Berlin, 29th of February 2008.
With the conclusion of the Hobnox Evolution contest and festival, three
winners have been selected out of 1,300 submitted projects to receive €
25.000 in artist support packages. Now with this first step into the market-
place, the entertainment-portal hobnox.com embarks on the next phase
with a closed beta offering.
Last night nine runners-up in the "Hobnox Evolution" contest presented their
projects live in front of a top-class jury and an enthusiastic audience of over
2000 people for a chance at € 25.000 in artist support packages. After the
performances, the best project in each category was awarded:
"Boombaker" from Berlin, category "Music":
Interview
Concert
"Philanthrop" from Ludwigsburg, category "Film":
Interview
Film
"Missy Magazine" from Hamburg and Berlin, category "Urban Culture":
Interview
The winners are thrilled to have won the artist development support-packages
worth € 25.000 each. In the coming weeks a committee consisting of industry ex-
perts, Hobnox employees and the winning artists will come together to decide on
how the money should be best invested. The goal is to set up the packages in a
way that benefits the artists most, focused on fulfilling their individual artistic
needs, whether it be the financial backing to realize a film script or to create and
realize a marketing concept for an album.
Preceding the "Hobnox Evolution Festival" was a three-month-period during
which artists could upload their projects on hobnox.com. Over 1,300 projects
were uploaded and entered into the contest and over 31,000 users registered
and rated the various projects. The nine finalists were invited to Berlin to perform
and present their projects live at the "Hobnox Evolution Festival" at the Tresor.
The "Hobnox Evolution Festival" was also the starting point for the next expan-
sion stage of the Hobnox portal: in line with our closed beta-phase, registered
users have the opportunity to try out and use its new functionalities. Hobnox.com
now offers two browser-based production tools and an extensive library besides
our artistic social networking community.
The Hobnox "Stage" and the Hobnox channels are still freely accessible. On the
"Stage" the Hobnox-creatives can upload their finished projects and present them
to the rest of the Hobnox community and the Hobnox editorial team. The editorial
team continues to fill the Hobnox channels with content, but also expands its du-
ties by checking the "Stage" regularly for new and upcoming user generated con-
tent that could be interesting for the Hobnox channels.
The "Hobnox Evolution" and the artist development program have been closely
followed, making the process worthwhile for all who submitted projects: Sony
BMG noticed the band "EndlosEndlos" among the submitted projects and will fea-
ture them as a support act for the band "MGMT" on the March 7th at the Lido in
Berlin-Kreuzberg. This is the first evidence that Hobnox is a venue for new, unde-
tected talent, acting as a stepping-stone for new careers.
Last but not least: Hobnox is on the short list of nominees the LeadAwards 2008
in the category "WebCommunity of the Year". CTO Andreas Jacobi and Yousef
Hammoudah (VP Program), two of the Hobnox-founders, are excited to be re-
ceiving an award on the 5th of March in Hamburg. Furthermore, they will present
the Hobnox portal at the symposium of the LeadAwards. More information on this
topic under: http://www.leadacademy.de/2008/symposium.html
About Hobnox:
Hobnox is a next-generation online entertainment and Rich Media publishing platform,
uniting broadcast quality web media with cutting edge community-enabling technology.
Hobnox.com is both a destination and a delivery platform, combining the best of Web en-
tertainment with the newest waves of emerging audiovisual culture. Hobnox delivers a
superior, full-screen media experience and online tools that empower creation, collabora-
tion, and reward.
Hobnox has initially launched several music and lifestyle channels: sly-fi.com,
99stories.com, str33t.org, and mi145.com, with creative community portals and real-time
media tools coming online in early 2008. The company also recently announced "Hobnox
Evolution", an artist development competition seeking the best of the next generation of
creative expression.
Hobnox management and development is based in Cologne, Berlin and Munich, with our
foreign office in Boston, USA.
For further information:
Ulrich Schmidt-Marwede
Head of Corporate Communications
Hobnox GmbH
Infanteriestr. 19 - Gebäude 02
D-80797 München
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 - 400 66 -140
Fax: +49 (0) 221 - 400 66 -199
media@hobnox.com
www.hobnox.com