Zombie Bashed Storyland

The winner of this year's RTÉ Storyland competition is:

Zombie Bashers, written by Stephen Shields and directed by Conor McMahon.

Storyland II: Final

Voting is now open in the last round of the RTÉ Storyland competition to determine the winner.

The final two projects are:

• Zombie Bashers, written by Stephen Shields and directed by Conor McMahon
• We Own the Streets, written and directed by Alan Kavanagh

Storyland II: Final 2

The final two series in the RTÉ Storyland competition are:

• Zombie Bashers, written by Stephen Shields and directed by Conor McMahon
• We Own the Streets, written and directed by Alan Kavanagh

Storyland II: 3 Winners

The results of the voting in the latest round of the RTÉ Storyland webisodes are in:

1. Zombie Bashers
2. We Own the Streets
3. Butchers
4. Mariana

The top three projects will advance to the next round, and another episode of their series.

Storyland II: 3

The third episodes of the four remaining projects in RTÉ's Storyland competition are now online.

Vote for your favourite, and the results will be announced on Tuesday the 23rd March.

The top three shows will then progress on to a fourth episode.

Location One Fellowship

The Arts Council is looking for submissions for its Location One Fellowship:

Location One is a not-for-profit art centre in New York devoted to convergence between visual, performing and digital arts in a time of rapidly changing technology. It operates an international residency programme where emerging and established artists can experiment with new forms of artistic expression, particularly those involving new technologies.

The Arts Council offers an annual Fellowship to one artist to facilitate his/her participation in the international residency programme at Location One for 10 months, in order to develop his/her practice and create new work. In addition to the support and resources provided through Location One, the Fellowship also includes accommodation and a stipend.

Purpose and priorities of award

The Location One Fellowship is offered so as to provide an artist with the dedicated time, space and resources to concentrate on the development of practice and the production of new work, and to experiment with advanced technological tools and delivery systems. The Fellowship also provides opportunities for an artist to meet, interact and exchange with his/her international counterparts, to develop new contacts and networks and to benefit from an extended period of time in New York City.

Applicants must demonstrate that the space and time for development, the opportunity for engagement and the access to the resources and facilities at Location One would be of significant value in their professional and artistic development. Prior experience in the use of new technology and/or new media is not essential; however, an ambition to engage with the creative potential that is offered by Location One must be clearly demonstrated by applicants.

What is provided?

The Fellowship includes a studio space at Location One, accommodation and a monthly stipend of $2,000. The overall value of the award is in the region of €37,000.

The working studio space at Location One is accessible seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The resident artist will have access to Apple Mac computers with multimedia production software. S/he will have access to Location One’s digital and video equipment on a shared basis during working hours. Live two-way interactive streaming technology is also made available to residents as needed.

The deadline for applications is 5.30pm Friday, 5 March 2010, and further information about the Fellowship is available from the web site.

Storyland Voting Open

The second webisodes of the five RTÉ Storyland series are now on the web site, and voting is open.

The results of the viewers poll be will be announced on the 17th February, and the four surviving projects will advance into the next round.

Monitoring a Changing Industry

NPR in the US reports that advertisers are now pushing Nielsen to start monitoring online viewing of television shows, as offered by web sites like Hulu.

Kate Sirkin, who directs global research at the media planning and buying firm Starcom MediaVest Group, says advertisers are starting to demand more comprehensive tracking of viewers across platforms.

"I'm not sure if that metric is the only metric we need going forward," she says of traditional Nielsen television ratings. "We would love cross-media measurements."

Sirkin says she would like measurements that aggregate regular TV and online ratings. She suggests Nielsen may be falling behind right at the moment when the ways people watch television are multiplying.

Her firm is part of a consortium of powerful ad agencies and TV networks pressuring Nielsen to evolve along with the habits of television consumers, who don't just watch shows on their television sets, but also on their laptops and other mobile devices.

IFB's Media Hub

The Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board has launched Media Hub, a micro-site that showcases some of its short films, offers trailers and podcasts, as well as providing information on events and news items.

Storyland 2010 Online

The first webisodes of RTÉ's new Storyland series are now online.

The second episode of each series will be online from Friday 5 February. After that viewers will be able to vote for which projects will make a third episode.

Platform Ireland

Platform Ireland is a new multi-media web site that showcases leading Irish arts and cultural content to audiences worldwide. It launched its trial site this month.

Featuring arts content across visual, performance, literature and traditional sectors, Platform Ireland strives to act as a one-stop shop for the Irish arts sector. Its goals include promoting and marketing Irish arts abroad while also acting as an arts archive and providing an online forum for critical debate with the latest news and reviews for both audiences and those involved in the arts.

The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism are partnering Platform Ireland for the duration of the trial, while over forty organisations are involved in providing content for the Platform Ireland trial including amongst others, Druid Theatre, Opera Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Currently, users who register can log in and watch Madama Butterfly – a live recording of the Opening Night of the Opera Ireland season at The Gaiety Theatre on their computer or mobile phone. Other featured videos include "The Adventures of Flannery", a documentary about Cathal Coughlan (Bandit Films), an Interview with David Bolger, artistic director CoisCéim, and a performance by the The Irish Chamber Orchestra.

Online Theatrical Performances

The New York Times features an article about a new pay-for-view online service called OnTheBoards.tv. Its mission is to provide a platform for progressive contemporary performances from around the world.

