Habbo has announced the kickoff of its very own film festival, using the Habbowood MovieMaker tool. It's a comprehensive editing device that allows users to select from a wide range of virtual sets, props, special effects and mood music; cast Habbo "actors" and script dialogue to build scenes. Up to ten different scenes can then be combined using the MovieMaker tool to create an animated film up to five minutes long."
With the tool, Habbo is launching the "Habbowood Digital Movie Awards 2007". Aspiring filmmakers can take the director's chair and create, star in and share their own animated movies in hopes of winning a Habbowood Award. For the next ten days, the Habbo community, which numbers more than 15 million registered users in the United States, will select the ten top films through a combination of page views and scaled ratings. Each day, the Habbo staff will choose a winner from this top 10 to comprise the final nominees which the Habbo community will vote on to select the Habbowood Award winner.
The winner will be announced and special awards, such as Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actor and Best Actress, will be presented live in Habbo's Theaterdome during the virtual Habbowood Digital Movie Awards gala, on September 21.
Habbo.com opened its doors to Habbowood three years ago. Last year, the hugely popular US movie contest garnered more than 140,000 animated short films. On a global level, Habbowood generated more than 700,000 movies last year. For the first time, the winning film will be entered into a global contest against the winners from 18 other Habbo communities around the world to compete for a grand prize trip for two to Hollywood.
An expert panel from the fields of animation and computer generated visual effects (VFX) will judge the competition, including Matt Johnson, VFX supervisor at critically acclaimed visual effects and digital imaging house, Cinesite; Antti Jokinen, celebrated director of music videos for Will Smith, Missy Elliott, Celine Dion and Shaggy; Tim Searle, award-winning 2DTV animator and Jim Thacker, editor of 3D animation bible, 3D World
"The Habbowood Digital Movie Awards will prove that teens can create imaginative, successful movies, just like their Hollywood counterparts," said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, Habbo Business and president, North America. "We are challenging teenagers to write the script, choose the location and direct the actors in their own movies to create a winning film that will demonstrate a combination of originality, timing, and artistic flair."
