Aniboom, the premiere independent animation network and TBD Records have launched a contest inviting all creators and Radiohead fans from across the globe to produce an animated music video for any one of the songs from the band’s latest album, In Rainbows. The contest, to be separated into four stages, will culminate with the selection by the members of Radiohead of a winner who will be awarded a $10,000 prize to produce a full-length animated music video. Aniboom’s contest will be announced on television for the first time tonight on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s programming block for young adults, and will be promoted on Adult Swim and on MySpace, where fans will be able to vote for their favorite video.
The first stage of the competition begins today and continues through April 27, inviting all artists, animators, writers, character designers and more, to submit storyboards that may range from basic sketches with words to more complex submissions in video formats, using the song of their choice from In Rainbows. Artists have the option to compete solo or to ask Aniboom to match them with other entrants whose talents complement their own. More information on the contest can be found at Aniboom.com.
The storyboards will be posted for viewing and ranking by creators and fans, after which a panel that will include people from Aniboom, TBD Records and Adult Swim will select ten semifinalists who will be awarded $1,000 each to produce a one-minute animated music video. The semifinalist videos will be shared across Aniboom’s web-wide network of distribution partners, and fans will be given the opportunity to vote at aniboom.com and at MySpace. The videos will then be submitted to Radiohead to select the winner. The creator(s) of the winning video will be awarded $10,000 to expand their one minute submission to produce the full-length video. In addition, the winning video may have its broadcast premiere on Adult Swim.
The competition demonstrates Aniboom’s continuing efforts to create relationships with a massive community of creators, and to identify the best of the best for the purpose of collaborating on the development of new animated brands across genres and platforms. The contest also follows in Radiohead’s tradition of community interaction; In Rainbows, the band’s seventh album, made news when it was offered directly from the band’s website solely as a DRM-free digital download, allowing fans to decide what price they would pay for the album.
“Once again, Aniboom has found a way to invigorate the international artist community, identify and cultivate untapped talent and provide these creators with unique opportunities to further their careers,” Uri Shinar , founder and president of Aniboom, said. “We deeply respect Radiohead for always remaining true to their art, challenging the status quo and reaching directly into the community. The passion that Radiohead stirs amongst the creative community and the band’s tradition of embracing new technologies to connect directly with their fans make them the perfect match for a contest that proves Aniboom’s mission—to mobilize a global network of independent animators and generate the highest quality animated content while leveraging unprecedented cost-efficiencies, democratizing creative output and providing the creators with access to major opportunities.”
Aniboom’s In Rainbows Animated Music Video Contest exemplifies the animation network’s production and distribution pipeline. This pipeline identifies and mobilizes the thousands of professional independent animators all over the world with the talent, the passion, and the same toolsets utilized by the large animation studios – but no meaningful access to the markets that need them. Aniboom’s Creators Studio allows animators of all levels to pitch, produce and monetize high-quality original animated content spanning a variety of genres for worldwide channels of distribution, all year round.
For complete details on the contest and submission procedures, please visit www.aniboom.com.
