Xn Québec announces the opening of registrations for the 13th annual NUMIX PRIZE. Registration continues until February 17, 2022. After two online editions, the competition celebrating the excellence of digital creativity returns this year with a festive and unifying gala to be held on May 24, 2022, at L’Olympia in Montreal. The association also unveils the names of the co-presidents of the jury of this 13th edition: Sébastien Ebacher, executive producer at Smilegate Barcelona, for Quebec and Laetitia Bochud, general manager of Virtual Switzerland, for the international. Thanks to their complementary expertise and perspectives, they will ensure the smooth running of the deliberations and compliance with the rigorous evaluation process. The co-presidents will be at the helm of a jury of more than forty professionals chosen for their expertise in digital creativity.

SEBASTIEN EBACHER is executive producer of Smilegate Barcelona. Previously, he was a senior producer at Ubisoft Montreal where he worked on the delivery of several AAA video game productions such as Far Cry New Dawn and several Tom Clancy’s games including the Splinter Cell Blacklist and Conviction, as well as the Rainbow Six Siege and Vegas. He is also the founder and creative director of the arnoovo studio, where he has directed, disseminated and produced innovative immersive experiences in the fields of arts, sports and events. The studio quickly positioned itself as a pioneer and leader in the virtual reality industry thanks to major achievements such as the live broadcast of the P!nk concert in live vroadcastMC or a world first, a hypnosis experiment carried out thanks to virtual reality for Messmer’s show. Sébastien holds a master’s degree in economics from the Université de Montréal.

LAETITIA BOCHUD is Managing Director of Virtual Switzerland, which she joined at its inception in 2017, in order to shape and develop this national thematic network in parallel with #SwissXR. As director of the association, she advises companies, while promoting technology transfer, synergies, and promoting the adoption and integration of XR across all sectors. In 2021, she was also appointed President of the new XR4Europe association that brings together all XR professionals, organisations and initiatives to support creativity in Europe. Recently, she also became a Swiss ambassador for the Women in Immersive Tech Europe (WIIT) initiative.

PRODUCER SUPPORT GRANTS

Each year, the NUMIX AWARDS and its partners award $5,000 in scholarships to the winning projects in certain categories, in order to highlight the excellence of their productions and support producers in the development of their projects. This year, the eligible categories are as follows:

  • Loto-Québec — Scholarship awarded to the winning project in the Independent Gaming category;
  • SYNTHESIS — Pôle Image Québec — Scholarship awarded to the winner of the Relève étudiante category, also accompanied by mentorship offered by the Moment Factory teams;
  • Conseil des arts de Montréal — Scholarship awarded to the winner of the Digital Art category;
  • Radio-Canada OHdio — Scholarship awarded to the winner of the Emerging Creator category in podcast;
  • Investissement Québec International — Scholarship awarded to the recipient of the Mention Exportation, awarded to a studio whose work has distinguished itself internationally.

The registration period for the NUMIX AWARDS is open until February 17, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (EST). To register a project, visit numix.ca. Remember that for the second year in a row, some categories are open to international participants.