Young filmmakers at Nick’s SpongeBob global tilt

MANILA, Philippines - Two aspiring short filmmakers bagged top prizes in Nickelodeon’s first-ever global SpongeBob Squarepants-themed short film competition, SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes. Nicole from South Africa won in the 18 and over category with her live action, silent film-esque Finally Home entry, while David from USA won in the under 18 category with his The Krabby Commercial animated short film. Both entries bested more than 1,000 submissions from more than 70 countries and featured original storylines and stayed true to SpongeBob’s quirky charm, wide-eyed innocence and positive attitude.

Finally Home takes a peek into the life of a true-blue SpongeBob fan as she follows her heart and journeys to her ultimate dream home while The Krabby Commercial features Patrick teaching SpongeBob and friends a thing or two about optimism in the midst of a failed attempt to shoot a commercial. Apart from an international panel of judges comprised of Nickelodeon executives, fans via social media and online voting at the competition’s official site also helped choose the winning shorts.

Both Nicole and David were awarded   $2,500 cash prize, plus a trip for four with accommodations to a grand screening of their own films at the SpongeBob Fan Shellabration at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles. A celebration of all things SpongeBob, the inaugural event takes place on Sept. 7 and 8 with themed games and activities.

SpongeBob SquarePants is a world-renowned and beloved character-driven cartoon that chronicles the nautical and sometimes nonsensical adventures of SpongeBob, an incurably optimistic and earnest sea sponge, and his undersea friends. The series is seen in more than 70 countries and dabbed in more than 35 languages. It consistently ranks as the No.1 program in its timeslot versus all other kids’ channels in Brazil, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Mexico and The Netherlands, and is a Top 10 program on Nickelodeon in markets including the UK, Russia, Australia, Germany and Italy. It is the most widely distributed property in Viacom Media Networks history.