Hooray for Habbowood! Digital Movie-Making Awards Beckon Filmmakers of the Future
- Habbo issue call to action for teens across the world to partake in the global animated
Digital Movie Awards
- Spaghetti Westerns are out and action comedy is in, as Habbo announces results of
international teen film poll of 32,000 teens
4 September, 2007 – Quiet on the set, lights, roll cameras - action! The
time is at hand for bedroom filmmakers across the world to enter the inaugural Habbowood Digital
Movie Awards 2007. Habbo, the largest virtual world for teens challenges youngsters to take to the
director’s chair and create, share and star in their own animated movies.
The finalist in each country will be entered into a global heat, where they will be judged by
an expert panel from the world of animation and Computer Generated visual effects (VFX), including
Matt Johnson, VFX Supervisor at world leading film visual FX house, Cinesite; Award winning 2DTV
animator, Tim Searle and Jim Thacker, the editor of 3D animation bible, 3D World. Antti Jokinen,
who has directed funky music videos for greats such as Missy Elliot, Kelly Clarkson and Amerie will
also cast his vote.
32,000 teens reveal recipes for film success in online poll
To mark the opening of the awards, Habbo has conducted an international film poll of nearly
32,000 teens to gauge opinions of the ‘secret-sauce’ behind a winning film. The majority of
respondents (32 per cent) voted poor story lines as the greatest cause of bad films, followed by
terrible acting (18 per cent).
With Habbo filmmakers in the director’s chair, future film audiences can say goodbye to The
Good the Bad & The Ugly and The Sound of Music – and hello to Hogwarts. Westerns (34 per
cent) and Musicals (31 per cent) received the majority of votes for the least favourite film genre
and the most popular film was Harry Potter with 18 per cent of votes. Don’t be surprised if
rough & tumble howlers play a large role in The Digital Movie Awards: comedy and action came
out on top as teens’ most popular film genres with 61 and 54 per cent of votes respectively.
Winning Habbo goes to Hollywood
Unlike its offline counterparts, The Habbowood Digital Movie Awards are judged democratically
by the Habbo community, which has 7 million unique users per month. The most viewed movies in
each country will be entered into a global finale where in the beginning of October an overall
winner will be awarded a star studded trip for two to Hollywood.
Matt Johnson, Cinesite said: “You only need to spend a little time within Habbo to see the
incredible amount of creativity and enthusiasm for film that teens have. The prize and the
international prestige of being the winner of the Digital Movie Awards should hopefully raise the
bar even further.” Cinesite is a critically acclaimed visual effects house responsible for
making “impossible” effects “real” through CG artistry and effects on blockbusters such as The
Golden Compass, and the Harry Potter films.
The Habbowood MovieMaker tool will allow teens to render a romantic remake of Gone With the
Wind, or a sequel to Harry Potter with magical explosions. A wide range of sets, props, FX
and soundtracks are available, and directors are tasked with every aspect of filmmaking - from
writing witty dialogue down to the body language of the actors. Viewers can ask to be a friend of
acknowledged directors and users can promote their or other films by inviting friends to view their
or other movies or watch the current top movies of the community. As well as showcasing
movies on Habbo, teens are able to post their movies to external sites, such as myspace.com.
Habbo opened the doors of Habbowood already last year in a global movie-making campaign.
Habbos created over 700,000 animated short films which were sent over one million times and viewed
over six million times by Habbo community members.
Habbowood MovieMaker and the Digital Movie Awards can be found on local Habbo pages at
www.habbo.xx/habbowood.
UK:
www.habbo.co.uk/habbowood
US:
www.habbo.com/habbowood
Watch these sample movies to get an idea of Habbowood:
“In the mood for love”:
http://www.habbo.com/entertainment/habbowood/movies/622
“The Cokeymonster”:
http://www.habbo.com/entertainment/habbowood/movies/350
Download Habbowood and other Habbo/Sulake press images at:
www.sulake.com/press/image_bank