Online Movies, Animation Get Their Own Awards in 2001

Web film portal iFilm plans to host the first Online Movie Awards next spring, honoring 18 categories of work on movies and animation created specifically for the Internet.

Nominees selected by a committee will be named at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January; winners will then be selected by online voting and feted in Los Angeles on March 20, during Oscar week.

The categories include best picture, best actor and actress (live action), best character (animation), best documentary, best director, best story and best film under three minutes.

According to iFilm Editor in Chief Lew Harris, the project aims to distinguish itself from countless online film festivals and to emulate the Academy Awards.

“There are other showcases for online films, but they’re not awarding many of the creative people behind the movies,” Harris said. “What the academy is doing for theatrical films, we want to do for Web films.”

For this initial outing, the eligibility period will be the past three years, he said. If the event continues, it would then go to a standard calendar year format for eligibility.

The nominating committee will include writer-director Nora Ephron, actor Michael Rapaport and entertainment site Nibblebox.com co-founders Doug Liman and David Bartis, among others. The members will review a list of suggested flicks from iFilm and scour the Web on their own to select five nominees in each category. After the nominations are announced at Sundance, visitors to iFilm.com (https://www.ifilm.com) will be able to view each film and cast their votes online through February.

Meanwhile, entries are being accepted until 5 p.m. Monday for the first Internet World Media & Entertainment Festival. Submissions may include short animation, digital or experimental films, Web series and Web commercials that are less than 15 minutes in length. Winners will be announced March 13 during the Internet World D2ME Spring Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The winning films will be screened during a benefit at Paramount Studios on March 15 and the filmmakers will receive cash awards. Entry forms are available at https://www.pentonevents.com/internetworldspring.

Celebrity Raffle: Still looking for the perfect gift? How about giving a sports fan a chance to have dinner with former NBA coach Don Casey? Or dinner and a Lakers game with Magic Johnson? For others on your list, there’s a fashion shoot with model Niki Taylor. Or a private performance by singer-songwriter Edwin McCain. At charity site Stargiving.com (https://www.stargiving.com), visitors 18 or older can qualify to win such prizes while helping fund a variety of causes--without spending a dime. Each time a user clicks to register for a raffle, a donation is made to the celeb’s charity by one of the site’s advertisers. Note that many drawings will be held after the holidays.

Green Team: Comedian Tom Green has formed an exclusive partnership to co-produce original online content with entertainment site MediaTrip.com. Tom Green.com (https://www.tomgreen.com), which recently relaunched as a co-branded site with MediaTrip, now features clips from Green’s cable-access show that aired in Ottawa, Canada, and other footage. Interactive features include the “Beat Tom Green” game and a contest to win novelty items previously owned or used by Green. Anyone want his broken ceramic pig head? Green is the second major comedian this year to team with MediaTrip; Adam Sandler has committed to partner with the company on his yet-to-be-launched Web venture https://www.shnorff.com.

Bits: For soap opera devotees, there’s a wealth of holiday goodies at SoapCity.com (https://www.soapcity.com). Affordable offerings include the “General Hospital” 2001 calendar ($11) and “The Young and the Restless” logo earrings ($13). . . . Fans of “Port Charles” can get an early glimpse of the next day’s episode online. Thirty-second clips are now available each weekday after 3 p.m. at https://www.abc.com (keyword: Port Charles). The site also features daily, weekly and yearly recaps of the show. . . . Props and memorabilia from the movie “Vertical Limit” are on the virtual auction block until noon today. Proceeds will benefit the Wilderness Society. Go to https://www.verticallimit.com/auction.

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Michele Botwin can be reached at michele.botwin@latimes.com.