The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards is a major new annual program for short films, and is free for anyone to enter. The Future Filmmaker Awards is chaired by award-winning director Justin Chadwick, and this year’s jury comprises Sir Roger A. Deakins, Academy award-winning cinematographer, Nicole Brown, President of TriStar Pictures; and Jeremy Barber, Partner, Motion Picture Literary and Talent.
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards is a new initiative to help support fresh talent from around the world. Sony Pictures will welcome the winning and shortlisted creators to the Studio in Culver City, California, where a workshop program led by a roster of experts, will help them be able to gain a new understanding of the business so that they can take further steps in their filmmaking careers.
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards ceremony will take place on 22 February 2023 in the Cary Grant Theatre at the Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, California. Thirty shortlisted filmmakers will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the ceremony and workshop program. Winners from six categories will be announced on the night and rewarded with cash prizes and a range of Sony’s Digital Imaging equipment.
The three days of workshops and panel programs represent a singular opportunity for all 30 winning and shortlisted creators to gain the insight required into the business of film and to the key divisions in a major motion pictures studio. The full program includes:
- The Pitching Process
- Casting & Talent Production
- Physical & Post Filmmaker Process Editing
- CGI/VFX Sound & Sound Mixing
- Film Scoring & Music Rights
- Theatrical Marketing
- Sony Pictures Classics
- Playstation Productions
- Business Affairs
- Sony Innovation Studios Acquisitions
- Sony 3000 Pictures
In addition to the workshop program, the six category winners will also receive exclusive access to Sony’s state-of-the-art Digital Media Production Center (DMPC), a unique resource for everything related to cutting-edge technologies and end-to-end production, where they will learn to operate their newly won Sony gear in a live and virtual production environment.
2023 COMPETITION DEADLINE AND PRIZES
The first edition of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards opened for entries on 26 July 2022. It comprises six categories across three competitions:
Filmmaker competition including three categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Environment. The Environment category is run in association with Sony Pictures Television’s “Picture This” initiative, which champions creativity that communicates a positive future for the planet.
Student Filmmaker competition including two categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction. Future Format competition, comprising a changing technical brief each year.
Full competition and category descriptions and requirements can be found at www.sonyfuturefilmmakerawards.com.
The deadline for all entries is 13 December 2022, at 07:00 AM (CT).
