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Telefilm Canada Launches Mentor Program

Ph03nix New Media [1]Here are a few more details about Solitaire and the City [2] from Ph03nix New Media [1] and TRZZonline which was released on Facebook last Friday. This latest social media app fuses the classic solitaire card game with a ‘beat the clock’ type of time management that has never been done for this type of game. “Solitaire and the City”was developed exclusively for Facebook®, and has already started gaining a small following of solitaire fanatics.Solitaire and the City [3]

Solitaire and the City is a unique blend of the classic solitaire card game mixed with the type of speed that will test anyone’s hand-eye coordination. Gamers have 45 seconds to clear as many cards as they can off of the board in order to earn points. The points earned daily go toward unlocking cool items in the gamers’ fashionable closet. Users can also ‘gift’ items to their friends and try to collect every item available. For the competitive gamer, badges are earned for hitting high scores that are displayed on a profile tab, enabling users to show their friends where they stand in the rankings.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the title and fashion infusion are definitely a direct ‘ode to’ the popular “Sex and the City” series and movies. The user gets to fill up their walk-in closets with some of today’s hottest fashion and accessories from Gucci, Prada, Jimmy Choo and more. As the user clicks on the cards, the on-screen martini glass fills up with a New York Cosmopolitan drink! Competing against friends to earn a high score has never been so fashionably fun.

Relic Entertainment [4]In news that is going to make the CaveChild salivate, THQ [5] and Relic Entertainment [4] have announced that Warhammer® 40,000®: Space Marine® [6], will be shipping for the Windows PC in addition to the Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 in early 2011.
Space Marine [7]
Jonathan Dowdeswell, General Manager of Relic Entertainment commented: “The loyal PC audience is incredibly important to us here at Relic so we are delighted to be able to announce the PC version of the game.”

Combining intense melee and ranged combat, Relic’s 3rd Person Action-Shooter Space Marine puts players into the boots of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, genetically engineered and equipped with state of the art weapons and armor. Players are dropped right into the action as they battle to defend an Imperial Forge World, from an invasion by the savage and brutal Orks, using the most devastating weaponry mankind has at its disposal.

Travis Plane, Vice President of Global Brand Management commented: “Delivering great content the fans want to play is the key goal in the core games division at THQ so we are pulling out all of the stops to make this the best possible game for PC and console audiences alike.”

Telefilm Canada [8]Telefilm Canada is today unveiling its brand-new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants [9], which includes the names of more than 100 experts, that creators working in Canada’s film industry will be able to access via Telefilm’s website [10]. New applications for mentors and consultants will now be accepted on an ongoing basis and the directory will be updated regularly.

“Telefilm Canada is dedicated to supporting all links in the Canadian film industry value chain,” stated Sheila de La Varende, Telefilm Canada’s Director of National and International Business Development. “Canadian filmmakers are bursting with talent, and we are committed to meeting their needs and supporting their growth and development-which, at the end of the line, will result in the creation of high-quality feature films that will appeal to their target audiences. We are very enthusiastic about the potential of the new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants that we’re unveiling today, which enables Telefilm to act as a catalyst for the industry’s success.”

“When I started my career, I was very lucky to benefit from the patient advice I received from such industry professionals as Michael Miner (Anaconda, Robocop), the wonderful writer and film editor,” said Vancouver writer Michael Giampa, who is included in the directory as a scriptwriting consultant. “Having a mentor who can answer your questions and provide encouragement makes all the difference when you’re starting out in the business. I hope that this directory will foster these kinds of relationships and that it becomes a key tool in the development of a mentoring philosophy within Canada’s movie industry, one that will hep nurture Canadian talent.”

The new online directory of mentors and scriptwriting consultants will enable emerging writers and producers to make contact with industry mentors and veterans, offering them the possibility of developing their skills or finding specific expertise for a given project. All the producer-mentors and writers included in the online directory were chosen by Telefilm following a call for candidates issued in May, and all have agreed to makes themselves available to offer professional advice, coaching and know-how, and thereby help foster the development of talent and projects.

