On Wednesday 24th February three animation Oscar nominees (Richie Baneham of Weta Digital, Tomm Moore of Cartoon Saloon and Darragh O’Connell of Brown Bag Films) will visit Ballyfermot College. They will also be joined on the night by Andrew Kavanagh (Founder/CEO Kavaleer Productions).

The schedule for the event is as follows:

6pm: Talk by BAFTA award winning visual effects animator and Oscar nominee Richie Baneham (nominated in the category of Visual Effects for ‘Avatar’)

7.15pm: Panel Discussion: Richie Baneham will be joined on stage by fellow Oscar nominee and IFTA Rising Star award winner Tomm Moore (nominated in the category of Animated Feature Film for Cartoon Saloon’s ‘The Secret of Kells’) and Oscar nominee Darragh O’Connell (nominated in the category of Short Film (Animated) for Brown Bag Films ‘Granny O’Grimms Sleeping Beauty’). The panel discussion will be chaired by Andrew Kavanagh (recent IFTA nominee for Kavaleer
Production’s ‘Hasan Everywhere’).

All of the talks and the panel discussion will take place in the Anna
Brett Hall, Media Building, Ballyfermot College of Further Education, Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10.

This event is open to animation students, graduates, staff and
industry professionals.

Once again the Digital Hub Development Agency, based in Dublin, is supporting the Dare to be Digital competition and will pay the travel expenses of teams from the Republic who are selected for interview. Below is more info.

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The Digital Hub Development Agency, on behalf of the Department of Education and Science, in association with Belfast City Council and the University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland are inviting Irish students to enter Dare to Be Digital 2010.

Dare to be Digital is an internationally renowned games development competition for talented computer science and art students to develop a prototype video game.

Teams of 5 students, usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio, assemble in a development hothouse in Scotland for 10 weeks (Monday 7th June to Tuesday 17th August 2010), receiving daily support and weekly training sessions from industry specialists.

* 10 weeks based in Dundee
* A project fee of £1,700 is given to each student
* £200 team budget

This unique competition is open to Irish further education and 3rd Level students who are interested in developing a new innovative product in the games sector suitable for any platform.

The Digital Hub Development Agency will pay for travel to the interview.

Dare to be Digital presents a unique opportunity for students. Many of the contestants from previous years have been hired by games companies on completion of the competition.

Deadline for entries is 28th March 2010

Students may apply online at: http://www.daretobedigital.com

Please email any queries to: enquiries@daretobedigital.com

It has just been confirmed that both Peter Molyneux (Lionhead/ Microsoft Game Studios Europe) and Peter Connolly (Executive Producer from Microsoft Game Studios USA) will be present at the games forum which will take place as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival at 18.30pm on Thurs the 25th of March in DIT Aungier street.

For the past 23 years Peter Molyneux has been creating role playing games such as Fable, The Movies, Black and White and Populous. In Dublin he will discuss RPGs and their cinematic nature.

This will be followed by a panel discussion addressing game development, film and cinema which will be chaired by Dr. Aphra Kerr of NUIM and gd.ie. Other panel members TBC.

You can purchase a ticket for this event (spaces are limited) for 5EUR from http://jdiff.ticketsolve.com/shows/23497949/events

Alternatively tickets can be purchased by calling 01 687 7974 or in person at the JDIFF Ticketing Office, Filmbase, Curved St, Dublin 2.

The event is organised by the Jameson International Dublin Film Festival in association with DIT’s Schools of Media and Computer Science and will see the official launch of their new MSc in Digital Games.

If you have not heard of Dare to be Digital then I suggest you take a look at their website and search our own forums for threads on previous years. Teams of Irish students and recent students have participated almost every year since the competition began.

The call for applications has just opened with a closing date of the 28th of March 2010.

The competition is run out of the University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland.

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Dare to be Digital are seeking talented students to get together teams of 5 to apply to this prestigious competition – online applications are www.daretobedigital.com

•Dare to be Digital is a 10 week video game competition (June – August)
•10 weeks based in Dundee – FREE student accommodation
•A project fee of £1700 is given to each student
•£200 team budget
•Showcase your game at Dare ProtoPlay www.daretobedigital.com/protoplay
•Mentors are appointed to help and support during the competition
•Industry exposure presentations, help and advise
•Market your product to industry judges
•Student enhanced employment
•Future career prospects; possible career within the games industry, opportunity to set up own venture/company, sell your IP, networking advantages/contacts
•Winning prizes; Market Potential, Use of Technology and Innovation & Creativity

Complete the online application form with your teams game prototype at www.daretobedigital.com – APPLICATION DEADLINE 28th March ‘10.

If your team’s application is successful the interviews will be held in Dundee or nearest Selection Centre between 12-20th April ‘10.

Industry professionals (Animation and Games) thinking of
returning to education?

The Irish School of Animation, Ballyfermot College of
Further Education are currently accepting applications for their BA (Hons) Animation programme.

This year they are offering direct entry to the final year of their BA
(Hons) Animation programme to candidates with relevant industry
experience in the animation and games areas.

For more information on the BA (Hons) Animation programme see
http://www.isa-bcfe.ie/

To apply for the programme see http://applications.bcfe.ie/

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 3rd March.