News
Media Sandbox participants scoop MIA awards | Clare | NewsMedia Sandbox participants Mobile Pie, HMC Interactive and BDH, all won trophies at the 2008 Media Innovation Awards last week.
Gaining success in the Mobile Communications category for their camera based phone game 'Snap Happy' Mobile Pie also went on to win the MIA Trophy, given to the most exceptional project from all of the entrants. Snap Happy is a casual mobile phone game based on the Java Platform which requires players to search for and capture colour in the real world using the camera on their handset. The game was recognised by the judging panel because of its innovative use of the features of a mobile phone and its user friendly interface.
BDH meanwhile won the Screen Graphics award for Seven Ages of Rock which they produced for BBC Television and BBC On Line and HMC won Best Newcomer and Contribution to Innovation.
The Media Innovation Awards are organised by Plymouth Media-Partnership and celebrate the innovative use of screen based media across the South West.
SXSW is geocurious | Clare | NewsLast week iShed headed to the South by South West Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, with Media Sandbox participant Hazel Grian of Licorice Media and three other digital agencies from Bristol. The Festival celebrates the creativity and passion behind the coolest new media technologies and featured keynote talks and panel sessions covering everything from web design to bootstrapping to social networks, with a heavy helping of mobile, pervasive and games.
Traveling with Mike Bennett of Bristol Media, Benjamin Hostler of Beef and Andy Parkhouse of Team Rubber, our mission was to research new business opportunities, spot emerging digital trends and explore what Bristol can learn from one of the biggest international conferences and festivals of the year.
The hot topics at the Festival were mobile, creativity, collaboration and ARGs (with Hazel being recognised across the Festival for her MeiGeist ARG). You can read our blog, which covers general impressions of the Festival and some detailed notes on events, here.
Building collaboration through web 2.0 | Clare | NewsEd Mitchell and I have given a few talks recently about how we are using free web 2.0 tools to foster and support collaboration and community building in Media Sandbox. Read Ed's overview of our presentation here.
Media Sandbox Showcase Event | Clare | News31 March | 6 – 7.30 pm | Watershed
In January 2008, Media Sandbox selected six projects to research possibilities in pervasive media – ranging from bringing Aardman’s animations ‘to life’ in the real world to multi-player games in the urban environment.
This midway showcase is an opportunity to find out how the groups are getting on and offer your insight into this exciting and emerging area. Book a space here.
Media Sandbox participants in government action plan | Clare | NewsThe Government today published Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy, its Creative Economy action plan in which it commits to the future development of, and investment in, Britain’s creative industries. Amongst the many examples of excellence cited was the work of Media Sandbox participants, including Licorice Film, Aardman and Watershed.
Led by the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, Creative Britain explores how organisations like Watershed and the other Sandbox participants are playing a vital developmental role in the wider creative economy – an economy which contributes £60 billion to the UK economy, employs 2 million people and which is growing at twice the rate of the economy as a whole.
The plan highlights MeiGeist, Licorice Film's first Alternative Reality Game, a new animation centre that Aardman is working in partnership with Skillset and the South West Regional Development Agency on, and the ground-breaking Pervasive Media Studio.
Read the plan: Creative Britain - New Talents for the Economy PDF (1.2mb)
