Student Film Festival 'Fine Cut' Now Accepting Entries From Southern California Film School Students
Press Contact
Mercedes Cannon-Tran
mcannontran@pmgsocal.org
Los Angeles, Calif. – March 8, 2023 – KCET, Southern California's home for award-winning public media programming, announced today that the annual FINE CUT Festival of Films is now accepting submissions from local film school students. The festival encourages promising filmmakers who are currently enrolled in Southern California film schools to submit short films (25 minutes or less) in the categories of Documentary, Animation and Narrative for consideration for prizes as well as to be included in a series of broadcast episodes airing and streaming on kcet.org/finecut this fall. The deadline to submit is May 26, 2023 at filmfreeway.com/FineCut.
The FINE CUT Festival of Films is KCET’s flagship program showcasing local student filmmaking for 24 years, with funding made possible by The Bridges / Larson Foundation. In 2022, a variety of prize packages valued to be over $30,000 were awarded to the winners with one honoree selected as The Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award commemorating FINE CUT founder Jack Larson's commitment to fostering new generations of filmmakers in Southern California.
Top films submitted for the FINE CUT Festival of Films will be evaluated by a select, to-be-announced panel of judges consisting of esteemed entertainment industry experts. The 2022 judges consisted of an industry panel of well-regarded experts, who determined finalists and winners in each category. They included Director and Producer Lynne Southerland (Mulan II: The Final War, HBO’s Happily Ever After, Fairytales for Every Child, Bebe’s Kids), Animator, Creator and Director Elizabeth Ito (Netflix’s City of Ghosts, Adventure Time), Writer Joya McCrory (Abbott Elementary), Director and Documentary filmmaker Evan Jackson Leong (Linsanity, Level Up with Stephen Curry, Snakehead), Executive Producer Adam Borba (Peter Pan & Wendy, A Wrinkle in Time, Pete’s Dragon), Director and Producer Daniela Alatorre (A Cop Movie, Midnight Family), Actor/Director Lou Diamond Phillips (Prodigal Son, Easter Sunday) and Director Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World, Little Rascals, The Decline of Western Civilization).
Each of the four 2022 winners received valuable prize packages including two $10,000 camera packages from Keslow Camera and The Camera Division, a membership to the International Documentary Association (with exposure to 3,500 IDA members), a $1,000 Quixote Production supplies rental, Stage TH!S rental package, four Final Draft 12 professional screenwriting software packages as well as tickets to the KCET Cinema Series and all access passes to last year’s Newport Beach Film Festival. Honorees also received prizes donated from some of the industry’s most reputable names including Backstage, Dragonframe, New Filmmakers LA, Maxon, Foundry, Toon Boom, Moho Animation Software and Wacom.
The FINE CUT program also includes a fall awards ceremony/screening event just prior to broadcast where honorees in each of the three categories and The Jack Larson Award recipient will be awarded their prizes, followed by a weekend workshop where student filmmakers will get to interact with a select lineup of entertainment industry professionals/potential mentors.
In 2022, the online submission process garnered over 307 shorts submitted from 40 Southern California schools. 59.3% of verified films were narratives, 28.9% were animations and 53.4% of verified applicants were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups.
RULES: Student filmmakers must be at least 18 years of age and currently enrolled or have been enrolled in a Southern California School January 2021 to present. Films completed prior to January 1, 2021, 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 2023 FINE CUT consideration. All short films selected by the expert judging panel will be part of one of a series of 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 less, including credits. Read the full rules and regulations at FilmFreeway.com.
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 1990s Larson approached Southern California’s KCET with the idea of creating a student film series that would provide talented students with the 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.
Join the conversation on social media using #FineCut and #KCET
Funding for Fine Cut is generously provided by The Bridges/Larson Foundation.
About KCET
As one of Southern California’s two flagship PBS stations, KCET is on-air, online as well as in the community, and plays a vital role in the cultural enrichment of Southern California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional programming, its national productions and its website, kcet.org. For additional information about KCET’s original productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. KCET Originals and PBS programming are available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO SmartCast TV. KCET is also available to watch live on YouTube TV.