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.
