After a two-year hiatus, Camp Kuleshov–the competition designed to let assistant editors at AICE-member houses showcase their editing chops–returned to the Southwest. The event turned out to be a celebratory occasion not only for AICE’s Dallas chapter but also for Red Car’s Dallas shop.
Red Car talent swept the top honors–first, second and third place–in meeting the contest challenge to select from a list of feature films and then create a trailer changing the genre of one of those movies. This year’s field of films consisted of three of last year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees: The Artist, The Help, and Midnight In Paris.
Red Car’s Agnes Calka, a rookie in the AICE event, took first place with Masque, an adaptation of The Artist as a superhero action film. “The first time I saw The Artist it was on a pirated Blu-ray and all the titles were in Mandarin so I thought it actually was an action film,” explained Calka, adding “That made it really easy for me to pull this one off.”
William Franklin of Red Car placed second with his trailer Help Us. He turned The Help into a science fiction thriller. Franklin quipped, “”With effects and sound design, you can pretty much tell any story you want–that’s why I never believe anything I see on FOX News.”
And completing the Red Car trifecta was Edgar Garza whose action trailer of The Midnight Job in Paris placed third. Garza took Midnight in Paris, a film without high-speed chases and explosions, and made it just that. “Whenever you’re watching a Woody Allen movie set in France, you’re just waiting for the scene with the Eiffel Tower bursting into flames,” said Garza, “I just gave the audience what they wanted.”
Camp Kuleshov was held at Ku De Ta in Dallas. First prize was an Avid Media Composer donated by Avid. Second prize was Adobe Production Premier. And third prize was a $250 Apple gift card.
As part of the proceedings, AICE Dallas donated more than $500 to North Texas Food Bank, along with about 120 pounds of non-perishable food items. Another $500 went to Capital Food Bank of Austin.
Member houses participating in the event were 3008, Reel FX, Imagemaker Post, Red Car Dallas, Fast Cuts, Beast Austin and 1080. Lynn Louria, executive producer at 3008 organized this year’s competition which was celebrated on the same night in Dallas and Austin.
To view the winning trailers, click here.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More