SHORTSNONSTOP Online Film Festival Announces Winners

November 11th, 2013

iThentic

For Immediate Release

 

SHORTSNONSTOP ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCES WINNERS

 

YAHOO SERIES HEAD ADAM BESSERMAN and

WEB SERIES COMEDY GURU AMBER J.

JOIN SNS JURY

 

Toronto/New York – November 7, 2013— The SHORTSNONSTOP Online Film Festival, presented by iThentic, announces the SHORTSNONSTOP grand prize-winner for the second prize period of 2013.  Currently celebrating its seventh anniversary, SHORTSNONSTOP is the year-round international short film and web-series competition showcasing content produced for mobile and online platforms. The festival awards a cash prize of $1,500, presented by iThentic, twice a year to the best short film or web-series episode selected by an international jury of experts. The next prize period deadline is February 15th, 2014.

Chosen from 10 finalists, the prizewinner for this round is Eliska Podzimkova of The Czech Republic for Bubbles, a short film about a boy who is little bit different from other children and suffers at the hands of his classmates because of it.  He is eventually able to show them that being different can also be an advantage. http://www.shortsnonstop.com/videos/watch/bubbles/

The director will be awarded $1,500. and the film will be made available online at www.iThentic.com and via iThentic’s YouTube channel as well as other distribution platforms.

The nine additional finalists were:

Black Box (UK), directed by Adam Rae

Death by Omelette (USA), directed by Greg Emetaz

Fat Cory (USA), directed by Kun Yang

First Lesson in Love (ISRAEL), directed by Tomer Werechson
The New Chapter (SINGAPORE), directed by Ru Yi Gan

Swings and Roundabouts (UK), directed by Daniel Rodriguez

Vital Voices: Hawa Abdi (USA), directed by Aaron Kisner
Work Kills (ITALY), directed by Aureliano Amadei
Yamashita (USA), directed by Hayley Foster
SHORTSNONSTOP also announced the inaugural Award for Best Web Series Pilot episode and the winner Joey Cantu of the US for the web series episode 7 Minutes of Mayhem, Episode 286 B http://www.shortsnonstop.com/videos/watch/7-minutes-of-mayhem-episode-286b/

iThentic will provide the production team for this series with assistance in the form of script consultation, advice on creating a proper pitch package and an introduction to key executives and decision-makers in the digital content industry.

“Web series have staked a legitimate claim as a new format in the digital world. We felt it important to acknowledge outstanding work in this category in the SHORTSNONSTOP bi-annual celebration of worldwide online talent,” said Catherine Tait, Chairman and co-founder of iThentic and SHORTSNONSTOP.

With its new focus on series, SHORTSNONSTOP has expanded its jury welcoming two new members to the Jury of industry experts:

Adam Besserman is Head of West Coast Development for original video programming at Yahoo!.  He is responsible for sourcing, identifying and developing compelling original programming across Yahoo! properties, brand partners, and strategic areas to inspire and delight Yahoo! users, drive engagement, and attract new audience. At Yahoo!, Adam has played an instrumental role in facilitating the financing, licensing, development and distribution of over 50 premium original programs, including Tom Hanks’ ELECTRIC CITY, Anthony Zuicker’s CYBERGEDDON, Ben Stiller’s BURNING LOVE, Morgan Spurlock’s MANSOME, Jack Black’s GHOST GHIRLS, Ed Helms’ TINY COMMANDO, and many more.  Prior to joining Yahoo!, Adam worked for Endemol, Paramount Digital Entertainment and CBS Interactive, where he was responsible for developing original digital programming.

Amber J. Lawson is a Managing Partner of Content at StoryTech & Founder/ CEO Comedy Gives Back. Amber J. Lawson is a 15 year content executive sitting at the bleeding edge of multiplatform storytelling. Bridging the gap between Storytellers and Technology , Amber launched StoryTech in partnership with CES at 2013CES creating contextual multi platform storytelling & technology experiences for Fox, Turner, Modelez, Oakley, Mattel, Gugenheim, Dodgers, Mandlay and more. In 2012, Lawson’s The Opportunity Management Co merged with StoryTech truly representing the modern ecosystem of Storytellers, Brand, Technology, and Distribution. The Opportunity Management Company produced a study on “The Future of Storytelling” for INTEL. While working with Intel TOMC leveraged the Intel product to enable storytelling through traditional storytellers like Tim Kring (HEROS, TOUCH) and Dan Harmon (COMMUNITY) and breakout online talent SMOSH and COLLEGE HUMOR. Lawson founded the social benefit enterprise Comedy Gives Back, the first multi-platform global live streamed stand-up comedy event benefiting a charity- the 2013 Charity partner is Malaria No More comedygivesback.com. Lawson is Chairman of the IAWTV Awards at CES and on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmys) Interactive Media Peer Group Executive Council.

SHORTSNONSTOP is a year-round film festival that viewers can experience anytime or anyplace.  SHORTSNONSTOP accepts entries on an ongoing basis directly at its website – SHORTSNONSTOP.com

All submissions can be viewed on SHORTSNONSTOP.com as well as a select few that will be streamed on iThentic.com and distributed through its network of partners.

 

About iThentic
iThentic is an online video destination site, launched in 2006, that aggregates, produces and distributes the very best video content. The company is headquartered in Toronto with offices in New York City and is a leading producer of web series, including recent International Digital Emmy, Canadian Screen Award, Digi and Rockie Award winner, Guidestones. It was recently named the 2012 Digital Company of the Year by Playback Magazine. Smiley Guy Studios, an award winning animation and new media studio, is the operating partner with Jonas Diamond as CEO and Catherine Tait as Chair of the company.

 

For further information, please contact:

Mary Powers, MPowers Communications, mpowers@mpowers.ca +1 416 767 8692

Or

Ben Rayner, Director of Content, ben@ithentic.com +1 647 534 8801