Virginia Film Office Wins Major Marketing Awards at Los Angeles Trade Event
RICHMOND - The Virginia Film Office was honored May 5th with four marketing awards in a competition sponsored by the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), the premiere association for film commissions from throughout the world. The awards were presented at Locations Trade Show, an annual trade event that has been held in Los Angeles for the past twenty-five years. Virginia's awards were second only to Ausfilm, the film commission representing Australia, which won five.
Speaking about the awards, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell commented, "I commend the Virginia Film Office for its hard work and commitment on behalf of Virginia's media production industry. It is an honor to have their marketing program recognized in an international arena and I applaud their efforts."
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng stated, "Virginia's media production industry is an important part of this administration's strategy for economic growth and jobs creation for the Commonwealth, and successful marketing efforts are an important part of that strategy. We are actively working with the Virginia Film Office as it continues to promote the Commonwealth as an exceptional location for media production."
The competition was divided into several categories that included print advertising, specialty items and apparel, digital media and advertising, production directories and websites. An independent judging panel of professional marketers and entertainment industry experts assessed each entry and selected the winners. Virginia took first place in the digital advertising and third place for print advertising, production services directory and digital media.
The winning entries were produced by the Virginia Film Office. The advertising and digital media entries were created in partnership with the Virginia Tourism Corporation's graphics department, the production services directory was produced in association with Oz Publishing, and the digital advertising entry was produced with Dream's Factory, a Richmond media production company.
"For 15 years, the AFCI Marketing Awards have recognized the creativity of our members," said Larry Brownell, CEO of the AFCI. "As today's global economy presents the entertainment industry with new challenges, it has become increasingly important to develop marketing and advertising campaigns that inspire filmmakers, capture audiences and span cultural divides."
Virginia's media production industry had an economic impact in 2008 of $337 million and provided 4000 jobs for Virginians.
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