HBO buys rights to Second-Life machinima, promotes it as an oscar contender

Via BoingBoing; Major US cable TV Network HBO have bought the rights to machinima documentary created within Second Life, a wholly immersive online gameplay environment.

This is a pretty big deal; to quote Wagner James Au, "it's probably the biggest Hollywood purchase of a video which first aired on YouTube, and the most prominent distribution deal for a machinima project made in any 3D platform."