CAEAA Announces New Date For Elan Game Awards

The 2nd Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (CAEAA) has announced its Elan Awards Show, which recognizes both video game animation professionals as well as digital art students, is set to take place February 15th, 2008. The event was previously slated for November 2nd, but the organization says that with the addition of international categories into the CAEAA, what began in its first year as a Canadian-only participation grew into a global network of participants, necessitating an expansion of the qualifying year to accommodate increased interest. The event's venue remains the same, at the Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, British Columbia. Given the extension, the 2nd Annual Elan Awards 2008 participants have an 18-month qualifying year, and the CAEAA will accept submissions for productions and games made publicly available from July 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007, with Friday, December 21st as the final due date for entries. CAEAA notes that the extension also enables larger industry participation, allowing games such as Halo 3, Crysis, Guitar Hero III, Need for Speed ProStreet, Super Mario Galaxy, BioShock and others to qualify. The CAEAA's event partners are Electronic Arts, Autodesk, Nokia's N-Gage, Ernst & Young and the British Columbia Provincial Government. Sponsors include Foundation 9/Backbone Entertainment, Radical Entertainment, The Art Institute of Vancouver, Vancouver Film School, School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SFU), and a variety of others. Holly Carinci, CAEAA founder and producer, said, "As the movie industry goes to Hollywood for its Oscars, so will the world of video gaming and animation come to Canada for their Elans.” Further information on the Elans is available at the event's official website.