Lane Czaplinski, the artistic director of On the Boards, also hopes to raise larger questions about the ramifications of translating live art onto the screen at a time when society is increasingly gravitating toward mediated experiences.

"What our culture cares about, it tends to record and distribute," Mr. Czaplinski said during a recent panel discussion at Performance Space 122, a New York partner of OntheBoards.tv. He pointed to sports and pornography, to titters from the industry crowd. "The live artist in a theater is still paramount. But we're in a shifting world."

The Cinderella simile is an apt one for contemporary performing artists, who typically get scant recognition or compensation for their toils. Documentation of the quality Mr. Daniels provides is prohibitively expensive ($10,000 to $15,000), resulting in paltry archival options and little hope of a wider audience for shows that take months or years to develop only to disappear after limited runs.

"What we're doing is creating the live-art equivalent of a museum catalog," Sarah Wilke, managing director for On the Boards, said. "The world is definitely moving toward a wider view of experience. I think the arts are in danger of losing market share if we don't provide a parallel experience."

Arts Council Bursaries

The deadline for the next round of Arts Council Bursaries is 21 January, 2010. Each is funded to a maximum of €15,000.

Of specific interest to our members are:

• The Theatre Bursary Award
• The Visual Arts Bursary Award
• The Film Bursary Award
• The Arts Participation Bursary Award

Information on how to apply, and a full list of all bursaries, are available on the web site.

Done in 60 Seconds

The Jameson Empire Done in 60 Seconds Competition has returned:

The idea is, simply, to take any movie of your choice, grab a bunch of friends and remake it in no more than 60 seconds! It's your chance to show that the likes of Spielberg and Scorsese are really long-winded.

The top two Irish entrants (to be announced in February) will attend the Jameson Empire Done in 60 Seconds finalist's party in London on Friday 26th March, along with 18 other international entries. Their films will be judged by an expert panel of judges, with the top 5 nominees going on to attend the Jameson Empire Awards on Sunday 28th March, where the overall winner will be presented with their award. The prize includes flights and 3 nights accommodation for you and a guest in London & the opportunity to rub shoulders with the A-listers at the Jameson Empire Awards Wrap Party.

The deadline for entry is Friday 29 January 2010, and information on how to apply is available on the web site.

DARE2BDRINKAWARE 09

Now in its third year, DARE2BDRINKAWARE.ie is a competition for third-level students, sponsored by drinkaware.ie and organised by the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA).

The aim of the competition is to highlight young people's attitudes to alcohol: through the use of digital media, students tell their stories and inform their peers about responsible drinking.

The competition is open to students of any discipline. Technical ability is just one element of the judging criteria.

To apply for this year’s competition please fill out the Online Application Form before Friday, 20th November 2009.

Last year’s winning film 'On The Cutting Room Floor' won all of the judges' categories, beating rival entries from colleges throughout Ireland and scooping a total of €4,000 in prize money.

To find out more details about the competition visit the web site.

Digital Theatre Download

The Stage reports that theatrical live productions from prestigious companies, filmed in high definition, will be available to download from a new web site called Digital Theatre.

Launching this week, the first two productions to available to buy will be English Touring Theatre's Far From the Madding Crowd, recorded at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, and The Container, presented in association with the Young Vic and Amnesty International. Currently, Digital Theatre is working with five partner theatre companies - the RSC, Young Vic, Royal Court, ETT and the Almeida Theatre Company.

The initiative has been set up by theatre director Robert Delamere and TV and radio producer Tom Shaw. Five shows will be made available in the first season, with future productions due to be announced and available for download shortly. Royalties from the shows will be paid to the theatres involved, as well as creatives and performers and agreements have been reached between Digital Theatre and Equity and Bectu over payments to participants.

ETT director Rachel Tackley said the filmed version of its show "cleverly captures the raw energy and dynamism of the live production", while Royal Court director Dominic Cooke said that "the potential of digital technology to connect with a worldwide audience is genuinely exciting."

StoryLand II

RTÉ is seeking submissions for 6 new pilot drama series to go online via its StoryLand site from January to June 2010.

We don't mind if you've made dozens of TV series or have never made anything before, as long as you have a good idea that will engage our over 18 audience for 6 episodes and can convince us that you have a team behind you to pull it off, then we want to hear from you.

RTÉ is hosting an information session at 7pm, Wednesday 30th September 2009 about the competition, in RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

Places are limited, so please RSVP to storyland@rte.ie to guarantee your place.

The application form, and details on how to apply, are available online.

The closing date for submissions is 1 November 2009.

Hardy Bucks Win Storyland

The winners of RTÉ's Storyland webisode competition is Hardy Bucks. The final episode will be online today.

The series is co-written by Martin Maloney and Chris Tordoff, directed by Tordoff, and produced by Maloney.

Storyland Final

Voting closes today at 5pm for RTÉ's webisode competition Storyland. The Finalists are:

• Hardy Bucks
• Rental Boys

NI Digital Shorts

Northern Ireland Screen's next four digital short films have gone into production. They are:

• Davy Jones - written and directed by Richard Parkin.
• Paint - written by Andrew and Ryan Tohill and directed by Andrew Tohill.
• Sundays - written and directed by Alanna Riddell.
• The Dinner Party - written by Mark Jordan and directed by Michael Lennox.

Northern Ireland Screen and The UK Film Council's Digital Shorts scheme is a year long programme which aims to seek out and develop new filmmaking talent and enable them to make innovative short films using digital technology.