In a series of cross-country virtual presentations held this week, winners were announced for the 2021 edition of Camp Kuleshov, AICP’s annual trailer competition for all assistants in postproduction.
For Editorial, entrants had to choose a film and re-imagine it, via a 90-second trailer, as something from a different genre or directed by a filmmaker with a distinctive visual or narrative style. In the Graphics category, entrants were required to create an original opening title sequence that conveys their impression or interpretation of the film they’ve selected and which functions as a device to prepare and position the audience for the film. And in the Sound Design category, the task was to create a new sound design for a 90-second excerpt from one of the source films with a different intention than the original.
Southeast, Southwest and West winners
The Southeast/Southwest Camp K virtual awards presentation took place on Tuesday, Feb. 15, with editor Andy McGee of Republic Edit in Dallas as emcee. Presenting the awards were Republic’s partner and sr. editor Chris Gipson and TBD Post’s executive producer Ron Rendon. The West Camp K presentation unspooled right afterwards, with Cut + Run editor Jay Nelson as emcee. Those awards were presented by Yvette Cobarrubias, Cosmo Street’s managing partner, and LaRue Anderson, Apache’s managing partner and executive producer.
In Camp K Southeast/Southwest, first place in Editing went to Janna Kay Swanson of Uppercut for her reworking the 1980 workplace comedy “9 to 5” as “Doralee,” an action thriller. Second place went to Alex Heisterkamp of Camp Lucky for his revenge film take on the 2001 Tom Cruise psycho-thriller “Vanilla Sky.” Third place in Editing went to Ben Lilly of Sling Shot Intergalactic for his French horror film take on “Footloose,” the 1984 tale of rebellious teens. Honorable mentions in Editing went to Myles Bolden of Republic Editorial for his trailer transforming the 1970 concert film “Woodstock” into a psychological drama, and to Jessica Lund of TBD Post for her mashup of the 1960 horror film “Eyes Without a Face” and “Vanilla Sky” into a Shakespearean drama.
In the Southeast Sound Design category, first place went to Tyler Davis of Company 3 for a scene in “Drive,” the 2011 action drama, that takes us into the mindset of the film’s hero, played by Ryan Gosling.
In the West competition, first place in Editing went to Kiersten Vannest of Cosmo Street for reimagining the 2007 dystopian thriller “I Am Legend” as a holiday-themed heavily flawed masterpiece titled “Legend of Claus.” Second place went to Seann Rustom of Cosmo Street for his trailer that retraced “Footloose” as a psychological drama.
East winners
The Camp K East winners virtual show took place on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 16, with Big Sky’s owner/editor Chris Franklin serving as master of ceremonies and host.
First place in Editing went to Daniel Berk of Nomad Edit Company for his splash on “Waterworld,” the 1995 post-apocalyptic action film that he reimagined as a ‘50s sci fi thriller. Second place in Editing went to Sarah Mlcoch of PS 260 for her action thriller twist to “9 to 5.” Third place went to Maxwell Gold of Northern Lights for remaking “Footloose” as a Shakespearean romance. Honorable mention in Editing went to Jake Jennewein of Uppercut for recasting “Vanilla Sky” into a French horror film.
In Sound, first place went to Joey Glick of Sonic Union for his comic sound design for the 1968 character study “Hell in the Pacific.”
Midwest winners
The final Camp K presentation took place on Thursday, Feb. 17, where winners were announced for the Midwest competition. Serving as hosts and emcees were Cutters editor Kathryn Hempel, one of the original co-founders of Camp Kuleshov, and Cutters managing partner Craig Duncan.
First place in Editorial went to Jack Taylor of Cutters for reworking the 1979 historical comedy “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” as “The Messiah,” a psychological drama. Second place in Editing went to Caralyn Moore of Optimus for her mashup of the 1960 French horror film “Eyes Without a Face” and the 2001 thriller “Vanilla Sky” as a comedy. Third place went to Ariana De Simone, also of Optimus, for her take on “I Am Legend” as a Doomsday Film.
In the Midwest Graphics competition, first place went to Lindsey Fisher of The Colonie for her animated opening title sequence for the 1940 Disney classic “Fantasia.”
In the Midwest Sound category, all three winners reworked segments of “Drive.” First place went to Logan Vines of Another Country for his 90-second sound design for a climatic revenge scene. Second place went to Brett Rossiter of Another Country for his take on a bloody shoot-out, and third place went to Daniel Vallejo of Earhole Studios, who tackled the same scene.
Passion and perseverance
Franklin, who has led the Camp K competition in the East chapter for many years and is a member of the AICP Camp K committee, said he continues to be impressed by the breadth of craft, creativity and ingenuity demonstrated by the competition’s winners across all of the chapters and categories. To see the winners, click here.
“Considering what assistants have been through over the past two years, and the conditions under which they’ve had to work as the business pivoted quickly to a remote footing, seeing what they did with their entries is truly an encouraging sign for the future of post production,” he said. “This work reveals not just creative problem solving at a high order, but also an impressive degree of passion, perseverance and fortitude. I’m thrilled that I and my fellow presenters were able to honor these achievements, even in the virtual manner that we did, and look forward to when we can properly celebrate Camp K winners together as we have in the past.”
The Camp Kuleshov competition was led this year by an expanded committee that included, in addition to Franklin, Laurie Adrianopoli of Carbon, Adam Barone of Sonic Union, Tom Duff of Optimus, Lauren Hertzberg of Cut+Run, Robby Hurd of Musicbed|Filmsupply and Gloria Pitagorsky of Heard City. Also serving on the committee were virtual presentation hosts Anderson, Cobarrubias, Gipson and Rendon.
Open to assistants, junior creatives, admin and entry-level employees at AICP member postproduction and production companies, the competition is also open to freelancer assistants and support staff sponsored by member companies. Students and interns who were sponsored by a member company could enter, too, as well as assistants and junior-level employees at music companies that are members of the Association of Music Producers (AMP).
All Camp K chapter first place winners will receive a trophy to commemorate their achievements. In addition, first place winners receive a license to Media Composer or Pro Tools sponsored by Avid. All first place winners will now move on to compete against each other for “The Lev,” the Camp Kuleshov National Grand Prize, which will be awarded to the top assistant in each category. The winners will be announced during the AICP Post Awards in June, with each “Lev” winner receiving $1,000, provided by Camp K sponsor Musicbed|Filmsupply.
