Crowdsourcing content leader Tongal held an awards show at L.A.’s El Rey theater -- recognizing the best idea-people, writers and filmmakers in their global community.
It was a party and a scene worthy of similar LA-based film awards, complete with a red carpet, champagne, highlight reels and celebrity introducers . Gene Simmons of KISS presented the "Best Original Song Category," and The Pointer Sisters capped the festivities with a performance that showed they’re every bit as potent as they were in their hit-making hey-day. For the members of the community, it was a night of pomp and heartfelt appreciation they'll never forget. "Ideator of The Year" Julia Lee was one of several community members in attendance who called it “The best night of my life.”
Simmons also introduced Tongal’s newest offering, Tongal’s Left Field -- an innovation and insight platform leveraging Tongal’s 50k plus users worldwide. KISS is using it to source BIG ideas from fans for their 40th Anniversary.
The show doubled as awards night and as first homecoming -- with creatives from as far away as Sweden, Argentina and Malaysia meeting one another face-to-face for the first time. They also met several of the brand representatives who sponsor content development projects on Tongal's platform.
Charles Frank, a 19-year-old filmmaker from Whatley Massachusetts, summed up the Tongal mission in his acceptance speech for Best Broadcast Spot, which he created for Hasbro. “…When I found Tongal and I found this project [I thought] maybe this is the opportunity I've been looking for, to do something that's true to me and true to my values and what I do with film…This [award] is validation to me that that model works and will continue to work. I have faith in Tongal and I'm so happy to be here and happy to have this…Thank you everyone for coming together and celebrating such an awesome platform."
![[img src="http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/charles-frank.jpg" caption="Charles Frank, 19, wins for "Best Broadcast Spot" for the work he created for Hasbro." credit="Tongal" alt="charles frank"]](http://admin.mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/charles-frank.jpg){kind=link}
To–date, the Tongal community has three community members who’ve earned more than $250k, 19 members exceeding $100k, 114 above $10k and 452 above $1k.
The Big Winners
This is the full list of the 13 Tongie categories and the winners for each:
Tongaler of the Year:Convoy Entertainment, LA based production company founded by Marshall Cook and Tyler Hawes -- also nominated in the Best Comedy category for their work with Glide
Video of the Year: Stephan Malik -- 'An Ode to the Toothbrush' Oral-B
Best Broadcast Spot: Charles Frank -- ‘Growing in Pieces' – Hasbro
Best 2D Animation: Dylan Woodley -- ‘Chapter 6, Unto the Breach’ -- The LEGO Group
Best Comedy: David Brashear -- ‘Get Your Own’ -- Philips Norelco
Best Idea: David Kilgo -- ‘Imitating Vader’ -- Pringles and Star Wars
Best Wildcard Video: Mike Goubeaux -- ‘Medicine Cabinet’ -- Ricola
Ideator of The Year: Julia Lee
Best 3D Animation: Margaret Condol – ‘Tony’s Nightmare’ – The LEGO Group
Best Foreign Language Video: Rudolphson and Krueger -- ‘On My Way’ -- Shutterstock
Best Long-Form Video: The Indie Machines -- ‘5000 Legos, Unlimited Inspiration’ -- The LEGO Group
Best Original Song: SnapBrothers Productions -- ‘The Fruit Will Set You Free’ -- Welch’s Fruit Snacks
Best Short-Form Video: Tarik Karam -- ‘Clean. Clear. Confident’ -- Johnson & Johnson