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WEBBY FILM AND VIDEO AWARDS
UNVEIL NOMINEES FOR “OSCARS® OF THE INTERNET”
Webby Film & Video Nominees Spotlight Rapidly-Changing Media Landscape
New York, NY (April 8, 2008)-The Webby Film & Video Awards today unveiled a slate of nominees ranging from cult comedy series to political parodies to mainstream news, reflecting a changing media landscape where Web-based upstarts go head-to-head with big media companies.
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet,” The Webby Film and Video Awards are the leading industry awards honoring original film and video premiering on the Internet. The Webby Film & Video Awards are judged by more than 80 entertainment industry leaders, including Showtime chief Matt Blank, 20th Century Fox Chairman Jim Gianopoulos, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, and Harvey Weinstein.
Leading the list of nominees is The New York Times with 9 nominations, followed by National Geographic and PBS, which earned five nods each. The Onion News Network scored four nominations, while NPR scored three, as did comedy powerhouse SuperDeluxe, including two for its series “Bronx World Travelers.” CollegeHumor, My Damn Channel, CBS, and MTV were all nominated in two categories each.
A list of all Webby Film and Video nominees in more than 20 categories can be found at http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/.
“The Web has leveled the field at every stage from creation to distribution, making the medium more accessible than ever to both producers and audiences alike,” said David-Michel Davies, the executive director of The Webby Awards. “From big media companies like the New York Times to the up-and coming filmmakers behind “Good Night Burbank”, what sets this year’s nominees apart is their ability to take full advantage of those changes.”
Unlike other awards shows, where only judges choose the winners, The Webby Awards also give the global Web community an opportunity to decide who will take home a Webby. Starting today through May 1, the public can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards presented by Nokia at http://pv.webbyawards.com.
Winners will be announced on May 6th, 2008 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 9th. All winners will take to the stage to deliver the Webbys’ famous five-word speeches. Past headline-grabbing speeches include Jessica Rose, a.k.a. lonelygirl15 (“Being traditional and saying thanks.”), The Office Webisode’s Angela Kinsey (“Accounting is a such a riot.”), and the creators of The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment (“18,000,000 views. Still no dates.”)
Other trends and highlights among The Webby Film and Video Awards nominees include:
- Presidential politics play out in “I Got a Crush on Obama” (Best Viral), which catapulted Obama Girl to icon status; “23/6” (Best Comedy: Long Form or Series), a parody of the 2004 presidential election’s infamous Swift Boat ads; and The Onion News Network (4 nominations), whose fake newscasts skewered the presidential primary with headlines such as “Candidates Compete for Vital Idgit Vote.”
- Four-time nominee “Hometown Baghdad,” a moving web series about life in Baghdad that shares the stories of three young Iraqis struggling to survive in wartime. The series is nominated for Best Editing, Best News & Politics, Best Reality, and Best Public Service & Activism.
- Online video continues to be a breeding ground for comedy innovation. Notable nominees for Best Comedy Series include: “Wainy Days” from director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) starring Paul Rudd, Rashida Jones, and others; 23/6’s “Swift Kids for Truth”; “Goodnight Burbank”; The Onion News Network; and “You Suck at Photoshop”.
- This year’s Best Viral nominee list is comprised of five unknowns turned overnight sensations: “Chocolate Rain”; the stop-motion smackdown “Tony vs. Paul”; “BalconyTV” from Dublin, Ireland; the Richter Scales’s “Here Comes Another Bubble”; and the ubiquitous “I Got a Crush on Obama.”
For the first time this year, Webby Film & Video Awards will receive a Nokia Nseries multimedia device. To give the world a first-hand, behind-the-scenes look at this year’s Webby Awards, the film- and video-makers will use the devices to document their Webby experiences in “We Shot the Webbys,” an online video campaign to premiere this June.
For information on nominees in other Webby Awards categories, including Websites, interactive advertising, and mobile content, visit http://www.webbyawards.com/press. PricewaterhouseCoopers provides vote tabulation consulting for The Webby Awards.
About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 12th Annual Webby Awards received a record 9,500 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: Adobe; The Creative Group; .ORG; The Barbarian Group; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Variety; Wired; IDG: Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.
OSCAR® is a federally registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are in no way affiliated with or sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or OSCAR®.
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