Europe's First Machinima Festival

[Tami]

DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES OVER 150 FILMS ENTERED FOR EUROPE'S FIRST MACHINIMA FESTIVAL

De Montfort University's Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) today announced that it had received over 150 entries for Europe's first Machinima Festival, which it will host from 12th - 14th October this year.

A total of 152 films had been submitted by the deadline of 8th September, with entries coming from a wide range of countries including: the UK; US; Canada; Belgium; Netherlands; France; Germany; Austria; Finland; Sweden; Spain; Croatia; Slovakia; Japan and Australia.

Professor Andrew Hugill, Director of De Montfort University's Institute of Creative Technologies: "We are very pleased with the number, breadth and global spread of the entries. The enthusiasm out there for the festival is contagious and it has been really exciting to see so many different countries involved in creating submissions."

The award categories will be judged by a distinguished panel including: award winning author and Reader in Creative Writing and New Media at DMU, Kate Pullinger; Martyn Ware, artist and record producer, who was a founding member of the pop group The Human League and who also formed Heaven 17; and, Hugh Hancock, Artistic Director of Strange Company, and inventor of the word "Machinima".

In addition, Burnie Burns and Jason Saldana of Rooster Teeth Productions, makers of the popular online sitcom Red vs Blue, will perform during the festival. Burnie Burns: "Our plan is to make a hilarious special video for the programme using our world-famous, award-winning Red vs Blue characters and our trademark humility."

The festival, which will take place at the University's campus centre will show case the award nominations and winners, and some of the latest Machinima films and games trailers, and is expected to attract Machinima makers world-wide. The festival is supported by the Academy of Machinima Arts Sciences (AMAS) and will include workshops which will cover many of the aspects of making Machinima.

People wishing to attend the festival should visit [url=\"http://www.MachinimaEurope.co.uk\"]http://www.MachinimaEurope.co.uk[/url].