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| Platinum Studios' CBC |
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Platinum Studios' Comic Book Challenge 2008
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| Monster Love - Top 50 pick |
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COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE ASKS... WHO'S NEXT?
Platinum Studios, Inc, an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 3,800 comic book characters which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media, announced in March the launch of The Comic Book Challenge 2008 at www.comicbookchallenge.com. The launch of the site coincided with the release of Jorge Vega's 2007 winning title, "Gunplay," at the Wizard World LA convention on March 15, 2008. Submissions for this year's contest officially opened at 12:01 am on Thursday, May 1, 2008.
Changes to The Comic Book Challenge submission process are detailed on the contest website, but include the submission of three pages of artwork, instead of only the single page required in previous years. Aspiring comic book creators had one month to submit their entries at www.comicbookchallenge.com. An internal Platinum Studios committee selected the Top 50 entrants, who will move on to pitch their ideas to a panel of celebrity and entertainment industry judges. The finalists chosen by the judging panel will then have their work voted on by fans across the globe, with the winner receiving a multitude of prizes including the coveted publishing deal.
"We're upping the ante a little bit this year with our three-page requirement because comics are about effective storytelling in a visual medium and not about key art or character designs," says Platinum Studios VP of Content Development, Dan Forcey.
"We have seen The Comic Book Challenge grow significantly in just a few short years, says Platinum Studios Chairman & CEO, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. "With last year's entrants representing nearly two dozen countries -- triple the number of countries from our inaugural contest. We look forward to continuing to build on the success of The Comic Book Challenge."
NEW VIDEO PITCH
In May, Platinum Studios announced exciting changes to The Comic Book Challenge, which will transform it into a fully digital competition. In previous years, the Top 50 entrants had to make their way to San Diego, CA during one of the busiest and most expensive times of the year in order to pitch their concept live to a panel of judges. Now, from the convenience of their own home, each Top 50 entrant will be able to create a three-minute video pitch which he/she will submit online for judging. The panel of celebrity judges will then review the video pitch and original entry of each Top 50 entrant and choose the Top 10 entrants based on these submissions. The Top 50 entrants will be given one full month to create their own, unique video pitch.
“Even with the travel stipend we offered last year, a lot of the Top 50 had to pay out of pocket just to make it to the pitch, including some contestants coming from as far way as India and Australia, and I believe that may have discouraged some folks from entering,” says Forcey. “We wanted to include as many aspiring comic book creators from as many places as possible so we decided to make participation even easier in order to continue growing The Comic Book Challenge into the international sensation we believe it is becoming.”
As part of these changes, Platinum extended its May 31 deadline to June 14 and public voting on the Top 10 will be similarly adjusted.
Visit www.comicbookchallenge.com for further details on the contest.
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