Student Academy Award Winners Reflect and Offer Advice To Young Filmmakers

Student Academy Award Winners Reflect and Offer Advice To Young Filmmakers

After a week of celebratory events, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced the Gold, Silver, and Bronze place winners of its annual Student Academy Awards on Saturday, June 9th.

Young filmmakers from the University of Southern California, Columbia University, California Institute of the Arts, New York University, and the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom  each received top honors with a Gold Medal for their short films. The Academy recognized thirteen students in total from universities across the U.S. and Europe for achievement in experimental film, animation, narrative, documentary, and foreign films.

“[The week has] felt like a wild ride, really,” said Justin Tipping, director of “Nani” which received a bronze medal in the narrative category. “It’s been non-stop and completely inspiring every step of the way.” 

Actors Mena Suvari, Cuba Gooding Junior, Laura Dern, and Greg Kinnear presented awards, alongside Academy President Tom Sherak. 

“It’s a bizarre feeling to interact with people that you look up to,” Tipping explained, reflecting on a week of dinners and meetings with Academy members and the Academy’s Board of Governors.

Upon receiving a gold medal in the foreign film category for directing “For Elsie” from presenter Laura Dern, David Winstone kept the mood light with a few jokes, while also expressing his gratitude for the award and for the collaboration of his team and family that lead him to this point. 

“This is an amazing moment for me,” Winstone said, “not just for this award, but also because I’ve actually been in love with Laura Dern since I was five years old.”

Winstone said that he nearly didn’t go into filmmaking due to the financial risks, but that he couldn’t think of doing anything else. He hopes to begin making another short film by the end of the summer.

The young directors also offered advice for aspiring filmmakers.

“From personal experience my advice would be to first and foremost call yourself a filmmaker, instead of saying ‘I want to be a filmmaker,’” said Mark Raso, Columbia University student and winner of the gold medal for “Under,” his narrative film, “and then go ahead and make films because it takes practice, like anything in life.”

Gold Medal Award-winning films will be featured at the Palm Springs International ShortFest on Sunday, June 24.

For the complete list of winners and information on the filmmakers and their movies, visit http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa.