name that earned $335 million dollars in worldwide box office.
About Babelgum (www.babelgum.com)
Babelgum is an integrated web and mobile video content platform free for users and supported by advertising available on-demand to a global audience. Babelgum Mobile is an original application currently available in the United States, UK, Italy, Germany, France and Spain which brings regionally tailored programming to smart phones – at present iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android – via 3G and WiFi (www.babelgum.com/mobile).
Positioned between user generated video hubs and network TV-oriented destinations, Babelgum focuses on the third part of the ecosystem: innovative, editorially curated and professionally produced content on very specific passions – music, comedy, film, animation, urban culture, nature, and the environment. Babelgum’s programming is comprised of exclusive original productions as well as independent and mainstream titles. Babelgum’s content partners include, among others, EMI, Sony Music, the New York Times, Funny or Die, PBS, BBC, VBS, Lonely Planet, Coolhunting, National Geographic, ContentFilm International, Shine Limited, Cinetic Rights Management, iThentic, Gong Anime, FilmBuff, WorkBook Project, Cinelan, Reverse Shot, Shooting People, Film Independent, Power to the Pixel, and the Spirit Awards as well as the Encounters, Los Angeles, and Hamptons film festivals.
