Camp K’s 2024 Winners Celebrated in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York

The Camp Kuleshov trailer competition for emerging creative artists in post production – a.k.a. Camp K – has recognized and awarded its winning and honourable mention entries at live events recently in New York and Chicago, as well as a hybrid in-person and virtual event in Los Angeles. Trophies were bestowed in recognition of outstanding achievement in the categories of Editing, Sound Design, Graphics, and Music Score.

Designed to give emerging talent a chance to heighten their creative and craft problem-solving skills while also gaining access to invaluable mentorship opportunities, Camp K challenges entrants to take existing films and re-imagine trailers for them as something new and different. A full listing of this year’s official source films for each category, as well as competition rules and objectives, can be found on the Camp K website here. The 2024 Camp K winners from each region can be found here.

East/Southeast winners honoured in New York

The East/Southeast Camp Kuleshov awards presentation and celebration took place on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at The Mill in New York, presided over by Chris Franklin and Val Lasser of Big Sky Edit. 

The Editing challenge for Camp K tasked entrants with creating a movie trailer by using up to three of the films on the source list and in the process changing the original film’s genre to one from a list of specific genres or themes. The winners were introduced by Editor Robert Ryang of Cut + Run, a past Camp K winner. 

First Place in this category went to Christian Frahme of PS 260 for “Tall Tale,” his mashup of “Jack The Giant Slayer” and “Big Fish.” Second Place went to JT Tsuchiya, also of PS 260, for his Quentin Tarantino take on the rom-com “50 First Dates.” And Third Place went to Jake Cannon of Uppercut for “Operation Terraform,” a mashup of “Moon” and “The Martian” as an Environmental Warning film. In addition, Honorable Mention certificates were presented to Gillian Brown of Northern Lights and Olivia Flego-Wirth, also of Northern Lights.

The Graphics winner was presented by editor Jen Dean, also of Cut + Run. In this category, entrants were challenged to create an opening title sequence for a movie that never had one, or had one that was simply executed. First Place in this category went to Camila Dayson Aravena of Uppercut for her opening titles featuring illustrations and type treatments for “Pan’s Labyrinth.” 

In Sound Design, the winners were introduced by Joe O’Connell, sound designer and mixer at Sonic Union. Entrants had to choose a section of a film and create an entirely new sound design that casts the scene in a new light. Earning First Place honours in this category was Kennisa Ragland of Big Sky Edit for her spoken-word take on the famous mimes playing tennis scene in “Blow-up.” Second Place was presented to Michael Artuso of Mr. Bronx Audio Post for his sit-com snippet of a climactic battle scene in “Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan.”

In the Music Score competition, which was introduced by Matt Nelson, AMP national president and executive producer at Yessian Music, entrants were required to  create and score a scene in a film that presently doesn’t have one. First Place went to Zoltan Monori of Heard City, the 2022 Sound Design First Place winner, for his dramatic scoring of the fire-starting scene from early in “Cast Away.”

“Camp Kuleshov reaches new heights of sophistication each year, offering up-and-coming artists a unique platform to showcase and refine their talents,” said Lasser about the event. “With a focus on elevating storytelling and mastering technical skills like editing, sound design, music composition and visual effects, this year’s challenge pushed young artists to reimagine film scenes in creative, unexpected ways. And the music category revealed just how powerful music can be in transforming the emotional impact of a scene, showing us how a single soundtrack can shift the entire mood and meaning. In all, I can only say that Camp K is not only a celebration of cinematic innovation, but a powerful opportunity for emerging talent to make their mark in the industry.”

Sponsors for the East/Southeast Camp K celebration event included Big Sky Edit, Heard City, Sonic Union, The Mill, Uppercut and Wits End.

West/Southwest Winners honoured in Culver City 

The combined West and Southwest Camp K winners were presented at a celebration held at The Mill in Culver City, and simultaneously via Zoom, on Wednesday, Oct. 30. The evening  was emceed by Jay Nelson, an editor at Cut + Run who emceed last year’s Camp K presentation and served as a Camp K Coach.