The directory will also enable those participating in such programs as Écrire au long, Feature It! or Featuring Aboriginal Stories to seek out a mentor-consultant who will support them for the duration of their project-one of the eligibility criteria of these programs. Others working in the industry seeking expertise in a variety of areas may also approach the consultants listed in the directory; it will be up to the two parties themselves to negotiate the terms of their agreement.Best Buy Canada [11]

For Starcraft II fans, several Best Buy Canada [12] locations will also be hosting events tonight in addition to the Future [13]Shop stores who announced midnight launch events last week:

Edmonton South – 9931-19 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Edmonton West – West Point Centre NW, Edmonton
Bay & Dundas – 65 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Sunridge – Sundridge Power Center, Calgary
Ottawa West – 1701 Merivale Road, Nepean
St. James – A-810 St. James Street, Winnipeg
Langley – 200th St & 64th Ave, Langley
Cambie – 2220 Cambie Street, Vancouver

The Best Buy events will feature on-site DJs, prize giveaways and the chance to be the first to play
StarCraft II from 9 p.m. Monday, July 26 until midnight. The first 150 customers at each store will receive a free Microsoft Sidewinder X3 Gaming Mouse with their StarCraft II purchase. Anyone who trades in 2 select games (see store for the list) from July 27th through 29th will get StarCraft II for free, and there will be a minimum of 100 Collector’s Editions guaranteed available at each midnight event host store. All other stores will have a minimum of 25 available. Those who purchase StarCraft II will also be entered for a chance to win one of five Toshiba Ultimate Gaming Prize Packs comprised of a Toshiba X500-03L gaming laptop and StarCraft II Collector’s Edition.lanpartyeh [14]

Keeping with the StarCraft franchise, LanPartyEH! [15] has launched their site for the StarCraft II League [16] tournament event which will be taking place at Vancouver’s Anime Evolution [17] this August 13th – 15th at UBC. Participants will not have to take their own computers, unless they want to take part in the LAN party or practice ahead of competing. There will be prizes awarded for the tournament, and there are a limited number of seats (64) available – competitors will need to purchase an Anime Evolution pass in order to gain admittance to the tournament area. If you want to compete in the StarCraft II League, early registration is highly recommended. If you or your company is interested in sponsoring this tournament, more information is available on the Sponsorship page [18].

elephoto [19]Demo reels and websites are all great to look at, but nothing makes an impression quite like a well-done book. Elephoto [20]™ has partnered with parent company The Printing House Ltd. [21]™ (TPH®), to introduce Custom Books for Business [22]. Businesses now have the opportunity to tell their corporate story through hard and soft cover books in various sizes and finishes.

Offering businesses the ability to professionally present documents, the Elephoto™ technology allows designers to include text, images, charts, graphs, and so much more into their designs. The books can be personalized with variable content and imagery and provide a sense of legacy due to the professional bindery and presentation. Elephoto™ and TPH® can provide competitive pricing and fantastic turnaround time for volume orders.

IGLOO Online Communities [23]Congratulations to the team over at online community and social software developers Igloo Software [24], who has announced another record quarter for both customer and revenue growth, with over 15 major customer acquisitions in the second quarter of 2010, including the Drug Information Association (DIA), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), SailPoint, British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Origo and ArcPlan.

“Q2 was the most successful quarter in our company’s history – on all fronts,” said Dan Latendre, CEO of Igloo Software. “More and more, companies are turning to Igloo Software for their online community and business social software needs. The reason is simple – value, agility and superior service. That is what’s driving our growth in 2010.”

Igloo Software continued to see rapid adoption of its community platform with over 15 new customers, including two enterprise-wide deals, resulting in a 163% quarterly revenue increase year-over-year. Additionally, Igloo is now supporting over 1,000 free online communities for organizations that wish to try the software before they buy as well as those seeking social technologies with limited budgets. Igloo also recently launched Group Spaces, which allows a company’s employees to instantly self-organize around specific projects, teams and even departments within their online business community. Next month will see Igloo release the next version of its award-winning community platform, adding inline editing of documents, calendar integration via *.ics, advanced search, broadcasting on all channels, filtering and content following.

UBC [25]If you are a UBC student or a recent alumni operating a company you would like to present to a panel of investors and UBC alumni at the Plug and Play Tech Centre in California, entrepreneurship@UBC [26] would like to send you there. The programme is searching for a total of six UBC entrepreneur-founded companies, where three were founded by students currently enrolled at UBC and three were founded by recent (past three years) UBC graduates. The chosen six will have the opportunity to profile their business venture in front of a panel of venture capitalists and distinguished UBC alumni at the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California on August 31, 2010. Interested parties must apply by July 31st [27], and the chosen six will have travel and accommodation costs for up to two people per company (up to $680, based on flights out of Vancouver) covered by entrepreneurship@UBC.