3rd Annual ELAN Awards

VANCOUVER February 26, 2009 - The producers of the 3rd Annual ELAN Awards are thrilled to announce that their Host for this year's show will be Tom Kenny, known the world over as none-other-than the one, the only ... SpongeBob SquarePants©!

"Well now this show's sure to be a riot," exclaims Holly Carinci, Founder & Producer of the ELANS, an awards show that just went international honoring the talent behind video games, animation and, also new this year, visual effects. "Honest-to-god, I have to make certain that I have drunk a cup of the strongest coffee on-hand in preparation for a telephone conference with Tom," Carinci laughs. "I thought Seth would be an impossible act to follow, but not for Tom!" Seth MacFarlane was the Host for last year's ELAN Awards, following in the footsteps of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) the award show's inaugural Host.

"Since my kids are far too busy playing video games to talk to me anymore, I'm looking forward to the social interaction of the ELAN Awards," quips Kenny. And the ELAN Awards are looking forward to Tom Kenny: With the recent difficult times experienced by their awarded industries through studio closures and job loss, the producers of the ELAN Awards' and their partners' only wish for this year's show is to put smiles back on faces. "Tom will make our guests remember that what they do for a living is entertain people at a time they most need to be entertained and that theirs is a talent that should be celebrated and awarded," says Carinci seriously.

With this in mind, the ELANS have made numerous changes to their production this year in an effort to help the industry deal with today's difficult economic times, first postponing the date in order to help each company and individual get their submissions in, then changing the venue from an 1,800 theater-style show to a warm, intimate dinner show, essentially keeping the glitz-and-glamour that is the ELANS while keeping the evening obtainable and focused. "This year's show will be extremely exclusive as well as all-inclusive," reports Carinci, "because we wanted - no, we needed - to make sure that we were able to produce a world-class show for these world-class industries, offering a truly first-rate, thoroughly enjoyable experience. In order to do this we had to limit the number of attendees to 600 this year."

About The ELAN Awards

This year's ELAN Awards will take place in Vancouver on Saturday, March 21st beginning with their red carpet at 5 PM followed by a Champagne Reception complete with exotic canapés, a spectacular gourmet AAA Alberta beef AND Halibut meal, a world-class show led by a world-famous Host and an After-Party that will let all ELAN Award Nominees, Winners and Guests take eight hours to escape pressures a little and celebrate a lot. Read more

About the Sponsors

None of this would be possible without ELAN Awards Event Partners, Activision Publishing, Inc. and the Seven Group as well as their Founding Partners Radical Entertainment, Relic Entertainment, Offload Studios (Official Supplier of the ELAN Award Statuette), IGN (Official Media Partner), the Opus Hotel (Official Hotelier) and their Associate Partners Blue Arc, Hitachi, sgi, SPINVFX, David Kaye Productions and the esteemed firm Buckley Dodds & Associates which will once again preside over the judicial process. Read more

"As the Movie Industry goes to Hollywood for its Oscars, so will the world of Video Games, Animation and Visual Effects come to Vancouver for their ELANS."

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The ELAN Awards

Holly Carinci

Founder & Producer

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The ELAN Awards Evening Itinerary

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Evening Itinerary & Ticket Purchase