Assistants got their night to shine as top prizes in two AICE Camp Kuleshov trailer competitions were presented at events held yesterday evening in both New York and Los Angeles.
In New York, the top prize in the editing category went to assistant editor Tommy Button of Crew Cuts for his take on the 2001 summer camp comedy “Wet Hot American Summer,” re-imagined as a Martin Scorsese film. The brief for the competition was to take a film from a list of 19 classic or iconic motion pictures and re-imagine them as though they were from a different genre, had been directed by a different director or had been written by a different screenwriter.
In Los Angeles, the top prize for editing went to assistant editor Ramon DeSouza of Cosmo Street for his entry titled “Duk Duk Dead,” in which he re-cast the 1980s classic “Sixteen Candles” as a zombie/horror movie. The L.A. competition’s brief was to create either a genre switch or a mash-up of any of three classic films from that decade; the list included “E.T.” and “Beverly Hills Cop.”
Second place in the CK New York editing category went to assistant editor Tim Avery of Northern Lights, who recast “The Last Temptation of Christ” as a sci-fi film. Third place went to assistant editor Trevor Myers from Work Editorial, who re-worked David Lynch’s cult classic “Eraserhead” as an urban love story. An Honorable Mention was bestowed on assistant editor Colin Reilly from P.S. 260 for his comedy trailer for “Dances With Wolves,” as directed by Woody Allen.
In Los Angeles, the Camp Kuleshov judges awarded second place to “Attack of the Radio Active Mutant Monkey Clones,” a campy horror mash-up of all three source films, submitted by assistant editor David Andreini of Cutters, while third place went to “Birthday,” a horror mash up of “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Sixteen Candles,” submitted by assistant editor Dillan Ostrom of Therapy.
In addition to the top prizes for editing, Camp Kuleshov New York’s contest included separate categories for assistant audio engineers and sound designers and for assistant graphic designers. The brief in the audio category was to take any 90-second clip from the silent classics “The General” or “The Gold Rush” and create a sound design to match it. In the Graphics category, the assignment was to take one of the 19 films from the editing category and create a one-sheet poster that presents the film as from a different genre, director or writer.
First place in the Audio and Sound Design category went to Owen Shearer from Sonic Union for his sound design for a clip from “The Gold Rush.” Second place went to John Nathans from Plush NYC, for his take on a clip from “The General.” Third place went to Drew Campbell from audioEngine for his approach to “The Gold Rush.”
In the Graphics category, there were two co-winners: Grayson Blackmon from Big Sky Editorial won for his poster of “Wet Hot American Summer” depicted as an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and Phil Brooks from Final Cut won for his poster of “A Streetcar Named Desire” recast as an urban love story.
Camp Kuleshov winners at both chapters received prizes along with their awards. In New York, the first prize winner for editing, Button of Crew Cuts, was presented with an Avid Media Composer, courtesy of Camp Kuleshov sponsor Avid. Button also gets to possess the commemorative Camp Kuleshov “trailer” trophy for the next year. Second prize of an Avid Color Surface went to Avery of Northern Lights, also provided courtesy of Avid. The Third Prize winner, Trevor Myers from Work Editorial, received a $100 gift card from sponsor NiteHawk Cinemas.
First prize winner in the audio competition at CK NY, Owen Shearer from Sonic Union, received an Avid ProTools, courtesy of Avid. Second prize of a set of Sennheiser headphones went to John Nathans, courtesy of new CK NY sponsor Tekserve. Third prize of a Lacie hard drive went to Drew Campbell of audioEngine, also from Tekserve.
The graphics winners, Grayson Blackmon of Big Sky and Phil Brooks from Final Cut, received full-size mounted versions of their poster entries, courtesy of FedEx Office.
Among the prizes handed out in Los Angeles were an AJA Systems T-Tap, courtesy of sponsor New Media Hollywood, and $300, presented to the first place winner, DeSouza of Cosmo Street. Prizes of $200 were presented to second place winner Andreini of Cutters and $100 to third place winner Ostrom of Therapy.
The New York Camp Kuleshov event was held, as it has been for the last several years, at Bar M1-5 on Walker Street in SoHo, while the L.A. event was held at the offices of Cutters Studios in Santa Monica. On hand at the New York event were Chris Franklin, owner and editor of Big Sky Editorial, who is the co-organizer of the New York contest with Big Sky editor Valerie Lasser, and AICE executive director Rachelle Madden.
On hand in L.A. were AICE International Board president Craig Duncan, EP and partner and Cutters Studios; L.A. Chapter president Betsy Beale of jumP; Yvette Cobarrubias-Sears, EP at Cosmo Street, who was the co-organizer of the event; LaRue Anderson, EP and managing director at Apache and VP of the L.A. Chapter, who was also co-organizer; and Tim McGuire, founder of Cutters and past president of AICE’s Chicago Chapter.
Next up is Detroit’s Camp Kuleshov competition, which will be both judged and awarded on the same day, November 19. And the Toronto Chapter will be kicking off its Camp Kuleshov competition early next year, with an entry deadline in early January and an awards presentation set for January 21.
To view all of the Camp Kuleshov L.A. winners, go to: https://www.interdubs.com/r/cosmola/?al=sAjeCv&an=dhWk4X
To screen all of the Camp Kuleshov New York winners, go to: http://www.aice.org/?section=trailers/newyork_2014/.
