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Fourth Annual Nicktoons Network Animation Festival Celebrates World-Class Animation During the Month of August Culminating With a 'Best Of' Special on Friday, August 31

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 August 2007, 09:16 CDT

NEW YORK, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon's 24 hour animation network, has received its greatest number of entries for the fourth annual Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, the first and only multiplatform animation festival that's now the largest in North America. Nicktoons Network will air one new short film entry throughout the month of August every night at 10 p.m. (ET), culminating with an hour-long "Best Of" special airing Friday, August 31 at 10 p.m. (ET). The special will feature the top 10 entries from around the world and will count down to the winner of the Grand Jury Award as decided by a panel of celebrity judges. Plus, one talented Grand Prize winner will be awarded the Nickelodeon Development Award -- a first-time prize of $20,000 for the winner to develop his or her original concept with the Nickelodeon Development team. This award and others will be announced at the live event hosted by Hal Sparks (voice of Tak in Tak and the Power of Juju, Talk Soup) on Friday, August 10 at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif.

"In its fourth year, the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival continues to grow in both scope and scale," said Keith Dawkins, Vice President and General Manager, Nicktoons Network. "Filmmakers and industry tastemakers from around the globe continue to recognize the festival as a vehicle for the development of truly original animated content and we are proud to be such a destination."

This year the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, in association with Frederator Studios and Radar Cartoons, received over 3,100 submissions from around the world, including Latvia, Australia, Finland, The Netherlands and Taiwan. The Grand Prize winner will be granted the festival's first-ever Nickelodeon Development Award for the opportunity to pitch his or her original concepts directly to Nickelodeon Development. One concept will be chosen, and with the guidance of the Nickelodeon Development team, the winner will receive $20,000 towards the development of a show treatment, pilot script and storyboard. The winner will be announced, along with the winners of the Student Award, Diversity Award, Greater Creator Award and Producer's Choice Award, during Creator Night -- the first of a two-day live event for invited guests at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios -- on Friday, August 10. The following day, animation fans of all ages will participate in Kids' Day featuring an exclusive screening of the festival's winning shorts, a special sneak peek of Nick's new CG-animated series Tak and the Power of Juju, animator meet and greets and other fun activities.

A grand jury of celebrity judges -- Steve Oedekerk, Patrick Warburton, Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls), Michael Dougherty (co-writer Superman Returns, X-Men 2), Joanna Quinn (academy award nominee, Famous Fred) and Mark Shirra (2006 Producer's Choice Award winner) -- will select the Grand Jury Award of $10,000 to be announced on-air during the "Best Of" special on Nicktoons Network, Friday, August 31 at 10 p.m. (ET) along with the Viewer's Choice Award.

Viewers can weigh in on the night's featured short film all month long on http://www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/nnaf or by texting their vote -- "1" if it rocks or "2" if it rots -- to 23882. Fans can also enter the "Rocks or Rots Sweepstakes" by logging on to http://www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/nnaf/enter.jhtml for a chance to win a Nicktoons Network artist kit. One winner will be selected each night in August.

About Frederator

Frederator makes cartoons for television and movies. Since its 1998 founding by former Hanna-Barbera Cartoons President Fred Seibert, Frederator Studios has become one of the industry's largest and most prolific independent cartoon studios. The company's debut production was Oh Yeah! Cartoons, an anthology of traditional seven-minute animated shorts by three dozen creators, for Nickelodeon. That project has so far spawned three hit series for the network. Frederator has more than 100 projects in active development as well as production for features, books, television, and video.

About Nicktoons Network

Nicktoons Network is the fastest growing kids' network* and offers a 24- hour schedule featuring programming such as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival, Skyland, Kappa Mikey, The Secret Show and Martin Mystery, as well as a roster of hits that have defined kids' and animation lovers' TV, including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Invader Zim, Danny Phantom, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. Nicktoons Network is a part of the MTV Networks expanded suite of channels available for digital distribution. The new channels include MTV Hits, MTV Jams, Nicktoons Network and VH1 Mega Hits, expanding and strengthening MTV Networks' digital offerings to thirteen services.

Nicktoons Network currently reaches 48 million homes via cable, digital cable and satellite, and can be seen on Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, DirecTV, DISH Network and Time Warner Cable. Nicktoons, and all related titles and logos are property of Viacom, Inc.

*Nicktoons Network is the Fastest Growing Kid's Network among K2-11, K6- 11, K6-14 and K12-17. Source: Nielsen Media Research, 8/28/06-7/29/07 vs. 8/29/05-7/30/06. (Live) US AA%

Nicktoons Network

CONTACT: Nicole Parker, +1-818-736-3613, Nicole.Parker@nick.com, ofNicktoons Network; Maria Poulos, +1-212-846-6283, Maria.Poulos@mtvnmix.com,for Nicktoons Network

Web site: http://www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/nnafhttp://www.nick.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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