EA to award $20,000 to winner of student contest

Electronic Arts announced Thursday the return of Canada's national student computer animation competition, "Reveal 07."

Back for its third year, EA is once again providing graduating Canadian art and 3D animation students with a national stage to showcase their talents, win cash prizes, and earn national accolades for their work.

At the top of the prize list again this year is a $20,000 grand prize for the Best Short Digital Animation, which also comes with a $20,000 matching grant to the grand prize winner's school.

"Reveal 07" challenges students to demonstrate their skill and creativity by crafting a digital short that showcases the skills and techniques they've learned at one of the many excellent post-secondary digital arts programs in Canada. The panel of EA judges will select the winners based on technical ability, originality, creativity and artistic merit. In addition to the Grand Prize, EA will award First, Second and Third place winners with $2,000, $1,000 and $500 prizes respectively in the categories of Animation (Character or Effects), Modeling/Texturing (Characters; Environments; Props or Vehicles) and Lighting/Rendering (Characters; Environments; Compositing; Lighting Effects).

The top 20 finalists will be invited to Electronic Arts' Vancouver studios for the final judging. The finalists will also be invited to the Reveal finale on May 8 at the EA Canada campus, where the winners will be revealed and prizes awarded.

One additional innovation this year with "Reveal 07" is a new Level/Design category to recognize the excellent work that Canadian students are doing in the various Game Design programs across the country. That competition will culminate with one $1,000 cash prize for the winning entry.

"Reveal has grown into an institution at EA that we anticipate every year. It's a great opportunity for talented young artists to showcase their passions and hard work, and a fantastic forum for EA to help nurture and encourage the next generation of digital artists in this country." said EA Sports chief visual officer Henry LaBounta.

Joel Furtado, last year's grand prize winner at Reveal 06 and a graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, has enjoyed international recognition for his digital short A Tree For Two in the past several months. In addition, Furtado also landed a role as a character animator on the much-anticipated Skate videogame being developed by EA Black Box in downtown Vancouver.

"Having just completed my degree, the Reveal competition was the perfect way to end my life as a student," Furtado said. "The competition itself was a great vacation from the stresses of school and an opportunity to meet talented artists from across the country. After winning the competition, I was able to get a huge headstart both financially and in the industry."

For "Reveal 07," EA is accepting entries from Canadian citizens or permanent Canadian residents who are currently enrolled in their graduating year of a recognized Canadian Art Program. Entrants must be graduating between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2007. No purchase necessary.

Submissions will be accepted through April 6. For eligibility restrictions and complete rules, go to www.reveal.ea.com.