Red Bull Canimation Launches – A Nationwide, Multi-Genre, Creativity Contest

Red Bull is pleased to announce RED BULL CANIMATION a new nationwide competition offering budding animators an opportunity to progress their skills and careers in the field through a series of prizes, including: internships at top animation studios Aardman, The Mill & 12foot6, state of the art Autodesk, Stop Motion Pro and Digicel Flipbook Pro animation software and equipment for the media and entertainment industry and a chance to be featured on Channel Four and in cinemas nationwide.

Press Release from Red Bull

Red Bull is pleased to announce RED BULL CANIMATION a new nationwide competition offering budding animators an opportunity to progress their skills and careers in the field through a series of prizes, including: internships at top animation studios Aardman, The Mill & 12foot6, state of the art Autodesk, Stop Motion Pro and Digicel Flipbook Pro animation software and equipment for the media and entertainment industry and a chance to be featured on Channel Four and in cinemas nationwide.

Think you can create the next Toy Story, The Simpsons or Wallace & Gromit? If so, Red Bull Canimation is for you – providing a platform for animators, whether you are studying the subject at University or have a passion for animation in your spare time, it offers you the chance to take your talents to the next level. To enter, simply pick your specialist category from CGI, Drawn and Stop Motion animation, take your inspiration from the Red Bull can, choose your soundtrack from the Red Bull Canimation website and upload your entry at www.redbull.co.uk/canimation.

Judging will be shared between the public and a panel of esteemed animation experts from The Mill, 12foot6, Aardman, The British Animation Awards and 4Creative. Deadline for submissions, which are now being accepted, is November 15th, when the open public-voting process begins. Two weeks later the ten most popular animations from each category will form a shortlist, from which the professional panel of judges - James Farrington (The Mill), Merlin Crossingham (Aardman Animations), Dave Anderson (12foot6), Jayne Pilling (British Animation Awards), Tom Tagholm (4Creative) - will select the ultimate winners.

The Student Internship prizes with The Mill, Aardman and 12foot6 will provide invaluable practical experience of working on live briefs surrounded by the most respected experts in their field. The Open Category prizes will enable hobbyists to hone their skills on state of the art Stop Motion Pro, Digicel Flipbook Pro and Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012 equipment, used by experts in the world’s best studios. Winners from each category will also feature in a Red Bull Canimation advert take-over on Channel Four in January 2012.

Prizes will be awarded at the Red Bull Canimation Awards Ceremony at Empire, Leicester Square in London’s West End on 15 December 2011.

HOW TO ENTER:• Videos should be no longer than two minutes and can be uploaded directly to Vimeo.• There is a selection of music available on www.redbull.co.uk/canimation should animators wish to set their work to a soundtrack.• All entries should be in HD and 16:9 aspect ratio, the Red Bull logo and can skin are available to download from the Red Bull Canimation site, where animators can also download free animation tools Autodesk Maya 2012, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk Softimage, Stop Motion Pro and Digicel FlipBook to aid their creative process.• Eligibility for the student category must show proof of Academic email address• The Open category, is open to all regardless of age and experience.

ABOUT THE PRIZES:CGI• The CGI category Student winner will win a two-month internship at The Mill where they will be guided by experienced animator Jim Farrington.

• The winner of the CGI Open category will win a top of the range laptop and access to advanced comprehensive 3d toolsets and 3D content creation software with the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012

DRAWN:• The Drawn category Student winner will receive a two-month internship at 12foot6, a London-based cutting edge 2D studio, and the home of Dog Judo and Modern Toss.

• The Open winner of the Drawn category will win a top of the range laptop and the only 2D animation software that is designed entirely from the ground up to do 2D animation professionally, Digicel Flipbook Pro HD6.

STOP-MOTION:• The Stop Motion Student winner will win a month long internship at Aardman Animations, the home of Wallace of Gromit, under the guidance of Merlin Crossingham, the Creative Director of Wallace & Gromit.

• The Stop Motion Open winner will receive a top of the range laptop and a copy of Stop Motion Pro HD, a professional animator toolset, which has been designed in conjunction with Aardman studios.

ABOUT THE JUDGING PROCESS:• The upload phase is open until 15th November, after which the public will be invited to vote for their favourite animation in each category for a period of two weeks.

• Votes will be cast through interactions on the animations - so all comments, shares, Vimeo likes and views on each animation will count as a vote.

• At the end of the public voting period a winner from each category will be chosen from the top 10 animators will by a panel of five esteemed judges from the animation scene:

ABOUT THE JUDGES:James Farrington – The Mill:Lead 3D animator for The Mill Film and TV, James and his team won a BAFTA for their work on The Golden Compass. He has also worked on a number of TV productions, including Doctor Who and Primeval.

Merlin Cressingham – Aardman AnimationsNot only Creative Director for Wallace and Gromit at Aardman Animations, Merlin has also received an Emmy nomination for his work on the Creature Comforts USA series for CBS

Dave Anderson – 12foot6:Dave wrote the seminal Future Shocks series for 2000AD magazine and also created the infamous Bastard Bunny cartoon character.

Jayne Pilling – British Animation Awards:Jayne is director of the British Animation Awards. An animation specialist, she has also published several books on animation and lectures on the subject worldwide.

Tom Tagholm – 4Creative:Tom oversees all of Channel 4's, 4Creative department producing content for on air, off air and online. He has won a number of awards in TV and is a celebrated short filmmaker.