Short Film Competition for Southern California Schools Fine Cut Kicks Off 19th Annual Festival With Call for Entries; Deadline May 25, 2018
Burbank, CA– KCET, the nation’s largest independent public television station,, announced a call for filmmaking’s most original entries for the 19th Annual Fine Cut Festival of Films, a collection of short films from Southern California student filmmakers that range from cutting-edge animation to the best in documentary cinema. Interested filmmakers currently enrolled in Southern California film schools can submit their short films (25 minutes or under) up until May 25, 2018 for consideration at FilmFreeway.com.
Four Honorees in the categories of Documentary, Animation, Narrative and Viewers Choice will have an opportunity to be a part of the most important event on the global film calendar, the 72ndannual Cannes International Film Festival, in May of 2019 thanks to a partnership with The American Pavilion, the epicenter of American hospitality and communication at the world’s largest film market.
The winning Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Viewers Choice Award films will be selected as part of the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, hosted by The American Pavilion as well as a networking event. Each filmmaker will receive a cash prize up to $500 to use towards airfare and accommodations for five nights (dates TBD), through The American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Travel Accommodations.
All short films selected as part of the Fine Cut Film Festival will be included in a series of half-hour broadcast episodes on KCET that will be aired this fall. Additionally, three of the winning films from The 21st Annual American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase competition taking place May 8 through May 19 in Cannes, France will be featured in the Fine Cut broadcast series slated to air this fall on KCET in Southern California.
Top films will be evaluated by a carefully selected panel of judges which last year consisted of nine acclaimed industry experts that included KCET must see movies host Pete Hammond, the International Documentary Association’s Executive Director Simon Kilmurry, Bloodline actress Linda Cardellini, producer and former talent agent John Ptak, Project Greenlight Producer Effie T. Brown, IndieWire staff writer Steve Greene, Peruvian filmmaker Javier Fuentes-León and Academy Award® winning short filmmakers Corinne Marrinan and Chris Tashima. 2018 judges will be announced at a later date.
All films submitted as entries to the 19th Annual Fine Cut Film Festival are also eligible for the Viewers Choice Competition, where filmmakers will have a chance to have their peers vote online at kcet.org during and up to one-week after the broadcast date. Winners will be notified on August 1, 2018 just prior to a scheduled September/October screening event.
The winning films in the Animation, Documentary and Narrative categories will have the chance to win The Jack Larson SPOTLIGHT Award, prize to be determined.
The festival is a tribute to Fine Cut founder Jack Larson who was an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer who may be best known for his portrayal of photographer/reporter Jimmy Olsen in the 1952-1958 television series Adventures of Superman. In the late 1990’s Larson approached Southern California’s KCET with the idea of creating a student film series that would provide talented students with the much needed opportunity to have their short films selected for television broadcast. Larson understood how difficult it was for young filmmakers to get broad exposure for their work because, typically, student work is only seen at special screenings and film festivals. Larson thought that public television was an excellent platform for providing critical visibility to emerging filmmakers. KCET shared Larson’s enthusiasm and together they created FINE CUT, which continues to be a flagship program for KCET today.
RULES: Student filmmakers must be currently enrolled or have been enrolled in a Southern California School January 2016 to present. Films completed prior to January 1, 2016, are not eligible for consideration for FINE CUT. Films that have been submitted for FINE CUT consideration in previous years are not eligible for submission for 2018 Fine Cut consideration. All short films selected by the expert judging panel will be part of one of the six half-hour broadcast episodes, and all accepted shorts are eligible for awards in the Competition. Short Films must have a total running time of 25 minutes or under, including credits. Shorts may not have been released on DVD, broadcast on television or the Internet to still remain eligible for our Shorts Competition. Read the full rules and regulations at FilmFreeway.com.
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