Jun 10, 2009

VANCOUVER OPERA LAUNCHES ANIMATION CONTEST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 1, 2009
Contact: Ling Chan, 604-682-2871 x 4842
lchan@vancouveropera.ca

Vancouver Opera’s extensive network of social media sites as well as official contest rules can be found on their homepage at http://www.vancouveropera.ca.


VANCOUVER OPERA LAUNCHES ANIMATION CONTEST
Opera teams up with animation studios to reach next generation of fans

VANCOUVER, BC ~Vancouver Opera announces Operabot, an animation contest for their Golden Anniversary Season. Contestants are challenged to create animated shorts from one of the four operas from the VO 2009/2010 season. Entries will be posted to YouTube and open to voting, with the final winners chosen by a panel of judges from leading Vancouver-area animation studios. Prizes include animation software computer gear, gaming packages, mp3 players and digital cameras

The contest is found here: http://www.youtube.com/group/vancouveropera

“With the long-running success of our opera manga series by Roy Husada and Fiona Meng, we thought this was the logical next step,” said General Director Jim Wright. “We can’t wait to see what people come up with!”

The contest runs June 1, 2009 to Nov 1, 2009 and is open to residents of Canada and United States. Official rules can be found at www.vancouveropera.ca. All entrants will receive tickets to the opera, so everyone is a winner!

The contest was inspired by the active animation industry in Vancouver and a similar contest run by Chicago Opera Theater in 2008. VO has included one of the Chicago finalists that inspired the Vancouver contest as a sample on their blog, www.vancouveropera.blogspo
t.com and at the contest website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XahS-rjEDL8

Vancouver Opera is a leader in social media initiatives, including Operalive.ca multimedia site, Blogger Night at the Opera, Opera Ninja a live backstage twitterer and Operagator an opera news aggregator.

Utilizing Web 2.0 channels, including an active blog, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube channel, Vancouver Opera is committed to reaching the next generation of opera lovers using the media of the times.

Vancouver Opera is also a leader in using visual arts as a medium for opera, including a long running Opera Manga series by Roy Husada and Fiona Meng, and commissioning of award-winning visual artists like Edel Rodriguez and Michael Abraham to create original artwork for VO season productions.

Vancouver Opera’s extensive network of social media sites as well as official contest rules can be found on their homepage at http://www.vancouveropera.ca.