Nanotechnology Film Wins Top Telly Animation Honors for DigiNovations and Boston Animation

July 6, 2004

Top award for video animation at the 2004 international Telly Awards has gone to two Concord (Massachusetts) creative firms, working together to create a film for MIT's exciting new nanotechnology laboratory. DigiNovations' North Bridge Productions and Boston Animation paired up to design and create the film, which shows the work of MIT scientists and engineers at the molecular scale to create exotic new materials and devices to protect U.S. soldiers.

A collaboration between two Concord-based creative firms won top honors for video animation in the 25th Annual Telly Awards competition, announced this week. DigiNovations' North Bridge Productions and Boston Animation are being singled out for their work together on animation for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that depicts future military applications of nanotechnology. The Telly Awards represent the premiere international-level honor for local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions.

The firms designed and created the 3D animation for a film which North Bridge Productions produced for the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) at MIT. The film shows how emerging technologies and processing techniques at the molecular scale can produce new materials and devices that can better protect soldiers in decades to come. The film about ISN's vision and work, "Soldier of Future", is shown to visitors to the Institute, as well as at conferences and meetings around the world.

"Soldier of Future" was also named a Telly Award Finalist in the Educational Video category. DigiNovations also won the top Telly Award in Fundraising Video, and was a finalist in the Corporate Image and Recruitment Video categories.

"The devices, materials, and processes we wanted to show are unimaginably small, and in many cases are at very early stages of development," said Eve Downing, Director of Outreach for ISN. "We turned to the DigiNovations/North Bridge Productions team to help our audiences visualize these technologies in actual application -- sometimes reaching 25 or more years into the future."

"MIT challenged us to bring these technologies out of the minds and notebooks of these extraordinary scientists and engineers and onto the video screen," recounts Michael Kolowich, DigiNovations president and executive producer. "We worked initially with three ISN teams to develop scenarios of nanotechnology in action, told through the eyes of a fictitious U.S. Army sergeant 20 to 30 years in the future. In thinking about how best to illustrate these scenarios, we turned to Boston Animation, who had established a great track record in creating 3-D animation for video games."

At Boston Animation, president Dale DeSharone jumped at the opportunity. "The chance to show how MIT's groundbreaking work could be applied was something we couldn't pass up." He engaged his team of 3-D animators, led by animation director Alexander Shmygun in Kiev, Ukraine, on a grueling schedule to deliver the animation which is the centerpiece of the North Bridge Productions film. "We're proud to have our work recognized in this very special way."

"The North Bridge team did a tremendous job on this project, from helping to flesh out our concept to working independently with our faculty," recalled MIT's Downing. "They really understand what we're doing and brought so much more to the project than shooting and editing the video."

"Soldier of Future" was produced by Paul Dewey and edited by Michael Kolowich, who also served as executive producer. Benjamin Eckstein was director of photography on the project. Excerpts from the film and its award-winning animation may be viewed at http://www.diginovations.com/business/DBwork.htm.

About the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies

The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) is an interdepartmental research center at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/isn). Established in 2002 by a five-year, $50 million contract from the U.S. Army, the ISN's mission is to use nanotechnology to dramatically improve the survivability of soldiers. The ultimate goal is a futuristic, nanotechnology-enabled battle suit that provides superior protection from ballistic, chemical, and biological threats and offers autonomous medical monitoring and intervention. The ISN currently has eleven industry partners, including DuPont and Raytheon, who collaborate on research and will transition promising laboratory results into real products for soldiers, police, firefighters, and other first responders.