Created to nurture the careers of aspiring, promising cinematographers, the Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA) competition, presented by the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600), has selected its 10 honorees for this year. The winners gain high-profile industry exposure as their short films will debut at the Directors Guild of America Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 25. A New York screening will follow on Oct. 30 at the SVA Theatre with another showing at SCADshow in Atlanta on Nov. 13.
Selected from nearly 100 submissions are the following 10 honorees:
- Derek C. Fisher, loader (Use Your Oui Oui)
- Dan Hertzog, 2nd asst. camera (Earthbound)
- Eric M. Hurt, operator (Elemental)
- Spencer Hutchins, operator (Walker)
- Alexa Ihrt, operator (Born In Battle)
- Matt Irwin, operator (Emeralds)
- Clifford Jones, digital imaging technician (In Memory)
- Karina Silva, operator (Doble 9)
- John Veleta, digital imaging technician (Pop Music)
- Alejandro A. Wilkins, operator (Limbo)
The ECAs are open to any member of the Guild who is not already classified as a DP. Members are asked to submit films they have photographed with a running time of 30 minutes or less. The ICG offers its members the opportunity to be recognized and the chance to further their careers.
The films are selected by a panel of ICG members from across the country and can be seen by a wider audience at film festivals.
Steven Poster, ASC, president of the ICG, said, “I am continually amazed and delighted by the high standards in these short films. It shows, once again, that our camera crews are the best trained and most professional in the world. And we are grateful to our generous sponsors, who come back year after year, knowing that these young filmmakers are their future customers.”
Jimmy Matlosz, who has been chairman of the Guild’s ECA committee since 2008, added, “Every new year brings about a new crop of potential ECA winners, and every year our members continue to raise the bar and give us hope and inspiration for the art and future of cinematography.”
The event is sponsored entirely by industry manufacturers and vendors. They are: Canon USA Inc., Tiffen, Adorama, ARRI, CW Sonderoptic, K5600, Lee Filters, Light Iron, Panavision, Sony Electronics, Technicolor, AbelCine, B&H, Band Pro, Blackmagicdesign, Cineo Lighting, Clairmont Camera, Codex, Dolby Labs, Illumination Dynamics, JL Fisher, KinoFlo, Kodak, LiteGear, Litepanels, Mole-Richardson Co., Panasonic, Rosco, Sekonic, Sim Digital, Small HD, The Rag Place, Zeiss, Keslow Camera and Matthews Studio Equipment.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More