This evening, Creo announced the winners for the first edition of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards during a black-tie awards ceremony at the Cary Grant Theatre on the historic Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, California. Entertainment Tonight's correspondent Denny Directo served as the evening's host. 30 filmmakers were shortlisted across six categories with six winners announced on the night. All filmmakers are awarded a trip to Los Angeles to take part in the in ceremony, followed by an exclusive two-day industry immersion experience led by Sony Pictures executives. Winners additionally receive a range of cash prizes and Sony Digital Imaging equipment.
The 30 shortlisted filmmakers and winners were chosen by a panel of leading industry experts chaired by award-winning British theater, television and film director Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, The Other Boleyn Girl, Tulip Fever). In addition, this inaugural jury comprised leading and celebrated figures from the film industry including Nicole Brown, President of TriStar Pictures (The Woman King, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical); Jeremy Barber, Partner, Motion Picture Literary and Talent, United Talent Agency; and Sir Roger A. Deakins, Academy Award-winning cinematographer (Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, 1917).
Dan Thorburn
United Kingdom
Salt Water Town
With the threat of closure looming over a failing caravan park, the owner and his son clash over their future, with tragic consequences.
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Daniela Lucato
Italy
The Things You Don't Know About Me, Mom
A survivor of the Pinochet regime in Chile imagines telling her mother all the things that she didn't want to know.
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Pedro Furtado
Brazil
The Good Dolphins
Fishermen in Brazil fight to save a pod of dolphins who have helped them catch fish across generations.
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Mateo Salas
Colombia
The Good Dolphins
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
A family's journey takes a troubling turn when they are stopped by a group of paramilitaries.
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Seonghoon Eric Park
Republic of Korea
In Cod We Trust
Boston University, USA
A film probing the endangered fishing trade in the New England town of Gloucester, home to one of the oldest and largest fishing communities in the United States.
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Pan Tianhong
China Mainland
Homework for Winter Vacation
A child making sweet dumplings in preparation for the Chinese New Year completes his task in a very creative manner.
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Nicole Brown, President of TriStar Pictures, championed: "I was so impressed by the breadth and diversity of the submissions from such an incredibly talented generation of new filmmakers. The amount of passion and creativity was astounding and made the task of narrowing it down no small feat! I'm looking forward to seeing where all their careers take them as they all have so much potential to go the distance in their careers."
Sir Roger A. Deakins, Academy Award-winning cinematographer, lauded: "It was a pleasure to be on the jury of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards this year. My collaborator and wife, James, and I always enjoy seeing the work of new filmmakers. We spend a lot of time supporting upcoming talent through our website, podcast and YouTube channel (Team Deakins). We were pleased to be a part of this programme that hopefully will translate into new opportunities for emerging filmmakers. We loved that the scope of the entries was so wide, including submissions from the UK, Italy, Korea, Colombia and Brazil. We firmly believe that there is a lot of promising talent out there and enjoyed being a part of recognizing this through these awards."
Following the ceremony, the attending shortlisted filmmakers and winners will participate in a two-day industry immersion program of workshops and panels led by Sony Pictures executives, which include Producing, Editing & VFX, Business Affairs, Theatrical Marketing, Acquisitions and more. Winners additionally receive exclusive access to Sony's state-of-the-art Digital Media Production Center (DMPC).
Established by Creo and sponsored by Sony as a major new annual awards program for short films, the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards set out to elevate original voices from around the globe with a fresh perspective on storytelling. The inaugural competition ran from July 26 through December 13, 2022, drawing a huge response: over 4,000 films by more than 3,000 filmmakers in 140 countries. 30 films were shortlisted in six categories: Filmmaker Fiction; Filmmaker Non-Fiction; Filmmaker Environment; Student Filmmaker Fiction; Student Filmmaker Non-Fiction; and Future Format.
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