With all the negative press surrounding BlackBerry lately here’s a little something positive. BlackBerry has just let us know that they are again sponsoring the 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5th and September 15th 2013. BlackBerry even has a TIFF app available in BlackBerry World for anyone interested that will provide information about the films, programmes, schedules, venus, events, and so much more.
Download the BlackBerry TIFF app from BlackBerry World here.
Here’ s the full press release.
BlackBerry takes home silver IDSA award for design of TIFF Festival’s 2012 BlackBerry People’s Choice Awards, receives honourable mention for BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Z10 designs
BlackBerry is proud to announce that it is once again an official sponsor of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival®. As one of the industry’s most anticipated events of the year, the Festival is a preeminent cultural festival that brings together filmmakers, industry professionals and celebrities to present the best of Canadian and international cinema to film lovers. BlackBerry strives to provide people with the tools they need to succeed, and by sponsoring the BlackBerry People’s Choice Awards, it will support filmmakers in doing what they do best: making great films.
“BlackBerry has long stood by our mission to champion ambition and support professionals, artists, and students on their journeys to achieving excellence,” said Andrew MacLeod, Managing Director Canada at BlackBerry. “We believe that our products and services help people to succeed, and our sponsorship of the BlackBerry People’s Choice Awards is in keeping with this goal. These awards have historically been strong indicators of success for many films, and have stood as beacons for ambition and aspiration.”
A TIFF mobile application for BlackBerry is available at BlackBerry World, and is designed to enhance interaction between TIFF and festival goers. The app will provide information about the films, programmes, schedules, venues and events, access to festival photos and film trailers, as well as the ability to customize their TIFF Festival schedule with recommended viewings based on their interests.
Last year, the BlackBerry design team was challenged to create a portfolio of People’s Choice Awards that would represent the BlackBerry brand and showcase TIFF’s heritage. The design recently won a Silver IDEA award from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) for its unique and iconic shape and utility. Speaking to BlackBerry’s commitment to empowering people to succeed, the BlackBerry design team included the contributions of an intern from the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) University. The awards were created with BlackBerry products’ attributes in mind: multi-functionality, seamless integration and performance. Each of the three awards had their own unique colour and finish that reflected the category’s characteristics. They were built from a solid block of aluminum and featured a surprise viewfinder at the top of each award. By looking through them, recipients found the awards doubled as light-box theatres that featured stills from the winning films. Additionally, BlackBerry won honourable mentions from IDSA for the designs of the BlackBerry® Q10 and BlackBerry® Z10 smartphones.
Once again, at TIFF Festival 2013, these awards will be given out to the most popular films as voted by audiences in three submission categories: the BlackBerry People’s Choice Award, the major prize given to the most popular feature-length film with the highest ratings; the BlackBerry People’s Choice Documentary Award, for the most popular documentary film in the Festival; and the BlackBerry People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award, given to the most popular screening of Midnight Madness films. TIFF Festival moviegoers will be able to vote via one of two methods: In person at the movie theatre by submitting the ballot end of their ticket into an official BlackBerry People’s Choice Award voting box, or by visiting the tiff.net/vote and using the tracking number on their ticket stub to vote. The winners of the BlackBerry People’s Choice Awards will be announced at the Official Festival Awards Brunch on September 15th, 2013.
As the original makers of smartphones, BlackBerry has always provided the devices of choice for people with a voracious appetite for getting the job done. The release of BlackBerry® 10 keeps users moving faster and more efficiently and effectively. BlackBerry’s sponsorship of TIFF Festival showcases its passion for success and ambition at one of Canada’s most important cultural festivals.