ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Coca-Cola and Regal Films annual student filmmaking program announced a new Fan Favorite Award. The Award is part of the new voting process and will support the next generation of filmmakers through social sharing. All five finalists will be featured online.
The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program partnered with Universal Pictures’ Blockers to introduce the new fan vote during the Empowering Women in Filmmaking live discussion and at the film’s after screening party at the Twitter House. Every time someone shares their favorite film via Twitter they are supporting student filmmakers and that share counts as a vote.
The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program invites aspiring, up-and-coming filmmakers from 29 university and college film schools across the country to participate. Students receive funding, mentorship and resources from technical partners RED Digital Cinema and Deluxe’s EFILM. Beginning March 9 through April 20, movie fans can view the five finalist teams’ films and influence the Fan Favorite Award winner by sharing their work with the program’s new social share vote element.
“Regal is enthusiastic about providing opportunities to aspiring filmmakers, and the Coca-Cola and Regal Films competition is a fantastic way to show our support,” said Ken Thewes, Chief Marketing Officer at Regal. “With the new Fan Favorite award option, movie lovers can support that next generation and pick their favorite film, offering unique and valuable feedback to our finalists.”
The finalists’ films will be available to watch online beginning at 12:00 a.m. on March 9 at coke.com/RegalFilms. For a sneak preview visit http://bit.ly/CocaColaRegalFilms2018. Each day, fans are asked to tweet the applicable hashtag to cast a vote for their favorite film. Each tweet also earns voting participants one entry into the Fan Favorite Sweepstakes, where they could win a year of free movies and concessions at Regal.
“Film festivals and industry events have long fostered a diverse, interactive environment for filmmakers, creating opportunities for artists to share their work with the community,” said Stefanie Miller, SVP Coca-Cola North America Strategic Partnership Marketing. “The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program is based on similar principles for aspiring filmmakers, and we’re excited to launch the new Fan Favorite Award alongside the director and stars of Universal’s Blockers as they present their expertise about the art of moviemaking.”
Students from 29 top college and university film schools participated in the 2018 Coca-Cola and Regal Films program and five advanced to this year’s finals. Each finalist team received $15,000 to create a 35-second film to connect people to the movie-going experience. RED Digital Cinema, the program’s provider of professional digital cameras and accessories, supplied camera equipment for each production and the winning team. The grand-prize winning film will debut at Regal theaters nationwide.
The five finalist films available for fan voting / Twitter sharing are the following:
Columbia University: The Premiere
Ithaca College: The Library
Elon University: Movie Life
School of Visual Arts: Just One Bite
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA): Frozen in Time
The Empowering Women in Filmmaking live conversation takes place on Saturday, March 10, at 3:30 p.m. at the Comcast Social Media Lounge in the Austin Convention Center. Sponsored by Coca-Cola Regal Film (CCRF), the chat focuses on themes of female empowerment as found in Blockers, the state of affairs for women in Hollywood, and supporting aspiring female filmmakers. Guests include:
From Universal Pictures’ Blockers:
- Kay Cannon (Director)
- Geraldine Viswanathan (Actress)
- Gideon Adlon (Actress)
From Coca-Cola Regal Films:
- Aviva Kleiner, who is on the panel representing the Coca-Cola and Regal Films program, has spent the last decade dedicated to developing filmmaking platforms for students and professionals. These programs include STAYFREE® Girls in the Director’s Chair, Mary Kay Inspiring Stories, and the Coca-Cola Regal Films program.
- Brett Levner, who is on the panel representing the Coca-Cola and Regal Films program, was the first female winner of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award program. Levner produced many popular MTV reality shows and won a Comedy Central Award for Best Comedy Screenplay. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Film at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
About Blockers:
When three parents discover their daughters’ pact to lose their virginity at prom, they launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal. Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, This Is 40), Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors, Suicide Squad) and John Cena (Trainwreck, Sisters) star in Blockers, the directorial debut of Kay Cannon (writer of the Pitch Perfect series).
The comedy is produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, under their Point Grey Pictures banner (Neighbors, This Is the End), alongside Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar series) and DMG Entertainment’s Chris Fenton (47 Ronin).
Good Universe’s Nathan Kahane and Joseph Drake (Don’t Breathe, Juno) executive produce with Chris Cowles (Collide) of DMG, as well as Josh Fagen, Dave Stassen and Jonathan McCoy. The film is written by brothers Brian & Jim Kehoe, Hurwitz & Schlossberg and Eben Russell. www.blockersmovie.com
About Regal Entertainment Group:
Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group, operates one of the largest and most geographically diverse theatre circuits in the United States, consisting of 7,321 screens in 560 theatres in 43 states along with Guam, Saipan, American Samoa and the District of Columbia as of December 31, 2017. We believe that the size, reach and quality of the Company's theatre circuit provides its patrons with a convenient and enjoyable movie-going experience. We are committed to being ‘The Best Place to Watch a Movie!’ Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.REGmovies.com.
About The Coca-Cola Company:
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and nearly 3,900 beverage choices. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our company's portfolio features 21 billion-dollar brands, 19 of which are available in reduced-, low- or no-calorie options. These brands include Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta, Sprite, Dasani, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Del Valle, Georgia and Gold Peak. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, we are the No. 1 provider of both sparkling and still beverages. More than 1.9 billion servings of our beverages are enjoyed by consumers in more than 200 countries each day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.
About EFILM | Deluxe
Color artistry and groundbreaking technology come together at Deluxe’s EFILM -- where the industry’s top filmmakers and up-and-comers have come for three decades. Home to world-class talent and recognized with an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement, EFILM continually sets creative and technology standards in digital color and finishing for features, episodics and trailers. It also provides location services through custom configured technology solutions and highly skilled field technicians. Part of the Deluxe Creative group of companies, EFILM is able to provide its creative services locally in Hollywood, and via real-time, calibrated color grading sessions between EFILM and Deluxe locations anywhere in the world. www.EFILM.com
Image Source: Regal Entertainment Group
