Press Release from qubo
(New York, NY -- July 14, 2009) -- In response to the phenomenally successful first round of quboPic premieres that aired this past winter, qubo, the TV and online entertainment service for children and families, will debut a second round of user-generated animated short films on qubo Channel as well as on qubo’s broadcast blocks on ION Television, NBC and Telemundo beginning Thursday, July 16.
Thousands of young animators from across the country logged on to qubo.com to create short animated films using an innovative storytelling web application called ZIMMER TWINS. qubo selected fourteen films to be to be converted into fully animated mini-movies for national broadcast. qubo producers will re-master each film, converting it to high-resolution video with broadcast quality color, music and sound effects. qubo has also enlisted character actors to record the dialogue and narration written by the animators in their text bubble scripts.
The Zimmer Twins, Edgar and Eva, are animated characters featured in interactive cartoons that kids can create from scratch, modify and share with their friends in a rich, safe web environment. The ZIMMER TWINS section on qubo.com includes storytelling tools, pre-made animated clips and simple editing instructions that tap into kids’ inherent love of stories. The clips and storytelling prompts explore classic kid themes like science, animals, magic and adventure. The animation interface is designed around the basic elements of sentence structure, and reinforces reading, grammar, and writing techniques. After creating their stories, users can post and share their creations and even vote for their favorite user-created submissions online. In 2007, the ZIMMER TWINS won the International Interactive Emmy Award.
qubo debuted its first round of quboPic winning entries between December 2008 and February 2009 when nearly 25,000 children logged on to qubo.com and created nearly 50,000 qubopic ZIMMER TWINS animated films. At that time, qubo selected twelve user-generated animations to be re-mastered and broadcast on qubo Channel and on qubo’s broadcast blocks.
Since that first round of quboPic ZIMMER TWINS films began airing on qubo’s assorted telecast outlets, the number of animated films and users has grown exponentially. An additional 66,000 ZIMMER TWINS films had been created by the time the second round of fourteen animated films were selected. Traffic to qubo.com continues to grow and there are currently nearly 170,000 original ZIMMER TWINS animated films on qubo’s site posted by almost 80,000 registered users.
“We were thrilled with the response to our first round of quboPic premieres and can’t think of a better way to honor and thank our viewers than by launching a second effort, “said Rick Rodriguez, president and general manager, qubo. “We are proud to showcase the creativity of these talented children on our air. The ZIMMER TWINS helps reinforce qubo’s mission of engaging children’s minds while promoting reading and literacy.”
ZIMMER TWINS is created by zinc Roe design, a company that specializes in advanced flash development and new media projects for children and youth. The property is licensed to qubo by Bejuba! Entertainment Inc.
