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BAFTA Glory for Industry Newcomers at EIEF

The gaming industry’s bright young things are honoured at EIEF with the BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award

26th May 2005 - The Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival (EIEF) is pleased to announce the return of the coveted BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award at this year's festival, taking place from 10th - 14th August at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC).

The award is designed to recognise notable creative innovation, technical excellence and production achievements and has quickly become the most prestigious award for new talent in the interactive entertainment industry. Following a successful launch at last year's festival when company heads were asked to submit entries from staff they considered to excel in their field, this year submissions will be accepted from individuals as well as corporate applicants.

Entries are being sought by individuals who have been working in interactive entertainment for five years or less and are involved in product development or technology, such as producers, artists, programmers, designers, or those working in audio.

A panel made up of members of the BAFTA Interactive Committee will judge the entries and the winner will be announced by a reputed industry personality during a presentation at EIEF.

Paulina Bozek, Associate Producer of last year's winning entry, 'SingStar' for PlayStation 2 saw her game become massively successful and subsequently went on to win the BAFTA Award for Originality at the BAFTA Games Awards. She comments "Receiving last year's BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award was a great achievement for me personally and professionally. Being awarded by the BAFTA academy and recognised by industry peers at the EIEF is a great experience. It's fantastic to see BAFTA and the EIEF supporting new talent, innovation and creativity".

Grant Dean, BAFTA Interactive Committee Chair says "We are very pleased to be working alongside the EIEF in recognising emerging talent within the video games industry. It is essential that individuals gain credit for pushing the technical excellence and creativity within this art form".

Greg Ingham, Chairman of EIEF says "We are honoured to be able to present the BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award again at EIEF. The award was extremely well received last year and we hope that this develops into a long-standing feature of the festival".

Award submissions should be registered by completing the entry form, which can be found at www.eief.co.uk and www.bafta.org/newtalent.htm.

The deadline for entries is 1st July 2005.

For further information please contact Naomi Segal at Taylor Herring Brand Communications on 020 8206 5157 naomi.segal@taylorherring.co.uk

Notes to Editors

  • The Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival is a jointly owned venture between the Independent Game Developers Association (TIGA) www.tiga.org and the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) www.elspa.com. Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian supports the Festival as part of its backing of the creative and digital industries, which are key sectors for Scotland.
  • The Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival's aim is to increase the awareness and understanding of interactive entertainment and its place at the heart of popular culture, highlighting the growing bond between video games and other entertainment industries notably music, literature, television and film.
  • The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) is the UK's leading organisation dedicated to the promotion of excellence in the film, television and interactive industries. BAFTA is a membership organisation with over 6,000 members from within its represented industries.

Renowned for its high-profile Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence. Six major awards ceremonies are staged by BAFTA annually: Film, Television, Television Craft, Children's film and television, Interactive and Games.

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