Sudbury, March 11, 2005 — Maple Shorts, a hilarious new children's cartoon produced by March Entertainment, will hit the airwaves the first week of April 2005, on CBC.

March Entertainment's hard work and determination in producing a Flash television series has also paid off for the community. Not only has it created jobs within the city of Sudbury, thanks to Minister Bartolucci's kindness and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation's (NOHFC) investment of $250,000, but it has helped bring awareness to the growing Flash animation industry in Northern Ontario.

Maple Shorts features short animations that have been created by aspiring animators from across Canada, in hopes of having their talent seen on national television. The shorts were carefully reviewed and selected by a panel of judges from CBC. Viewers are also given the opportunity to vote for their favourite short after each episode by visiting www.cbc.ca/mapleshorts, creating a "viewer's choice" Hall of Fame.

The best short, as ultimately selected by CBC, will earn the opportunity to create a full pilot episode in association with the CBC. Runners-up will receive valuable prize packs courtesy of Macromedia, the developers of Flash.

Although the main viewing audience will be children aged 9-12, both younger kids and adults will surely be amused by the unique animation, witty humour, and comedic bantering between our animated hosts, Sela and Canuckles.

Canuckles is a cranky Canada goose who could only make it in the film industry as a critic; and a bitter one at that. He tried his wing at acting but never nailed much more than the occasional "fly-on" role. Sela, on the other hand, is a sultry young salmon and former make-up artist. She complements Canuckles' arrogant nature with her sweet, flippant demeanor.

March Entertainment is proud and eager to present this dynamic new show to the Greater City of Sudbury and to the rest of Canada.