Featured speakers appearing at the event included editors Chancler Haynes of Cosmo Street, Paul Martinez of Arcade and Zoë Mountain of Nomad Editing Co., who shared their observations on working as assistants with the young artists in attendance. 

First Place in Editing went to Fernando Raigoza of Arcade Edit for “Die Die Birdie,” his mashup of “Streets of Fire” and “Bye Bye Birdie” as a Quentin Tarantino blood fest. Second Place went to Sam Wichhart, also of Arcade Edit, for his memory-loss story take on the post-apocalyptic sci-fi film “On the Beach.” And Third Place went to Isabel Agtual of Uppercut for her “50 First Dates” as a Stephen King shocker. In addition, Honorable Mention in this category went to Ellen Culver of Nomad Edit in Austin.

In Graphics, an Honorable Mention was awarded to Noah Leggett, also of Nomad Edit in Austin, while an Honorable Mention in Sound Design was presented to Melanie Wedige of TBD Post in Dallas.

“I think this was the best event we’ve had in some time,” said Nelson about the West/Southwest  Camp K awards celebration. “What inspired me most was to see the ‘New Wave’ from all the AICP companies getting to know one another and interacting with the editors who were there. I just think we have such a rich community in the West and Southwest chapters, and since the pandemic, and even years before, it’s been completely fractured. But now, when our companies get together and reconnect with old friends and former colleagues working remotely, we can start to feel more like we’re a part of something.”

Nelson acknowledged and thanked The Mill for lending its space to the West/Southwest event as well. “They’ve made the commitment to make this a premium event, both here and in New York,” he adds. “It makes me excited to expand Camp K and improve our reach for next year. There are many companies that once were a part of this culture that I hope to bring back to the larger post community. The industry in this town is a lot more fun when we can get everyone together.”

In addition to The Mill, evening sponsors included Apache, Cut+Run, Hudson Whiskey NY, Hybrid+Sessions City, Milagro Tequila, QMixers, Republic, Reyka Vodka and Yessian.

Midwest Winners honoured in Chicago 

AICP’s Midwest Chapter presented its Camp K winners and honorees at an event on Wed., Nov. 6, held at Tunnel in Chicago, emceed by Tom Duff of Optimus and independent executive producer Lauri Adrianopoli. 

First Place in Editing went to Dana Ryan of Outsider Editorial for “Lucy,” his reimaging “50 First Dates” as a Stephen King thriller. Second Place went to Nicole Russell of Whitehouse Post for “The Botanist,” a reworking of “The Martian” as an Absurd Romance. Third Place went to Hugo Escobar of Optimus for his Stephen King thriller take on “The Martian.” Honorable Mentions were also presented to Brian Naughton of Cutters and to Christopher Shepard of Optimus.

First Place in Graphics went to Marly Koven of Flavor, the 2023 Lev winner in this category, for her subdued, blue-tinged title sequence for “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

In Sound Design, first place went to Cliff Fitch of Cutters for his impressionistic sound design on the silent tennis match sequence in “Blow-up,” while Nora Strickstein of Another Country took Second Place for her sound design for a contemplative sequence from “A Beautiful Mind.”

The Music Score First Place winner went to Lucas Hansa , also of Another Country, for his tension-building score for a climactic scene in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller “Rope.”

“There’s nothing more rewarding than the Camp K awards presentation,” said Tom. “To see the unabashed excitement in these young artists’ eyes and in their mutual enthusiasm is just inspiring. They’re not ‘too cool for school,’ yet, as I like to say, we can all feed off their love of the game. Congrats to each and every one of our winners, both here in the Midwest and in the other chapters! It truly gives us all such an optimistic and reassuring reason to feel so enthused about our future.” 

Added Lauri, “Camp K is my favourite event of the year. It gives us a chance to celebrate and show up for the young artists who ALWAYS show up for us. Like Tom, I’m sending congratulations to all the winners and entrants - you’re so appreciated!”

All First Place winners from each competition now move on to compete for The Lev, Camp K’s national Grand Prize, awarded to the top winner in each category, as determined by the Lev jury. These winners will take home $1,000, provided by Camp K sponsor Musicbed + Filmsupply. An AICP Supporting Partner, Musicbed also made selections from its production music library available to entrants free of charge.