November 2008
The filmmakers from creative production company Shilo are very proud to announce that their collaboration with Carl Le Blond, Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather Amsterdam, John Jackson, Director of Social Responsibility, MTV Networks, Suki Dusanj, Founder of The Burma Arts Board, activist Sam Roddick and others has earned the 2008 London International Awards Gold Statue for Television/Cinema Animation.
The project, a provocative, groundbreaking 90-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) entitled "Burma Viral," was created by Shilo, which is represented in the U.K. by HANraHAN.
Featuring a custom score from Amsterdam-based Good Sounds and meticulously animated footage of warplanes bombing Burma with flowers as a dramatic call-to-
action, the film invited viewers to visit a Burma Arts Board.
There, visitors can still send messages of support to the people of Burma in honor of their continuing struggles against their oppressive government, and also learn more about the devastating effects caused by Cyclone Nargis and contribute to relief efforts.
The film debuted in May on participating MTV networks worldwide, via countless video-sharing websites around the globe, and in New York's Times Square, and it can now be seen in its entirety on Shilo's portfolio site.
Shilo co-founder André Stringer served as the company's creative director on the project, and as its lead artist, together with Tamir Sapir and David Hill. The company's executive producers were Tracy Chandler and Mark Hanrahan, Lindsay Bodanza was their producer, and Brenda Bentz van den Berg was the agency's producer.
"We seized this opportunity to make a project with Carl Le Blond, MTV and our other partners that people would connect with, that would raise awareness of the difficulties faced by the people of Burma," said Shilo's Stringer and Chandler following the presentation of the award in London.
"We're extremely proud that the prestigious judges of the London International Awards chose this project as the best in its category, and we're still optimistic that the film's message of powerful people and forces uniting to aid the citizens of Burma can come to pass... despite their harrowing, continuing struggles."
"In regard to this project, from the very beginning, everyone I met at Shilo was just automatically going above and beyond and that to me is what filmmaking is all about," Le Blond said.
"As the details of the cyclone came to light, that same spirit allowed us all to take the film a step further, to a point where it could potentially heighten relief efforts, while also raising awareness for the social difficulties these people face every day, even under normal circumstances. So as you might easily imagine, the recognition of this Gold London International Award really is a great result for a great piece of work."
Of the nearly 18,000 total submissions into the London International Awards from 81 countries, only five percent reached finalist status.
From that elite group, less than two percent earned Silver and less than one percent won Gold. "The standard of animation in film has just made quantum leaps forward in the past few years," commented Barbara Levy, president of London International Awards. "Only the very best would be considered for metal."
Last month, the "Burma Viral" project was also presented with the Silver Shark Award during the 46th annual Kinsale Shark Awards, in the category of International Craft: Best Animation. One of the longest running international advertising festivals, the Kinsale Shark Awards celebrate the best work in broadcast advertising from Ireland and around the world.
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