(John Griffith)

Welcome to Day 2 of our spotlight of Marvel Finalists!  We'll jump right in with animator John Griffith, whose Motion Comic "The Stronger" was selected as one of our Top Five by Marvel!

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Aniboom and Marvel are proud to announce that our Five Finalists are here!

After receiving so many fantastic submissions, Marvel's Panel of Judges has picked their Finalists, who will complete their Motion Comics and go for the Grand Prize!  The Finalists are Justin Acree's Nova: All For One, Mike Peraza's Nova Mojo, Pryce Duncalf's All For One, John Griffith's The Stronger, and Community Choice Eric Hunn's The Worst Part About Getting Your Memories Back.

The 5 finalists come from Los Angeles, New York, New Hampshire and Australia, and each will receive $2,000 to expand their motion comic into a full-length story.  We're also about to start accepting complete Motion Comics through November 2nd to qualify as a Wildcard Finalist, which will be put in the running with our Five Finalists to win the $10,000 Grand Prize!

We'll be featuring each Finalist in an exclusive interview every day this week, so don't be a stranger!

Congrats, guys!

Aniboom'’s Marvel Motion Comics Competition has received so many top-notch Motion Comics, it isn'’t so easy for the judges to decide our Five Finalists.  So to make sure every entry gets the attention it deserves, we'll be announcing the Finalists on October 26th.

The votes are in and counted, however, instead of announcing the Five Finalists on October 19th, we’'re rolling them out on the 26th!  But fear not, True Believers, we still have our Wildcard Stage coming up soon, so you should keep working on completing your Motion Comics as the opportunity to win the Grand Prize remains open to everyone who submits complete work in the next stage!

We greatly apologize for the delay and for making all the hardworking First Round submitters wait even longer to find out who'’s a Finalist, and we genuinely thank you for your continued faith in us, and for your incredible work.  Our hats are truly off to you.

This coming Monday and Tuesday, October 19th and 20th, Aniboom founder and CEO Uri Shinar will be headlining two panels at the annual Digital Hollywood Summit in Santa Monica!

It's a great place to discuss and become a part of the future of film, television, and new media, and is attended by representatives of almost every major studio, network, advertising agency, and media group.  Uri will be there to promote Aniboom and our 8,000+ strong network of animators worldwide, and the Aniboom Virtual Studio.

One of the events he's most looking

forward to is Pitch Camp, when anyone, including animators, can talk to him and a range of other media headliners to pitch their ideas--it runs from 4:30 - 6:00 PM on October 19th.

For any Aniboom member, there are specially discounted tickets for members of Aniboom!  Check it out here, and get your tickets now!

The coolest cartoon on FOX and the, um, most-desiring-to-be-cool software corporation have teamed for a McFarlane-fueled product placement special!

According to The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital Blog, Family Guy and Microsoft are creating a half-hour sponsored special, rife with Microsoft-styled jokes, plots, digs, and plaudits.  ATD points out that Family Guy has taken shots at Microsoft in the past, spoofing their MP3 player, The Zune, but it hasn't stopped Bill Gates's brainchild from seeking out McFarlane's.

Embedded below is the Zune gag, referenced also in ATD's article.  Well, it's always been said that sometimes animation makes strange bedfellows....

Created by animator Prijent Vincent, Aniboom's newest 1 Million View-hitting Youtube animation is fan-favorite "It's Not Easy Being Green"!

Uploaded to Youtube a little over a year ago, Vincent's story of one pea's journey has delighted over a million viewers, garnered thousands of comments, and holds an amazing 4 1/2 star rating!  Congratulations, Prijent!

Check it out below:

We're startin' a new tradition here in Aniboom Blogland (yes, that did just link back to itself--so did "itself"--whoa, meta!), which will be the End of Week Round Up!

Just covering what we've covered, and maybe with a few asides...

So this week we looked at our History Competition Finalists!  We had interviews with everyone who made the Top 5--meanwhile we've started showcasing our Wildcard Submissions, and it's up to you to keep on sending in your work!  So come on and, as we say, make some history!

Below is Wednesday's Animation of the Day, a music video for hip hop band El Gremio--give it a listen and start your weekend now!

Yes, it's been almost a year since the historic American Presidential Election of 2008, but this is still awesome!

Who says life doesn't imitate art (or animation)?

And of course, who can forget The Simpsons taking on the (not so) epic 1996 fight to lead the free world?

Voting is now open for Aniboom's Marvel Motion Comics Competition!

The first stage is over, and Marvel is looking at entries to the Competition for Four Finalist positions.  One Motion Comic, selected by Aniboom users, will be the Fifth Finalist, as the Community Choice!

You can support your favorite Motion Comics anywhere on the web using our Embedded Player!

Check out these amazing Motion Comics now, and if you still haven't submitted, start pluggin' away on your Wildcard Entry, which will begin to be accepted October 19th!

Aniboom is now showing Motion Comic entries to our Marvel Motion Comics Competition!

Go to the competition now to check out the latest entries--you can view, rate, and comment on all the entries so far!

And don't forget to keep working on and submitting your 1st Stage 7-Page Motion Comics, which are due October 5th!  Uploading now can help you build an audience, and receive constructive advice from fellow Aniboom members, which can help if you like to update drafts of your work before the submissions deadline.  The Top 50 Motion Comics will win a free one-year subscripton to Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited Program.  The Top 5 Finalists will win $2,000 to complete their Motion Comics, and the Grand Prize Winner will receive $10,000 and the opportunity to see their work featured on Marvel.com!

So check out the latest and greatest Motion Comics from your fellow Aniboom animators, and keep those submissions coming!