WIRED Presents "CREATIVE HACK AWARD 2013" Honors Eight Recipients

The award ceremony for the "CREATIVE HACK AWARD 2013" (Organizer: WIRED; Sponsors: Wacom, Hewlett-Packard Japan, Celsys; Cooperation: CMT, Dentsu Inc.) was held on October 1 at the Tokyo American Club in Minato Ward. This award, established for the first time this year by the magazine WIRED (Condé Nast Japan), aims to discover talent that will invigorate and support Japan's creative scene. This year's theme was "Japan—NEW CREATIVE OF JAPAN," with submissions accepted in two categories: "Graphic" and "Movie." The judging panel, consisting of nine members including animation producer and Production I.G President Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Keio University's Tetsuya Mizuguchi, and Dentsu Inc.'s Yasuharu Sasaki, selected a total of eight works from 245 entries, including one Grand Prix winner.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Tokyo-based video creator Tomokazu Yamada (25). His video work "47seconds," which expresses the unequal treatment of "time" in modern society through the symbolic setting of Shibuya and a single individual, received high praise.

In his closing remarks, Chairman Ishikawa offered encouragement: "Through judging, I felt that to create interesting work, the creator themselves must be interesting. As the era shifted from analog to digital, both technique and talent have become digitized in their output, making it harder to discern genuine talent from imitation. I also feel this is an era where individuality struggles to flourish. Precisely because of this era, I believe it's the works created from a genuine desire to make something, poured into with relentless dedication, that truly stir people's hearts."