Yesterday, after we launched The Motion Awards by Motionographer, I saw this tweet:
Wow, what a comprehensive and considered endeavour. Suddenly feels like a vacuum has been filled. https://t.co/FaL4juSCPN
— Steve Kirby (@stevekirby) December 13, 2016
If you follow Steve on Twitter, you know he’s no pushover. His unprompted response to The Motion Awards was exactly the validation I needed to feel good about what we’re doing.
But first, a confession.
Carlos El Asmar, my business partner and the elusive co-founder of Motionographer and the F5 festival, had been wanting to do an awards show for a long time. He was frustrated with other award shows and felt that no one was really celebrating everything that motion design has become since he entered the field over 20 years ago.
But I just wasn’t into it. I shrugged it off over and over. An awards show? Booooooring.
Nice move, jerkface.
Looking back now, that was pretty damn selfish.
As I talked to more and more people, I finally understood that there was a genuine desire for an organized celebration of the weird, messy world of motion design. Conferences like Blend and F5 are clear evidence that people want a place outside of the noisy, endless streams of social media where inspiring work — and the people who make it — can be recognized.
This is just the beginning.
We’re designing The Motion Awards to run for decades.
Each year, The Motion Awards will evolve to include more people and projects. We’ll have a fancy awards show in New York. We’ll roll out educational programs and workshops. There will be regional competitions.
This year, we’re starting ambitious and strong: 120 judges will evaluate 30 categories of work across two rounds of judging.
We’re also including two nomination-based categories, Best New Talent and Best New Studio. Judges will submit candidates and you, dear reader, will vote on the winners.
It’s all on the website. Head on over and check it out. And thank you in advance for your interest.
A quick note of thanks
The first person I reached out to for help with The Motion Awards was creative/producer/magic-maker Olney Atwell, whom Carlos and I knew from NBC-Universal. (She’s also helped out immensely with F5.)
For branding, design and animation needs, I knew exactly who I wanted to work with: First Mates, the husband and wife team of David Hobizal and Sissy Emmons Hobizal. (We’ll have an in-depth article about the making of The Motion Awards launch video soon.)
We also assembled an advisory board of trusted people that included Michelle Higa Fox, Erica Gorochow, Joe Donaldson, Joey Korenman and Nol Honig. They were the sounding board for everything related to the awards show, from categories and nomenclature to judging procedures and rules.
And of course none of this would have happened without our Patreon supporters. Because of their support, we’ve been able to hire Joe Donaldson, and because of Joe Donaldson, we’ve had time to tackle new initiatives — like The Motion Awards.
Video credits
Branding + Direction: First Mates
Design: Sissy Emmons Hobizal
Animation: David Hobizal, Josh Johnson
Music: Nathan McKee
Mix: Eddy Hobizal