Turner Broadcasting System Inc. sponsors UK premier video games design competition – Dare to be Digital
16 January 2008
Dare to be Digital 2008 has secured sponsorship from one of the world's biggest media giants, Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
Dare is the UK's premier competition for young computer games designers, attracting students and recent graduates from all over the world in 2007.
Turner Broadcasting System Inc, owners of major news network CNN and part of the Time Warner group, is the first new sponsor to be announced for Dare 2008.
The company's sponsorship comes soon after confirmation that the University of Abertay Dundee, originators and promoters of Dare, would continue and increase its support for the competition this year.
Paul Durrant, Director of Dare to be Digital, welcomed Turner Broadcasting System Inc. as the first new sponsor for 2008, saying: "We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with TBS this year.
"Their support is a huge boost to our plans to raise £1 million to support Dare to be Digital for the next two years, and a measure of how seriously the contest is now regarded by major creative and media businesses around the planet.
"We plan to greatly increase the scope of this year's competition, with almost twice as many students as in 2007, taking part in several host centres across the UK and perhaps even overseas as well."
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.
Casey Harwood, Senior Vice President for Digital Media at Turner Broadcasting System Europe said, "We're delighted to support 'Dare to be Digital' and any initiative that fosters talent and diversity within our industry. Gaming is a particularly high growth area, complementary to our own target audiences and digital output, and this sponsorship presents us with yet another opportunity to build on our understanding of the format and the range of emerging digital platforms."
Acclaimed by the UK government as an example of best practice in linking universities and the games industry, Dare to be Digital is a proofing ground for young talent. In its eight-year history, Dare has generated five companies, two product deals and seen 80% of its participants get hired by high profile employers in the video games industry. One of the winning teams, Voodoo Boogy, won a BAFTA award Ones To Watch in 2007.
Ends
Media enquiries
For Dare To Be Digital: Kevin Coe - T: +44 1382 308452 M: +44 7850 904110
For Turner Broadcasting System Europe: Claudia Coles - T: +44 (0)207 693 0946
NOTE TO EDITORS
Dare to be Digital
Dare to be Digital was first piloted among computer games students at Abertay in 1999. Since 2000, the competition has been run by a partnership of the University of Abertay Dundee, Scottish Enterprise Tayside and Dundee City. In 2007, Abertay doubled the number of teams taking part and ran the competition in host centres in Belfast and Guildford as well as the original host centre in Dundee.
A total of 60 students in 12 teams took part in the 2007 contest, which also featured two other major innovations:
1) Dare ProtoPlay - a unique three-day public showcase staged as part of the Edinburgh Festival at which all 12 teams presented their games to an audience totalling 2,500;
2) an agreement with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to establish the BAFTA "Ones to Watch" Award
Dare to be Digital has established an enviable reputation for producing high-grade talent, which in turn attracts huge industry support. In 2007, the competition was sponsored by AMD, EA, London Development Agency, Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, NCR, University of Abertay Dundee, Nesta, Channel 4, XNA, Xbox 360, Realtime Worlds, Scottish Enterprise, Dundee City Council, Digital Hub, Belfast City Council with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment's Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme, Intertrade, Queen's University, Disney Interactive Studios, Mirai, BBC Scotland and TIGA.
Dare ProtoPlay 2007 was also sponsored by AMD, Realtime Worlds and Scottish Enterprise.
More information about Dare to be Digital: http://www.daretobedigital.com/
Turner Broadcasting System Inc
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world. Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe delivers some of the world's most successful and well-known news and entertainment brands - CNN, TCM (Turner Classic Movies), Nuts TV, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Too, Boomerang, Boomerang + 1 and Cartoonito. The company now broadcasts 21 entertainment channels in 17 languages across approximately 100 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Alongside its TV channels TBS Europe is at the forefront of developing its brands through the internet, broadband, VOD, DVD, gaming, mobile, merchandising, publishing and every other available platform.
For more information about TBS: http://www.turner.com/about/index.html