Student filmmakers from USC, California College of the Arts and Cal State Northridge were the top winners at PBS SoCal‘s 27th annual Fine Cut Festival of Films. The winners, revealed during a screening and awards ceremony on Tuesday at Eagle Rock’s Vidiots (inside its Eagle Theater), shared prize packages valued at more than $55,000.
This year’s winners included Daniel Simon Zhang (USC), in narrative, for “Stop When Your Ancestors Say So”; Mia Hagerty (USC), in documentary, for “A Good Death”; and John Angelo Serrano (California College of the Arts), in animation, for “Bigger Picture.” The evening’s top prize, the Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award, went to Sam Markson (CSUN), for “Jewish Moms Scare the Crap Out of Me.”
“Fine Cut” is PBS SoCal’s longest-running series — launching in 1996 with just four local schools. This year, the competition garnered more than 430 film submissions from 53 schools.
Films from “Fine Cut” began screening on PBS SoCal this week, and many are also available to watch on its website. The Bridges-Larson Foundation supports Fine Cut, which was first created by screenwriter/producer/actor Jack Larson (perhaps best known as playing reporter Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s TV version of “Superman”).
Variety’s executive editor, television, Michael Schneider and senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson hosted the event for the fifth year in a row.
Among the prizes, winners received a $2,500 grant from First Entertainment Credit Union, along with filmmaking rental equipment, production resources and professional software donated by entertainment industry partners.
“Fine Cut gives students the opportunity to showcase their diverse voice and creativity to a wide audience,” said PBS SoCal senior director of production Angela Boisvert. “Over the years, the program has featured notables like Ryan Coogler, Ben Proudfoot, Patricia Cordosa and Rashida Jones. And we hope that the resources provided by the Fine Cut programs will provide an avenue for the students to continue their filmmaking journey.”
Judges this year included animator, writer and director Sofia Alexander (“Onyx Equinox”), character designer/illustrator Asia Vigil Ellington (“Primos”), cinematographer Jonathan Furmanski (“The ‘Burbs”), director and producer Yu Gu (“A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem”), producer Jennifer Kobzik (“Social Studies”), director Linda Mendoza (“Black-ish”), director Bethany Rooney (“Criminal Minds”), storyboard artist Victor Sampaio (Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio”) and director Jesús Salvador Treviño (“Star Trek: Voyager”).
Fine Cut will also hold its annual mentoring workshop for California students on Sunday at Radford Studio Center. Professional producers, directors, writers and animators will be on hand to help mentor students in their preferred track.
Meanwhile, here are the films scheduled to air on PBS SoCal:
Thu., Sept. 24: “The Successor,” directed by Jacob Gambina (CSUN); “Dog Brain,” directed by Helen Benavidez (CSUF); “Hydra on the Horizon,” directed by Curran Seth (UCSB); “Swimming Lessons,” directed by Meloddy Gao (UCSC); “Unikid,” directed by Darian Hernandez (CSUF)
Thu., Oct. 1: “Talk Straight Duda,” directed by Eduardo Maia (USC); “Seagull Coffee,” directed by Yunqing “Sally” Pan (CalArts); “American Daydream,” directed by Ziyu Luo (NYFA); “Sister’s Keeper,” directed by Oliver Thrush (Biola University); “The Rat Race,” directed by Sarah Jackson (CSULB)
Thu., Oct. 8: “The Unlucky Rabbit,” directed by Shane Hernandez (LMU); “Wilbur & Harold,” directed by Giovanni Edwards (CalArts); “Screenagers,” directed by Angela Suh-Young Kim (UCLA); “Rebound,” directed by Anna O’Donnell (USC); “Bigger Picture,” directed by John Angelo Serrano (California College of the Arts); “Perfectus,” directed by Regis Iofis (San Jose State University)
Thu., Oct. 15: “Stop When Your Ancestors Say So,” directed by Daniel Simon Zhang (USC); “From, Farmersville,” directed by Savannah Gasca (CSULB); “The Oceanarium,” directed by Matthew Lei (CalArts); “Somang,” directed by Tim J. Lim (UCLA); “Heart-But Dim Sum Friends!,” directed by Veda Lee (CalArts); “La Cadeja,” directed by Selene Sanchez (Woodbury University)
Thu., Oct. 22: “A Good Death,” directed by Mia Hagerty (USC); “Silence = Death,” directed by Trace Pope (USC); “Addie,” directed by Antonina Bolyaev (City College of San Francisco); “Death Is a Giant Peanut,” directed by Amy Boisvert (CalArts)
Thu., Oct. 29: “Jewish Moms Scare the Crap Out of Me,” directed by Sam Markson (CSUN); “Dissent,” directed by Sager Al Nuaimi (ArtCenter); “Creep,” directed by Daniela Abarca (Laguna College of Art and Design); “El Bar De Hernando,” directed by Andrés Bernal, Maria Gomez (NYFA); “Natural Selection,” directed by Amanda D’Ambrosio (CSUF)