Winners Share Over $50,000 in Cash Awards; Winners and Finalists Get Their Films Screened at DGA in Hollywood, June 4
The winners of New York University’s 66th annual First Run Film Festival, which premieres the work of some of the country’s top student films from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA), were announced last night at a ceremony at the Cantor Film Center presided over by Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School, and alumnus and stage, film, and television star Victor Williams ‘95. In all, this year’s Festival screened over 105 films, videos, multimedia, and animation projects. Six outstanding student films were singled out for the Kanbar Institute’s top film prizes and over $50,000 in cash awards.
The winners of the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation Awards for Excellence in Filmmaking are: 1st prize ($10,000) - Andrew MacLean (Graduate Division) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate Division) for Lloyd Neck; 2nd prize ($7,000) - Andrew Hulse (Graduate Division) for Gasoline and Matthew Shapiro (Undergraduate Division) for Old Days; 3rd prize ($5,000) - Jennifer Li (Graduate Division) for 422 and Daniel Patrick Carbone (Undergraduate Division) for Feral.
In addition, the winners of the King Award for Best Screenwriting ($3,000) are: Andrew MacLean (Graduate) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate) for Lloyd Neck. The winners of the Wasserman Award for Best Directing ($2,000) are: Andrew MacLean (Graduate) for Sikumi and Benedict Campbell (Undergraduate) for Lloyd Neck.
The winners join past recipients Spike Lee, Ang Lee, and Nancy Savoca, among many others. A panel of industry professionals selected the winning films from a group of 14 finalists.
First Run Festival 2008 (April 10-14) was a week-long series of events featuring four days of public screenings of advanced and intermediate student projects. Underwriting support was provided by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation. The Wasserman Awards Ceremony is named in honor of the late Lew Wasserman and his wife, Edie, generous benefactors of the Tisch School of the Arts.
The Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts provides an intensive and professional education in filmmaking. The program shared first place in recent U.S. News and World Report rankings of the nation’s film programs; since 1992, sixteen Student Academy Award gold medals have been presented to NYU student filmmakers by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, Kanbar Institute students and alumni walked away with an unprecedented seven awards in virtually every top-prize category. At the 2005 and 2006 Sundance Film Festivals, Kanbar filmmakers walked away with 10 prizes. Approximately 150 graduate and 1,050 undergraduate film students pursue degrees in film and television production, photography, cinema studies, dramatic writing, and interactive telecommunications. Distinguished alumni of the Kanbar Institute include Joel Coen, Chris Columbus, Billy Crystal, Martha Coolidge, Ernest Dickerson, Amy Heckerling, Jim Jarmusch, Ang Lee, Spike Lee, Brett Ratner, Nancy Savoca, Martin Scorsese, Susan Seidelman, and Oliver Stone, among many others.