CEN AWARDS
Toronto (December 5, 2003) - The Canadian DVD industry will finally be getting the recognition it deserves when Canadian Entertainment Network (CEN) -- a bi-weekly trade magazine that focuses on the Canadian DVD, video game and home entertainment industries -- hosts its first annual Canadian Entertainment Network Awards on Feb. 6, 2004, at The Carlu in Toronto.
Asset Digital, one of Canada's first full service DVD production facilities, has developed seven DVD releases and one DVD Audio release of those nominated for six different awards including the CEN Readers Choice Award, Best Independent Movie DVD, Best TV Series DVD, Best Educational/Documentary DVD, DVD Audio Release of the Year and all five nominations for the Best Canadian DVD category.
"It's great to see our clients submitting our work to the CEN Awards," says Asset Digital President David Buder. "We were especially excited to see that all of the nominees in the Best Canadian DVD category were produced at Asset Digital. All of the creative direction, menu animations, design, authoring, encoding and even print design Ð in the case of Goin' Down the Road Ð was done in-house. When we first opened our doors, we wanted to raise the bar for our DVD releases to prove that high quality work with the format can be done in Canada. These nominations really help to solidify our position in the marketplace."
The DVD market in Canada continues to grow month over month and thanks to the innovative features now available, consumers are just as excited about seeing a film on DVD in their homes as they were seeing the same film recently in the theatre. The black-tie Canadian Entertainment Network Awards will pay tribute to the achievements of top DVDs and video games, as well as home entertainment retailers, suppliers and studios.
CEN consulted with suppliers and retailers to develop the 30 categories. Over the last few months approximately 5,500 retailers have had the opportunity to vote for the product-specific awards via a special balloting form that was individually sent out. Winners for other awards will be decided by a special panel of voters comprised of retailers, studio personnel, suppliers and some of Canada's top DVD reviewers.
A portion of every ticket sold for the event will be donated to Lupus Canada, a national non-profit organization that promotes education and awareness about the disease, in addition to providing funds for Lupus research. Early sponsors for the first CEN Awards include 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, ADV Films, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Digital Moon, EMI Music Canada, ID Merchandising, KOCH Entertainment, Lions Gate Films, MGM Home Entertainment, Nielsen VideoScan Canada, Paramount Home Entertainment, Seville Pictures, SoHo Metropolitan Hotel, Sony Music Canada, Universal Studios / Alliance Atlantis Video, Universal Music Canada, Warner Home Video and West Jet.