For Immediate Release:

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Gita Chandra (gita@pkpr.com)

Patrick Kowalczyk (patrick@pkpr.com)

PKPR, 212.627.8098

13th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS UNVEIL NOMINEES FOR
BEST ONLINE FILM & VIDEO

Videos Starring Sarah Silverman, Ed Norton, Isabella Rossellini, Jack Black,
Lisa Kudrow, Paris Hilton Among Nominees

www.webbyawards.com/nominees
http://pv.webbyawards.com

New York, NY (April 14, 2009) – Demonstrating Internet video’s growing A-list cachet, the 13th Annual Webby Awards today unveiled a slate of online film and video nominees that features a constellation of Hollywood stars as well as a heady mix of inspired upstarts.

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, online film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile Websites.

Nominees range from video hits boasting A-list casts like FunnyorDie’s “Prop 8 The Musical” (Jack Black, John. C. Reilly, Neil Patrick Harris, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph) and “Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad,” TheWB.com’s “Children’s Hospital” (Rob Corddry, Megan Mullaley, Ed Helms) and Sundance Channel’s “Green Porno” (Isabella Rossellini) to upstarts like BoingBoing.tv, Black Cab Sessions, Revision3’s “Diggnation” and “MobLogic,” Pitchfork.tv, Strike.tv’s “Life in General” and “Speedie Date,” and NextNewNetworks’ “IndyMogul” and “Bill O’Reilly’s Producer.”

A list of all nominees can be found at: www.webbyawards.com/nominees.

Unlike other awards shows, where only judges choose the winners, The Webby Awards also give the public an opportunity to decide who will take home a Webby. Starting today through April 30, fans can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards, presented by Microsoft Silverlilght, at http://pv.webbyawards.com

“Even as Hollywood’s heavy hitters embrace the creative freedom of the Web, this year’s online film and video nominees show that the Internet remains a uniquely level playing field,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “Where else can a comedy upstart doing a Sarah Palin impression go head-to-head against a celebrated actress like Isabella Rossellini?”

Other trends among nominees in the film and video categories include:

• Nominees featuring Hollywood VIPs include National Geographic’s “Bag the Bag” (Ed Norton); NBC.com’s “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”; LStudio’s “Web Therapy” (Lisa Kudrow); and “Imaginary Bitches” (Eden Riegel).
• Presidential politics play out in “The Great Schlep” (News & Politics: Individual Episode); Funny or Die’s “Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad” (Comedy: Individual Short); 23/6’s “Sarah Palin Vlogs: The Series!” (Best Individual Performance); Current TV’s “Hack the Debate” (Best Use of Interactive Video), a twitter-ific broadcast of the presidential debates; and The Onion News Network’s tongue-in-cheek coverage of the election.
• Nominees for Best Individual Performance are: Rob Corddry for TheWB.com’s “Children’s Hospital”; Isabella Rossellini for Sundance Channel’s “Green Porno”; Sara Benincasa for 23/6’s “Sarah Palin Vlogs: The Series”; Eden Riegel for “Imaginary Bitches”; and Jared Gilmore for “Lil’ O’Reilly.”
• This year’s Best Viral nominee list runs the gamut from cute puppies to ugly outbursts and everything in between: the addictive “Shiba Inu Live Puppy Cam”; “Bill O’Reilly Flips Out – Dance Remix”; The Website Is Down’s “Sales Guy vs. Web Dude”; travel sensation “Where the Hell is Matt?”; and the darkly comical “Wassup 2008.”

This year’s winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 8th, where winners will take to the stage to deliver their acceptance speeches in five words or less. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote”) and Stephen Colbert (“Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.”)

For information on nominees in other Webby Awards categories, including Websites, interactive advertising, and mobile content, visit www.webbyawards.com/press/press-releases/. PricewaterhouseCoopers provides vote tabulation consulting for The Webby Awards.

The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson, and R/GA Chairman and CEO Bob Greenberg.

The 13th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide.

About The Webby Awards

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Variety; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

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