Visual Effects Society Awards Return to HDNet

Hollywood's annual celebration of the best in visual effects to be featured in high-definition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - DALLAS -May 1, 2006 - The best of Hollywood visual effects meets high-definition television in an exclusive HDNet telecast of the fourth annual Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, premiering Tuesday, May 9th at 10:00 p.m. ET.

This one-hour telecast celebrates outstanding visual effects in 20 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and games, features high-def presentations of the winning effects, as well a sneak peek into the secrets behind how the amazing effects were conceived and created. This year's winners include the FX teams from "King Kong" and "War of the Worlds."

"In an age where digital advances are impacting both movies and television in so many ways, we think it is a perfect fit for HDNet to be the exclusive telecaster of the Visual Effects Society Awards," said Mark Cuban of HDNet.

With special guests Cheech Marin, Bonnie Hunt & Craig T. Nelson on board, this year's program honors the Pixar cartoon titan, John Lasseter, who has created some of this generation's classic cartoon films, such as Toy Story," "A Bugs Life," "Monsters Inc." and "Finding Nemo."

"The VES is proud to partner with HDNet," says Eric Roth, VES Executive Director. "Their cutting edge image delivery is the best way to see the groundbreaking work of the visual effects artists involved with our annual awards show."

About VES
One of Hollywood's youngest organizations, the VES was formed in 1997 in response to the explosive growth in the visual effects industry. It is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition. The VES is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games. Comprised of a diverse group of more than 1,300 global members, the VES strives to enrich and educate its own members and members of the entertainment community at large through a multitude of domestic and international events, screenings and programs.

About HDNet
Co-founded by Mark Cuban and General Manager Philip Garvin, HDNet (www.hd.net) provides viewers with exciting and topical news, sports, music and entertainment programming. The 24-hour all-high definition network features up to 20 hours of new original programming each week, all produced in the highest quality 1080i HDTV format - more original high-definition programming than any other network. HDNet news and entertainment programming includes original series "HDNet World Report," "Face 2 Face with Roy Firestone," "Sound Off with Matt Pinfield," "Higher Definition," "Deadline!," "HDNet Concert Series," and "True Music." The network also features acclaimed acquired programs such as "Smallville," "Dead Like Me," and "Joan of Arcadia." Live sports productions include National Hockey League and Major League Soccer games and NASCAR Grand National Division auto racing. HDNet Movies, the company's second network, is the exclusive home of day and date movie releases including the Academy Award nominated "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "The War Within," and "Bubble." HDNet Movies also features a wide selection of major studio theatrical releases - all uncut, unedited, and appearing in their original aspect ratio - as well as features produced and finished in true 1080i high-definition. The HDNet networks are available on Adelphia, Bright House, Charter, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Time Warner Cable and more than 40 NCTC cable affiliate companies. For more information visit www.hd.net.