TELUS WORLD SKI AND SNOWBOARD FESTIVAL UNDERTAKES TO NEXT LEVEL THE SLIDESHOW WITH NEW DIGITAL MEDIA SHOWCASE

$2500 cash prize announced for ThreePointOh Best in Show

Having blazed trail by bringing artistic showcases like the Pro Photographer Showdown and the 72 Hour Filmmaker Showdown into the scope of a skiing and snowboarding event, the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival breaks trail once more, introducing for 2009, ThreePointOh Multimedia Challenge.

This new multimedia event aims to take the photography slideshow to the next level, with an open form call for new media creations that morph film, photo, graphics, sound and sport into digital art that is smarter and greater than the sum of its parts.

The rules are simple – entries must be projectable, 3-5 minute long original works that are informed by some kind of collaboration - of medium or of minds.

Creators are invited to submit their 3-5 minute piece to Kerry Chalmers, Visual Arts Manager, via www.whistler2009.com by March 26 2009.

Says Visual Arts Manager, Kerry Chalmers, “We’re excited to add this new event to the Festival’s renowned media line-up. We suspect that the combination of the dynamic environment that Whistler represents, with the dynamic technological platforms that are becoming available to artists will result in a truly dynamic entertainment experience for the audience.”

Six to ten finalists will be chosen to screen at the ThreePointOh Gala, on Monday April 20 at the TELUS Conference Centre, and will be eligible to win Best in Show, as deemed by an expert panel of judges, $2500 in cash and prizes, and the People’s Choice Award.

For submission guidelines for ThreePointOh Multimedia Challenge, go here. http://www.wssf.com/threepointoh/index.html

For more information about the Festival’s cultural trail-blazing, go here. http://www.wssf.com/media/storywell/innovation.html

For details of the arts and culture line-up at TWSSF for 2009, go here. http://www.wssf.com/media/mediakit/pageeight.html

For an interview with Kerry Chalmers, Visual Arts Manager and producer of ThreePointOh, Why Kerry Chalmers wants to kill the slide show star, go here. http://www.wssf.com/media/storywell.html

The TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival is produced by Watermark Communications, a Whistler-based marketing & communications company, and presented in partnership with Tourism Whistler and Whistler Blackcomb. Having grown over 14 years into the largest annual winter sports and music festival in North America, the TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival is a high-octane 10 day and night showcase of the best of snowsports, music, arts and mountain life. Featuring major professional ski and snowboarding competitions, the largest free outdoor concert series in Canada, the legendary Pro Photographer and Filmmaker Showdowns, and many more unique art and cultural showcases, the Festival is the Mother of All Winter Wrap Parties. For information on the 2009 TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival, April 17-26, visit http://www.whistler2009.com