Digital Artists Invited to Submit Entries

Alys Beach, Florida – (May 2, 2008) – A Florida beach resort town will host a unique new festival on Labor Day weekend.

"Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach" was created to celebrate and promote the world’s most talented and innovative digital artists. But the new festival has a very unusual twist.

"We're inviting digital artists from around the world to project their original artwork onto our town's famous white walls," said Kelli Arnold, Alys Beach's Events Coordinator. "Our entire town will literally become their blank canvas."

Sometimes referred to as "Photon Bombing," "Guerilla Projection," "Projection Bombing" or "Urban Projection," underground artists around the globe have already been using the latest design, animation and projection technologies to cast their images onto skyscrapers and other structures, as a means of artistic expression. But no major annual festival exists to showcase these talents.

"Ultimately, we hope this event will help promote and advance the digital arts in the same way that the Sundance and Telluride film festivals have done for independent film makers," said Arnold. "Some of the talent that we're finding is truly stunning."

To help lure that talent, Alys Beach has announced numerous award categories and over $10,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 "Best of Show" award. Winners will also be featured in several publications. A certain number of qualified artists may also be eligible for cash stipends to help them attend this year's event.

This year's festival will be hosted by several celebrity judges, including Alan Hunter—MTV's very first "VeeJay," co-host of the "Big 80's" channel on Sirius Satellite Radio, and co-founder of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival—and Scott Sternberg, an Emmy award-winning television producer and producer of the upcoming new A&E/Bio series, William Shatner's Raw Nerve.

Artists are encouraged to submit their original works of digital art for consideration as soon as possible. Entries may include abstract digital imagery, short films, photography, VJ sets, animations, YouTube videos, PhotoShop creations or entirely new interactive concepts. All subject matter is eligible for the 2008 festival, although special consideration will be given to works with "green" and environmental themes. The deadline for all submissions is June 15th, 2008.

The 2008 festival will be held on the evening of Saturday, August 30th.

Alys Beach is located on Scenic Highway 30A, between Destin and Panama City Beach in Florida's panhandle, along what The New York Times said "may be the best beach in the continental U.S." In April, Forbes.com named Alys Beach one of America's top spots for second-home buyers and the "Best Spot for the Design-Savvy."

For more information about Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach, visit www.alysbeach.com/DG or call toll-free: 1-866-481-8387.