Second edition of Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2024 closes to great success and announces jury panel

Creo is delighted to reveal the panel of judges for the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2024. The competition for the sophomore edition of the major annual program for short films and filmmakers, which closed earlier this month, provides a gateway for the development of cinematic talent from across the globe.

Following a celebrated launch edition in 2023, this year the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards competition ran from June 15, 2023 to February 15, 2024, receiving more than double the number of entries from the previous year. The Awards were established to elevate original and diverse voices with a fresh perspective on storytelling, offering filmmakers career-defining opportunities and unparalleled access to the inner workings of the industry. Free to enter and open to all filmmakers internationally, the Awards received a highly enthusiastic response this year with over 8,400 films by more than 5,000 filmmakers across 148 countries and territories submitted.

Chaired by award-winning director Justin Chadwick for the second year running, this year's jury brings together a panel of leading industry experts including: Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, Co-Founders and Co-Presidents of Sony Pictures Classics; Rob Hardy ASC, BSC, BAFTA award-winning cinematographer; Kate Reid BSC, acclaimed British cinematographer; Emmy-award winning cinematographer Robert Primes ASC; and celebrated Australian filmmaker Unjoo Moon. 

Justin Chadwick, award-winning theatre, television and film director and Chair of the Jury said: "It is such a pleasure to return as Chair of this new prestigious panel of decorated creatives. Last year, we brought to the forefront 30 exceptionally talented filmmakers from across the world, each of whom had the unique chance to access the inner workings of the industry in Los Angeles, opening doors to career-launching opportunities. From my own experience, the art of the short film is by no means one to be underestimated, and I look forward to discovering more brilliant, talented individuals through this upcoming selection."

Working from a longlist of commended submissions, the first stage of the process will see judges Robert Primes ASC and Unjoo Moon select the top 30 films that will comprise this year’s shortlist. At the second stage of the judging process, judges Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Rob Hardy ASC, BSC, and Kate Reid BSC will then choose this year’s category winners, awarding creative excellence and original approaches to narrative. Both stages of the judging process are chaired by Justin Chadwick and the 30 shortlisted filmmakers will be announced on April 23, 2024.

Providing a unique access point to the industry, the 30 shortlisted filmmakers will be flown to Los Angeles to participate in an extensive workshop program and to attend the Awards ceremony, where the six category winners will be announced on May 30, 2024 at the Cary Grant Theater located at the historic Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. The six winners will be rewarded with cash prizes and Sony camera equipment. 

NEW TO 2024 AND PRIZES

The 2024 edition introduced a new competition format with a total of six categories for filmmakers to enter: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Environment, Student, Future Format – welcoming films shot exclusively with a smartphone – and a brand new Animation category.

This year, winners and shortlisted filmmakers are invited to attend an expanded four-day workshop program in Los Angeles, which provides exclusive access behind the scenes of the industry and covers a range of topics from pitching to legal, to working with talent agencies and using cutting-edge technologies. From this edition onwards, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards moves to the spring season, with the four-day workshop program and Awards ceremony taking place at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California from May 28 - 31, 2024.

In addition to attending the workshop program and receiving Sony camera equipment, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Environment and Animation category winners also receive a $5,000 (USD) cash prize. The Future Format category winner receives a $2,500 (USD) cash prize. The Student category winner and institution each receive Sony camera equipment. 

For more information, visit www.sonyfuturefilmmakerawards.com.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Sony Future Filmmaker Awards

Established by Creo and sponsored by Sony, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards is a major annual awards program for short films devoted to supporting and elevating independent filmmakers and creators from across the globe. Set apart by its exceptional prize, the Awards provide successful filmmakers with invaluable opportunities in the form of a trip to Los Angeles and to the historic Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, where they gain exclusive access to experts and unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the industry. Winners additionally receive cash prizes and a range of Sony Digital Imaging equipment. Free to enter, the Awards comprise six categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Environment, Student, Animation and Future Format, and are judged by a panel of leading figures. By supporting talents in film, video and storytelling, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards provides a gateway for the development of creative excellence. www.sonyfuturefilmmakerawards.com

Creo initiates and organizes events and programming across three key strands: photography, film and contemporary art. Established in 2007 as World Photography Organisation, Creo has since grown in scope, furthering its mission of developing meaningful opportunities for creatives and expanding the reach of its cultural activities. Today, its flagship projects include the Sony World Photography Awards, Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, PHOTOFAIRS New York, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, Photo London. Working in partnership with Angus Montgomery Arts, Creo helps deliver the group’s ventures, comprising some of the world’s leading art fairs. Taking its name from the Latin for ‘I create’, it is in this spirit that Creo sets out to empower and give agency to creative voices. www.creoarts.com

Sony Corporation is responsible for the Entertainment, Technology & Services (ET&S) business in the Sony Group. With the vision of “continuing to deliver Kando and Anshin* to people and society across the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges,” Sony will create products and services in areas such as home entertainment & sound, imaging, and mobile communications. For more information, visit: www.sony.net

* Both Japanese words, Kando means emotion and Anshin has various meanings such as peace of mind, reassurance, reliability and trust.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. Sony Pictures Television operates dozens of wholly-owned or joint-venture production companies around the world. SPE’s Motion Picture Group production organizations include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, 3000 Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films, AFFIRM Films, Sony Pictures International Productions, and Sony Pictures Classics. For more information, visit www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions

2024 JUDGES

Justin Chadwick is an award-winning British theatre, television and film director. He is best known for critically acclaimed films including the Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), the AFI and IFTA nominated The Other Boleyn Girl (2008); Tulip Fever (2017) and The First Grader (2010). His films have won numerous awards including the Audience Award at Durban International Film Festival, the Audience Prize for Best Film at Doha Tribeca Film Festival, both Best Director’s Choice and Audience Choice Awards at the Sedona Film Festival, and Best Feature Film at the Palm Beach Film Festival 2010. His award-winning short films include Boy (2011), Shakespeare Shorts (1996) and Family Style (1993). His recent credits include the upcoming Disney+ series Shardlake (2024) and Amazon’s Fear, currently in production.

