Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award
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Created in 1998, Coca-Cola has given out the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award to a student winner of their competition. Students from participating film schools across the United States submit entries of original scripts and storyboards. Ten finalists are selected, receiving $7,500 to produce a 50-second film to be viewed before the featured showing at certain theatres across the nation. Winners also receive $10,000.
As of 2010, the program underwent a refresh thanks to a splash of Sprite! The new Sprite Refreshing Films program provides opportunities to college and university students, at participating schools, but also provides another opportunity to for teenagers nationwide. College and university students at any of the 12 participating universities & colleges nationwide could get involved by (A) submitting their original screenplay or (B) applying to intern on a Sprite Refreshing Films movie set in 1 of 6 cities nationwide. Teenagers nationwide had the opportunity to apply for their chance to learn how to make a movie. Teenagers will replace the pros on-set and they will get on-the-job experience in leadership & creating a pro-quality short film. Film production will occur in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and Miami in January–February 2011 and each short film will feature celebrity talent from across the entertainment industry.
Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award Participating Schools
- Brigham Young University
- UCLA School of Theater Film and Television
- California State at Long Beach
- Chapman University
- University of Colorado Denver
- Columbia University
- Florida State University
- New York University
- North Carolina School of the Arts
- Northwestern University
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- University of Southern California
- University of Texas at Austin
Sprite Refreshing Films Participating Schools
- UCLA School of Theater Film and Television
- California State at Long Beach
- Chapman University
- University of Colorado Denver
- Columbia University
- Florida State University
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- Northwestern University
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- Elon University
- University of Iowa
- Indiana University
- University of Texas at Austin
- The Art Institute of Charlotte
Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award Judging
Once submitted, the films are then reviewed by the "Red Ribbon Panel of judges" that include actors such Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, screenwriters, directors, and executives from AMC Theatres, Blockbuster, Carmike Cinemas, Cinemark Theatres, DreamWorks, Loews Cineplex, Entertainment and Regal Entertainment Group. Both the winning films and select runner ups are shown in over 30,000 movie theatres for four to eight weeks.
Sprite Refreshing Films Judging
Once production wraps in the 6 Sprite Refreshing Films production cities the youth-created short films will debut online at spriterefreshingfilms.com in April–May 2011 where they will go head-to-head for viewing and a nationwide text voting competition. The films will also be viewed and judged by the Green Ribbon Panel, a collection of industry experts who will also judge the films. Sprite will also support the promotion of the films by promoting the online viewing with a trailer in over 23,000 movie theaters across the country. The final winning film will be announced in early June and that film along with the entire Film Crew, Staff Interns, and Screenwriter will have their film shown at a major film festival.
Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award winners
| 1998 | Kyle Newman | New York University |
| 1999 | Fredrick Johnson | University of Southern California |
| 2000 | Jason Doty | Florida State University |
| 2001 | Peter Hunziker | UCLA School of Theater Film and Television |
| 2002 | David Pastor-Vallejo | Columbia University |
| 2003 | Jordan Ross | New York University |
| 2004 | Brett Levner & Steve Sole | Columbia University |
| 2005 | Matthew Pope | Florida State University |
| 2006 | Rosemary Lambert | Chapman University |
| 2007 | Josh Greenbaum & Raul Fernandez | University of Southern California |
| 2008 | Austin Formato | UCLA School of Theater Film and Television |
| 2009 | Jerome Sable | University of Southern California |
| 2010 | Andy Landen & Alice Mathias | University of Southern California |