The firms designed and created the 3D animation for a film which North Bridge Productions produced for the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) at MIT. The film shows how emerging technologies and processing techniques at the molecular scale can produce new materials and devices that can better protect soldiers in decades to come. The film about ISN's vision and work, "Soldier of Future", is shown to visitors to the Institute, as well as at conferences and meetings around the world.

"Soldier of Future" was also named a Telly Award Finalist in the Educational Video category. DigiNovations also won the top Telly Award in Fundraising Video, and was a finalist in the Corporate Image and Recruitment Video categories.

"The devices, materials, and processes we wanted to show are unimaginably small, and in many cases are at very early stages of development," said Eve Downing, Director of Outreach for ISN. "We turned to the DigiNovations/North Bridge Productions team to help our audiences visualize these technologies in actual application -- sometimes reaching 25 or more years into the future."

"MIT challenged us to bring these technologies out of the minds and notebooks of these extraordinary scientists and engineers and onto the video screen," recounts Michael Kolowich, DigiNovations president and executive producer. "We worked initially with three ISN teams to develop scenarios of nanotechnology in action, told through the eyes of a fictitious U.S. Army sergeant 20 to 30 years in the future. In thinking about how best to illustrate these scenarios, we turned to Boston Animation, who had established a great track record in creating 3-D animation for video games."

At Boston Animation, president Dale DeSharone jumped at the opportunity. "The chance to show how MIT's groundbreaking work could be applied was something we couldn't pass up." He engaged his team of 3-D animators, led by animation director Alexander Shmygun in Kiev, Ukraine, on a grueling schedule to deliver the animation which is the centerpiece of the North Bridge Productions film. "We're proud to have our work recognized in this very special way."

"The North Bridge team did a tremendous job on this project, from helping to flesh out our concept to working independently with our faculty," recalled MIT's Downing. "They really understand what we're doing and brought so much more to the project than shooting and editing the video."

"Soldier of Future" was produced by Paul Dewey and edited by Michael Kolowich, who also served as executive producer. Benjamin Eckstein was director of photography on the project. Excerpts from the film and its award-winning animation may be viewed at http://www.diginovations.com/business/DBwork.htm.

About DigiNovations

DigiNovations, Incorporated (http://www.diginovations.com) was founded by Internet content pioneer Michael Kolowich to bring the benefits of digital video production to businesses, organizations, and individuals across New England. DigiNovations offers original creative productions and video production services to companies and organizations through its North Bridge Productions unit (http://www.northbridge-pro.com/business), and video and film transfer, family history, wedding and event videography, and sports videography services through its MemoryWorks unit (http://www.memoryworks.net/memoryworks). The company has recently introduced PowerFrames: an innovative streaming video service that helps companies and organizations create video PowerPoint presentations for the web (http://www.powerframes.com). The company's studios are located in Concord, Massachusetts.

About Boston Animation

Boston Animation (http://www.bostonanimation.com) provides a trained and talented production staff with state-of-the-art expertise in: 3D key frame and motion capture animation; traditional 2D graphics and animation, video game design and programming; and music and sound effects production. It is headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts with offshore studios in Kiev, Ukraine.

About the USA Telly Awards

Founded in 1978, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. The Telly Awards annually showcases the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. The Telly Awards receives more than 10,000 entries from all 50 states and five continents and is a widely known and highly respected national and international competition. Recent Telly Award winners include: MSNBC, NASA, National Gallery of Art, Discovery Communications, Sesame Workshop, National Park Service, NBC, and Cox Communications.

About the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies

The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) is an interdepartmental research center at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/isn). Established in 2002 by a five-year, $50 million contract from the U.S. Army, the ISN's mission is to use nanotechnology to dramatically improve the survivability of soldiers. The ultimate goal is a futuristic, nanotechnology-enabled battle suit that provides superior protection from ballistic, chemical, and biological threats and offers autonomous medical monitoring and intervention. The ISN currently has eleven industry partners, including DuPont and Raytheon, who collaborate on research and will transition promising laboratory results into real products for soldiers, police, firefighters, and other first responders.