From The Daily Trojan
May 24, 2000

Students submit pieces for website launch

Panel of industry professionals choose two USC projects for web-site debut
By REBECCALORIMER
Staff Writer

Two creations by USC students were selected from hundreds of submissions around the country to debut along with three others on Nibblebox.com, a web-based student entertainment network.

"Virtual Rob" created by Nicholas Howard, Ron Kerkovich, and Kevin Roache, invites viewers into "Rob's" apartment to become masters of his actions. The Being John Malkovich-toned show presents "a concept (I) have been developing since third grade." said Howard, a communications major.

"A Bunch of Villagers get Eaten" is a digitally animated journey created by Ian Dale in which animated villagers glide with moonwalk-like moves to discover what is systematically killing their people.

The shows are two of five that recently debuted with the spring 2000 launch of Nibblebox.com. Nibblebox's creators, Doug Liman, director of "Go" and "Swingers", former NBC studio President David Bartis, and Internet entrepreneur Elizabeth L. Hamburg, created the site to be a "breeding ground" for the first generation of true Internet content creators.

Once signed as an affiliate, over 100 campus organizations, including the Jewish Filmmakers Forum of USC, have access to equipment, funding, and entertainment mentors. Once there is an affiliate on a campus, all students are eligible for access. Nibblebox.com includes short, episodic programming, a 24 hour a day college radio station "NBX", and local mini-sites created by affiliates.

"The goal is for the mentors to learn as much from the students about the Internet as the students will learn from them", Linman said.


Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 140, No. 02 (Wednesday, May 24, 2000), on page 2.