Michael Barker is Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics. Together with Tom Bernard, he has distributed some of the finest independent movies. Previously, he was an executive at the first modern-day specialized distribution company, United Artists (1980-1983), before co-founding Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics. Over the span of his career, Barker has released prestigious films that have received 41 Academy Awards from 187 nominations, including Best Picture nominations for The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash, Amour, Midnight in Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Bernard and Barker have received numerous recognitions for their work, including being honored by the Directors Guild of America for their significant contributions in support of the industry, receiving the French Legion of Honor in acknowledgment of their continued contributions to French culture, the Spirit of Independence Award from Film Independent at the Los Angeles Film Festival and The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles, in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Barker currently serves as Co-Chairman on the Museum of the Moving Image Board of Directors, on the Entertainment Media and Technology Dean’s Advisory Board at the NYU Stern School of Business, and has in the past taught at the Columbia University School of the Arts and the University of Chicago. He was also inducted in the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Tom Bernard is Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics. Together with Michael Barker, he has distributed some of the finest independent movies. Previously, he was the director of the first modern-day specialized distribution company, United Artists (1980-1983), before co-founding Orion Classics (1983-1991) and Sony Pictures Classics. Over the span of his career, Bernard has released prestigious films that have received 41 Academy Awards from 187 nominations, including Best Picture nominations for The Father, Call Me By Your Name, Whiplash, Amour, Midnight in Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Bernard and Barker have received numerous recognitions for their work, including being honored by the Directors Guild of America for their significant contributions in support of the industry, receiving the French Legion of Honor in acknowledgment of their continued contributions to French culture, the Spirit of Independence Award from Film Independent at the Los Angeles Film Festival and The Women in Film Beacon Award from Women in Film Los Angeles, in recognition of their unmatched support of female filmmakers throughout their careers. Bernard, a two-time Monmouth Arts honoree for his dedication to the arts, is the New Jersey State Film Commissioner, Co-Chair for the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival, and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Count Basie Theatre Foundation Board of Directors, the Atlantic Highland Arts Council Advisory Board, and the Monmouth County Arts Council.

Rob Hardy ASC, BSC is a British cinematographer, who has received acclaim for his groundbreaking work on Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), and his ongoing collaboration with Alex Garland on Ex-Machina (2014), Annihilation (2018), Devs (2020), Men (2022) and the upcoming visceral epic Civil War (2024). He also won the BAFTA for cinematography on the powerful drama Boy A (2007) which was swiftly followed by the influential Red Riding 1974 (2009). Other credits include James Marsh's atmospheric Shadow-Dancer (2012) and the period piece Invisible Woman (2013) for Ralph Fiennes.

Unjoo Moon is a South-Korean born Australian director. She is known for her feature film I Am Woman (2020), which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and for which she received a Best Director nomination at the Australian Directors Guild and 9 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards nominations, including Best Picture, and was awarded the inaugural Athena Breakthrough Award, sponsored by Netflix. After working as an on-air reporter for ABC TV, her passion for storytelling led her to the Australian Film Television & Radio School where she met her creative partner, Academy Award-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe. Together they founded the production company Deep Blue Pacific and moved to Los Angeles where Moon attended the American Film Institute, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts and the Franklin J Schaffner Directing Award. She has directed and produced many award-winning short films, music videos, commercials and documentaries, including The Zen of Bennett (2012), and is currently working on an adaptation of David Yoon's New York Times-bestselling debut novel Frankly in Love. She currently sits on the American Film Institute’s Alumni Council and is the chair of the inaugural Australian Film Television & Radio School Alumni Advisory Group.

Robert Primes ASC began as a documentary filmmaker and then became a commercial director/cinematographer. He became a TV and feature director of photography, shooting the first season of Thirtysomething (1989). He has received two Emmys for his work on My Antonia (1995) and the series Felicity (1998), as well as the American Society of Cinematographers award for MDs (2002), the first digitally shot show to win a major cinematography award. Primes has lobbied congress for artist’s rights and for a higher TV image quality standard and also represented cinematographers on the National Film Preservation Board. He taught cinematography at the American Film Institute for eight years and has served on the boards of the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers’ Guild.

Kate Reid BSC is an award-winning cinematographer. After working as a camera assistant, she studied cinematography at the prestigious National Film and Television School, where she was the recipient of the Freddie Francis Scholarship. Kate’s recent credits include the upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s Silo, Steven Knight’s adaptation of Great Expectations (2023), HBO’s The Baby (2022) and The Nevers (2021), for which she received an American Society of Cinematographers nomination for Best Cinematography on a non-commercial Television series. Other credits include HBO’s Game of Thrones (2019), Amazon Prime’s Hanna (2019), BBC One’s Press (2018), Netflix’s Marcella (2016), The Closer We Get (2015), the Emmy Award-winning series Years of Living Dangerously (2014), and Ava DuVernay's Venus Vs. (2013). Kate’s films have screened in competition at international festivals including Sundance, Berlin and SXSW. She has won numerous Best Cinematography Awards for her short films, including the Underwire Award for Nazi Boots (2015). Kate was listed in Screen Daily & The British Film Commission’s Next Generation of UK Film Award Contenders 2020, and was named as one of 10 Directors of Photography in Definition Magazine’s 2018 list of Ascending Stars of Cinematography. She was invited to become a member of the British Society of Cinematographers the same year.