School of Visual Arts (SVA), in partnership with Giraldi Media, announced today the winners of the inaugural Out of Hand International Festival. The grand prize of $5,000 was awarded to Guilherme Maueler, a student at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. The second place prize, a one-month summer creative residency with housing at SVA, was awarded to Ross Bollinger, a student at SVA. The animated works, which utilize both hand-drawn technique and motion graphics, can be viewed online at www.outofhandfestival.com.

The Out of Hand International Festival is a showcase for innovative digital content created by students worldwide and intended for playback specifically on mobile or other handheld devices. With an online community of over 6,000 users, the festival received more than 1,200 submissions from aspiring artists, designers, filmmakers and creative thinkers worldwide. Projects were considered for awards in the following categories: Design, Games, Art + Animation, Short Film and Applications.

The jurors for the Out of Hand International Festival were designer and educator Liz Danzico, Cut&Paste’s John Fiorelli, humorist Ze Frank, director Bob Giraldi, author Joshua Klein, and PC Magazine’s Jamie Lendino. Submissions for the 2010 festival are currently being accepted. Additional information can be found at www.outofhandfestival.com.

Giraldi Media has created nearly 3,000 commercials, music videos and short films and earned over 500 major industry awards. Bob Giraldi’s directing credits include Hiding Out (1987), Dinner Rush (2001), Honey Trap (2005) and Second Guessing Grandma (2008), and he has two additional motion pictures in production. Giraldi’s films have been featured at the Sundance Film Festival, the New Directors/New Films series presented by the Department of Film and Media at the Museum of Modern Art, The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Hamptons International Film Festival.

School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City is an established leader and innovator in the education of artists. From its inception in 1947, the faculty has been comprised of professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA provides an environment that nurtures creativity, inventiveness and experimentation, enabling students to develop a strong sense of identity and a clear direction of purpose.

Media Contact: For more information, please contact John Wyszniewski, assistant director of communication, at 212.592.2209 or jwyszniewski@sva.edu.