14th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS KICKS OFF CALL FOR ENTRIES FOR YEAR'S

BEST ONLINE FILM AND VIDEO: WHAT WILL BE YOUR FIVE WORD SPEECH?

Giving online film and video creators a chance to deliver one of its famous

five-word speeches, The Webby Awards today kicked off its 14th annual call

for entries at www.webbyawards.com. Entrants can submit work in more than

25 film and video categories, including Best Online Comedy, Best Individual

Performance, and Best Viral Video. The early deadline is October 30, 2009. 

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby

Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet,

including online film and video, Websites, interactive advertising, and mobile

websites.

Winners will join past Webby honorees like Jimmy Fallon ("Thank God Conan

got promoted."), Lisa Kudrow ("Well, thank you. Oh god."), Twitter co-

founder Biz Stone ("Creativity is a renewable resource."), and World Wide

Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee ("Free... open... Keep one Web.") in

broadcasting their speeches via the Webby Awards YouTube Channel

(www.youtube.com/webby), which received more than 1.5 million video views

to date.

"The Webby Awards gives winners ­ from desktop video artists to network

producers to acclaimed actors and directors ­ a chance to shine in the global

Webby spotlight," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby

Awards. "We look forward to honoring the innovators who are shaping the

future of entertainment."

2009 online film and video winners included: Next New Networks' "Bill O'Reilly's

Producer -- The Unseen Footage!" (Video Remixes/Mashups), Onion News

Network (Best Writing), FunnyorDie's "Prop 8 The Musical" (Comedy: Individual

Short or Episode); and MTV Networks' "Stickman Exodus" (Animation).   A list

of all winners and nominees, including links to their individual 5 word speech

videos, can be found at http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?

media_id=97&season=13

The 13th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60

countries. The awards season was capped by a star-studded June gala in

New York City hosted by Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers.

Online film and video categories are judged by a panel of more than 85

entertainment industry leaders that includes The Sundance Channel's Larry

Aidem, Director Darren Aronofsky, Showtime Chief Matt Blank, 20th Century

Fox Chairman Jim Gianopoulos, Martha Stewart, Harvey Weinstein, and

executives from YouTube, Next New Networks, MTV and Comedy Central.

Nominees for the 14th Annual Webby Awards will be announced in April 2010,

and winners will be honored at a ceremony in New York City on June 14,

2010.

About The Webby Awards

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby

Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet,

including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile

web sites. Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received

nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The

Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and

Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft

Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; YouTube; Getty Images; Wieden +

Kennedy; The Barbarian Group;  The New York Times Company; Behance;

Limelight Networks; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail

and Museum of the Moving Image.