A Profile Of "SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes" Finalist Nicole van Schoor From South Africa, Creator Of The SBSP Short Film "Finally Home"

The South African arts, culture and entertainment news website Artslink.co.za has posted a profile of and a interview they had with young Uitenhage resident, Nicole van Schoor, whose short "SpongeBob SquarePants" film, titled "Finally Home", is a finalist in Nickelodeon's first-ever global "SpongeBob SquarePants"-themed short film competition, "SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes", which you can read below! Nicole's "SpongeBob" short film is about a dedicated Spongebob Fan and her quest in finding her ultimate dream home. You can watch an online streaming video clip of and vote for Nicole's entry here on Nick's official "SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes" website, spongebobsquareshorts.com. You can also vote for "Finally Home" on Twitter by using the dedicated hashtag #SquareShortsVOTE2!


More than 1,000 SpongeBob inspired short films–celebrating the positivity and optimism of the Nickelodeon megastar were submitted by fans and filmmakers of all ages from all corners of the world during the submission period, which ran from May 6 to June 28.

Entries were received in animation, stop-motion, and live-action, among others. Featuring original storylines, the top five finalist videos in both categories highlight SpongeBob's endearing attributes: humor, overflowing happiness and persistent positivity. Finalists were chosen by a panel of judges comprised of Nickelodeon executives from all corners of the globe. Videos were judged on originality & creativity, incorporation of SpongeBob's attributes, and overall appeal.

Now through Friday, August 2, at 8:00p.m. EDT, fans can visit www.spongebobsquareshorts.com to watch the finalist videos and vote for their favorites in each category via the website and/or via Twitter. To cast a vote via Twitter, tweet the unique hashtag associated with each of the short films. A winner from each category will be announced by August 9th and awarded a $2,500 cash prize and a trip for four people to a screening event at the recently announced "SpongeBob Fan Shellabration" at Universal Studios in Hollywood, Calif.

Good luck to Nicole van Schoor and to all the finalists in Nick's "SpongeBob SquareShorts: Original Fan Tributes" fan movie competition!:

Bob on the Box: Help Nicole to win!

[...]

Here's a column kickoff with a difference: a young Uitenhage resident, Nicole van Schoor, is in line for an international video prize.

Recently, the kids entertainment service, Nickelodeon (DStv Channel 305,) ran an international contest related to the popular animated series, Spongebob Squarepants.

During the dedicated entry period (May 8 to June 28 this year), died-in-the-wool fans of the endearing character were asked to create an original short live action film, titled Spongebob Squareshorts: Original Fan Tributes, celebrating Bob's attributes: humour, overflowing happiness and persistent positivity and optimism.

More than 1100 entries were received from countries all over the world where the series is telecast and 21-year-old Nicole's entry was selected as one of the five finalists in the "18 years and over" category.

This is an amazing achievement when it is considered that the other four finalists in her section of the competition (there is an under 18 years category as well) came from residents of Mexico, Germany and two from the United States.

The storyline in her short movie follows a dedicated SpongeBob Fan (Nicole herself!) in her quest to find her ultimate dream home, ending up at the giant Pineapple near Bathurst in the Eastern Cape.

Finalists were chosen by a panel of judges comprised of Nickelodeon executives from all corners of the globe. Videos were judged on originality and creativity, incorporation of SpongeBob’s attributes, and overall appeal.

Fans can visit www.spongebobsquareshorts.com until this Saturday, August 3, up to 2am South African time to watch the finalist videos and vote for their favourites in each category via the website and/or via Twitter.

To cast a vote via Twitter, tweet the unique hashtag associated with each of the short films (Nicole's is #SquareShortsVOTE2.

A winner from each category will be announced by August 9 and awarded a $2,500 cash prize and a trip for four people to a screening event at the recently announced SpongeBob Fan Shellabration at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California.

So go to it fans - help Nicole to win that much-prized trip by casting your vote for the Eastern Cape participant.

And now what can I tell you about her?

Well, in her own words: "I am indeed 21 years old and the other person in the photograph with me is film-maker extraordinaire Kevin Meiring (age 27).

There were only the two of of us making up the entire production (filming, acting, etc)!

By profession Kevin and I are both graphic designers at Hype Advertising, but we also often work in film production and photography. We viewed the advert about the competition on TV while watching an episode of Spongebob (being in the creative industry, we both truly are huge fans of the show and animation/ cartoons in general!) and knew it would be a great opportunity for us to enter.

Kevin has worked on other advertisements and video production before and has acted in a few videos, but the Spongebob Squareshorts entry was my acting debut into the industry (Ha! Ha!.......).

It was truly exciting and fun working on the film (both of us being from Port Elizabeth, we had to drive extensively to get to Bathurst to reach the Big Pineapple, for the end of the film) so it was a lot of effort and a long drive for what worked out as only seconds of footage, but the story would not have had the same impact otherwise".

And reaching the final five internationally was, obviously, a huge bonus!

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