And the BAFTA went to… DNA Interactive (DNAi)! The DVD, produced by the Dolan DNA Learning Center (DNALC) in association with The Red Green and Blue Company (RGB) and Windfall Films, was named “Best Offline Factual” at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Interactive Entertainment Awards ceremony—the British version of the Oscars—on February 19.
In its 6th year, the BAFTA “Best Offline Factual” award is given to “the most imaginative and effective use of offline interactivity to explore the factual world.” The DNAi DVD was recognized as “an unusually rich and deep experience, stimulating personal exploration of the history, science, issues and future of the genome from the unique perspective of the people involved in its research.” RGB accepted the award on the behalf of the producers.
Accepting on the behalf of the producers of DNA Interactive are (left to right) Ben Casey, Alicia Laurent, and Max Whitby from The Red Green & Blue Company Ltd. (UK)
The DVD is part of DNA Interactive, a project dedicated to the moment on February 28, 1953, when Jim Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helical structure of DNA—and to the scientists who breathed life into that structure. The BAFTA-winning DVD complements the award-winning DNAi Internet site, produced by the DNALC. DNAi is a multimedia resource for high school and introductory college biology students and teachers. The DNAi products are the result of a two-year collaboration between scientists, educators, and filmmakers on three continents. The DNALC managed the project on behalf of the main project funders, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, produced the DNAi Internet site, and advised on the production of the DVD.
The DVD includes:
- More than 200 video clips and animations for approximately four hours of viewing
- Video interviews with 11 Nobel laureates and more than 50 other scientists, clinicians, and patients
- 3-D animations that illustrate intracellular processes and explore aspects of DNA science
- Narration options on 3-D animations
The Red Green & Blue Company Ltd (UK) produced the DNAi DVD and managed the production of the molecular animations done by Drew Berry at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Interviews with the scientists were conducted by Windfall Films (UK). Additional funding was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Channel Four Television (UK) and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Written by: Communications Department | publicaffairs@cshl.edu | 516-367-8455
About The British Academy of Film & Television Arts
The British Academy of Film & Television Arts is renowned for its high-profile award ceremonies covering Film, Television, Children’s and Interactive Entertainment. The BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards are considered the world’s largest and most prestigious interactive entertainment awards, recognizing and rewarding creative talent in interactivity. For more information, visit www.bafta.org.
About The Dolan DNA Learning Center
The Dolan DNA Learning Center – an operating arm of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – prepares students and families to thrive in the gene age by providing 5th through 12th graders with hands-on laboratory experiences and offering them educational opportunities that are unavailable in their own schools. Each year, more than 30,000 students and teachers from Long Island, all five boroughs of New York City, and around the country benefit from the labs, lectures, field trips and workshops provided by the Center’s teaching staff. The DNALC has become one of the largest providers of multimedia learning materials for biology education. The DNALC’s web portal, Gene Almanac (www.genealmanac.org) and family of content sites received 4.9 million visitors in 2003. For more information, visit www.dnalc.org.