NEWS FROM VIRGIN MEDIA

Film makers compete for £30,000 in short film competition
Kevin Spacey, Gemma Arterton and Noel Clarke to judge Virgin Media Shorts 2009

Twelve up-and-coming film makers are celebrating today as they prepare to hit the big screen after beating off stiff competition to make it to the Virgin Media Shorts 2009 short-list.

Now in its second year, Virgin Media Shorts provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for undiscovered film makers to see their work showcased to film fans across the country. The Grand Prize winner will win £30,000 funding and a chance to work with Virgin Media and the UK Film Council to make their next short film.

The lucky twelve finalists fought off competition from around 2,000 entrants and will now see their short films showcased to millions of people, on four screens – in cinema, on TV, on mobile phones and online. From September, the final twelve films will shown on over 214 cinema screens (not once, but for a whole year), on Virgin Media’s TV on demand, on Virgin1, on mobile phone by texting Virgin Media to 80150 and online on www.virginmediashorts.co.uk.

The finalists now face a nervous wait whilst this year’s judging panel, which includes Oscar-winning stage and screen actor Kevin Spacey, Bond girl Gemma Arterton and BAFTA Rising Star award winner Noel Clarke, join other professionals from the film industry to decide the 2009 winner.

Last year’s competition was won by London-based film makers Phil Sansom and Olly Williams for their short film The Black Hole and the duo are currently filming their next film with funding from the competition. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of the Londoners, this year’s finalists are;

• Making the Difference, Andrew Oxley & David Williams from Exeter
• She Farted & Created The World, Scott Coello from St Austell, Cornwall
• Stalking Ben Chadz, Daniel Castella from XX, south-west London
• Mixtape, Luke Snellin from west London
• Smooth Line, Declan Taafe from east London
• Hiccup, Derville Quigley from Belfast
• Three Little Words, Ed Lilly from Manchester
• Grief, Darren Conway from Lancaster
• The Transaction, Tim Key from east London
• CGI-Brows, Andrew Gaynord from Leeds
• Ceci N'est Pas Une Mouche, Carlos Fraiha from Middlesex
• Gunslingers, Regan Hall from south-west London

The winners will be announced at the glitzy awards ceremony in central London on 22nd September 2009. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, the People’s Choice Award will be announced, and for the first time, a Mobile Shorts Award will also be unveiled - a brand new award for the best film made on a mobile phone.

Ashley Stockwell, executive director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media said: “The calibre of entries to the Virgin Media Shorts awards has been outstanding and we're delighted to have the support of Kevin Spacey, Gemma Arterton, Noel Clarke and the rest of the judging panel to take on the difficult task of picking a winner. Virgin Media is really proud, for the second year running, to be able to give up-and-coming film talent the opportunity to have their work showcased to millions of film fans across the UK, and we wish all twelve finalists the very best of luck.”

All entries are available for anyone to view and review online, giving any budding film critics the chance to rate and comment on each short film. To see all the short-listed films and to vote for your favourite in the People’s Choice Award, simply log onto www.virginmediashorts.co.uk.

-Ends-

Media Contacts
Verity Henderson, Virgin Media – verity.henderson@virginmedia.co.uk , 0207 299 5712
Sophie Smallwood, Frank PR - sophiesmallwood@frankpr.it , 0207 693 6999

Notes to Editors
About Virgin Media
With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.

The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.

Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and is the only TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.

The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.

Virgin Media also owns Virgin Media Television (VMtv) which runs seven entertainment channels, including Virgin1, LIVING, Bravo and Challenge. VMtv is a 50 per cent joint partner with BBC Worldwide in UKTV, which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi.

With operations based entirely in the UK, Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (VMED).

For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com


.