Japan’s Toei Animation, Israel’s Vringo and MTV were among the winners of Mipcom’s Mobile and Internet TV Awards Thursday night. Now in their third year, the awards drew a record 280 entries from 180 companies in 38 countries, helping to shore up an aspect of the entertainment biz that’s becoming more relevant to many content creators.
“The record participation in this year’s awards demonstrates the growing importance of mobile and internet production to the global TV and film industries,” said Ted Baracos, director of digital media at Reed Midem.
Creator of the iconic “Digimon” and “Dragonball,” Toei won the award for made-for-mobile or film channel, for Toei Comic — a service that opens up a huge catalog of animation to subscribers’ cell phones. Vringo was awarded mobile service for social community & UGC for its video ringtone biz, which enables mobile users to pull video clips from the web and share them with friends. MTV’s viewer-created “Best.Show.Ever” scooped the prize for cross platform and interactive mobile TV format.
The winners of the Mipcom Mobile TV Awards 2007 were:
Short form audiovisual entertainment made for mobile and/or Internet comedy
Jeb’s Jobs, Weakend Productions, U.K.
Short form audiovisual entertainment made for mobile and/or Internet drama
Emmerdale Online Channel: Hoodlum, Australia
Short form audiovisual entertainment made for mobile and/or Internet lifestyle/music
“History Rocks,” A&E Television Networks USA
Short form audiovisual entertainment made for mobile and/or Internet factual
“The Finer things,” Speedy Productions, South Africa
Mobile service for social community & UGC
Vringo, Israel
Made-for-mobile or film channel
“Toei Anime Comic,” Toei Animation Co, Japan
Cross platform & Interactive mobile TV format
“Best.Show.Ever,” MTV Networks Intl., USA
Short film originally created or repurposed for mobile
“King Boxer” Mobisode Celestial Pictures, Hong Kong
Film shot on a mobile device
“Colorful EU,” Kodolanyi Janos U.- Visual Workshop, Hungary