[Bf-marketing] ED public release

[Tom M]

I tried changing things a bit, not sure whether it is an improvement
or not, but some things might be better.

LetterRip

-------------------------

May 18, 2006
For Immediate Release

Elephants Dream, internet release of the first 3D 'Open Movie'

(Blender Foundation, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - The 3D animated
short 'Elephants Dream' will be released today as a free and public
download. This is the final stage of the successfully completed Open
Movie project.  A community-financed project with two ground breaking
features - it was produced using only Open Source CG tools;. and the
resulting movie and all files used in its creation are being made
available under the "Creative Commons Attribute" license.  This
license allows one to study and learn from the the files used to
create the movie; and use the files to create new works based on the
files.  The only requirement is that proper crediting for public
screening, re-using and distributing the files.

In the past weeks, the donating sponsors have received the dual DVD
set of this project in their mailbox. This DVD set remains for sale
via the blender.org e-shop, the proceeds of which will support future
Open Movie projects.  The Blender Foundation is committed to engaging
in similar projects as funding permits.

The movie files and download mirrors can be accessed at:
http://www.elephantsdream.org/download

Elephants Dream is the culmination of Project Orange, produced by the
Blender Foundation and the Netherlands Media Art Institute. The
project was conceived to help develop and establish the capabilities
of the Blender 3D open source tool for the creation of cinema quality
animation.

The film tells the story of Emo and Proog, two people with different
visions on the surreal world in which they live. Viewers are taken on
a journey through that world, full of strange mechanical birds,
stunning technological vistas and machinery that seems to have a life
of its own.

'Elephants Dream' features the voice talents of renowned Dutch movie
actors Tygo Gernandt and Cas Jansen, as well as an original score by
German composer Jan Morgenstern. The short brought together the
talents of a team of artists from countries as diverse as Syria,
Germany, Australia, Finland, and the Netherlands. In addition to the
performances of the cast and creative efforts of the lead artists,
Elephants Dream has had the assistance of hundreds of individuals
across the world who contributed a variety of work such as programming
additional functionality for Blender, creating textures used in some
of the scenes, and providing international translations for the DVD
release.

The files have been released on two DVDs with the movie in PAL, NTSC
and HD formats; a making-of  documentary; and all of the final
versions of the studio files.  The DVDs were shipped early May 2006,
and now the movie and database of source material are being made
available for public download.

Studio Orange team:
Director: Bassam Kurdali (Syria /USA),
Art Director: Andreas Goralczyk (Germany)
Lead Artists: Matt Ebb (Australia), Bastian Salmela (Finland), Lee
Salvemini (Australia)
Technical Director: Toni Alatalo (Finland)

For more information:

http://www.elephantsdream.org
http://www.blender.org

Contact:
Ton Roosendaal
Chairman, Blender Foundation
Email: ton at blender.org